Part 2, The Dauphine Summary and Analysis

In chapter five, "France's Happiness," the trip begins. Her last night on German soil is spent at Schuttern. The following day, in a complicated ritual near Compiegne, made more so by the clash of the dignitaries of the two countries, Antoinette is handed over to the French. She is not allowed to take anything with her, including her beloved pug Mops and her clothing. The stripping of the foreign influence is symbolic. She meets many people, including Prince Luis de Rohan who has a reputation as a womanizer and as a gossip about the sexual failings of others.

The young Dauphin, Louis XVI, is very fond of his aunts who are in attendance as the wedding is being prepared. The meetings are all very formal until just before Antoinette begins preparing for the ceremony and has the...