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diff --git a/old/14029-8.txt b/old/14029-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b6cfde --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14029-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7502 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Chateau and Country Life in France, by Mary +King Waddington + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Chateau and Country Life in France + +Author: Mary King Waddington + +Release Date: November 12, 2004 [eBook #14029] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATEAU AND COUNTRY LIFE IN +FRANCE*** + + +E-text prepared by Richard Lammers, Stephanie Bailey, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made +available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr + + + +CHATEAU AND COUNTRY LIFE IN FRANCE + +by + +MARY KING WADDINGTON + +Author of _Letters Of A Diplomat's Wife_ and _Italian Letters of +a Diplomat's Wife_ + +Illustrated + +1909 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: A country wedding] + + + +CONTENTS + + I. CHÂTEAU LIFE + II. COUNTRY VISITS + III. THE HOME OF LAFAYETTE + IV. WINTER AT THE CHÂTEAU + V. CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS + VI. CHRISTMAS IN THE VALOIS + VII. A RACINE CELEBRATION + VIII. A CORNER OF NORMANDY + IX. A NORMAN TOWN + X. NORMAN CHÂTEAUX + XI. BOULOGNE-SUR-MER + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +A COUNTRY WEDDING +A FINE OLD CHÂTEAU +I LOVED TO HEAR HER PLAY BEETHOVEN AND HANDEL +THERE WERE ALL SORTS AND KINDS +FERDINAND +"MERCI, JE VAIS BIEN" +LONG PAUSES WHEN NOBODY SEEMED TO HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY +THEN HE LIGHTED A FIRE +I SUGGESTED THAT THE WHOLE CHASSE SHOULD ADJOURN TO THE CHÂTEAU +SOME RED-COATED, SOME GREEN, ALL WITH BREECHES AND HIGH MUDDY BOOTS +PEASANT WOMEN +A VISIT AT THE CHÂTEAU +SOLDIERS AT THE CHÂTEAU +THE MAYOR AND A NICE, RED-CHEEKED, WRINKLED OLD WOMAN WERE WAITING FOR US +THERE WAS ONE HANDSOME BIT OF OLD LACE ON A WHITE NAPPE FOR THE ALTAR +THEY WERE ALL STREAMING UP THE SLIPPERY HILL-SIDE +ALL THE CHILDREN IN PROCESSION PASSED +THERE WAS ONE POOR OLD WOMAN STILL GAZING SPELL-BOUND +L'ETABLISSEMENT, BAGNOLES DE L'ORNE +IN DOMFRONT SOME OF THE OLD TOWERS ARE CONVERTED INTO MODERN DWELLINGS +CHÂTEAU DE LASSAY +ENTRANCE TO HÔTEL OF THE COMTE DE FLORIAN +MARKET WOMEN, VALOGNES +OLD GATE-WAY, VALOGNES + + +[Illustration: A fine old château.] + + + + +I + +CHATEAU LIFE + + +My first experience of country life in France, about thirty years ago, +was in a fine old château standing high in pretty, undulating, wooded +country close to the forest of Villers-Cotterets, and overlooking the +great plains of the Oise--big green fields stretching away to the +sky-line, broken occasionally by little clumps of wood, with steeples +rising out of the green, marking the villages and hamlets which, at +intervals, are scattered over the plains, and in the distance the blue +line of the forest. The château was a long, perfectly simple, white +stone building. When I first saw it, one bright November afternoon, I +said to my husband as we drove up, "What a charming old wooden house!" +which remark so astonished him that he could hardly explain that it +was all stone, and that no big houses (nor small, either) in France +were built of wood. I, having been born in a large white wooden house +in America, couldn't understand why he was so horrified at my +ignorance of French architecture. It was a fine old house, high in the +centre, with a lower wing on each side. There were three +drawing-rooms, a library, billiard-room, and dining-room on the ground +floor. The large drawing-room, where we always sat, ran straight +through the house, with glass doors opening out on the lawn on the +entrance side and on the other into a long gallery which ran almost +the whole length of the house. It was always filled with plants and +flowers, open in summer, with awnings to keep out the sun; shut in +winter with glass windows, and warmed by one of the three calorifères +of the house. In front of the gallery the lawn sloped down to the +wall, which separated the place from the highroad. A belt of fine +trees marked the path along the wall and shut out the road completely, +except in certain places where an opening had been made for the view. + +We were a small party for such a big house: only the proprietor and +his wife (old people), my husband and myself. The life was very +simple, almost austere. The old people lived in the centre of the +château, W.[1] and I in one of the wings. It had been all fitted up +for us, and was a charming little house. W. had the ground-floor--a +bedroom, dressing-room, cabinet de travail, dining-room, and a small +room, half reception-room, half library, where he had a large +bookcase filled with books, which he gave away as prizes or to school +libraries. The choice of the books always interested me. They were +principally translations, English and American--Walter Scott, +Marryat, Fenimore Cooper, etc. The bedroom and cabinet de travail had +glass doors opening on the park. I had the same rooms upstairs, +giving one to my maid, for I was nervous at being so far away from +anyone. M. and Mme. A. and all the servants were at the other end of +the house, and there were no bells in our wing (nor anywhere else in +the house except in the dining-room). When I wanted a work-woman who +was sewing in the lingerie I had to go up a steep little winding +staircase, which connected our wing with the main building, and walk +the whole length of the gallery to the lingerie, which was at the +extreme end of the other wing. I was very fond of my rooms. The +bedroom and sitting-room opened on a balcony with a lovely view over +wood and park. When I sat there in the morning with my petit +déjeuner--cup of tea and roll--I could see all that went on in the +place. First the keeper would appear, a tall, handsome man, rather +the northern type, with fair hair and blue eyes, his gun always over +his shoulder, sacoche at his side, swinging along with the free, +vigorous step of a man accustomed to walk all day. Then Hubert, the +coachman, would come for orders, two little fox-terriers always +accompanying him, playing and barking, and rolling about on the +grass. Then the farmer's wife, driving herself in her gig, and +bringing cheese, butter, milk, and sometimes chickens when our +bassecour was getting low. A little later another lot would appear, +people from the village or canton, wanting to see their deputy and +have all manner of grievances redressed. It was curious sometimes to +make out, at the end of a long story, told in peasant dialect, with +many digressions, what particular service notre député was expected +to render. I was present sometimes at some of the conversations, and +was astounded at W.'s patience and comprehension of what was +wanted--I never understood half. + + [1] W. here and throughout this volume refers to Mme. Waddington's + husband, M. William Waddington. + +We generally had our day to ourselves. We rode almost every +morning--long, delicious gallops in the woods, the horses going easily +and lightly over the grass roads; and the days W. was away and +couldn't ride, I used to walk about the park and gardens. The kitchen +garden was enormous--almost a park in itself--and in the season I eat +pounds of white grapes, which ripened to a fine gold color on the +walls in the sun. We rarely saw M. and Mme. A. until twelve-o'clock +breakfast. + +[Illustration: I loved to hear her play Beethoven and Handel.] + +Sometimes when it was fine we would take a walk with the old people +after breakfast, but we generally spent our days apart. M. and Mme. A. +were charming people, intelligent, cultivated, reading everything and +keeping quite in touch with all the literary and Protestant world, but +they had lived for years entirely in the country, seeing few people, +and living for each other. The first evenings at the château made a +great impression upon me. We dined at 7:30, and always sat after +dinner in the big drawing-room. There was one lamp on a round table in +the middle of the room (all the corners shrouded in darkness). M. and +Mme. A. sat in two arm-chairs opposite to each other, Mme. A. with a +green shade in front of her. Her eyes were very bad; she could neither +read nor work. She had been a beautiful musician, and still played +occasionally, by heart, the classics. I loved to hear her play +Beethoven and Handel, such a delicate, old-fashioned touch. Music was +at once a bond of union. I often sang for her, and she liked +everything I sang--Italian stornelli, old-fashioned American negro +songs, and even the very light modern French chansonnette, when there +was any melody in them. There were two other arm-chairs at the table, +destined for W. and me. I will say W. never occupied his. He would sit +for about half an hour with M. A. and talk politics or local matters +with him, but after that he departed to his own quarters, and I +remained with the old people. I felt very strange at first, it was so +unlike anything I had ever seen, so different from my home life, where +we were a happy, noisy family, always one of the party, generally two, +at the piano, everybody laughing, talking, and enjoying life, and +always a troop of visitors, cousins innumerable and friends. + +It was a curious atmosphere. I can't say dull exactly, for both M. and +Mme. A. were clever, and the discussions over books, politics, and +life generally, were interesting, but it was serious, no vitality, +nothing gay, no power of enjoyment. They had had a great grief in +their lives in the loss of an only daughter,[2] which had left +permanent traces. They were very kind and did their best to make me +feel at home, and after the first few evenings I didn't mind. M. A. +had always been in the habit of reading aloud to his wife for an hour +every evening after dinner--the paper, an article in one of the +reviews, anything she liked. I liked that, too, and as I felt more at +home used to discuss everything with M. A. He was quite horrified one +evening when I said I didn't like Molière, didn't believe anybody did +(particularly foreigners), unless they had been brought up to it. + + [2] W.'s first wife. + +It really rather worried him. He proposed to read aloud part of the +principal plays, which he chose very carefully, and ended by making a +regular cours de Molière. He read charmingly, with much spirit, +bringing out every touch of humour and fancy, and I was obliged to say +I found it most interesting. We read all sorts of things besides +Molière--Lundis de Ste.-Beuve, Chateaubriand, some splendid pages on +the French Revolution, Taine, Guizot, Mme. de Staël, Lamartine, etc., +and sometimes rather light memoirs of the Régence and the light ladies +of the eighteenth century, who apparently mixed up politics, religion, +literature, and lovers in the most simple style. These last readings +he always prepared beforehand, and I was often surprised at sudden +transitions and unfinished conversations which meant that he had +suppressed certain passages which he judged too improper for general +reading. + +He read, one evening, a charming feuilleton of George Sand. It began: +"Le Baron avait causé politique toute la soirée," which conversation +apparently so exasperated the baronne and a young cousin that they +wandered out into the village, which they immediately set by the ears. +The cousin was an excellent mimic of all animals' noises. He barked so +loud and so viciously that he started all the dogs in the village, who +went nearly mad with excitement, and frightened the inhabitants out of +their wits. Every window was opened, the curé, the garde champêtre, +the school-master, all peering out anxiously into the night, and +asking what was happening. Was it tramps, or a travelling circus, or a +bear escaped from his showman, or perhaps a wolf? I have wished +sometimes since, when I have heard various barons talking politics, +that I, too, could wander out into the night and seek distraction +outside. + +It was a serious life in the big château. There was no railway +anywhere near, and very little traffic on the highroad. After +nightfall a mantle of silence seemed to settle on the house and park +that absolute silence of great spaces where you almost hear your own +heart beat. W. went to Paris occasionally, and usually came back by +the last train, getting to the château at midnight. I always waited +for him upstairs in my little salon, and the silence was so oppressive +that the most ordinary noise--a branch blowing across a window-pane, +or a piece of charred wood falling on the hearth--sounded like a +cannon shot echoing through the long corridor. It was a relief when I +heard the trot of his big mare at the top of the hill, quite fifteen +minutes before he turned into the park gates. He has often told me how +long and still the evenings and nights were during the Franco-Prussian +War. He remained at the château all through the war with the old +people. After Sedan almost the whole Prussian army passed the château +on their way to Versailles and Paris. The big white house was seen +from a long distance, so, as soon as it was dark, all the wooden +shutters on the side of the highroad were shut, heavy curtains drawn, +and strict orders given to have as little light as possible. He was +sitting in his library one evening about dusk, waiting for the man to +bring his lamp and shut the shutters, having had a trying day with the +peasants, who were all frightened and nervous at the approach of the +Germans. He was quite absorbed in rather melancholy reflections when +he suddenly felt that someone was looking in at the window (the +library was on the ground-floor, with doors and windows opening on the +park). He rose quickly, going to the window, as he thought one of the +village people wanted to speak to him, and was confronted by a +Pickelhaube and a round German face flattened against the window-pane. +He opened the window at once, and the man poured forth a torrent of +German, which W. fortunately understood. While he was talking W. saw +forms, their muskets and helmets showing out quite distinctly in the +half-light, crossing the lawn and coming up some of the broad paths. +It was a disagreeable sight, which he was destined to see many times. + +It was wonderful what exact information the Germans had. They knew all +the roads, all the villages and little hamlets, the big châteaux, and +most of the small mills and farms. There were still traces of the +German occupation when I went to that part of the country; on some of +the walls and houses marks in red paint--"4 Pferde, 12 Männer." They +generally wanted food and lodging, which they usually (not always) +paid for. Wherever they found horses they took them, but M. A. and W. +had sent all theirs away except one saddle-horse, which lived in a +stable in the woods near the house. In Normandy, near Rouen, at my +brother-in-law's place, they had German officers and soldiers +quartered for a long time. They instantly took possession of horses +and carriages, and my sister-in-law, toiling up a steep hill, would be +passed by her own carriage and horses filled with German officers. +However, on the whole, W. said, the Germans, as a victorious invading +army, behaved well, the officers always perfectly polite, and keeping +their men in good order. They had all sorts and kinds at the château. +They rarely remained long--used to appear at the gate in small bands +of four or five, with a sous-officier, who always asked to see either +the proprietor or someone in authority. He said how many men and +horses he wanted lodged and fed, and announced the arrival, a little +later, of several officers to dine and sleep. They were always +received by M. A. or W., and the same conversation took place every +time. They were told the servant would show them their rooms, and +their dinner would be served at any hour they wished. They replied +that they would have the honour of waiting upon the ladies of the +family as soon as they had made a little toilette and removed the dust +of the route, and that they would be very happy to dine with the +family at their habitual hour. They were then told that the ladies +didn't receive, and that the family dined alone. They were always +annoyed at that answer. As a rule they behaved well, but occasionally +there would be some rough specimens among the officers. + +W. was coming home one day from his usual round just before nightfall, +when he heard loud voices and a great commotion in the hall--M. A. and +one or two German officers. The old man very quiet and dignified, the +Germans most insulting, with threats of taking him off to prison. W. +interfered at once, and learned from the irate officers what was the +cause of the quarrel. They had asked for champagne (with the usual +idea of foreigners that champagne flowed through all French châteaux), +and M. A. had said there was none in the house. They knew better, as +some of their men had seen champagne bottles in the cellar. W. said +there was certainly a mistake--there was none in the house. They again +became most insolent and threatening--said they would take them both +to prison. W. suggested, wouldn't it be better to go down the cellar +with him? Then they could see for themselves there was none. +Accordingly they all adjourned to the cellar and W. saw at once what +had misled them--a quantity of bottles of eau de Seidlitz, rather like +champagne bottles in shape. They pointed triumphantly to these and +asked what he meant by saying there was no champagne, and told their +men to carry off the bottles. W. said again it was not champagne--he +didn't believe they would like it. They were quite sure they had found +a prize, and all took copious draughts of the water--with disastrous +results, as they heard afterward from the servants. + +Later, during the armistice and Prussian occupation, there were +soldiers quartered all around the château, and, of course, there were +many distressing scenes. All our little village of Louvry, near our +farm, had taken itself off to the woods. They were quite safe there, +as the Prussians never came into the woods on account of the +sharpshooters. W. said their camp was comfortable enough--they had all +their household utensils, beds, blankets, donkeys, and goats, and +could make fires in the clearing in the middle of the woods. They were +mostly women and children, only a very few old men and young boys +left. The poor things were terrified by the Germans and Bismarck, of +whom they had made themselves an extraordinary picture. "Monsieur sait +que Bismarck tue tous les enfants pour qu'il n'y ait plus de +Français." (Monsieur knows that Bismarck kills all the children so +that there shall be no more French.) The boys kept W. in a fever. They +had got some old guns, and were always hovering about on the edge of +the wood, trying to have a shot at a German. He was very uncomfortable +himself at one time during the armistice, for he was sending off +parties of recruits to join one of the big corps d'armée in the +neighbourhood, and they all passed at the château to get their money +and feuille de route, which was signed by him. He sent them off in +small bands of four or five, always through the woods, with a line to +various keepers and farmers along the route, who could be trusted, and +would help them to get on and find their way. Of course, if anyone of +them had been taken with W.'s signature and recommendation on him, the +Germans would have made short work of W., which he was quite aware of; +so every night for weeks his big black Irish horse Paddy was saddled +and tied to a certain tree in one of the narrow alleys of the big +park--the branches so thick and low that it was difficult to pass in +broad daylight, and at night impossible, except for him who knew every +inch of the ground. With five minutes' start, if the alarm had been +given, he could have got away into his own woods, where he knew no one +would follow him. + +Hubert, the old coachman, used often to talk to me about all that +troubled time. When the weather was dark and stormy he used to stay +himself half the night, starting at every sound, and there are so many +sounds in the woods at night, all sorts of wild birds and little +animals that one never hears in the daytime--sometimes a rabbit would +dart out of a hole and whisk round a corner; sometimes a big buse +(sort of eagle) would fly out of a tree with great flapping of wings; +occasionally a wild-cat with bright-green eyes would come stealthily +along and then make a flying leap over the bushes. His nerves were so +unstrung that every noise seemed a danger, and he had visions of +Germans lying in ambush in the woods, waiting to pounce upon W. if he +should appear. He said Paddy was so wise, seemed to know that he must +be perfectly quiet, never kicked nor snorted. + +It was impossible to realise those dreadful days when we were riding +and walking in the woods, so enchanting in the early summer, with +thousands of lilies of the valley and periwinkles growing wild, and a +beautiful blue flower, a sort of orchid. We used to turn all the +village children into the woods, and they picked enormous bunches of +lilies, which stood all over the château in china bowls. I loved the +wood life at all seasons. I often made the round with W. and his +keepers in the autumn when he was preparing a battue. The men were +very keen about the game, knew the tracks of all the animals, showing +me the long narrow rabbit tracks, running a long distance toward the +quarries, which were full of rabbit holes, and the little delicate +hoof-marks of the chevreuil (roe-deer) just where he had jumped across +the road. The wild boar was easy to trace--little twigs broken, and +ferns and leaves quite crushed, where he had passed. The wild boars +and stags never stayed very long in our woods--went through merely to +the forest of Villers-Cotterets--so it was most important to know the +exact moment of their passage, and there was great pride and +excitement when one was taken. + +Another interesting moment was when the coupe de l'année was being +made. Parts of the woods were cut down regularly every year, certain +squares marked off. The first day's work was the marking of the big +trees along the alleys which were to remain--a broad red ring around +the trunks being very conspicuous. Then came the thinning of the +trees, cutting off the top branches, and that was really a curious +sight. The men climbed high into the tree, and then hung on to the +trunk with iron clamps on their feet, with points which stuck into the +bark, and apparently gave them a perfectly secure hold, but it looked +dangerous to see them swinging off from the trunk with a sort of axe +in their hands, cutting off the branches with a swift, sharp stroke. +When they finally attacked the big trees that were to come down it was +a much longer affair, and they made slow progress. They knew their +work well, the exact moment when the last blow had been given, and +they must spring aside to get out of the way when the tree fell with a +great crash. + +There were usually two or three big battues in November for the +neighbouring farmers and small proprietors. The breakfast always took +place at the keeper's house. We had arranged one room as a +dining-room, and the keeper's wife was a very good cook; her omelette +au lard and civet de lièvre, classic dishes for a shooting breakfast, +were excellent. The repast always ended with a galette aux amandes +made by the chef of the château. I generally went down to the kennels +at the end of the day, and it was a pretty sight when the party +emerged from the woods, first the shooters, then a regiment of beaters +(men who track the game), the game cart with a donkey bringing up the +rear--the big game, chevreuil or boar, at the bottom of the cart, the +hares and rabbits hanging from the sides. The