Karl II., ihr Gatte, ..."loved her with unabated affection. Amid the restraints of Spanish formality, he was occasionally much delighted by that simplicity and freedom of manner which she had brought with her from France, and which she still, in some decree, retained ... The amusement in which she was most frequently indulged, was the privilege of accompanying the King to the chase. His Majesty had presented her with a spirited steed from Andalusia; and a circumstance which occurred one day when she had mounted it in the court of the palace, displays, in a striking point of view, the ridiculous forms established at the palace of Madrid. The animal having begun to rear, the Queen fell from her seat, and her foot having been entangled in the stirrup, the horse dragged her along. Charles, who saw this accident from the balcony of one of the palace windows, became motionless from terror. The court, at the moment, was filled with guards and grandees, but no one dared to run the hazard of assisting her Majesty in this peril, as it was a species of treason for any one to touch the person of a Consort of Spain; and, which one would hardly expect, it is a more heinous offence to touch her foot than any other part of the body. At length, two Spanish cavaliers, Don Louis de-las-Torres and Don Jayme de Sotomayor, resolved, at all risks, to save their Queen. The former seized the bridle of the palfrey, while his companion extricated her Majesty's foot from the stirrup. Having rendered her this service, they went home with all possible expedition, and ordered their steeds to be saddled that they might fly from the resentment of the King. The young Count of Peñaranda, who was the friend of both, approached the Queen, and respectfully informed her of the danger in which her preservers might be placed, unless she interceded in their favour. His Majesty, who had now come to the spot, listened to the entreaties which she offered up to him, and a messenger, who was immediately despatched with a pardon to the cavaliers, reached them just in time to prevent their flight into a foreign land." (in: John Dunlop: Memoirs of Spain – During the reign of Philip IV. and Charles II. From 1621 to 1700, Vol 2, id., pp. 201-202).