Morning and evening, day and night, there was no relaxation of the maternal vigilance.

The child grew into the girl, the girl into the young woman; but still she slept in her mother's bedroom; still she had no place allowed her where she might sit or work by herself.

An extraordinary watchfulness surrounded her every step: up to the day of her accession, she never went downstairs without someone beside her holding her hand.
Plainness and regularity ruled the household.

The hours, the days, the years passed slowly and methodically by.

The dolls--the innumerable dolls, each one so neatly dressed, each one with its name so punctiliously entered in the catalogue--were laid aside, and a little music and a little dancing took their place.