sportsmen all came back +to the keeper's lodge to have a drink before starting off on their +long drive home, and there was always a great discussion over the +entries in the game book and the number of pièces each man had killed. +It was a very difficult account to make, as every man counted many +more rabbits than the trackers had found, so they were obliged to make +an average of the game that had been brought in. When all the guests +had departed it was killing to hear the old keeper's criticisms. + +[Illustration: There were all sorts and kinds.] + +Another important function was a large breakfast to all the mayors, +conseillers d'arrondissement, and rich farmers of W.'s canton. That +always took place at the château, and Mme. A. and I appeared at table. +There were all sorts and kinds--some men in dress coats and white +gloves, some very rough specimens in corduroys and thick-nailed shoes, +having begun life as garçons de ferme (ploughboys). They were all +intelligent, well up in politics, and expressed themselves very well, +but I think, on the whole, they were pleased when Mme. A. and I +withdrew and they went into the gallery for their coffee and cigars. +Mme. A. was extraordinarily easy--talked to them all. They came in +exactly the same sort of equipage, a light, high, two-wheeled trap +with a hood, except the Mayor of La Ferté, our big town, who came in +his victoria. + +I went often with W. to some of the big farms to see the +sheep-shearing and the dairies, and cheese made. The farmer's wife in +France is a very capable, hard-working woman--up early, seeing to +everything herself, and ruling all her carters and ploughboys with a +heavy hand. Once a week, on market day, she takes her cheeses to the +market town, driving herself in her high gig, and several times I have +seen some of them coming home with a cow tied to their wagon behind, +which they had bought at the market. They were always pleased to see +us, delighted to show anything we wanted to see, offered us +refreshment--bread and cheese, milk and wine--but never came to see me +at the château. I made the round of all the châteaux with Mme. A. to +make acquaintance with the neighbours. They were all rather far off, +but I loved the long drives, almost always through the forest, which +was quite beautiful in all seasons, changing like the sea. It was +delightful in midsummer, the branches of the big trees almost meeting +over our heads, making a perfect shade, and the long, straight, green +alleys stretching away before us, as far as we could see. When the +wood was a little less thick, the afternoon sun would make long +zigzags of light through the trees and trace curious patterns upon the +hard white road when we emerged occasionally for a few minutes from +the depths of the forest at a cross-road. It was perfectly still, but +summer stillness, when one hears the buzzing and fluttering wings of +small birds and insects, and is conscious of life around one. + +The most beautiful time for the forest is, of course, in the autumn. +October and November are lovely months, with the changing foliage, the +red and yellow almost as vivid as in America, and always a foreground +of moss and brown ferns, which grow very thick and high all through +the forest. We used to drive sometimes over a thick carpet of red and +yellow leaves, hardly hearing the horses' hoofs or the noise of the +wheels, and when we turned our faces homeward toward the sunset there +was really a glory of colour in wood and sky. It was always curiously +lonely--we rarely met anything or anyone, occasionally a group of +wood-cutters or boys exercising dogs and horses from the +hunting-stables of Villers-Cotterets. At long intervals we would come +to a keeper's lodge, standing quite alone in the middle of the forest, +generally near a carrefour where several roads met. There was always a +small clearing--garden and kennels, and a perfectly comfortable house, +but it must be a lonely life for the women when their husbands are off +all day on their rounds. I asked one of them once, a pretty, smiling +young woman who always came out when the carriage passed, with three +or four children hanging to her skirts, if she was never afraid, being +alone with small children and no possibility of help, if any drunkards +or evilly disposed men came along. She said no--that tramps and +vagabonds never came into the heart of the forest, and always kept +clear of the keeper's house, as they never knew where he and his gun +might be. She said she had had one awful night with a sick child. She +was alone in the house with two other small children, almost babies, +while her husband had to walk several miles to get a doctor. The long +wait was terrible. I got to know all the keepers' wives on our side of +the forest quite well, and it was always a great interest to them when +we passed on horseback, so few women rode in that part of France in +those days. + +Sometimes, when we were in the heart of the forest, a stag with +wide-spreading antlers would bound across the road; sometimes a pretty +roebuck would come to the edge of the wood and gallop quickly back as +we got near. + +We had a nice couple at the lodge, an old cavalry soldier who had been +for years coachman at the château and who had married a Scotchwoman, +nurse of one of the children. It was curious to see the tall, gaunt +figure of the Scotchwoman, always dressed in a short linsey skirt, +loose jacket, and white cap, in the midst of the chattering, excitable +women of the village. She looked so unlike them. Our peasant women +wear, too, a short; thick skirt, loose jacket, and worsted or knit +stockings, but they all wear sabots and on their heads a turban made +of bright-coloured cotton; the older women, of course--the girls wear +nothing on their heads. They become bent and wrinkled very soon--old +women before their time--having worked always in the fields and +carried heavy burdens on their backs. The Scotchwoman kept much to +herself and rarely left the park. But all the women came to her with +their troubles. Nearly always the same story--the men spending their +earnings on drink and the poor mothers toiling and striving from dawn +till dark to give the little ones enough to eat. She was a strict +Protestant, very taciturn and reserved, quite the type of the old +Calvinist race who fought so hard against the "Scarlet Woman" when the +beautiful and unhappy Mary Stuart was reigning in Scotland and trying +to rule her wild subjects. I often went to see her and she would tell +me of her first days at the château, where everything was so different +from what she was accustomed to. + +She didn't tell me what Mme. A. did--that she was a very handsome girl +and all the men of the establishment fell in love with her. There were +dramas of jealousy when she finally decided to marry the coachman. Our +chef had learned how to make various English cakes in London, and +whenever he made buns or a plum-pudding we used to take some to her. +She was a great reader, and we always kept the _Times_ for her, and +she and I sympathised with each other--two Anglo-Saxons married in +France. + +Some of the traditions of the château were quite charming. I was +sitting in the lodge one day talking to Mme. Antoine, when the baker +appeared with what seemed to me an extraordinary provision of bread. I +said, "Does he leave the bread for the whole village with you?" "It is +not for me, madame, it is for the traînards (tramps) who pass on the +road," and she explained that all the châteaux gave a piece of bread +and two sous to any wayfarer who asked for food. She cut the bread +into good thick slices, and showed me a wooden bowl on the chimney, +filled with two-sous pieces. While I was there two men appeared at the +big gates, which were always open in the day. They were strong young +fellows carrying their bundles, and a sort of pitchfork slung over +their shoulders. They looked weary and footsore, their shoes worn in +holes. They asked for something to drink and some tobacco, didn't care +very much for the water, which was all that Mme. Antoine had to give +them, but thanked her civilly enough for the bread and sous. + +The park wall was a good vantage-ground to see all (and that wasn't +much) that went on on the highroad. The diligence to Meaux passed +twice a day, with a fine rattle of old wheels and chains, and cracking +of whips. It went down the steep hill well enough, but coming up was +quite another affair. All the passengers and the driver got out +always, and even then it was difficult to get the heavy, cumbersome +vehicle up the hill, in winter particularly, when the roads were muddy +and slippery. The driver knew us all well, and was much interested in +all that went on at the château. He often brought parcels, and +occasionally people from the village who wanted to see W.--sometimes a +blind piano-tuner who came from Villers-Cotterets. He was very kind to +the poor blind man, helped him down most carefully from the diligence, +and always brought him through the park gates to the lodge, where he +delivered him over to Antoine. It was curious to see the blind man at +work. Once he had been led through the rooms, he was quite at home, +found the pianos, fussed over the keys and the strings, exactly as if +he saw everything. He tuned all the pianos in the country, and was +much pleased to put his hands on one that wasn't fifty years old. I +had brought down my new Erard. + +Sometimes a country wedding passed, and that was always a pretty +sight. A marriage is always an important affair in France in every +class of life. There are long discussions with all the members of the +two families. The curé, the notary, the patron (if the young man is a +workman), are all consulted, and there are as many negotiations and +agreements in the most humble families as in the grand monde of the +Faubourg St. Germain. Almost all French parents give a dot of some +kind to their children, and whatever the sum is, either five hundred +francs or two thousand, it is always scrupulously paid over to the +notary. The wedding-day is a long one. After the religious ceremony in +the church, all the wedding party--members of the two families and a +certain number of friends--adjourn to the hotel of the little town for +a breakfast, which is long and most abundant. Then comes the crowning +glory of the day--a country walk along the dusty highroad to some wood +or meadow where they can spend the whole afternoon. It is pretty to +see the little procession trudging along--the bride in all her wedding +garments, white dress, white shoes, wreath, and veil; the groom in a +dress coat, top-hat, white cravat and waistcoat, with a white ribbon +bow on his sleeve. Almost all the girls and young women are dressed in +white or light colours; the mothers and grandmothers (the whole family +turns out) in black with flowers in their bonnets. There is usually a +fiddler walking ahead making most remarkable sounds on his old cracked +instrument, and the younger members of the party take an occasional +gallop along the road. They are generally very gay; there is much +laughing, and from time to time a burst of song. It is always a +mystery to me how the bride keeps her dress and petticoat so clean, +but she does, with that extraordinary knack all Frenchwomen seem to +have of holding up their skirts. They passed often under the wall of +the château, for a favourite resting-place was in our woods at the +entrance of the allée verte, where it widens out a little; the moss +makes a beautiful soft carpet, and the big trees give perfect shade. +We heard sounds of merriment one day when we were passing and we +stopped to look on, from behind the bushes, where we couldn't be seen. +There was quite a party assembled. The fiddler was playing some sort +of country-dance and all the company, except the very old people, were +dancing and singing, some of the men indulging in most wonderful steps +and capers. The children were playing and running under the trees. One +stout man was asleep, stretched out full length on the side of the +road. I fancy his piquette, as they call the ordinary white wine of +the country, had been too much for him. The bride and groom were +strolling about a little apart from the others, quite happy and +lover-like, his arm around her waist, she blushing and giggling. + +The gendarmes passed also very regularly. They always stopped and +talked, had a drink with Antoine, and gave all the local news--how +many braconniers (poachers) had been caught, how long they were to +stay in prison, how some of the farmers' sheep had disappeared, no one +knew how exactly--there were no more robbers. One day two of them +passed, dragging a man between them who had evidently been struggling +and fighting. His blouse was torn, and there was a great gash on his +face. We were wildly excited, of course. They told us he was an old +sinner, a poacher who had been in prison various times, but these last +days, not contented with setting traps for the rabbits, he had set +fire to some of the hay-stacks, and they had been hunting for him for +some time. He looked a rough customer, had an ugly scowl on his face. +One of the little hamlets near the château, on the canal, was a +perfect nest of poachers, and I had continual struggles with the +keepers when I gave clothes or blankets to the women and children. +They said some of the women were as bad as the men, and that I ought +not to encourage them to come up to the house and beg for food and +clothing; that they sold all the little jackets and petticoats we gave +them to the canal hands (also a bad lot) for brandy. I believe it was +true in some cases, but in the middle of winter, with snow on the +ground (we were hardly warm in the house with big fires everywhere), I +couldn't send away women with four or five children, all +insufficiently clothed and fed, most of them in cotton frocks with an +old worn knit shawl around their shoulders, legs and arms bare and +chapped, half frozen. Some of them lived in caverns or great holes in +the rocks, really like beasts. On the road to La Ferté there was a big +hole (there is no other word for it) in the bank where a whole family +lived. The man was always in prison for something, and his wife, a +tall, gaunt figure, with wild hair and eyes, spent most of her time in +the woods teaching her boys to set traps for the game. The curé told +us that one of the children was ill, and that there was literally +nothing in the house, so I took one of my cousins with me, and we +climbed up the bank, leaving the carriage with Hubert, the coachman, +expostulating seriously below. We came to a rickety old door which +practically consisted of two rotten planks nailed together. It was +ajar; clouds of black smoke poured out as we opened it, and it was +some time before we could see anything. We finally made out a heap of +filthy rags in one corner near a sort of fire made of charred pieces +of black peat. Two children, one a boy about twelve years old, was +lying on the heap of rags, coughing his heart out. He hardly raised +his head when we came in. Another child, a girl, some two years +younger, was lying beside him, both of them frightfully thin and +white; one saw nothing but great dark eyes in their faces. The mother +was crouched on the floor close to the children. She hardly moved at +first, and was really a terrifying object when she got up; half +savage, scarcely clothed--a short petticoat in holes and a ragged +bodice gaping open over her bare skin, no shoes or stockings; big +black eyes set deep in her head, and a quantity of unkempt black hair. +She looked enormous when she stood up, her head nearly touching the +roof. I didn't feel very comfortable, but we were two, and the +carriage and Hubert within call. The woman was civil enough when she +saw I had not come empty-handed. We took her some soup, bread, and +milk. The children pounced upon the bread like little wild animals. +The mother didn't touch anything while we were there--said she was +glad to have the milk for the boy. I never saw human beings living in +such utter filth and poverty. A crofter's cottage in Scotland, or an +Irish hovel with the pigs and children all living together, was a +palace compared to that awful hole. I remonstrated vigorously with W. +and the Mayor of La Ferté for allowing people to live in that way, +like beasts, upon the highroad, close to a perfectly prosperous +country town. However, they were vagrants, couldn't live anywhere, for +when we passed again, some days later, there was no one in the hole. +The door had fallen down, there was no smoke coming out, and the +neighbours told us the family had suddenly disappeared. The +authorities then took up the matter--the holes were filled up, and no +one was allowed to live in them. It really was too awful--like the +dwellers in caves of primeval days. + +We didn't have many visits at the château, though we were so near +Paris (only about an hour and a half by the express), but the old +people had got accustomed to their quiet life, and visitors would have +worried them. Sometimes a Protestant pasteur would come down for two +days. We had a nice visit once from M. de Pressensé, father of the +present deputy, one of the most charming, cultivated men one could +imagine. He talked easily and naturally, using beautiful language. He +was most interesting when he told us about the Commune, and all the +horrors of that time in Paris. He was in the Tuileries when the mob +sacked and burned the palace; saw the femmes de la halle sitting on +the brocade and satin sofas, saying, "C'est nous les princesses +maintenant"; saw the entrance of the troops from Versailles, and the +quantity of innocent people shot who were merely standing looking on +at the barricades, having never had a gun in their hands. The only +thing I didn't like was his long extempore (to me familiar) prayers at +night. I believe it is a habit in some old-fashioned French Protestant +families to pray for each member of the family by name. I thought it +was bad enough when he prayed for the new ménage just beginning their +married life (that was us), that they might be spiritually guided to +do their best for each other and their respective families; but when +he proceeded to _name_ some others of the family who had strayed a +little from the straight and narrow path, hoping they would be brought +to see, by Divine grace, the error of their ways, I was horrified, and +could hardly refrain from expressing my opinion to the old people. +However, I was learning prudence, and when my opinion and judgment +were diametrically opposed to those of my new family (which happened +often) I kept them to myself. Sunday was strictly kept. There was no +Protestant church anywhere near. We had a service in the morning in M. +A.'s library. He read prayers and a short sermon, all the household +appearing, as most of the servants were Swiss and Protestants. In the +afternoon Mme. A. had all the village children at the château. She had +a small organ in one of the rooms in the wing of the dining-room, +taught them hymns and read them simple little stories. The curé was +rather anxious at first, having his little flock under such a +dangerous heretic influence, but he very soon realized what an +excellent thing it was for the children, and both he and the mothers +were much disappointed when anything happened to put off the lesson. +They didn't see much of the curé. He would pay one formal visit in the +course of the year, but there was never any intimacy. + +We lived much for ourselves, and for a few months in the year it was a +rest and change from Paris, and the busy, agitated life, social and +political, that one always led there. I liked the space, too, the +great high, empty rooms, with no frivolous little tables and screens +or stuff on the walls, no photograph stands nor fancy vases for +flowers, no bibelot of any kind--large, heavy pieces of furniture +which were always found every morning in exactly the same place. Once +or twice, in later years, I tried to make a few changes, but it was +absolutely useless to contend with a wonderful old servant called +Ferdinand, who was over sixty years old, and had been brought up at +the château, had always remained there with the various owners, and +who knew every nook and corner of the house and everything that was in +it. It was years before I succeeded in talking to him. I used to meet +him sometimes on the stairs and corridors, always running, and +carrying two or three pails and brooms. If he could, he dived into any +open door when he saw me coming, and apparently never heard me when I +spoke, for he never answered. He was a marvellous servant, cleaned the +whole house, opened and shut all the windows night and morning (almost +work enough for one man), lit the calorifères, scrubbed and swept and +polished floors from early dawn until ten o'clock, when we left the +salon. He never lived with the other servants, cooked his own food at +his own hours in his room, and his only companion was a large black +cat, which always followed him about. He did W.'s service, and W. said +that they used to talk about all sorts of things, but I fancy master +and servant were equally reticent and understood each other without +many words. + +I slipped one day on the very slippery wooden steps leading from W.'s +little study to the passage. Baby did the same, and got a nasty fall +on the stone flags, so I asked W. if he would ask Ferdinand to put a +strip of carpet on the steps (there were only four). W. gave the +order, but no carpet appeared. He repeated it rather curtly. The old +Ferdinand made no answer, but grumbled to himself over his broom that +it was perfectly foolish and useless to put down a piece of carpet, +that for sixty years people and children, and babies, had walked down +those steps and no one had ever thought of asking for carpets. W. had +really rather to apologize and explain that his wife was nervous and +unused to such highly polished floors. However, we became great +friends afterward, Ferdinand and I, and when he understood how fond I +was of the château, he didn't mind my deranging the furniture a +little. Two grand pianos were a great trial to him. I think he would +have liked to put one on top of the other. + +[Illustration: Ferdinand.] + +The library, quite at one end of the house, separated from the +drawing-room we always sat in by a second large salon, was a +delightful, quiet resort when any one wanted to read or write. There +were quantities of books, French, English, and German--the classics in +all three languages, and a fine collection of historical memoirs. + + + + +II + +COUNTRY VISITS + + +We didn't pay many visits; but sometimes, when the weather was fine +and there was no hunting, and W. gone upon an expedition to some +outlying village, Mme. A. and I would start off for one of the +neighbouring châteaux. We went one day to the château de C, where +there was a large family party assembled, four generations--the old +grandmother, her son and daughter, both married, the daughter's +daughter, also married, and her children. It was a pretty drive, +about an hour all through the forest. The house is quite modern, not +at all pretty, a square white building, with very few trees near it, +the lawn and one or two flower-beds not particularly well kept. The +grounds ran straight down to the Villers-Cotterets forest, where M. +M. has good shooting. The gates were open, the concierge said the +ladies were there. (They didn't have to be summoned by a bell. That +is one of the habits of this part of the country. There is almost +always a large bell at the stable or "communs," and when visitors +arrive and the family are out in the grounds, not too far off, they +are summoned by the bell. I was quite surprised one day at +Bourneville, when we were in the woods at some little distance from +the château, when we heard the bell, and my companion, a niece of +Mme. A., instantly turned