Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, sat patiently while the court dentist probed her tender gums, feeling for the decayed tooth that had been hurting her for the past several days. Her labor pains had begun earlier that afternoon, and it had occurred to her that, as long as...
The king had taken many in our household with him, and expected to be gone for several days. “Dear Joan!” I burst out when she was shown into my bedchamber. “I am so very glad to see you!” She knelt, then rose at my signal and looked at me quizzically. “And why is that, pray, Your Highness, when ...