Entertainments were given (at the Doctor's suggestion), with a view of raising the patient's depressed spirits. The members of the English legation were among the guests invited. To me it was a delightful visit. I had again every reason to feel gratefully sensible of the Princess's condescending kindness. Meeting the secretary one day in the library, I said that I thought her a perfect creature. Was this an absurd remark to make? I could see nothing absurd in it--and yet my friend burst out laughing.
"My good fellow, nobody is a perfect creature," he said. "The Princess has her faults and failings, like the rest of us."I denied it positively.