back, saying, "That means there are visits; +we must go back.") We found all the ladies sitting working in a +corner salon with big windows opening on the park. The old +grandmother was knitting, but she was so straight and slight, with +bright black eyes, that it wouldn't have seemed at all strange to see +her bending over an embroidery frame like all the others. The other +three ladies were each seated at an embroidery frame in the +embrasures of the windows. I was much impressed, particularly with +the large pieces of work that they were undertaking, a portière, +covers for the billiard-table, bed, etc. It quite recalled what one +had always read of feudal France, when the seigneur would be off with +his retainers hunting or fighting, and the châtelaine, left alone in +the château, spent her time in her "bower" surrounded by her maidens, +all working at the wonderful tapestries one sees still in some of the +old churches and convents. I was never much given to work, but I made +a mental resolve that I, too, would set up a frame in one of the +drawing-rooms at home, and had visions of yards of pale-blue satin, +all covered with wonderful flowers and animals, unrolling themselves +under my skilful fingers--but I must confess that it remained a +vision. I never got further than little crochet petticoats, which +clothed every child in the village. To make the picture complete +there should have been a page in velvet cap and doublet, stretched on +the floor at the feet of his mistress, trying to distract her with +songs and ballads. The master of the house, M. M., was there, having +come in from shooting. He had been reading aloud to the +ladies--Alfred de Musset, I think. That part of the picture I could +never realize, as there is nothing W. loathes like reading aloud +except, perhaps, being read to. + +They were very friendly and easy, showed us the downstairs part of the +house, and gave us goûter, not tea, wine and cake. The house looked +comfortable enough, nothing picturesque; a large square hall with +horns, whips, foxes' brushes, antlers, and all sorts of trophies of +the chase on the walls. They are sporting people; all ride. The +dining-room, a large bright room, was panelled with life-size +portraits of the family: M. and Mme. M. in hunting dress, green coats, +tricorne hats, _on_ their horses; the daughter of the house and one of +her brothers, rowing in a boat on a small lake; the eldest son in +shooting dress, corduroys, his gun slung over his shoulder, his dog by +his side. They were all very like. + +[Illustration: "Merci, je vais bien."] + +We strolled about the garden a little, and saw lots of pheasants +walking peacefully about at the edge of the woods. They made me +promise to come back one day with W., he to shoot and I to walk about +with the ladies. We saw the children of the fourth generation, and +left with the impression of a happy, simple family party. M. M. was a +conseiller général of the Aisne and a colleague of W.'s. They always +stayed at the same hotel (de la Hure) in Laon at the time of the +conseil général, and M. M. was much amused at first with W.'s baggage: +a large bath-tub, towels (for in small French provincial hotels towels +were microscopic and few in number), and a package of tea, which was +almost an unknown commodity in those days. None of our visitors ever +took any, and always excused themselves with the same phrase, "Merci, +je vais bien," evidently looking upon it as some strange and hurtful +medicine. That has all changed, like everything else. Now one finds +tea not only at all the châteaux, with brioches and toast, but even in +all the hotels, but I wouldn't guarantee what we get there as ever +having seen China or Ceylon, and it is still wiser to take chocolate +or coffee, which is almost always good. We had a lovely drive back. +The forest was beautiful in the waning light. As usual, we didn't meet +any vehicle of any kind, and were quite excited when we saw a carriage +approaching in the distance--however, it proved to be W. in his +dog-cart. We passed through one or two little villages quite lost in +the forest--always the same thing, one long, straggling street, with +nobody in it, a large farm at one end and very often the church at the +other. As it was late, the farm gates were all open, the cattle +inside, teams of white oxen drinking out of a large trough. + +In a large farm near Boursonne there was much animation and +conversation. All the beasts were in, oxen, cows, horses, chickens, +and in one corner, a flock of geese. The poor little "goose girl," a +child about ten years old with bright-blue eyes and a pig-tail like +straw hanging down her back, was being scolded violently by the +farmer's wife, who was presiding in person over the rentrée of the +animals, for having brought her geese home on a run. They wouldn't +eat, and would certainly all be ill, and probably die before morning. +There is a pretty little old château at Boursonne; the park, however, +so shut in by high walls that one sees nothing in passing. W. had shot +there once or twice in former years, but it has changed hands very +often. + +[Illustration: Long pauses when nobody seemed to have anything to say.] + +Sometimes we paid more humble visits, not to châteaux, but to the +principal people of the little country town near, from which we had +all our provisions. We went to see the doctor's wife, the notary's +wife, the mayor's wife, and the two schools--the asile or infant +school, and the more important school for bigger girls. The old doctor +was quite a character, had been for years in the country, knew +everybody and everybody's private history. He was the doctor of the +château, by the year, attended to everybody, masters and servants, and +received a regular salary, like a secretary. He didn't come very often +for us in his medical capacity, but he often dropped in at the end of +the day to have a talk with W. The first time I saw him W. presented +him to me, as un bon ami de la famille. I naturally put out my hand, +which so astonished and disconcerted him (he barely touched the tips +of my fingers) that I was rather bewildered. W. explained after he had +gone that in that class of life in France they never shook hands with +a lady, and that the poor man was very much embarrassed. He was very +useful to W. as a political agent, as he was kind to the poor people +and took small (or no) fees. They all loved him, and talked to him +quite freely. His women-kind were very shy and provincial. I think our +visits were a great trial to them. They always returned them most +punctiliously, and came in all their best clothes. When we went to see +them we generally found them in short black skirts, and when they were +no longer very young, with black caps, but they always had handsome +silk dresses, velvet cloaks, and hats with flowers and feathers when +they came to see us. Some of them took the cup of tea we offered, but +they didn't know what to do with it, and sat on the edge of their +chairs, looking quite miserable until we relieved them of the burden +of the tea-cup. Mme. A. was rather against the tea-table; she +preferred the old-fashioned tray handed around with wine and cakes, +but I persuaded her to try, and after a little while she acknowledged +that it was better to have the tea-table brought in. It made a +diversion; I got up to make the tea. Someone gave me a chair, someone +else handed the cups. It made a little movement, and was not so stiff +as when we all sat for over an hour on the same chairs making +conversation. It is terrible to have to make conversation, and +extraordinary how little one finds to say. We had always talked easily +enough at home, but then things came more naturally, and even the +violent family discussions were amusing, but my recollection of these +French provincial visits is something awful. Everybody so polite, so +stiff, and the long pauses when nobody seemed to have anything to say. +I of course was a novelty and a foreign element--they didn't quite +know what to do with me. Even to Mme. A., and I grew very fond of her, +and she was invariably charming to me, I was something different. We +had many talks on every possible subject during our long drives, and +also in the winter afternoons. At first I had my tea always upstairs +in my own little salon, which I loved with the curtains drawn, a +bright wood-fire burning, and all my books about; but when I found +that she sat alone in the big drawing-room, not able to occupy herself +in any way, I asked her if I might order my tea there, and there were +very few afternoons that I didn't sit with her when I was at home. She +talked often about her early married life--winters in Cannes and in +Paris, where they received a great deal, principally Protestants, and +I fancy she sometimes regretted the interchange of ideas and the +brilliant conversation she had been accustomed to, but she never said +it. She was never tired of hearing about my early days in America--our +family life--the extraordinary liberty of the young people, etc. We +often talked over the religious question, and though we were both +Protestants, we were as far apart almost as if one was a pagan. +Protestantism in France always has seemed to me such a rigid form of +worship, so little calculated to influence young people or draw them +to church. The plain, bare churches with white-washed walls, the long +sermons and extempore prayers, speaking so much of the anger of God +and the terrible punishments awaiting the sinner, the trials and +sorrows that must come to all. I often think of a sermon I heard +preached in one Protestant church, to the boys and girls who were +making their first communion--all little things, the girls in their +white frocks and long white veils, the boys with white waistcoats and +white ribbons on their arms, making such a pretty group as they sat on +the front benches listening hard to all the preacher said. I wondered +that the young, earnest faces didn't suggest something to him besides +the horrors of eternal punishment, the wickedness and temptations of +the world they were going to face, but his only idea seemed to be that +he must warn them of all the snares and temptations that were going to +beset their paths. Mme. A. couldn't understand my ideas when I said I +loved the Episcopal service--the prayers and litany I had always +heard, the Easter and Christmas hymns I had always sung, the carols, +the anthems, the great organ, the flowers at Easter, the greens at +Christmas. All that seemed to her to be a false sentiment appealing to +the senses and imagination. "But if it brings people to church, and +the beautiful music elevates them and raises their thoughts to higher +things--" "That is not religion; real religion means the prayer of St. +Chrysostom, 'Where two or three are gathered together in My name I +will grant their requests.'" "That is very well for really religious, +strong people who think out their religion and don't care for any +outward expression of it, but for weaker souls who want to be helped, +and who are helped by the beautiful music and the familiar prayers, +surely it is better to give them something that brings them to church +and makes them better men and women than to frighten them away with +such strict, uncompromising doctrines--" "No, that is only sentiment, +not real religious feeling." I don't think we ever understood each +other any better on that subject, and we discussed it so often. + + * * * * * + +Mme. A., with whom I made my round of calls at the neighbouring +châteaux, was a charming companion. She had lived a great deal in +Paris, in the Protestant coterie, which was very intellectual and +cultivated. The salons of the Duchesse de Broglie, Mmes. de Staël, +d'Haussonvìlle, Guizot, were most interesting and recherchés, very +exclusive and very serious, but a centre for all political and +literary talk. I have often heard my husband say some of the best +talkers in society s'étaient formés dans ces salons, where, as young +men, they listened modestly to all the brilliant conversation going on +around them. + +It was an exception when we found anyone at home when we called in the +neighbourhood, and when we did, it was evident that afternoon visits +were a rarity. We did get in one cold November afternoon, and our +visit was a sample of many others that we paid. + +The door was opened by a footman struggling into his coat, with a +handful of faggots in his arms. He ushered us through several bare, +stiff, cold rooms (proportions handsome enough) to a smaller salon, +which the family usually occupied. Then he lighted a fire (which +consisted principally of smoke) and went to summon his mistress. The +living-room was just as bare and stiff as the others, no trace of +anything that looked like habitation or what we should consider +comfort--no books nor work nor flowers (that, however, is +comparatively recent in France). I remember quite well Mme. +Casimir-Périer telling me that when she went with her husband to St. +Petersburg about fifty years ago, one of the things that struck her +most in the Russian salons, was the quantity of green plants and cut +flowers--she had never seen them in France. There were often fine +pictures, tapestries, and furniture, all the chairs in a row against +the wall. + +[Illustration: Then he lighted a fire.] + +Our visits were always long, as most of the châteaux were at a certain +distance, and we were obliged to stay an hour and a half, sometimes +longer, to rest the horses. It was before the days of five-o'clock +tea. A tray was brought in with sweet wine (Malaga or Vin de Chypre) +and cakes (ladies'-fingers) which evidently had figured often before +on similar occasions. Conversation languished sometimes, though Mme. +A. was wonderful, talking so easily about everything. In the smaller +places, when people rarely went to Paris, it ran always in the same +grooves--the woods, the hunting (very good in the Villers-Cotterets +forest), the schoolmaster (so difficult to get proper books for the +children to read), the curé, and all local gossip, and as much about +the iniquities of the republic as could be said before the wife of a +republican senator. Wherever we went, even to the largest châteaux, +where the family went to Paris for the season, the talk was almost +entirely confined to France and French interests. Books, politics, +music, people, nothing existed apparently au-delà des frontières. +America was an unknown quantity. It was strange to see intelligent +people living in the world so curiously indifferent as to what went on +in other countries. At first I used to talk a little about America and +Rome, where I had lived many years and at such an interesting +time--the last days of Pio Nono and the transformation of the old +superstitious papal Rome to the capital of young Italy--but I soon +realized that it didn't interest any one, and by degrees I learned to +talk like all the rest. + +I often think of one visit to a charming little Louis XV château +standing quite on the edge of the forest--just room enough for the +house, and the little hamlet at the gates; a magnificent view of the +forest, quite close to the lawn behind the château, and then sweeping +off, a dark-blue mass, as far as one could see. We were shown into a +large, high room, no carpet, no fire, some fine portraits, very little +furniture, all close against the wall, a round table in the middle +with something on it, I couldn't make out what at first. Neither +books, reviews, nor even a photographic album--the supreme resource of +provincial salons. When we got up to take leave I managed to get near +the table, and the _ornament_ was a large white plate with a piece of +fly-paper on it. The mistress of the house was shy and uncomfortable; +sent at once for her husband, and withdrew from the conversation as +soon as he appeared, leaving him to make all the "frais." We walked a +little around the park before leaving. It was really a lovely little +place, with its background of forest and the quiet, sleepy little +village in front; very lonely and far from everything, but with a +certain charm of its own. Two or three dogs were playing in the +court-yard, and one curious little animal who made a rush at the +strangers. I was rather taken aback, particularly when the master of +the house told me not to be afraid, it was only a marcassin (small +wild boar), who had been born on the place, and was as quiet as a +kitten. I did not think the great tusks and square, shaggy head looked +very pleasant, but the little thing was quiet enough, came and rubbed +itself against its master's legs and played quite happily with the +dogs. We heard afterward that they were obliged to kill it. It grew +fierce and unmanageable, and no one would come near the place. + + * * * * * + +I took Henrietta with me sometimes when I had a distant visit to pay; +an hour and a half's drive alone on a country road where you never +meet anything was rather dull. We went one cold December afternoon to +call upon Mme. B., the widow of an old friend and colleague of W.'s. +We were in the open carriage, well wrapped up, and enjoyed the drive +immensely. The country looked beautiful in the bright winter sunshine, +the distant forest always in a blue mist, the trees with their +branches white with "givre" (hoarfrost), and patches of snow and ice +all over the fields. + +For a wonder we didn't go through the forest--drove straight away from +it and had charming effects of colour upon some of the thatched +cottages in the villages we passed through; one or two had been mended +recently and the mixture of old brown, bright red and glistening white +was quite lovely. + +We went almost entirely along the great plains, occasionally small +bits of wood and very fair hills as we got near our destination. The +villages always very scattered and almost deserted--when it is cold +everybody stays indoors--and of course there is no work to be done on +the farms when the ground is hard frozen. It is a difficult question +to know what to do with the men of all the small hamlets when the real +winter sets in; the big farms turn off many of their labourers, and as +it is a purely agricultural country all around us there is literally +nothing to do. My husband and several of the owners of large estates +gave work to many with their regular "coupe" of wood, but that only +lasts a short time, and the men who are willing to work but can find +nothing drift naturally into cafés and billiard saloons, where they +read cheap bad papers and talk politics of the wildest description. + +We found our château very well situated on the top of a hill, a good +avenue leading up to the gate, a pretty little park with fine trees at +the back, the tower of the village church just visible through the +trees at the end of the central alley. It was hardly a château--half +manor, half farm. We drove into a large courtyard, or rather farmyard, +quite deserted; no one visible anywhere; the door of the house was +open, but there was no bell nor apparently any means of communicating +with any one. Hubert cracked his whip noisily several times without +any result--and we were just wondering what we should do (perhaps put +our cards under a stone on the steps) when a man appeared, said Mme. +B. was at home, but she was in the stable looking after a sick cow--he +would go and tell her we were there. In a few minutes she appeared +attired in a short, rusty-black skirt, sabots on her feet, and a black +woollen shawl over her head and shoulders. She seemed quite pleased to +see us--was not at all put out at being caught in such very simple +attire--begged us to come in and ushered us through a long, narrow +hall and several cold, comfortless rooms, the shutters not open and no +fire anywhere, into her bedroom. All the furniture--chairs, tables and +bed--was covered with linen. She explained that it was her "lessive" +(general wash) she had just made, that all the linen was _dry_, but +she had not had time to put it away. She called a maid and they +cleared off two chairs--she sat on the bed. + +It was frightfully cold--we were thankful we had kept our wraps on. +She said she supposed we would like a fire after our long, cold drive, +and rang for a man to bring some wood. He (in his shirt sleeves) +appeared with two or three logs of wood and was preparing to make a +fire with them all, but she stopped him, said one log was enough, the +ladies were not going to stay long--so, naturally, we had no fire and +clouds of smoke. She was very talkative, never stopped--told us all +about her servants, her husband's political campaigns and how W. would +never have been named to the Conseil Général if M.B. hadn't done all +his work for him. She asked a great many questions, answering them all +herself; then said, "I don't offer you any tea, as I know you always +go back to have your tea at home, and I am quite sure you don't want +any wine." + +There was such an evident reluctance to give us anything that I didn't +like to insist, and said we must really be going as we had a long +drive before us, though I should have liked something hot; tea, of +course, she knew nothing about, but even a glass of ordinary hot wine, +which they make very well in France, would have been acceptable. +Henrietta was furious; she was shivering with cold, her eyes smarting +with the smoke, and not at all interested in M.B.'s political career, +or Madame's servants, and said she would have been thankful to have +even a glass of vin de Chypre. + +It was unfortunate, perhaps, that we had arrived during the "lessive"; +that is always a most important function in France. In almost all the +big houses in the country (small ones, too) that is the way they do +their washing; once a month or once every three months, according to +the size of the establishment, the whole washing of the household is +done; all the linen: master's, servants', guests'; house is turned +out; the linen closets cleaned and aired! Every one looks busy and +energetic. It is quite a long affair--lasts three or four days. I +often went to see the performance when we made our "lessive" at the +château every month. + +It always interested our English and American friends, as the washing +is never done in that way in either of their countries. It was very +convenient at our place as we had plenty of room. The "lavoir" stood +at the top of the steps leading into the kitchen gardens; there was a +large, square tank sunk in the ground, so that the women could kneel +to their work, then a little higher another of beautiful clear water, +all under cover. Just across the path there was a small house with a +blazing wood fire; in the middle an enormous tub where all the linen +was passed through wood ashes. There were four "lessiveuses" +(washerwomen), sturdy peasant women with very short skirts, sabots, +and turbans (made of blue and white checked calico) on their heads, +their strong red arms bared above the elbow. The Mère Michon, the +eldest of the four, directed everything and kept them well at work, +allowed very little talking; they generally chatter when they are +washing and very often quarrel. When they are washing at the public +"lavoir" in the village one hears their shrill voices from a great +distance. Our "lingère," Mme. Hubert, superintended the whole +operation; she was very keen about it and remonstrated vigorously when +they slapped the linen too hard sometimes with the little flat sticks, +like spades, they use. The linen all came out beautifully white and +smooth, hadn't the yellow look that all city-washed clothes have. + +I think Mme. B. was very glad to get rid of us, and to begin folding +her linen and putting it back in the big wooden wardrobes, that one +sees everywhere in France. Some of the old Norman wardrobes, with +handsome brass locks and beautifully carved doors, are real works of +art--very difficult to get and very expensive. Fifty years ago the +peasant did not understand the value of