The  Duchess  knelt,  and  the  Queen,  failing  to  raise
her,  courtesied  almost  as  low  and  kissed  her  on  the
mouth,  "which  she  usually  does  only  to  certain
ladies  of  her  own  family."  She  led  the  Duchess  to
the  dais  and  seated  herself  on  the  floor,  inviting'  her
guest  to  do  likewise,  but  the  latter  begged  her
Majesty  to  sit  on  the  chair  before  she  (the  Duchess)
would  sit  on  the  floor.  The  Queen  refused  to  do  so,
and  sent  for  two  stools,  upon  one  of  which  she  sat,
whereupon  the  Duchess,  instead  of  accepting  the
other,  sat  beside  it  on  the  floor.  The  Queen  then
left  her  stool  and  took  her  place  on  the  floor  also,
and  finally,  after  much  friendly  wrangling,  both
ladies  settled  on  their  respective  stools  side  by
side.  The  Queen  understood  Spanish,  but  spoke  in
French,  and  the  Marquis  de  las  Navas  interpreted
to  the  Duchess,  who  only  understood  Spanish.
When  the  Earl  of  Derby  was  presented  to  the
Duchess,  he  greatly  shocked  her  by  offering  to  kiss
her  on  the  mouth,  according  to  the  universal
English  fashion,  and  she  drew  back  to  avoid  the
salute,  but  not  quite  in  time,  although  she  assured
the  Spaniards  that  the  earl  had  only  managed  to
kiss  her  cheek.
