If any human being was free from personal vanity it must have been the
second duchess d’Orleans, Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria. In one of her
letters, (dated 9th August, 1718,) she says, “I must certainly be
monstrously ugly. I never had a good feature. My eyes are small, my nose
short and thick, my lips broad and thin. These are not materials to form
a beautiful face. Then I have flabby, lank cheeks, and long features,
which suit ill with my low stature. My waist and my legs are equally
clumsy. Undoubtedly I must appear to be an odious little wretch; and had
I not a tolerably good character, no creature could enduer me. I am sure
a person must be a conjuror to judge by my eyes that I have a grain of
wit.”
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