such a "meuble" and parted +with it easily--but now, with railways everywhere and strangers and +bric-à-brac people always on the lookout for a really old piece of +furniture, they understand quite well that they possess a treasure and +exact its full value. + +Our drive back was rather shorter, downhill almost all the way, the +horses going along at a good steady trot, knowing they were going +home. + +When we drew up at our own door Hubert remarked respectfully that he +thought it was the first time that Madame and Mademoiselle had ever +been received by a lady in sabots. + +We wondered afterward if she had personally attended to the cow--in +the way of poulticing or rubbing it. She certainly didn't wash her +hands afterward, and it rather reminded me of one of Charles de +Bunsen's stories when he was Secretary of Legation at Turin. In the +summer they took a villa in the country just out of the town and had +frequent visitors to lunch or dinner. One day two of their friends, +Italians, had spent the whole day with them; had walked in the garden, +picked fruit and flowers, played with the child and the dogs and the +pony, and as they were coming back to the house for dinner, Charles +suggested that they might like to come up to his dressing-room and +wash their hands before dinner--to which one of them replied, "Grazie, +non mi sporco facilmente" (literal translation, "Thanks, I don't dirty +myself easily"), and declined the offer of soap and water. + + * * * * * + +We paid two or three visits one year to the neighbouring châteaux, and +had one very pleasant afternoon at the Château de Pinon, belonging to +the Courval family. W. had known the late proprietor, the Vicomte de +Courval, very well. They had been colleagues of the Conseil Général of +the Aisne, were both very fond of the country and country life, and +used to have long talks in the evening, when the work of the day was +over, about plantation, cutting down trees, preservation of game, etc. +Without these talks, I think W. would have found the evenings at the +primitive little Hôtel de la Hure, at Laon, rather tedious. + +The château is not very old and has no historic interest. It was built +by a Monsieur du Bois, Vicomte de Courval, at the end of the +seventeenth century. He lived at first in the old feudal château of +which nothing now remains. Already times were changing--the thick +walls, massive towers, high, narrow windows, almost slits, and deep +moat, which were necessary in the old troubled days, when all isolated +châteaux might be called upon, at any time, to defend themselves from +sudden attack, had given way to the larger and more spacious +residences of which Mansard, the famous architect of Louis XIV, has +left so many chefs d'oeuvre. It was to Mansard that M. de Courval +confided the task of building the château as it now stands, while the +no less famous Le Notre was charged to lay out the park and gardens. + +It was an easy journey from B----ville to Pinon. An hour's drive through +our beautiful forest of Villers-Cotterets and another hour in the +train. We stopped at the little station of Anizy just outside the +gates of the park; a brougham was waiting for us and a very short +drive through a stately avenue brought us to the drawbridge and the +iron gates of the "Cour d'honneur." The house looked imposing; I had +an impression of a very high and very long façade with two towers +stretching out into the court-yard, which is very large, with fine old +trees and broad parterres of bright-coloured flowers on either side of +the steps. There was a wide moat of running water, the banks covered +with shrubs and flowers--the flowers were principally salvias and +chrysanthemums, as it was late in the season, but they made a warm bit +of colour. The house stands low, as do all houses surrounded by a +moat, but the park rises a little directly behind it and there is a +fine background of wood. + +We drew up at a flight of broad, shallow steps; the doors were open. +There were three or four footmen in the ante-room. While we were +taking off our wraps Mme. de Courval appeared; she was short, stout, +dressed in black, with that terrible black cap which all widows wear +in France--so different from the white cap and soft white muslin +collar and cuffs we are accustomed to. She had a charming, easy manner +and looked very intelligent and capable. It seems she managed the +property extremely well, made the tour of the house, woods and garden +every day with her "régisseur." W. had the highest opinion of her +business capacity--said she knew the exact market value of everything +on the place--from an old tree that must be cut down for timber to the +cheeses the farmer's wife made and sold at the Soissons market. + +She suggested that I should come upstairs to leave my heavy coat. We +went up a broad stone staircase, the walls covered with pictures and +engravings; one beautiful portrait of her daughter, the Marquise de +Chaponay, on horseback. There were handsome carved chests and china +vases on the landing, which opened on a splendid long gallery, very +high and light--bedrooms on one side, on the other big windows (ten or +twelve, I should think) looking over the park and gardens. She took me +to a large, comfortable room, bright wood fire blazing, and a pretty +little dressing-room opening out of it, furnished in a gay, +old-fashioned pattern of chintz. She said breakfast would be ready in +ten minutes--supposed I could find my way down, and left me to my own +devices. + +I found the family assembled in the drawing-room; four women: Mme. de +Courval and her daughter, the Marquise de Chaponay, a tall handsome +woman, and two other ladies of a certain age; I did not catch their +names, but they looked like all the old ladies one always sees in a +country house in France. I should think they were cousins or habituées +of the château, as they each had their embroidery frame and one a +little dog. I am haunted by the embroidery frames--I am sure I shall +end my days in a black cap, bending over a frame making portières or a +piano-cover. + +We breakfasted in a large square dining-room running straight through +the house, windows on each side. The room was all in wood +panelling--light gray--the sun streaming in through the windows. Mme. +de Courval put W. on her right, me on her other side. We had an +excellent breakfast, which we appreciated after our early start. There +was handsome old silver on the table and sideboard, which is a rare +thing in France, as almost all the silver was melted during the +Revolution. Both Mme. de Courval and her daughter were very easy and +animated. The Marquise de Chaponay told me she had known W. for years, +that in the old days before he became such a busy man and so engrossed +in politics he used to read Alfred de Musset to her, in her atelier, +while she painted. She supposed he read now to me--which he certainly +never did--as he always told me he hated reading aloud. They talked +politics, of course, but their opinions were the classic Faubourg St. +Germain opinions: "A Republic totally unfitted for France and the +French"--"none of the gentlemen in France really Republican at heart" +(with evidently a few exceptions)--W.'s English blood and education +having, of course, influenced him. + +As soon as breakfast was over one of the windows on the side of the +moat was opened and we all gave bread to the carp, handed to us by the +butler--small square pieces of bread in a straw basket. It was funny +to see the fish appear as soon as the window was opened--some of them +were enormous and very old. It seems they live to a great age; a +guardian of the Palace at Fontainebleau always shows one to tourists, +who is supposed to have been fed by the Emperor Napoleon. Those of +Pinon knew all about it, lifting their brown heads out of the water +and never missing their piece of bread. + +We went back to the drawing-room for coffee, passing through the +billiard room, where there are some good pictures. A fine life-size +portrait of General Moreau (father of Mme. de Courval) in uniform, by +Gerard--near it a trophy of four flags--Austrian, Saxon, Bavarian, and +Hungarian--taken by the General; over the trophy three or four "lames +d'honneur" (presentation swords) with name and inscription. There are +also some pretty women's portraits in pastel--very delicate colours in +old-fashioned oval frames--quite charming. + +The drawing-room was a very handsome room also panelled in light gray +carved wood; the furniture rather heavy and massive, curtains and +coverings of thick, bright flowered velvet, but it looked suitable in +that high old-fashioned room--light modern furniture would have been +out of place. + +As soon as we had finished our coffee we went for a walk--not the two +old ladies, who settled down at once to their embroidery frames; one +of them showed me her work--really quite beautiful--a church ornament +of some kind, a painted Madonna on a ground of white satin; she was +covering the whole ground with heavy gold embroidery, so thick it +looked like mosaic. + +The park is splendid, a real domain, all the paths and alleys +beautifully kept and every description of tree--M. de Courval was +always trying experiments with foreign trees and shrubs and apparently +most successfully. I think the park would have been charming in its +natural state, as there was a pretty little river running through the +grounds and some tangles of bushes and rocks that looked quite +wild--it might have been in the middle of the forest but everything +had been done to assist nature. There were a "pièce d'eau," cascades, +little bridges thrown over the river in picturesque spots, and on the +highest point a tower (donjon), which was most effective, looked quite +the old feudal towers of which so few remain now. They were used as +watch towers, as a sentinel posted on the top could see a great +distance over the plains and give warning of the approach of the +enemy. As the day was fine--no mist--we had a beautiful view from the +top, seeing plainly the great round tower of Coucy, the finest ruin in +France--the others made out quite well the towers of the Laon +Cathedral, but those I couldn't distinguish, seeing merely a dark spot +on the horizon which might have been a passing cloud. + +Coming back we crossed the "Allée des Soupirs," which has its legend +like so many others in this country: It was called the "Allée des +Soupirs" on account of the tragedy that took place there. The owner of +the château at that time--a Comte de Lamothe--discovered his wife on +too intimate terms with his great friend and her cousin; they fought +in the Allée, and the Comte de Lamothe was killed by his friend. The +widow tried to brave it out and lived on for some time at the château; +but she was accursed and an evil spell on the place--everything went +wrong and the château finally burnt down. The place was then sold to +the de Courval family. + +At the end of an hour the Marquise had had enough; I should not think +she was much of a walker; she was struggling along in high-heeled +shoes and proposed that she and I should return to the house and she +would show me her atelier. W. and Mme. de Courval continued their tour +of inspection which was to finish at the Home Farm, where she wanted +to show him some small Breton cows which had just arrived. The atelier +was a charming room; panelled like all the others in a light grey +wood. One hardly saw the walls, for they were covered with pictures, +engravings and a profusion of mirrors in gilt oval frames. It was +evidently a favourite haunt of the Marquise's: books, papers and +painting materials scattered about; the piano open and quantities of +music on the music-stand; miniatures, snuff-boxes and little +old-fashioned bibelots on all the tables, and an embroidery frame, of +course, in one of the windows, near it a basket filled with bright +coloured silks. The miniatures were, almost all, portraits of de +Courvals of every age and in every possible costume: shepherdesses, +court ladies of the time of Louis XV, La Belle Ferronnière with the +jewel on her forehead, men in armour with fine, strongly marked faces; +they must have been a handsome race. It is a pity there is no son to +carry on the name. One daughter-in-law had no children; the other one, +born an American, Mary Ray of New York, had only one daughter, the +present Princesse de Poix, to whom Pinon now belongs. + +We played a little; four hands--the classics, of course. All French +women of that generation who played at all were brought up on strictly +classical music. She had a pretty, delicate, old-fashioned touch; her +playing reminded me of Madame A.'s. + +When it was too dark to see any more we sat by the fire and talked +till the others came in. She asked a great deal about my new life in +Paris--feared I would find it stiff and dull after the easy happy +family life I had been accustomed to. I said it was very different, of +course, but there was much that was interesting, only I did not know +the people well enough yet to appreciate the stories they were always +telling about each other, also that I had made several "gaffes" quite +innocently. I told her one which amused her very much, though she +could not imagine how I ever could have said it. It was the first year +of my marriage; we were dining in an Orleanist house, almost all the +company Royalists and intimate friends of the Orléans Princes, and +three or four moderate, _very_ moderate Republicans like us. It was +the 20th of January and the women were all talking about a ball they +were going to the next night, 21st of January (anniversary of the +death of Louis XVI). They supposed they must wear mourning--such a +bore. Still, on account of the Comtesse de Paris and the Orléans +family generally, they thought they must do it--upon which I asked, +really very much astonished: "On account of the Orléans family? but +did not the Duc d'Orléans vote the King's execution?" There was an +awful silence and then M. Leon Say, one of the cleverest and most +delightful men of his time, remarked, with a twinkle in his eye: "Ma +foi; je crois que Mme. Waddington a raison." There was a sort of +nervous laugh and the conversation was changed. W. was much annoyed +with me, "a foreigner so recently married, throwing down the gauntlet +in that way." I assured him I had no purpose of any kind--I merely +said what I thought, which is evidently unwise. + +Mme. de Chaponay said she was afraid I would find it very difficult +sometimes. French people--in society at least--were so excited against +the Republic, anti-religious feeling, etc. "It must be very painful +for you." "I don't think so; you see I am American, Republican and a +Protestant; my point of view must be very different from that of a +Frenchwoman and a Catholic." She was very charming, however; +intelligent, cultivated, speaking beautiful French with a pretty +carefully trained voice--English just as well; we spoke the two +languages going from one to the other without knowing why. I was quite +sorry when we were summoned to tea. The room looked so pretty in the +twilight, the light from the fire danced all over the pictures and +gilt frames of the mirrors, leaving the corners quite in shadow. The +curtains were not drawn and we saw the darkness creeping up over the +lawn; quite at the edge of the wood the band of white mist was rising, +which we love to see in our part of the country, as it always means a +fine day for the morrow. + +We had a cheery tea. W. and Mme. de Courval had made a long "tournée," +and W. quite approved of all the changes and new acquisitions she had +made, particularly the little Breton cows. We left rather hurriedly as +we had just time to catch our train. + +Our last glimpse of the château as we looked back from the turn in the +avenue was charming; there were lights in almost all the windows, +which were reflected in the moat; the moon was rising over the woods +at the back, and every tower and cornice of the enormous pile stood +out sharply in the cold clear light. + + * * * * * + +We didn't move often once we were settled in the château for the +autumn. It was very difficult to get W. away from his books and coins +and his woods; but occasionally a shooting party tempted him. We went +sometimes, about the Toussaint when the leaves were nearly fallen, to +stay with friends who had a fine château and estate about three hours +by rail from Paris, in the midst of the great plains of the Aube. The +first time we went, soon after my marriage, I was rather doubtful as +to how I should like it. I had never stayed in a French country house +and imagined it would be very stiff and formal; however, the +invitation was for three days--two days of shooting and one of +rest--and I thought that I could get through without being too +homesick. + +We arrived about 4.30 for tea; the journey from Paris was through just +the same uninteresting country one always sees when leaving by the +Gare de l'Est. I think it is the ugliest sortie of all Paris. As we +got near the château the Seine appeared, winding in and out of the +meadows in very leisurely fashion. We just saw the house from the +train, standing rather low. The station is at the park gates--in fact, +the railway and the canal run through the property. Two carriages were +waiting (we were not the only guests), and a covered cart for the +maids and baggage. A short drive through a fine avenue of big trees +skirting broad lawns brought us to the house, which looked very +imposing with its long façade and rows of lighted windows. We drove +through arcades covered with ivy into a very large court-yard, the +château stables and communs taking three sides. There was a pièce +d'eau at one end, a colombier at the other. There was no perron or +stately entrance; in one corner a covered porch, rather like what one +sees in England, shut in with glass door and windows and filled with +plants, a good many chrysanthemums, which made a great mass of colour. +The hall doors were wide open as the carriage drove up, Monsieur A. +and his wife waiting for us just inside, Mme. A. his mother, the +mistress of the château, at the door of the salon. We went into a +large, high hall, well lighted, a bright fire burning, plenty of +servants. It looked most cheerful and comfortable on a dark November +afternoon. We left our wraps in the hall, and went straight into the +drawing-room. I have been there so often since that I hardly remember +my first impression. It was a corner room, high ceiling, big windows, +and fine tapestries on the walls; some of them with a pink ground +(very unusual), and much envied and admired by all art collectors. +Mme. A. told me she found them all rolled up in a bundle in the garret +when she married. A tea-table was standing before the sofa, and +various people working and having their tea. We were not a large +party--Comte and Comtesse de B. (she a daughter of the house) and +three or four men, deputies and senators, all political. They counted +eight guns. We sat there about half an hour, then there was a general +move, and young Mme. A. showed us our rooms, which were most +comfortable, fires burning, lamps lighted. She told us dinner was at +7.30; the first bell would ring at seven. I was the only lady besides +the family. I told my maid to ask some of the others what their +mistresses were going to wear. She said ordinary evening dress, with +natural flowers in their hair, and that I would receive a small +bouquet, which I did, only as I never wear anything in my hair, I put +them on my corsage, which did just as well. + +The dinner was pleasant, the dining-room a fine, large hall (had been +stables) with a fireplace at each end, and big windows giving on the +court-yard. It was so large that the dinner table (we were fourteen) +seemed lost in space. The talk was almost exclusively political and +amusing enough. All the men were, or had been, deputies, and every +possible question was discussed. Mme. A. was charming, very +intelligent, and animated, having lived all her life with clever +people, and having taken part in all the changes that France has gone +through in the last fifty years. She had been a widow for about two +years when I first stayed there, and it was pretty to see her children +with her. Her two sons, one married, the other a young officer, were +so respectful and fond of their mother, and her daughter perfectly +devoted to her. + +The men all went off to smoke after coffee, and we women were left to +ourselves for quite a long time. The three ladies all had +work--knitting or crochet--and were making little garments, +brassieres, and petticoats for all the village children. They were +quite surprised that I had nothing and said they would teach me to +crochet. The evening was not very long after the men came back. Some +remained in the billiard-room, which opens out of the salon, and +played cochonnet, a favourite French game. We heard violent +discussions as to the placing of the balls, and some one asked for a +yard measure, to be quite sure the count was correct. Before we broke +up M. A. announced the programme for the next day. Breakfast for all +the men at eight o'clock in the dining-room, and an immediate start +for the woods; luncheon at the Pavilion d'Hiver at twelve in the +woods, the ladies invited to join the shooters and follow one or two +battues afterward. It was a clear, cold night, and there seemed every +prospect of a beautiful day for the battues. + +The next morning was lovely. I went to my maid's room, just across the +corridor to see the motors start. All our rooms looked out on the +park, and on the other side of the corridor was a succession of small +rooms giving on the court-yard, which were always kept for the maids +and valets of the guests. It was an excellent arrangement, for in some +of the big châteaux, where the servants were at the top of the house, +or far off in another wing, communications were difficult. There were +two carriages and a sort of tapissière following with guns, servants, +and cartridges. I had a message from Mme. A. asking if I had slept +well, and sending me the paper; and a visit from Comtesse de B. who, I +think, was rather anxious about my garments. She had told me the night +before that the ploughed fields were something awful, and hoped I had +brought short skirts and thick boots. I think the sight of my short +Scotch homespun skirt and high boots reassured her. We started about +11.30 in an open carriage with plenty of furs and wraps. It wasn't +really very cold--just a nice nip in the air, and no wind. We drove +straight into the woods from the park. There is a beautiful green +alley which faces one just going out of the gate, but it was too steep +to mount in a carriage. The woods are very extensive, the roads not +too bad--considering the season, extremely well kept. Every now and +then through an opening in the trees we had a pretty view over the +plains. As we got near the pavilion we heard shots not very far +off--evidently the shooters were getting hungry and coming our way. It +was a pretty rustic scene as we arrived. The pavilion, a log house, +standing in a clearing, alleys branching off in every direction, a +horse and cart which had brought the provisions from the château tied +to one of the trees. It was shut in on three sides, wide open in +front, a bright fire burning and a most appetizing table spread. Just +outside another big fire was burning, the cook waiting for the first +sportsman to appear to begin his classic dishes, omelette au lard and +ragoât de mouton. I was rather hungry and asked for a piece of the +pain de ménage they had for the traqueurs (beaters). I like the brown +country bread so much better than the little rolls and crisp loaves +most people ask for in France. Besides our own breakfast there was an +enormous pot on the fire with what looked like an excellent +substantial soup for the men. In a few minutes the party arrived; +first the