Free Marie Antoinette by Kathryn Lasky

came out wagging his tail and scurried up to the manger to lick the doll who was the baby Jesus.
We all ate too much Christmas torte. It is the best and the most beautiful torte I have ever seen here in the palace. The pastry chef made it specially with me in mind for it was a scene from the Riding Hall. A dozen horses made from marzipan performed atop a wonderful chocolate cake. The pastry chef really outdid himself, and Mama called him out from the kitchens and we applauded and then ate more! And of course, we had already eaten goose and sauerbraten — Mama must always have sauerbraten on a feast table no matter what — and steamed cabbage and dumplings filled with cheese. She loves dumplings above all. There were the usual twelve courses for the Twelve Nights of the Christmas festival season. We shall give our performance once again on Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, the last night before the last day of the twelve. And Cook shall make yet another cake. How he can make a more beautiful one I shall never know!
January 1, 1770
We gave our New Year’s gifts this morning. I must admit that I had hoped a letter might come from Louis Auguste. What a perfect gift that would have been. Or even better, perhaps a portrait. I try to imagine what he might look like but I cannot.
I do believe that Titi got the most wonderful gift of all. It is a kind of miniature theater but with moveable parts that illustrate scenes from the Old Testament. Our favorite of course is the Flood and Noah’s ark, but most powerful is Moses coming down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. That is certainly Mama’s favorite. She rolls the crank to bring Moses down so often that Titi and I joked that he shall become tired and throw away the Commandments. Mama scowled and called us anser inscius , which means “ignorant gosling” in Latin. This is her favorite term for silly, small girl children. Or sometimes she calls us ridiculus mus , Latin for “ridiculous mouse.”
Just when we were having so much fun playing with this, I was called away, as the French ambassador, Durfort, had arrived. I really did not want to take the time to see him, but then I decided maybe he would like to see the little mechanical theater. “So,” I said, “come with me and I shall show you something that you have perhaps never seen!” I took him directly to the nursery room where Titi plays. I think he was enchanted by the little theater.
Madame Bertin has sent the poupées for the spring fashions. It is hard to believe that spring will ever come. For now we have so much snow. And when spring does come I shall be in France, gliding down the marble corridors of Versailles as I have been taught to walk. Perhaps I shall be wearing the dress of the little doll that sits in front of me now. She wears a gown of Binche lace. It is lighter than regular lace and is sprinkled with a snowflake design. I like the idea of snowflakes in spring — in fabric, that is, not in the air.
January 7, 1770
Cook did indeed outdo himself. The Twelfth Night cake was not one but several and all replicas of various parts of Versailles! There was the Hall of Mirrors with mirrors made from melted sugar silver. There was the Ambassadors Staircase with a huge flight of chocolate stairs leading up to a sugar replica of the fountain in which two Greek gods frolicked. The walls were so tasty, for they were made from pistachio paste. My favorites, though, were the outdoor parts, the gardens. There was the Orangery with little orange trees hung with sugared drops the shape of oranges. And then my very favorite, the Groves, in which the trees had foliage made from spun burnt caramel, so it looked as if it were an autumn day, and the lake known as the Baths of Apollo was made of crème anglaise with a waterfall of Royal Frosting pouring into it. I think Mama is considering having a medal made to give to the pastry chef in recognition of his skills.
January 8, 1770
Lulu is ailing once more. I think the