"
"I may, then, announce to the council that you will confirm their
sentence?"
"Yes, yes, certainly," cried Elizabeth, springing up. "Scourge, banish
them, do what you please, but leave me in peace! Come, my Alexis, this
good Lestocq is insufferable to-day; he will annoy us to death if we
remain any longer here! Come, we will escape from him and his serious
face! Oh, we have much more serious subjects of conversation. To-morrow
is my grand gala dinner, and we have my toilet to examine, to be certain
that every thing is in the proper order. And then the ball toilet for
the evening, which is far more important. I shall open the ball with a
_Polonnaise_. You promised me, Alexis, to practice with me the new tour
which the Marquis de la Chetardie describes as the latest Parisian mode.
Come, let us essay this tour. For a new empress, at her first court
ball, there is nothing more important than that she should perform her
duty as leader of the dance with propriety and grace. Quick, therefore,
to the work! Give me your hand--and now, Alexis, let us commence. Sing a
melody to it, and then it will go better."
Alexis began to sing a _Polonnaise_, and, taking the hand of the
empress, they commenced the practice of the new _Polonnaise_ tour.
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