shooters, each man carrying his gun; then the game cart, +which looked very well garnished, an army of beaters bringing up the +rear. They made quite a picturesque group, all dressed in white. There +have been so many accidents in some of the big shoots, people +imprudently firing at something moving in the bushes, which proved to +be a man and not a roebuck, that M. A. dresses all his men in white. +The gentlemen were very cheerful, said they had had capital sport, and +were quite ready for their breakfast. We didn't linger very long at +table, as the days were shortening fast, and we wanted to follow some +of the battues. The beaters had their breakfast while we were having +ours--were all seated on the ground around a big kettle of soup, with +huge hunks of brown bread on their tin plates. + +We started off with the shooters. Some walking, some driving, and had +one pretty battue of rabbits; after that two of pheasants, which were +most amusing. There were plenty of birds, and they came rocketing over +our heads in fine style. I found that Comtesse de B. was quite right +about the necessity for short skirts and thick boots. We stood on the +edge of a ploughed field, which we had to cross afterward on our way +home, and I didn't think it was possible to have such cakes of mud as +we had on our boots. We scraped off some with sticks, but our boots +were so heavy with what remained that the walk home was tiring. + +Mme. A. was standing at the hall-door when we arrived, and requested +us not to come into the hall, but to go in by the lingerie entrance +and up the back stairs, so I fancy we hadn't got much dirt off. I had +a nice rest until 4.30, when I went down to the salon for tea. We had +all changed our outdoor garments and got into rather smart day dresses +(none of those ladies wore tea-gowns). The men appeared about five; +some of them came into the salon notwithstanding their muddy boots, +and then came the livre de chasse and the recapitulation of the game, +which is always most amusing. Everyman counted more pieces than his +beater had found. + +The dinner and evening were pleasant, the guests changing a little. +Two of the original party went off before dinner, two others arrived, +one of them a Cabinet minister (Finances). He was very clever and +defended himself well when his policy was freely criticised. While we +women were alone after dinner, Mme. A. showed me how to make crochet +petticoats. She gave me a crochet-needle and some wool and had +wonderful patience, for it seemed a most arduous undertaking to me, +and all my rows were always crooked; however, I did learn, and have +made hundreds since. All the children in our village pull up their +little frocks and show me their crochet petticoats whenever we meet +them. They are delighted to have them, for those we make are of good +wool (not laine de bienfaisance, which is stiff and coarse), and last +much longer than those one buys. + +The second day was quite different. There was no shooting. We were +left to our own devices until twelve o'clock breakfast. W. and I went +for a short stroll in the park. We met M. A., who took us over the +farm, all so well ordered and prosperous. After breakfast we had about +an hour of salon before starting for the regular tournée de +propriétaire through park and gardens. The three ladies--Mme. A., her +daughter, and daughter-in-law--had beautiful work. Mme. A. was making +portières for her daughter's room, a most elaborate pattern, reeds and +high plants, a very large piece of work; the other two had also very +complicated work--one a table-cover, velvet, heavily embroidered, the +other a church ornament (almost all the Frenchwomen of a certain monde +turn their wedding dresses, usually of white satin, into a priest's +vêtement). The Catholic priests have all sorts of vestments which they +wear on different occasions; purple in Lent, red on any martyr's fête, +white for all the fêtes of the Virgin. Some of the churches are very +rich with chasubles and altar-cloths trimmed with fine old lace, which +have been given to them. It looks funny sometimes to see a very +ordinary country curé, a farmer's son, with a heavy peasant face, +wearing one of those delicate white-satin chasubles. + +Before starting to join the shooters at breakfast Mme. A. took me all +over the house. It is really a beautiful establishment, very large, +and most comfortable. Quantities of pictures and engravings, and +beautiful Empire furniture. There is quite a large chapel at the end +of the corridor on the ground-floor, where they have mass every +Sunday. The young couple have a charming installation, really a small +house, in one of the wings--bedrooms, dressing-rooms, boudoir, cabinet +de travail, and a separate entrance--so that M. A. can receive any one +who comes to see him on business without having them pass through the +château. Mme. A. has her rooms on the ground-floor at the other end of +the house. Her sitting-room with glass door opens into a winter garden +filled with plants, which gives on the park; her bedroom is on the +other side, looking on the court-yard; a large library next it, light +and space everywhere, plenty of servants, everything admirably +arranged. + +The evening mail goes out at 7.30, and every evening at seven exactly +the letter-carrier came down the corridor knocking at all the doors +and asking for letters. He had stamps, too, at least _French_ stamps. +I could never get a foreign stamp (twenty-five centimes)--had to put +one of fifteen and two of five when I had a foreign letter. I don't +really think there were any in the country. I don't believe they had a +foreign correspondent of any description. It was a thoroughly French +establishment of the best kind. + +We walked about the small park and gardens in the afternoon. The +gardens are enormous; one can drive through them. Mme. A. drove in her +pony carriage. They still had some lovely late roses which filled me +with envy--ours were quite finished. + +The next day was not quite so fine, gray and misty, but a good +shooting day, no wind. We joined the gentlemen for lunch in another +pavilion farther away and rather more open than the one of the other +day. However, we were warm enough with our coats on, a good fire +burning, and hot bricks for our feet. The battues (aux échelles) that +day were quite a new experience for me. I had never seen anything like +it. The shooters were placed in a semicircle, not very far apart. Each +man was provided with a high double ladder. The men stood on the top +(the women seated themselves on the rungs of the ladders and hung on +as well as they could). I went the first time with W., and he made me +so many recommendations that I was quite nervous. I mustn't sit too +high up or I would gêner him, as he was obliged to shoot down for the +rabbits; and I mustn't sit too near the ground, or I might get a shot +in the ankles from one of the other men. I can't say it was an +absolute pleasure. The seat (if seat it could be called) was anything +but comfortable, and the detonation of the gun just over my head was +decidedly trying; still it was a novelty, and if the other women could +stand it I could. + +For the second battue I went with Comte de B. That was rather worse, +for he shot much oftener than W., and I was quite distracted with the +noise of the gun. We were nearer the other shooters, too, and I +fancied their aim was very near my ankles. It was a pretty view from +the top of the ladder. I climbed up when the battues were over. We +looked over the park and through the trees, quite bare and stripped of +their leaves, on the great plains, with hardly a break of wood or +hills, stretching away to the horizon. The ground was thickly carpeted +with red and yellow leaves, little columns of smoke rising at +intervals where people were burning weeds or rotten wood in the +fields; and just enough purple mist to poetize everything. B. is a +very careful shot. I was with him the first day at a rabbit battue +where we were placed rather near each other, and every man was asked +to keep quite to his own place and to shoot straight before him. After +one or two shots B. stepped back and gave his gun to his servant. I +asked what was the matter. He showed me the man next, evidently not +used to shooting, who was walking up and down, shooting in every +direction, and as fast as he could cram the cartridges into his gun. +So he stepped back into the alley and waited until the battue was +over. + +The party was much smaller that night at dinner. Every one went away +but W. and me. The talk was most interesting--all about the war, the +first days of the Assemblée Nationale at Bordeaux, and the famous +visit of the Comte de Chambord to Versailles, when the Maréchal de +MacMahon, President of the Republic, refused to see him. I told them +of my first evening visit to Mme. Thiers, the year I was married. Mme. +Thiers lived in a big gloomy house in the Place St. Georges, and +received every evening. M. Thiers, who was a great worker all his life +and a very early riser, always took a nap at the end of the day. The +ladies (Mlle. Dosne, a sister of Mme. Thiers, lived with them) +unfortunately had not that good habit. They took their little sleep +after dinner. We arrived there (it was a long way from us, we lived +near the Arc de l'Étoile) one evening a little before ten. There were +already four or five men, no ladies. We were shown into a large +drawing-room, M. Thiers standing with his back to the fireplace, the +centre of a group of black coats. He was very amiable, said I would +find Mme. Thiers in a small salon just at the end of the big one; told +W. to join their group, he had something to say to him, and I passed +on. I did find Mme. Thiers and Mlle. Dosne in the small salon at the +other end, both asleep, each in an arm-chair. I was really +embarrassed. They didn't hear me coming in, and were sleeping quite +happily and comfortably. I didn't like to go back to the other salon, +where there were only men, so I sat down on a sofa and looked about +me, and tried to feel as if it was quite a natural occurrence to be +invited to come in the evening and to find my hostess asleep. After a +few minutes I heard the swish of a satin dress coming down the big +salon and a lady appeared, very handsome and well dressed, whom I +didn't know at all. She evidently was accustomed to the state of +things; she looked about her smilingly, then came up to me, called me +by name, and introduced herself, Mme. A. the wife of an admiral whom I +often met afterward. She told me not to mind, there wasn't the +slightest intention of rudeness, that both ladies would wake up in a +few minutes quite unconscious of having really slept. We talked about +ten minutes, not lowering our voices particularly. Suddenly Mme. +Thiers opened her eyes, was wide awake at once--how quietly we must +have come in; she had only just closed her eyes for a moment, the +lights tired her, etc. Mlle. Dosne said the same thing, and then we +went on talking easily enough. Several more ladies came in, but only +two or three men. _They_ all remained in the farther room talking, or +rather listening, to M. Thiers. He was already a very old man, and +when he began to talk no one interrupted him; it was almost a +monologue. I went back several times to the Place St. Georges, but +took good care to go later, so that the ladies should have their nap +over. One of the young diplomat's wives had the same experience, +rather worse, for when the ladies woke up they didn't know her. She +was very shy, spent a wretched ten minutes before they woke, and was +too nervous to name herself. She was half crying when her husband came +to the rescue. + +We left the next morning early, as W. had people coming to him in the +afternoon. I enjoyed my visit thoroughly, and told them afterward of +my misgivings and doubts as to how I should get along with strangers +for two or three days. I think they had rather the same feeling. They +were very old friends of my husband's, and though they received me +charmingly from the first, it brought a foreign and new element into +their circle. + + * * * * * + +Another interesting old château, most picturesque, with towers, moat, +and drawbridge, is Lorrey-le-Bocage, belonging to the Comte de S. It +stands very well, in a broad moat--the water clear and rippling and +finishing in a pretty little stream that runs off through the meadows. +The place is beautifully kept--gardens, lawns, courts, in perfect +order. It has no particular _historic_ interest for the family, having +been bought by the parents of the present owner. + +I was there, the first time, in very hot weather, the 14th of July +(the French National fête commemorating the fall of the Bastille). I +went for a stroll in the park the morning after I arrived, but I +collapsed under a big tree at once--hadn't the energy to move. +Everything looked so hot and not a breath of air anywhere. The moat +looked glazed--so absolutely still under the bright summer sun--big +flies were buzzing and skimming over the surface, and the flowers and +plants were drooping in their beds. + +Inside it was delightful, the walls so thick that neither heat nor +cold could penetrate. The house is charming. The big drawing-room--where +we always sat--was a large, bright room with windows on each side and +lovely views over park and gardens; and all sorts of family portraits +and souvenirs dating from Louis XV to the Comte de Paris. The men of +the family--all ardent Royalists--have been, for generations, +distinguished as soldiers and statesmen. + +One of them--a son of the famous Maréchal de S, brought up in the last +years of the reign of Louis XV--carried his youthful ardour and dreams +of liberty to America and took part, as did so many of the young +French nobles, in the great struggle for independence that was being +fought out on the other side of the Atlantic. Soon after his return to +France he was named Ambassador to Russia to the court of Catherine II, +and was supposed to have been very much in the good graces of that +very pleasure-loving sovereign. He accompanied her on her famous trip +to the Crimea, arranged for her by her minister and favourite, +Potemkin--when fairy villages, with happy populations singing and +dancing, sprang up in the road wherever she passed as if by +magic--quite dispelling her ideas of the poverty and oppression of +some of her subjects. + +Among the portraits there is a miniature of the Empress Catherine. It +is a fine, strongly marked face. She wears a high fur cap--a sort of +military pelisse with lace jabots and diamond star. The son of the +Maréchal, also soldier and courtier, was aide-de-camp to Napoleon and +made almost all his campaigns with him. His description of the Russian +campaign and the retreat of the "Grande Armée" from Moscow is one of +the most graphic and interesting that has ever been written of those +awful days. His memoirs are quite charming. Childhood and early youth +passed in the country in all the agonies of the Terror--simply and +severely brought up in an atmosphere absolutely hostile to any +national or popular movement. + +The young student, dreaming of a future and regeneration for France, +arrived one day in Paris, where an unwonted stir denoted that +something was going on. He heard and saw the young Republican General +Bonaparte addressing some regiments. He marked the proud bearing of +the men--even the recruits--and in an explosion of patriotism his +vocation was decided. He enlisted at once in the Republican ranks. It +was a terrible decision to confide to his family, and particularly to +his grandfather, the old Maréchal de S. a glorious veteran of many +campaigns and an ardent Royalist. His father approved, although it was +a terrible falling off from all the lessons and examples of his +family--but it was a difficult confession to make to the Maréchal. I +will give the scene in his own words (translated, of course--the +original is in French). + +"I was obliged to return to Châlenoy to relate my 'coup-de-tête' to my +grandfather. I arrived early in the morning and approached his bed in +the most humble attitude. He said to me, very sharply, 'You have been +unfaithful to all the traditions of your ancestors--but it is done. +Remember that you have enlisted voluntarily in the Republican army; +serve it frankly and loyally, for your decision is made, you cannot +now go back on it.' Then seeing the tears running down my cheeks (he +too was moved), and taking my hand with the only one he had left, he +drew me to him and pressed me on his heart. Then giving me seventy +louis (it was all he had), he added, 'This will help you to complete +your equipment--go, and at least carry bravely and faithfully, under +the flag it has pleased you to choose, the name you bear and the +honour of your family.'" + +The present Count, too, has played a part in politics in these +troublous times, when decisions were almost as hard to take, and one +was torn between the desire to do something for one's country and the +difficulty of detaching oneself from old traditions and memories. +People whose grandfathers have died on the scaffold can hardly be +expected to be enthusiastic about the Republic and the Marseillaise. +Yet if the nation wants the Republic, and every election accentuates +that opinion, it is very difficult to fight against the current. + +When I first married, just after the Franco-Prussian War, there seemed +some chance of the moderate men, on both sides, joining in a common +effort against the radical movement, putting themselves at the head of +it and in that way directing and controlling--but very soon the +different sections in parliament defined themselves so sharply that +any sort of compromise was difficult. My host was named deputy, +immediately after the war, and though by instinct, training, and +association a Royalist and a personal friend of the Orléans family, he +was one of a small group of liberal-patriotic deputies who might have +supported loyally a moderate Republic had the other Republicans not +made their position untenable. There was an instinctive, unreasonable +distrust of any of the old families whose names and antecedents had +kept them apart from any republican movement. + +We had pleasant afternoons in the big drawing-room. In the morning we +did what we liked. The Maîtresse de Maison never appeared in the +drawing-room till the twelve o'clock breakfast. I used to see her from +my window, coming and going--sometimes walking, when she was making +the round of the farm and garden, oftener in her little pony carriage +and occasionally in the automobile of her niece, who was staying in +the house. She occupied herself very much with all the village--old +people and children, everybody. After breakfast we used to sit +sometimes in the drawing-room--the two ladies working, the Comte de S. +reading his paper and telling us anything interesting he found there. +Both ladies had most artistic work--Mme. de S. a church ornament, +white satin ground with raised flowers and garlands, stretched, of +course, on the large embroidery frames they all use. Her niece, +Duchesse d'E., had quite another "installation" in one of the +windows--a table with all sorts of delicate little instruments. She +was book-binding--doing quite lovely things in imitation of the old +French binding. It was a work that required most delicate +manipulation, but she seemed to do it quite easily. I was rather +humiliated with my little knit petticoats--very hot work it is on a +blazing July day. + + + + +III + +THE HOME OF LAFAYETTE + + +La Grange was looking its loveliest when I arrived the other day. It +was a bright, beautiful October afternoon and the first glimpse of the +château was most picturesque. It was all the more striking as the run +down from Paris was so ugly and commonplace. The suburbs of Paris +around the Gare de l'Est--the Plain of St. Denis and all the small +villages, with kitchen gardens, rows of green vegetables under glass +"cloches"--are anything but interesting. It was not until we got near +Gréty and alongside of Ferrières, the big Rothschild place, that we +seemed to be in the country. The broad green alleys of the park, with +the trees just changing a little, were quite charming. Our station was +Verneuil l'Etang, a quiet little country station dumped down in the +middle of the fields, and a drive of about fifty minutes brought us to +the château. The country is not at all pretty, always the same +thing--great cultivated fields stretching off on each side of the +road--every now and then a little wood or clump of trees. One does not +see the château from the high road. + +We turned off sharply to the left and at the end of a long avenue saw +the house, half hidden by the trees. The entrance through a low +archway, flanked on each side by high round towers covered with ivy, +is most picturesque. The château is built around three sides of a +square court-yard, the other side looking straight over broad green +meadows ending in a background of wood. A moat runs almost all around +the house--a border of salvias making a belt of colour which is most +effective. We found the family--Marquis and Marquise de Lasteyrie and +their two sons--waiting at the hall door. The Marquis, great-grandson +of the General Marquis de Lafayette, is a type of the well-born, +courteous French gentleman (one of the most attractive types, to my +mind, that one can meet anywhere). There is something in perfectly +well-bred French people of a certain class that one never sees in any +other nationality. Such refinement and charm of manner--a great desire +to put every one at their ease and to please the person with whom they +are thrown for the moment. That, after all, is all one cares for in +the casual acquaintances one makes in society. From friends, of +course, we want something deeper and more lasting, but life is too +short to find out the depth and sterling qualities of the world in +general. + +The Marquise is an Englishwoman, a cousin of her husband, their common +ancestor being the Duke of Leinster; clever, cultivated, hospitable, +and very large minded, which has helped her very much in her married +life in France during our troubled epoch, when religious questions and +political discussions do so much to embitter personal relations. The +two sons are young and gay, doing the honours of their home simply and +with no pose of any kind. There were two English couples staying in +the house. + +We had tea in the dining-room downstairs--a large room with panels and +chimney-piece of dark carved wood. Two portraits of men in armour +stand out well from the dark background. There is such a wealth of +pictures, engravings, and tapestries all over the house that one +cannot take it all in at first. The two drawing-rooms on the first +floor are large and comfortable, running straight through the house; +the end room in the tower--a round room with windows on all sides--quite +charming. The contrast between the modern--English--comforts (low, +wide chairs, writing-table, rugs, cushions, and centre-table covered +with books in all languages, a very rare thing in a French château, +picture papers, photographs, etc.) and the straight-backed, +spindle-legged old furniture and stiff, old-fashioned ladies and +gentlemen, looking down from their heavy gold frames, is very +attractive. There is none of the formality and look of not being lived +in which one sees in so many French salons, and yet it is not at all +modern. One never loses for a moment the feeling of being in an old +château-fort. + +It was so pretty looking out of my bedroom window this morning. It was +a bright, beautiful autumn day, the grass still quite green. Some of +the trees changing a little, the yellow leaves quite golden in the +sun. There are many American trees in the park--a splendid Virginia +Creeper, and a Gloire de Dijon rose-bush, still full of bloom, were +sprawling over the old gray walls. Animals of