Saraband for Dead Lovers

"I send with all speed," wrote Elizabeth-Charlotte, Duchesse d'Orléans,
tucked away in her little room surrounded by portraits of ancestors, "to
wish you, my dearest aunt and Serene Highness, joy of the recent
betrothal. It will redound to the happiness of Hanover and Zelle. It
links two dominions which have long possessed for each other the
affection natural to neighbours, but which now may justly embrace as
allies. It appears to me that no arrangement could well be more suitable,
and I offer to ...