Chapters 10 and 11 Summary and Analysis

In chapter ten, Erickson continues the description of the elaborate system of duties at the French court. There were nearly nine hundred court officials and servants in the court of Louis and Antoinette, each with a specific duty. The duties of attending the king and queen were bestowed as honors to noble men and women, each performing his or her office in the formal procession of the royal day. The queen had someone whose sole duty was to hold her handbag as she proceeded to mass each day, and the king had a special attendant for reloading his hunting guns.

The servants were organized to work on a tight schedule, sweeping into the queen's rooms while she was away at mass and having her bed made and the room tidied in under five minutes. Appointment as a palace page...