all kinds were walking +about the court-yard; some swans and a lame duck, which had wandered +up from the moat, standing on the edge and looking about with much +interest; a lively little fox-terrier, making frantic dashes at +nothing; one of the sons starting for a shoot with gaiters and +game-bag, and his gun over his shoulder, his dog at his heels +expectant and eager. Some of the guests were strolling about and from +almost all the windows--wide open to let in the warm morning +sun--there came cheerful greetings. + +I went for a walk around the house before breakfast. There are five +large round towers covered with ivy--the walls extraordinarily +thick--the narrow little slits for shooting with arrows and the round +holes for cannon balls tell their own story of rough feudal life. On +one side of the castle there is a large hole in the wall, made by a +cannon ball sent by Turenne. He was passing one day and asked to whom +the château belonged. On hearing that the owner was the Maréchal de la +Feuillade, one of his political adversaries, he sent a cannon ball as +a souvenir of his passage, and the gap has never been filled up. + +I went all over the house later with the Marquis de Lasteyrie. Of +course, what interested me most was Lafayette's private +apartments--bedroom and library--the latter left precisely as it was +during Lafayette's lifetime; bookcases filled with his books in their +old-fashioned bindings, running straight around the walls and a +collection of manuscripts and autograph letters from kings and queens +of France and most of the celebrities of the days of the Valois--among +them several letters from Catherine de Medicis, Henry IV, and la Reine +Margot. One curious one from Queen Margot in which she explains to the +Vicomte de Chabot (ancestor of my host) that she was very much +preoccupied in looking out for a wife for him with a fine dot, but +that it was always difficult to find a rich heiress for a poor +seigneur. + +There are also autographs of more modern days, among which is a letter +from an English prince to the Vicomte de Chabot (grandfather of the +Marquis de Lasteyrie), saying that he loses no time in telling him of +the birth of a very fine little girl. He certainly never realized when +he wrote that letter what would be the future of his baby daughter. +The writer was the Duke of Kent--the fine little girl, Queen Victoria. + +In a deep window-seat in one corner, overlooking the farm, is the +writing-table of Lafayette. In the drawers are preserved several books +of accounts, many of the items being in his handwriting. Also his +leather arm-chair (which was exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair), +and a horn or speaking-trumpet through which he gave his orders to the +farm hands from the window. The library opened into his bedroom--now +the boudoir of the Marquise de Lasteyrie--with a fine view over moat +and meadow. In this room there have been many changes, but the old +doors of carved oak still remain. + +There are many interesting family portraits--one of the father of +Lafayette, killed at Minden, leaving his young son to be brought up by +two aunts, whose portraits are on either side of the fireplace. + +It is curious to see the two portraits of the same epoch so absolutely +unlike. Mme. de Chavagnac, an old lady, very simply dressed, almost +Puritanical, with a white muslin fichu over her plain black silk +dress--the other, Mademoiselle de Lafayette, in the court dress of the +time of Louis XVI, pearls and roses in the high, powdered coiffure and +a bunch of orange flowers on one shoulder, to indicate that she was +not a married woman. + +There were pictures and souvenirs of all the Orléans family--the +Lasteyries having been always faithful and devoted friends of those +unfortunate princes; a charming engraving of the Comte de Paris, a +noble looking boy in all the bravery of white satin and feathers--the +original picture is in the possession of the Duc de Chartres. It was +sad to realize when one looked at the little prince with his bright +eyes and proud bearing, that the end of his life would be so +melancholy--exile and death in a foreign land. + +There are all sorts of interesting pictures and engravings scattered +about the house in the numberless corridors and anterooms. One most +interesting and very rare print represents a review at Potsdam held by +Frederick the Great. Two conspicuous figures are the young Marquis de +Lafayette in powdered wig and black silk ribbon, and the English +General Lord Cornwallis, destined to meet as adversaries many years +later during the American Revolution. There are many family pictures +on the great stone staircase, both French and English, the Marquis de +Lasteyrie, on the maternal side, being a great-grandson of the Duke of +Leinster. Some of the English portraits are very charming, quite +different from the French pictures. + +In the centre panel is the well-known portrait of Lafayette by Ary +Scheffer--not in uniform--no trace of the dashing young soldier; a +middle-aged man in a long fur coat, hat and stick in his hand; +looking, as one can imagine he did when he settled down, after his +brilliant and eventful career, to the simple patriarchal life at La +Grange, surrounded by devoted children, grandchildren, and friends. + +We were interrupted long before I had seen all the interesting part of +the house and its contents, as it was time to start for La Houssaye, +where all the party were expected at tea. We went off in three +carriages--quite like a "noce," as the Marquise remarked. The drive +(about an hour) was not particularly interesting. We were in the heart +of the great agricultural district and drove through kilometres of +planted fields--no hills and few woods. + +We came rather suddenly on the château, which stands low, like all +châteaux surrounded by moats, turning directly from the little village +into the park, which is beautifully laid out with fine old trees. We +had glimpses of a lovely garden as we drove up to the house, and of +two old towers--one round and one square. The château stands well--a +very broad moat, almost a river, running straight around the house and +gardens. We crossed the drawbridge, which always gives me a sensation +of old feudal times and recalls the days of my childhood when I used +to sit under the sickle-pear tree at "Cherry Lawn" reading Scott's +"Marmion"--"Up drawbridge, grooms--what, Warder, ho! Let the +portcullis fall!" wondering what a "portcullis" was, and if I should +ever see one or even a château-fort. + +La Houssaye is an old castle built in the eleventh century, but has +passed through many vicissitudes. All that remains of the original +building are the towers and the foundations. It was restored in the +sixteenth century and has since remained unchanged. During the French +Revolution the family of the actual proprietor installed themselves in +one of the towers and lived there many long weary weeks, never daring +to venture out, show any lights, or give any sign of life--in daily +terror of being discovered and dragged to Paris before the dreaded +revolutionary tribunals. Later it was given, by Napoleon, to the +Marshall Augereau, who died there. It has since been in the family of +the present proprietor, Monsieur de Mimont, who married an American, +Miss Forbes. + +The rain, which had been threatening all the afternoon, came down in +torrents just as we crossed the drawbridge, much to the disappointment +of our host and hostess, who were anxious to show us their garden, +which is famous in all the countryside. However, in spite of the +driving rain, we caught glimpses through the windows of splendid +parterres of salvias and cannas, making great spots of colour in a +beautiful bit of smooth green lawn. In old days the château was much +bigger, stretching out to the towers. Each successive proprietor has +diminished the buildings, and the present château, at the back, stands +some little distance from the moat, the vacant space being now +transformed into their beautiful gardens. + +We only saw the ground-floor of the house, which is most comfortable. +We left our wraps in the large square hall and passed through one +drawing-room and a small library into another, which is charming--a +corner room looking on the gardens--the walls, panels of light gray +wood, prettily carved with wreaths and flowers. + +We had tea in the dining-room on the other side of the hall; a curious +room, rather, with red brick walls and two old narrow doors of carved +oak. The tea--most abundant--was very acceptable after our long damp +drive. One dish was rather a surprise--American waffles--not often to +be found, I imagine, in an old French feudal castle, but Madame de +Mimont's nationality explained it. I was very sorry not to see the +park which is beautifully laid out, but the rain was falling straight +down as hard as it could--almost making waves in the moat, and a +curtain of mist cut off the end of the park. + +Our dinner and evening at La Grange were delightful. The dining-room +is particularly charming at night. The flowers on the table, this +evening, were red, and the lights from the handsome silver candélabres +made a brilliant spot of warmth and colour against the dark panelled +walls--just shining on the armour of the fine Ormond portraits hanging +on each side of the fireplace. The talk was always easy and pleasant. + +One of the guests, the naval attache to the British Embassy to France, +had been "en mission" at Madrid at the time of the Spanish Royal +marriage. The balcony of the English Embassy overlooked the spot where +the bomb was thrown. In eighty-five seconds from the time they heard +the detonation (in the first second they thought it was a salute), the +Ambassador, followed by his suite, was at the door of the royal +carriage. He said the young sovereigns looked very pale but calm; the +king, perhaps, more agitated than the Queen. + +We finished the evening with music and dumb crambo--that particularly +English form of amusement, which I have never seen well done except by +English people. It always fills me with astonishment whenever I see +it. It is so at variance with the English character. They are usually +so very shy and self-conscious. One would never believe they could +throw themselves into this really childish game with so much entrain. +The performance is simple enough. Some of the company retire from the +drawing-room; those who remain choose a word--chair, hat, cat, etc. +This evening the word was "mat." We told the two actors--Mrs. P. and +the son of the house--they must act (nothing spoken) a word which +rhymed with _hat_. I will say they found it very quickly, but some of +their attempts were funny enough--really very cleverly done. It amused +me perfectly, though I must frankly confess I should have been +incapable of either acting or guessing the word. The only one I made +out was fat, when they both came in so stuffed out with pillows and +bolsters as to be almost unrecognizable. The two dogs--a beautiful +little fox-terrier and a fine collie--went nearly mad, barking and +yapping every time the couple appeared--their excitement reaching a +climax when the actors came in and stretched themselves out on each +side of the door, having finally divined the word mat. The dogs made +such frantic dashes at them that M. and Mme. de Lasteyrie had to carry +them off bodily. + +The next morning I went for a walk with M. de Lasteyrie. We strolled +up and down the "Allée des Soupirs," so called in remembrance of one +of the early chatelaines who trailed her mourning robes and widow's +veil over the fallen leaves, bemoaning her solitude until a favoured +suitor appeared on the scene and carried her away to his distant +home--but the Allée still retains its name. + +The park is small, but very well laid out. Many of the memoirs of the +time speak of walks and talks with Lafayette under the beautiful +trees. + +During the last years of Lafayette's life, La Grange was a +cosmopolitan centre. Distinguished people from all countries came +there, anxious to see the great champion of liberty; among them many +Americans, who always found a gracious, cordial welcome; one silent +guest--a most curious episode which I will give in the words of the +Marquis de Lasteyrie: + +"One American, however, in Lafayette's own time, came on a lonely +pilgrimage to La Grange; he was greeted with respect, but of that +greeting he took no heed. He was a silent guest, nor has he left any +record of his impressions; in fact, he was dead before starting on his +journey. He arrived quite simply one fine autumn morning, in his +coffin, accompanied by a letter which said: 'William Summerville, +having the greatest admiration for the General Lafayette, begs he will +bury him in his land at La Grange.' This, being against the law, could +not be done, but Lafayette bought the whole of the small cemetery of +the neighbouring village and laid the traveller from over the sea to +rest in his ground indeed, though not under one of the many American +trees at La Grange itself, of which the enthusiastic wanderer had +probably dreamed." + +They told me many interesting things, too long to write, about the +last years of Lafayette's life spent principally at La Grange. A +charming account of that time and the lavish hospitality of the +château is given by Lady Morgan, in her well-known "Diary." Some of +her descriptions are most amusing; the arrival, for instance, of Lady +Holland at the home of the Republican General. "She is always preceded +by a fourgon from London containing her own favourite meubles of +Holland House--her bed, fauteuil, carpet, etc., and divers other +articles too numerous to mention, but which enter into her Ladyship's +superfluchoses très nécessaires, at least to a grande dame one of her +female attendants and a groom of the chambers precede her to make all +ready for her reception. However, her original manner, though it +startles the French ladies, amuses them." + +Her Irish ladyship (Lady Morgan) seems to have been troubled by no +shyness in asking questions of the General. She writes: "Is it true, +General, I asked, that you once went to a bal masque at the opera with +the Queen of France--Marie Antoinette--leaning on your arm, the King +knowing nothing of the matter till her return? I am afraid so, said +he. She was so indiscreet, and I can conscientiously add--so innocent. +However, the Comte d'Artois was also of the party, and we were all +young, enterprising, and pleasure-loving. But what is most absurd in +the adventure was that, when I pointed out Mme. du Barry to her--whose +figure and favourite domino I knew--the Queen expressed the most +anxious desire to hear her speak and bade me intriguer her. She +answered me flippantly, and I am sure if I had offered her my other +arm, the Queen would not have objected to it. Such was the esprit +d'aventure at that time in the court of Versailles and in the head of +the haughty daughter of Austria." + +I remember quite well the parents of my host. The Marquise, a type of +the grande dame, with blue eyes and snow white hair survived her +husband many years. During the war of 1870 they, like many other +châtelains, had Prussian soldiers in their house. The following +characteristic anecdote of the Marquise was told to me by her son: + +"There are still to be seen at La Grange two little cannon which +had been given to Lafayette by the Garde Nationale. One December +morning, in 1870, when the house was full of German troops, Madame de +Lasteyrie was awakened by a noise under the archway, and looking out +of her window saw, in the dim light, the two guns being carried off by +the German soldiers. In an instant, her bare feet hastily thrust into +slippers, her hair like a long white mane hanging down her back, with +a dressing gown thrown over her shoulders, she started in pursuit. She +followed them about three miles and at last came upon them at the top +of a hill. After much persuasion and after spiking the guns (in no +case could they have done great damage), the soldiers were induced to +give them up, and departed, leaving her alone in the frost and +starlight waiting for the morning. She sat bare-footed (for she had +lost her shoes) but triumphant on her small cannon in the deep snow +till the day came and the farm people stole out and dragged them +all--the old lady and the two guns--back to the house." + +I was sorry to go--the old château, with its walls and towers soft and +grey in the sunlight, seems to belong absolutely to another century. I +felt as if I had been transported a hundred years back and had lived a +little of the simple patriarchal life that made such a beautiful end +to Lafayette's long and eventful career. The present owner keeps up +the traditions of his grandfather. I was thinking last night what a +cosmopolitan group we were. Three or four different nationalities, +speaking alternately the two languages--French and English--many of +the party having travelled all over the world and all interested in +politics, literature, and music; in a different way, perhaps, but +quite as much as the "belles dames et beaux esprits" of a hundred +years ago. Everything changes as time goes on (I don't know if I would +say that _everything_ improves), but I carried away the same +impression of a warm welcome and large hospitable life that every one +speaks of who saw La Grange during Lafayette's life. + + + + +IV + +WINTER AT THE CHATEAU + + +We had a very cold winter one year--a great deal of snow, which froze +as it fell and lay a long time on the hard ground. We woke up one +morning in a perfectly still white world. It had snowed heavily during +the night, and the house was surrounded by a glistening white carpet +which stretched away to the "sapinette" at the top of the lawn without +a speck or flaw. There was no trace of path or road, or little low +shrubs, and even the branches of the big lime-trees were heavy with +snow. It was a bright, beautiful day--blue sky and a not too pale +winter sun. Not a vehicle of any kind had ventured out. In the middle +of the road were footprints deep in the snow where evidently the +keepers and some workmen had passed. Nothing and no one had arrived +from outside, neither postman, butcher, nor baker. The chef was in a +wild state; but I assured him we could get on with eggs and game, of +which there was always a provision for one day at any rate. + +About eleven, Pauline and I started out. We thought we would go as far +as the lodge and see what was going on on the highroad. We put on +thick boots, gaiters and very short skirts, and had imagined we could +walk in the footsteps of the keepers; but, of course, we couldn't take +their long stride, and we floundered about in the snow. In some places +where it had drifted we went in over our knees. + +There was nothing visible on the road--not a creature, absolute +stillness; a line of footprints in the middle where some labourer had +passed, and the long stretch of white fields, broken by lines of black +poplars running straight away to the forest. + +While we were standing at the gate talking to old Antoine, who was all +muffled up with a woollen comforter tied over his cap, and socks over +his shoes, we saw a small moving object in the distance. As it came +nearer we made out it was the postman, also so muffled up as to be +hardly recognizable. He too had woollen socks over his shoes, and said +the going was something awful, the "Montagne de Marolles" a sheet of +ice; he had fallen twice, in spite of his socks and pointed stick. He +said neither butcher nor baker would come--that no horse could get up +the hill. + +We sent him into the kitchen to thaw, and have his breakfast. That was +one also of the traditions of the château; the postman always +breakfasted. On Sundays, when there was no second delivery, he brought +his little girl and an accordion, and remained all the afternoon. He +often got a lift back to La Ferté, when the carriage was going in to +the station, or the chef to market in the donkey-cart. _Now_ many of +the postmen have bicycles. + +We had a curious feeling of being quite cut off from the outside +world. The children, Francis and Alice, were having a fine time in the +stable-yard, where the men had made them two snow figures--man and +woman (giants)--and they were pelting them with snowballs and tumbling +headlong into the heaps of snow on each side of the gate, where a +passage had been cleared for the horses. + +We thought it would be a good opportunity to do a little coasting and +inaugurate a sled we had had made with great difficulty the year +before. It was rather a long operation. The wheelwright at Marolles +had never seen anything of the kind, had no idea _what_ we wanted. +Fortunately Francis had a little sled which one of his cousins had +sent him from America; and with that as a model, and many +explanations, the wheelwright and the blacksmith produced really a +very creditable sled--quite large, a seat for two in front, and one +behind for the person who steered. Only when the sled was finished the +snow had disappeared! It rarely lasts long in France. + +We had the sled brought out--the runners needed a little +repairing--and the next day made our first attempt. There was not much +danger of meeting anything. A sort of passage had been cleared, and +gravel sprinkled in the middle of the road; but very few vehicles had +passed, and the snow was as hard as ice. All the establishment +"assisted" at the first trial, and the stable-boy accompanied us with +the donkey who was to pull the sled up the hill. + +We had some little difficulty in starting, Pauline and I in front, +Francis behind; but as soon as we got fairly on the slope the thing +flew. Pauline was frightened to death, screaming, and wanted to get +off; but I held her tight, and we landed in the ditch near the foot of +the hill. Half-way down (the hill is steep but straight, one sees a +great distance) Francis saw the diligence arriving; and as he was not +quite sure of his steering-gear, he thought it was better to take no +risks, and steered us straight into the ditch as hard as we could go. +The sled upset; we all rolled off into the deep soft snow, lost our +hats, and emerged quite white from head to foot. + +The diligence had stopped at the foot of the hill. There were only two +men in it besides the driver, the old Père Jacques, who was +dumbfounded when he recognized Madame Waddington. It seems they +couldn't think what had happened. As they got to the foot of the hill, +they saw a good many people at the gate of the château; then suddenly +something detached itself from the group and rushed wildly down the +hill. They thought it was an accident, some part of a carriage broken, +and before they had time to collect their senses the whole thing +collapsed in the ditch. The poor old man was quite disturbed--couldn't +think we were not hurt, and begged us to get into the diligence and +not trust ourselves again to such a dangerous vehicle. However we +reassured him, and all walked up the hill together, the donkey pulling +the sled, which was tied to him with a very primitive arrangement of +ropes, the sled constantly swinging round and hitting him on the legs, +which he naturally resented and kicked viciously. + +We amused ourselves very much as long as the snow lasted, about ten +days--coasted often, and made excursions to the neighbouring villages +with the sled and the donkey. We wanted to skate, but that was not +easy to arrange, as the ponds and "tourbières" near us were very deep, +and I was afraid to venture with the children. I told Hubert, the +coachman, who knew the country well, to see what he could find. He +said there was a very good pond in the park of the château of La +Ferté, and he was sure the proprietor, an old man who lived there by +himself, would be quite pleased to let us come there. + +The old gentleman was most amiable--begged we would come as often as +we liked--merely making one