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was a Walloon--the King had lived the life of Reilly. Now, I did not have a chance to talk about it with any of the Flemings, like Paul Van Zeeland and people of that sort. They still had respect for the King. It was divided partly on Flemish-Walloon lines, and partly on -- He had married a girl whose father was said to be the chief collaborator, you know, and that was what was the real matter with the King situation. But they felt very bitterly about the King.

On the other hand, M. Troclet, this extreme Socialist who was the Labor Minister and had been the -Chief of Police in Liege, and had been the head of the Police School, and who was a very intelligent but self-made man, was just full of bitter hatred for the King. Just terrible--this dreadful man, this horrible creature. “Ah, but Astride,” he would say, “ah, Astride, she was so wonderful. Such a beautiful woman.”

This group of Walloons who hated the King were full of love, affection, and happy memories of Astride. Now, I don't know enough about the life or history of Belgium to know why that was. She was, apparently, a beautiful girl, and a very nice girl. I mean, the stories they told you about her--you know, she would push her own baby carriage out from the palace grounds and air the baby on the street along with other Belgium ladies. You don't know to what extent that was a pose or to what extent it was natural, but they remembered that. She spoke