condition, that we should have a man on +the bank (the pond was only about a foot deep) with a rope in case of +accidents.... We went there nearly every afternoon, and made quite a +comfortable "installation" on the bank: a fire, rugs, chairs and a +very good little goûter, the grocer's daughter bringing us hot wine +and biscuits from the town. + +It was a perfect sight for La Ferté. The whole town came to look at +us, and the carters stopped their teams on the road to look on--one +day particularly when one of our cousins, Maurice de Bunsen,[3] was +staying with us. He skated beautifully, doing all sorts of figures, +and his double eights and initials astounded the simple country folk. +For some time after they spoke of "l'Anglais" who did such wonderful +things on the ice. + + [3] To-day British Embassador at Madrid. + +They were bad days for the poor. We used to meet all the children +coming back from school when we went home. The poor little things +toiled up the steep, slippery hill, with often a cold wind that must +have gone through the thin worn-out jackets and shawls they had for +all covering, carrying their satchels and remnants of dinner. Those +that came from a distance always brought their dinner with them, +generally a good hunk of bread and a piece of chocolate, the poorer +ones bread alone, very often only a stale hard crust that couldn't +have been very nourishing. They were a very poor lot at our little +village, St. Quentin, and we did all we could in the way of warm +stockings and garments; but the pale, pinched faces rather haunted me, +and Henrietta and I thought we would try and arrange with the school +mistress who was wife of one of the keepers, to give them a hot plate +of soup every day during the winter months. W., who knew his people +well, rather discouraged us--said they all had a certain sort of +pride, notwithstanding their poverty, and might perhaps be offended at +being treated like tramps or beggars; but we could try if we liked. + +We got a big kettle at La Ferté, and the good Mère Cécile of the Asile +lent us the tin bowls, also telling us we wouldn't be able to carry +out our plan. She had tried at the Asile, but it didn't go; the +children didn't care about the soup--liked the bread and chocolate +better. It was really a curious experience. I am still astonished when +I think of it. The soup was made at the head-keeper's cottage, +standing on the edge of the woods. + +We went over the first day about eleven o'clock--a cold, clear day, a +biting wind blowing down the valley. The children were all assembled, +waiting impatiently for us to come. The soup was smoking in a big pot +hung high over the fire. We, of course, tasted it, borrowing two bowls +from the children and asking Madame Labbey to cut us two pieces of +bread, the children all giggling and rather shy. The soup was very +good, and we were quite pleased to think that the poor little things +should have something warm in their stomachs. The first depressing +remark was made by our own coachman on the way home. His little +daughter was living at the keeper's. I said to him, "I did not see +Celine with the other children." "Oh, no, Madame; she wasn't there. We +pay for the food at Labbey's; she doesn't need charity." + +The next day, equally cold, about half the children came (there were +only twenty-seven in the school); the third, five or six, rather +shamefaced; the fourth, not one; and at the end of the week the +keeper's wife begged us to stop the distribution; all the parents were +hurt at the idea of their children receiving _public_ charity from +Madame Waddington. She had thought some of the very old people of the +village might like what was left; but no one came except some tramps +and rough-looking men who had heard there was food to be had, and they +made her very nervous prowling around the house when she was alone, +her husband away all day in the woods. + +W. was amused--not at all surprised--said he was quite sure we +shouldn't succeed, but it was just as well to make our own experience. +We took our bowls back sadly to the Asile, where the good sister shook +her head, saying, "Madame verra comme c'est difficile de faire du bien +dans ce paysci; on ne pense qu'à s'amuser." And yet we saw the +miserable little crusts of hard bread, and some of the boys in linen +jackets over their skin, no shirt, and looking as if they had never +had a good square meal in their lives. + +I had one other curious experience, and after that I gave up trying +anything that was a novelty or that they hadn't seen all their lives. +The French peasant is really conservative; and if left to himself, +with no cheap political papers or socialist orators haranguing in the +cafes on the eternal topic of the rich and the poor, he would be quite +content to go on leading the life he and his fathers have always +led--would never want to destroy or change anything. + +I was staying one year with Lady Derby at Knowsley, in Christmas week, +and I was present one afternoon when she was making her annual +distribution of clothes to the village children. I was much pleased +with some ulsters and some red cloaks she had for the girls. They were +so pleased, too--broad smiles on their faces when they were called up +and the cloaks put on their shoulders. They looked so warm and +comfortable, when the little band trudged home across the snow. I had +instantly visions of my school children attired in these cloaks, +climbing our steep hills in the dark winter days. + +I had a long consultation with Lady Margaret Cecil, Lady Derby's +daughter--a perfect saint, who spent all her life helping other +people--and she gave me the catalogue of "Price Jones," a well-known +Welsh shop whose "spécialité" was all sorts of clothes for country +people, schools, workmen's families, etc. I ordered a large collection +of red cloaks, ulsters, and flannel shirts at a very reasonable price, +and they promised to send them in the late summer, so that we should +find them when we went back to France. + +We found two large cases when we got home, and were quite pleased at +all the nice warm cloaks we had in store for the winter. + +As soon as the first real cold days began, about the end of November, +the women used to appear at the château asking for warm clothes for +the children. The first one to come was the wife of the "garde de +Borny"--a slight, pale woman, the mother of nine small children +(several of them were members of the school at St. Quentin, who had +declined our soup, and I rather had _their_ little pinched, bloodless +faces in my mind when I first thought about it). She had three with +her--a baby in her arms, a boy and a girl of six and seven, both +bare-legged, the boy in an old worn-out jersey pulled over his chest, +the girl in a ragged blue and white apron, a knitted shawl over her +head and shoulders. The baby had a cloak. I don't believe there was +much on underneath, and the mother was literally a bundle of rags, her +skirt so patched one could hardly make out the original colour, and a +wonderful cloak all frayed at the ends and with holes in every +direction. However, they were all clean. + +The baby and the boy were soon provided for. The boy was much pleased +with his flannel shirt. Then we produced the red cloak for the girl. +The woman's face fell: "Oh, no, Madame, I couldn't take that; my +little girl couldn't wear it." I, astounded: "But you don't see what +it is--a good, thick cloak that will cover her all up and keep her +warm." "Oh, no, Madame, she couldn't wear that; all the people on the +road would laugh at her! Cela ne se porte pas dans notre pays" (that +is not worn in our country). + +I explained that I had several, and that she would see all the other +little girls with the same cloaks; but I got only the same answer, +adding that Madame would see--no child would wear such a cloak. I was +much disgusted--thought the woman was capricious; but she was +perfectly right; not a single mother, and Heaven knows they were poor +enough, would take a red cloak, and they all had to be transformed +into red flannel petticoats. Every woman made me the same answer: +"Every one on the road would laugh at them." + +I was not much luckier with the ulsters. What I had ordered for big +girls of nine and ten would just go on girls of six and seven. Either +French children are much stouter than English, or they wear thicker +things underneath. Here again there was work to do--all the sleeves +were much too long; my maids had to alter and shorten them, which they +did with rather a bad grace. + +A most interesting operation that very cold year was taking ice out of +the big pond at the foot of the hill. The ice was several inches +thick, and beautifully clear in the middle of the pond; toward the +edges the reeds and long grass had all got frozen into it, and it was +rather difficult to get the big blocks out. We had one of the farm +carts with a pair of strong horses, and three or four men with axes +and a long pointed stick. It was so solid that we all stood on the +pond while the men were cutting their first square hole in the middle. +It was funny to see the fish swimming about under the ice. + +The whole village of course looked on, and the children were much +excited, and wanted to come and slide on the ice, but I got nervous as +the hole got bigger and the ice at the edges thinner, so we all +adjourned to the road and watched operations from there. + +There were plenty of fish in the pond, and once a year it was +thoroughly drained and cleaned--the water drawn off, and the bottom of +the pond, which got choked up with mud and weeds, cleared out. They +made a fine haul of fish on those occasions from the small pools that +were left on each side while the cleaning was going on. + +Our ice-house was a godsend to all the countryside. Whenever any one +was ill, and ice was wanted, they always came to the château. Our good +old doctor was not at all in the movement as regarded fresh air and +cold water, but ice he often wanted. He was a rough, kindly old man, +quite the type of the country practitioner--a type that is also +disappearing, like everything else. Everybody knew his cabriolet (with +a box at the back where he kept his medicine chest and instruments), +with a strong brown horse that trotted all day and all night up and +down the steep hills in all weathers. A very small boy was always with +him to hold the horse while he made his visits. + +Our doctor was very kind to the poor, and never refused to go out at +night. It was funny to see him arrive on a cold day, enveloped in so +many cloaks and woollen comforters that it took him some time to get +out of his wraps. He had a gruff voice, and heavy black overhanging +eyebrows which frightened people at first, but they soon found out +what a kind heart there was beneath such a rough exterior, and the +children loved him. He had always a box of liquorice lozenges in his +waistcoat pocket which he distributed freely to the small ones. + +The country doctors about us now are a very different type--much +younger men, many foreigners. There are two Russians and a Greek in +some of the small villages near us. I believe they are very good. I +met the Greek one day at the keeper's cottage. He was looking after +the keeper's wife, who was very ill. It seemed funny to see a Greek, +with one of those long Greek names ending in "popolo," in a poor +little French village almost lost in the woods; but he made a very +good impression on me--was very quiet, didn't give too much medicine +(apothecaries' bills are always such a terror to the poor), and spoke +kindly to the woman. He comes still in a cabriolet, but his Russian +colleague has an automobile--indeed so have now many of the young +French doctors. I think there is a little rivalry between the +Frenchmen and the foreigners, but the latter certainly make their way. + +What is very serious now is the open warfare between the curé and the +school-master. When I first married, the school-masters and mistresses +took their children to church, always sat with them and kept them in +order. The school-mistress sometimes played the organ. Now they not +only don't go to church themselves, but they try to prevent the +children from going. The result is that half the children don't go +either to the church or to the catechism. + +I had a really annoying instance of this state of things one year when +we wanted to make a Christmas tree and distribution of warm clothes at +Montigny, a lonely little village not far from us. We talked it over +with the curé and the school-master. They gave us the names and ages +of all the children, and were both much pleased to have a fête in +their quiet little corner. I didn't suggest a service in the church, +as I thought that might perhaps be a difficulty for the school-master. + +Two days before the fête I had a visit from the curé of Montigny, who +looked embarrassed and awkward; had evidently something on his mind, +and finally blurted out that he was very sorry he couldn't be present +at the Christmas tree, as he was obliged to go to Reims that day. I, +much surprised and decidedly put out: "You are going to Reims the one +day in the year when we come and make a fête in your village? It is +most extraordinary, and surprises me extremely. The date has been +fixed for weeks, and I hold very much to your being there." + +He still persisted, looking very miserable and uncomfortable, and +finally said he was going away on purpose, so as not to be at the +school-house. He liked the school-master very much, got on with him +perfectly; he was intelligent and taught the children very well; but +all school-masters who had anything to do with the Church or the curé +were "malnotés." The mayor of Montigny was a violent radical; and +surely if he heard that the curé was present at our fête in the +school-house, the school-master would be dismissed the next day. The +man was over thirty, with wife and children; it would be difficult for +him to find any other employment; and he himself would regret him, as +his successor might be much worse and fill the children's heads with +impossible ideas. + +I was really very much vexed, and told him I would talk it over with +my son and see what we could do. The poor little curé was much +disappointed, but begged me not to insist upon his presence. + +A little later the school-master arrived, also very much embarrassed, +saying practically the same thing--that he liked the curé very much. +He never talked politics, nor interfered in any way with his +parishioners. Whenever any one was ill or in trouble, he was always +the first person to come forward and nurse and help. But he saw him +very little. If I held to the curé being present at the Christmas +tree, of course he could say nothing; but he would certainly be +dismissed the next day. He was married--had nothing but his salary; it +would be a terrible blow to him. + +I was very much perplexed, particularly as the time was short and I +couldn't get hold of the mayor. So we called a family council--Henrietta +and Francis were both at home--and decided that we must let our fête +take place without the curé. The school-master was very grateful, and +said he would take my letter to the post-office. I had to write to the +curé to tell him what we had decided, and that he might go to Reims. + +One of our great amusements in the winter was the hunting. We knew +very well the two gentlemen, Comtes de B. and de L., who hunted the +Villers-Cotterets forest, and often rode with them. It was beautiful +riding country--stretches of grass alongside the hard highroad, where +one could have a capital canter, the only difficulty being the +quantity of broad, low ditches made for the water to run off. Once the +horses knew them they took them quite easily in their stride, but they +were a little awkward to manage at first. The riding was very +different from the Roman Campagna, which was my only experience. There +was very little to jump; long straight alleys, with sometimes a big +tree across the road, occasionally ditches; nothing like the very +stiff fences and stone walls one meets in the Campagna, or the +slippery bits of earth (tufa) where the horses used to slide sometimes +in the most uncomfortable way. One could gallop for miles in the +Villers-Cotterets forest with a loose rein. It was disagreeable +sometimes when we left the broad alleys and took little paths in and +out of the trees. When the wood was thick and the branches low, I was +always afraid one would knock me off the saddle or come into my eyes. +Some of the meets were most picturesque; sometimes in the heart of the +forest at a great carrefour, alleys stretching off in every direction, +hemmed in by long straight lines of winter trees on each side, with a +thick, high undergrowth of ferns, and a broad-leaved plant I didn't +know, which remained green almost all winter. It was pretty to see the +people arriving from all sides, in every description of +vehicle--breaks, dog-carts, victorias, farmer's gigs--grooms with led +horses, hunting men in green or red coats, making warm bits of colour +in the rather severe landscape. The pack of hounds, white with brown +spots, big, powerful animals, gave the valets de chiens plenty to do. +Apparently they knew all their names, as we heard frequent admonitions +to Comtesse, Diane (a very favourite name for hunting dogs in France), +La Grise, etc., to keep quiet, and not make little excursions into the +woods. As the words were usually accompanied by a cut of the whip, the +dogs understood quite well, and remained a compact mass on the side of +the road. There was the usual following of boys, tramps, and stray +bûcherons (woodmen), and when the day was fine, and the meet not too +far, a few people would come from the neighbouring villages, or one or +two carriages from the livery stables of Villers-Cotterets, filled +with strangers who had been attracted by the show and the prospect of +spending an afternoon in the forest. A favourite meet was at the +pretty little village of Ivors, standing just on the edge of the +forest not far from us. It consisted of one long street, a church, and +a château at one end. The château had been a fine one, but was fast +going to ruin, uninhabited, paint and plaster falling off, roof and +walls remaining, and showing splendid proportions, but had an air of +decay and neglect that was sad to see in such a fine place. The owner +never lived there; had several other places. An agent came down +occasionally, and looked after the farm and woods. There was a fine +double court-yard and enormous "communs," a large field only +separating the kitchen garden from the forest. A high wall in fairly +good condition surrounded the garden and small park. On a hunting +morning the little place quite waked up, and it was pretty to see the +dogs and horses grouped under the walls of the old château, and the +hunting men in their bright coats moving about among the peasants and +carters in their dark-blue smocks. + +The start was very pretty--one rode straight into the forest, the +riders spreading in all directions. The field was never very +large--about thirty--I the only lady. The cor de chasse was a +delightful novelty to me, and I soon learned all the calls--the +débouché, the vue and the hallali, when the poor beast is at the last +gasp. The first time I saw the stag taken I was quite miserable. We +had had a splendid gallop. I was piloted by one of the old stagers, +who knew every inch of the forest, and who promised I should be in at +the death, if I would follow him, "mais il faut me suivre partout, +avez-vous peur?" As he was very stout, and not particularly well +mounted, and I had a capital English mare, I was quite sure I could +pass wherever he could. He took me through all sorts of queer little +paths, the branches sometimes so low that it didn't seem possible to +get through, but we managed it. Sometimes we lost sight of the hunt +entirely, but he always guided himself by the sound of the horns, +which one hears at a great distance. Once a stag bounded across the +road just in front of us, making our horses shy violently, but he said +that was not the one we were after. I wondered how he knew, but didn't +ask any questions. Once or twice we stopped in the thick of the woods, +having apparently lost ourselves entirely, not hearing a sound, and +then in the distance there would be the faint sound of the horn, +enough for him to distinguish the vue, which meant that they were +still running. Suddenly, very near, we heard the great burst of the +hallali--horses, dogs, riders, all joining in; and pushing through the +brushwood we found ourselves on the edge of a big pond, almost a lake. +The stag, a fine one, was swimming about, nearly finished, his eyes +starting out of his head, and his breast shaken with great sobs. The +whole pack of dogs was swimming after him, the hunters all swarming +down to the edge, sounding their horns, and the master of hounds +following in a small flatboat, waiting to give the coup de grâce with +his carbine when the poor beast should attempt to get up the bank. It +was a sickening sight. I couldn't stand it, and retreated (we had all +dismounted) back into the woods, much to the surprise and disgust of +my companion, who was very proud and pleased at having brought me in +at the death among the very first. Of course, one gets hardened, and a +stag at bay is a fine sight. In the forest they usually make their +last stand against a big tree, and sell their lives dearly. The dogs +sometimes get an ugly blow. I was really very glad always when the +stag got away. I had all the pleasure and excitement of the hunt +without having my feelings lacerated at the end of the day. The sound +of the horns and the unwonted stir in the country had brought out all +the neighbourhood, and the inhabitants of the little village, +including the curé and the châtelaine of the small château near, soon +appeared upon the scene. The curé, a nice, kindly faced old man, with +white hair and florid complexion, was much interested in all the +details of the hunt. It seems the stag is often taken in these ponds, +les étangs de la ramée, which are quite a feature in the country, and +one of the sights of the Villers-Cotterets forest, where strangers are +always brought. They are very picturesque; the trees slope down to the +edge of the ponds, and when the bright autumn foliage is reflected in +the water the effect is quite charming. + +Mme. de M., the châtelaine, was the type of the grande dame Française, +fine, clear-cut features, black eyes, and perfectly white hair, very +well arranged. She was no longer young, but walked with a quick, light +step, a cane in her hand. She, too, was much interested, such an +influx of people, horses, dogs, and carriages (for in some mysterious +way the various vehicles always seemed to find their way to the +finish). It was an event in the quiet little village. She admired my +mare very much, which instantly won my affections. She asked us to +come back with her to the château--it was only about a quarter of an +hour's walk--to have some refreshment after our long day; so I held up +my skirt as well as I could, and we walked along together. The château +is not very large, standing close to the road in a small park, really +more of a manor house than a château. She took us into the +drawing-room just as stiff and bare as all the others I had seen, a +polished parquet floor, straight-backed, hard chairs against the wall +(the old lady herself looked as if she had sat up straight on a hard +chair all her life). In the middle of the room was an enormous +palm-tree going straight up to the ceiling. She said it had been there +for years and always remained when she went to Paris in the spring. +She was a widow, lived alone in the château with the old servants. Her +daughter and grandchildren came occasionally to stay with her. She +gave us wine and cake, and was most agreeable. I saw her often +afterward, both in the country and Paris, and loved to hear her talk. +She had remained absolutely ancien régime, couldn't understand modern +life and ways at all. One of the things that shocked her beyond words +was to see her granddaughters and their young friends playing tennis +with young men in flannels. In her day a young man in bras de chemise +would have been ashamed to appear before ladies in such attire. We +didn't stay very long that day, as we were far from home, and the +afternoon was shortening fast. The retraite was sometimes long when we +had miles of hard road before us, until we arrived at the farm or +village where the carriage was waiting. When we could walk our horses +it was bearable, but sometimes when they broke into a jog-trot, which +nothing apparently could make them change, it was very fatiguing after +a long day. + +Sometimes, when we had people staying with us, we followed the hunt in +the carriage. We put one of the keepers of the Villers-Cotterets +forest on the box, and it was wonderful how much we could see. The +meet was always amusing, but when once the hunt had moved off, and the +last stragglers disappeared in the forest, it didn't seem as if there +was any possibility of catching them; and sometimes we would drive in +a perfectly opposite direction, but the old keeper knew all about the +stags and their haunts when they would break out and cross the road, +and when they would double and go back into the woods. We were waiting +one day in the heart of the forest, at one of the carrefours, miles +away apparently from everything, and an absolute stillness around us. +Suddenly there came a rush and noise of galloping horses, baying +hounds and horns, and a flash of red and green coats dashed by, +disappearing in an instant in the thick woods before we had time to +realize what it was. It was over in a moment--seemed an hallucination. +We saw and heard nothing more, and the same intense stillness +surrounded us. We had the same sight, the stag taken in the water, +some years later, when we were alone at the château. Mme. A. was dead, +and her husband had gone to Paris to live. We were sitting in the +gallery one day after breakfast, finishing our coffee, and making +plans for the day, when suddenly we saw red spots and moving figures +in the distance, on the hills opposite, across the canal. Before we +had time to get glasses and see what was happening, the children came +rushing in to say the hunt was in the woods opposite, the horns +sounding the hallali, and the stag probably in the canal. With the +glasses we made out the riders quite distinctly, and soon heard faint +echoes of the horn. We all made a rush for hats and coats, and started +off to the canal. We had to go down a steep, slippery path which was +always muddy in all weathers, and across a rather rickety narrow +plank, also very slippery. As we got nearer, we heard the horns very +well, and the dogs yelping. By the time we got to the bridge, which was +open to let a barge go through, everything had disappeared--horses, +dogs, followers, and not a sound of horn or hoof. One solitary +horseman only, who had evidently lost the hunt and didn't know which +way to go. We lingered a little, much disgusted, but still hoping we +might see something, when suddenly we heard again distant sounds of +horns and yelping dogs. The man on the other side waved his cap +wildly, pointed to the woods, and started off full gallop. In a few +minutes the hill slope was alive with hunters coming up from all +sides. We were nearly mad with impatience, but couldn't swim across +the canal, the bridge was still open, the barge lumbering through. The +children with their Fräulein and some of the party crossed a little +lower down on a crazy little plank, which I certainly shouldn't have +dared attempt, and at last the bargeman took pity on us and put us +across. We raced along the bank as fast as we could, but the canal +turns a great deal, and a bend prevented our seeing the stag, with the +hounds at his heels, galloping down the slope and finally jumping +into the canal, just where it widens out and makes a sort of lake +between our hamlet of Bourneville and Marolles. It was a pretty sight, +all the hunters dismounted, walking along the edge of the water, +sounding their hallali, the entire population of Bourneville and +Marolles and all our household arriving in hot haste, and groups of +led horses and valets de chiens in their green coats half-way up the +slope. The stag, a very fine one, was swimming round and round, every +now and then making an effort to get up the bank, and falling back +heavily--he was nearly done, half his body sinking in the water, and +his great eyes looking around to see if any one would help him. I went +back to the barge (they had stayed, too, to see the sight), and the +woman, a nice, clean, motherly body with two babies clinging to her, +was much excited over the cruelty of the thing. + +[Illustration: I suggested that the whole chasse should adjourn to the +château.] + +"Madame trouve que c'est bien de tourmenter une pauvre bête qui ne +fait de mal à personne, pour s'amuser?" Madame found that rather +difficult to answer, and turned the conversation to her life on the +barge. The minute little cabin looked clean, with several pots of red +geraniums, clean muslin curtains, a canary bird, and a nondescript +sort of dog, who, she told me, was very useful, taking care of the +children and keeping them from falling into the water when she was +obliged to leave them on the boat while she went on shore to get her +provisions. I asked: "_How_ does he keep them from falling into the +water--does he take hold of their clothes?" "No, I leave them in the +cabin, when I am obliged to go ashore, and he stands at the door and +barks and won't let them come out." While I was talking to her I heard +a shot, and realised that the poor stag had been finished at last. It +was early in the afternoon--three o'clock, and I suggested that the +whole chasse should adjourn to the château for goûter. This they +promptly accepted, and started off to find their horses. Then I had +some misgivings as to what I could give them for goûter. We were a +small party, mostly women and children. W. was away, and I thought +that probably the chef, who was a sportsman as well as a cook, was +shooting (he had hired a small chasse not far from us); I had told him +there was nothing until dinner. I had visions of twenty or thirty +hungry men and an ordinary tea-table, with some thin bread and butter, +a pot of damson jam, and some sables, so I sent off Francis's tutor, +the stable-boy, and the gardener's boy to the château as fast as their +legs could carry them, to find somebody, anybody, to prepare us as +much food as they could, and to sacrifice the dinner at once, to make +sandwiches--tea and chocolate, of course, were easily provided. + +We all started back to the house up the steep, muddy path, some of the +men with us leading their horses, some riding round by Marolles to +give orders to the breaks and various carriages to come to the +château. The big gates were open, Hubert there to arrange at once for +the accommodation of so many horses and equipages, and the billiard +and dining-rooms, with great wood-fires, looking most comfortable. The +chasseurs begged not to come into the drawing-room, as they were +covered with mud, so they brushed off what they could in the hall, and +we went at once to the goûter. It was funny to see our quiet +dining-room invaded by such a crowd of men, some red-coated, some +green, all with breeches and high muddy boots. The master of hounds, +M. Menier, proposed to make the curée on the lawn after tea, which I +was delighted to accept. We had an English cousin staying with us who +knew all about hunting in her own country, but had never seen a French +chasse à courre, and she was most keen about it. The goûter was very +creditable. It seems that they had just caught the chef, who had been +attracted by the unusual sounds and bustle on the hillside, and who +had also come down to see the show. He promptly grasped the situation, +hurried back to the house, and produced beef and mayonnaise +sandwiches, and a splendid savarin with whipped cream in the middle +(so we naturally didn't have any dessert--but nobody minded), tea, +chocolate, and whiskey, of course. As soon as it began to get dark we +all adjourned to the lawn. All the carriages, the big breaks with four +horses, various lighter vehicles, grooms and led horses were massed at +the top of the lawn, just where it rises slightly to meet the woods. A +little lower down was Hubert, the huntsman (a cousin of our coachman, +Hubert, who was very pleased to do the honours of his stable-yard), +with one or two valets de chiens, the pack of dogs, and a great whip, +which was very necessary to keep the pack back until he allowed them +to spring upon the carcass of the stag. He managed them beautifully. +Two men held up the stag--the head had already been taken off; it was +a fine one, with broad, high antlers, a dix cors. Twice Hubert led his +pack up, all yelping and their eyes starting out of their heads, and +twice drove them back, but the third time he let them spring on the +carcass. It was an ugly sight, the compact mass of dogs, all snarling +and struggling, noses down and tails up. In a few minutes nothing was +left of the poor beast but bones, and not many of them. Violet had les +honneurs du pied (the hoof of one of the hind legs of the stag), which +is equivalent to the "brush" one gives in fox-hunting. She thanked M. +M., the master of hounds, very prettily and said she would have it +arranged and hang it up in the hall of her English home, in +remembrance of a lovely winter afternoon, and her first experience of +what still remains of the old French vénerie. The horns sounded again +the curée and the depart, and the whole company gradually dispersed, +making quite a cortège as they moved down the avenue, horses and +riders disappearing in the gray mist that was creeping up from the +canal, and the noise of wheels and hoofs dying away in the distance. + +[Illustration: Some red-coated, some green, all with breeches and high +muddy boots.] + + * * * * * + +We were pottering about in our woods one day, waiting for Labbez (the +keeper) to come and decide about some trees that must be cut down, +when a most miserable group emerged from one of the side alleys and +slipped by so quickly and quietly that we couldn't speak to them. A +woman past middle age, lame, unclothed really--neither shoes nor +stockings, not even a chemise--two sacks of coarse stuff, one tied +around her waist half covering her bare legs, one over her shoulders; +two children with her, a big overgrown girl of about twelve, equally +without clothing, an old black bodice gaping open over her bare skin, +held together by one button, a short skirt so dirty and torn that one +wondered what kept it on, no shoes nor stockings, black hair falling +straight down over her forehead and eyes; the boy, about six, in a +dirty apron, also over his bare skin. I was horrified, tried to make +them turn and speak to me, but they disappeared under the brushwood as +quickly as they could, "evidently up to no good," said W. In a few +moments the keeper appeared, red and breathless, having been running +after poachers--a woman the worst of the lot. We described the party +we had just seen, and he was wildly excited, wanted to start again in +pursuit, said they were just the ones he was looking for. The woman +belonged to a band of poachers and vagabonds they could not get hold +of. They could trace her progress sometimes by the blood on the grass +where the thorns and sharp stones had torn her feet. It seems they +were quite a band, living anywhere in the woods, in old +charcoal-burners' huts or under the trees, never staying two nights in +the same place. There are women, and children, and babies, who appear +and disappear, in the most extraordinary manner. Many of them have +been condemned, and have had two weeks or a month of prison. One +family is employed by one of the small farmers near, who lets them +live in a tumbledown hut in the midst of his woods, and that is their +centre. We passed by there two or three days later, when we were +riding across the fields, and anything so miserable I never saw; the +house half falling to pieces, no panes of glass, dirty rags stuffed in +the windows, no door at all, bundles of dirty straw inside, a pond of +filthy water at one side of the house, two or three dirty children +playing in it, and inside at the opening, where the door should have +been, the same lame woman in her two sacks. She glowered at us, +standing defiantly at the opening to prevent our going in, in case we +had any such intention. I suppose she had various rabbits and hares +hung up inside she couldn't have accounted for. There was no other +habitation anywhere near; no cart or vehicle of any kind could have +got there. We followed a narrow path, hardly visible in the long +grass, and the horses had to pick their way--one couldn't imagine a +more convenient trysting-place for vagabonds and tramps. It seems +incredible that such things should go on at our doors, so to speak, +but it is very difficult to get at them. Our keepers and M. de M., +whose property touches ours, have had various members of the gang +arrested, but they always begin again. The promiscuity of living is +something awful, girls and young men squatting and sleeping in the +same room on heaps of dirty rags. There have been some arrests for +infanticide, when a baby's appearance and disappearance was too +flagrant, but the girls don't care. They do their time of prison, come +out quite untamed by prison discipline, and begin again their wild, +free life. One doesn't quite understand the farmer who gives any +shelter to such a bad lot, but I fancy there is a tacit understanding +that his hares and rabbits must be left unmolested. + +It is amusing to see the keepers when they suspect poachers are in +their woods. When the leaves are off they can see at a great distance, +and with their keen, trained eyes make out quite well when a moving +object is a hare, or a roebuck, or a person on all fours, creeping +stealthily along. They have powerful glasses, too, which help them +very much. They, too, have their various tricks, like the poachers. As +the gun-barrel is seen at a great distance when the sun strikes it, +they cover it with a green stuff that takes the general tint of the +leaves and the woods, and post themselves, half hidden in the bushes, +near some of the quarries, where the poachers generally come. Then +they give a gun to an under-strapper, telling him to stand in some +prominent part of the woods, _his_ gun well in sight. That, of course, +the poachers see at once, so they make straight for the other side, +and often fall upon the keepers who are lying in wait for them. As a +general rule, they don't make much resistance, as they know the +keepers will shoot--not to kill them, but a shot in the ankle or leg +that will disable them for some time. I had rather a weakness for one +poaching family. The man was young, good-looking, and I don't really +believe a bad lot, but he had been unfortunate, had naturally a high +temper, and couldn't stand being howled at and sworn at when things +didn't go exactly as the patron wanted; consequently he never stayed +in any place, tried to get some other work, but was only fit for the +woods, where he knew every tree and root and the habits and haunts of +all the animals. He had a pretty young wife and two children, who had +also lived in the woods all their lives, and could do nothing else. +The wife came to see me one day to ask for some clothes for herself +and the children, which I gave, of course, and then tried mildly to +speak to her about her husband, who spent half his time in prison, and +was so sullen and scowling when he came out that everybody gave him a +wide berth. The poor thing burst into a passion of tears and +incoherent defence of her husband. Everybody had been so hard with +him. When he had done his best, been up all night looking after the +game, and then was rated and sworn at by his master before every one +because un des Parisiens didn't know what to do with a gun when he had +one in his hand, and couldn't shoot a hare that came and sat down in +front of him, it was impossible not to answer un peu vivement +peut-être, and it was hard to be discharged at once without a chance +of finding anything else, etc., and at last winding up with the +admission that he did take hares and rabbits occasionally; but when +there was nothing to eat in the house and the children were crying +with hunger, what was he to do? Madame would never have known or +missed the rabbits, and after all, le Bon Dieu made them for +everybody. I tried to persuade W. to take him as a workman in the +woods, with the hope of getting back as under-keeper, but he would not +hear of it, said the man was perfectly unruly and violent-tempered, +and would demoralize all the rest. They remained some time in the +country, and the woman came sometimes to see me, but she had grown +hard, evidently thought I could have done something for her husband, +and couldn't understand that as long as he went on snaring game no one +would have anything to do with him--always repeating the same thing, +that a Bon Dieu had made the animals pour tout le monde. Of course it +must be an awful temptation for a man who has starving children at +home, and who knows that he has only to walk a few yards in the woods +to find rabbits in plenty; and one can understand the feeling that le +Bon Dieu provided food for all his children, and didn't mean some to +starve, while others lived on the fat of the land. + +It was a long time before I could get accustomed to seeing women work +in the fields (which I had never seen in America). In the cold autumn +days, when they were picking the betterave (a big beet root) that is +used to make sugar in France, it made me quite miserable to see them. +Bending all day over the long rows of beets, which required quite an +effort to pull out of the hard earth, their hands red and chapped, +sometimes a cold wind whistling over the fields that no warm garment +could keep out, and they never had any really warm garment. We met an +old woman one day quite far from any habitation, who was toiling home, +dragging her feet, in wretched, half-worn shoes, over the muddy +country roads, who stopped and asked us if we hadn't a warm petticoat +to give her. She knew me, called me by name, and said she lived in the +little hamlet near the château. She looked miserably cold and tired. I +asked where she came from, and what she had been doing all day. +"Scaring the crows in M. A.'s fields," was the answer. "What does your +work consist of?" I asked. "Oh, I just sit there and make a +noise--beat the top of an old tin kettle with sticks and shake a bit +of red stuff in the air." Poor old woman, she looked half paralyzed +with cold and fatigue, and I was really almost ashamed to be seated so +warmly and comfortably in the carriage, well wrapped up in furs and +rugs, and should have quite understood if she had poured out a torrent +of abuse. It must rouse such bitter and angry feeling when these poor +creatures, half frozen and half starved, see carriages rolling past +with every appliance of wealth and luxury. I suppose what saves us is +that they are so accustomed to their lives, the long days of hard +work, the wretched, sordid homes, the insufficient meals, the +quantities of children clamouring for food and warmth. Their parents +and grandparents have lived the same lives, and anything else would +seem as unattainable as the moon, or some fairy tale. There has been +one enormous change in all the little cottages--the petroleum lamp. +All have got one--petroleum is cheap and gives much more light and +heat than the old-fashioned oil lamp. In the long winter afternoons, +when one must have light for work of any kind, the petroleum lamp is a +godsend. We often noticed the difference coming home late. The +smallest hamlets looked quite cheerful with the bright lights shining +through the cracks and windows. I can't speak much from _personal_ +experience of the _inside_ of the cottages--I was never much given to +visiting among the poor. I suppose I did not take it in the right +spirit, but I could never see the poetry, the beautiful, patient +lives, the resignation to their humble lot. I only saw the dirt, and +smelt all the bad smells, and heard how bad most of the young ones +were to all the poor old people. "Cela mange comme quatre, et cela +n'est plus bon à rien," I heard one woman remark casually to her poor +old father sitting huddled up in a heap near the fire. I don't know, +either, whether they liked to have us come. What suited them best was +to send the children to the château. They always got a meal and a warm +jacket and petticoat. + +[Illustration: Peasant women.] + + + + +V + +CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS + + +We were very particular about attending all important ceremonies at La +Ferté, as we rarely went to church there except on great occasions. We +had our service regularly at the château every Sunday morning. All the +servants, except ours, were Protestants, Swiss generally, and very +respectable they looked--all the women in black dresses and white +caps--when they assembled in M. A.'s library, sitting on cane chairs near +the door. + +Some, in fact most, Protestants in France attach enormous importance to +having all their household Protestant. A friend of mine, a Protestant, +having tea with me one day in Paris was rather pleased with the bread or +little "croissants," and asked me where they came from. I said I didn't +know, but would ask the butler. That rather surprised her. Then she +said, "Your baker of course is a Protestant." That I didn't know either, +and, what was much worse in her eyes, I didn't care. She was quite +distressed, gave me the address of an excellent Swiss Protestant baker +and begged me to sever all connection with the Catholic at once. I asked +her if she really thought dangerous papist ideas were kneaded in with +the bread, but she would not listen to my mild "persiflage," and went +away rather anxious about my spiritual welfare. + +We went always to the church at La Ferté for the fête of St. Cécile, as +the Fanfare played in the church on that day. The Fanfare was a very +important body. Nearly all the prominent citizens of La Ferté, who had +any idea of music, were members--the butcher, the baker, the coiffeur, +etc. The Mayor was president and walked at the head of the procession +when they filed into the church. I was "Présidente d'Honneur" and always +wore my badge pinned conspicuously on my coat. It was a great day for +the little town. Weeks before the fête we used to hear all about it from +the coiffeur when he came to the château to shave the gentlemen. He +played the big drum and thought the success of the whole thing depended +on his performance. He proposed to bring his instrument one morning and +play his part for us. We were very careful to be well dressed on that +day and discarded the short serge skirts we generally wore. All the La +Ferté ladies, particularly the wives and sisters of the performers, put +on their best clothes, and their feelings would have been hurt if we had +not done the same. + +In fact it was a little difficult to dress up to the occasion. The older +women all had jet and lace on their dresses, with long trailing skirts, +and the younger ones, even children, had wonderful hats with +feathers--one or two long white ones. + +It was a pretty, animated sight as we arrived. All along the road we had +met bands of people hurrying on to the town--the children with clean +faces and pinafores, the men with white shirts, and even the old +grandmothers--their shawls on their shoulders and their turbans starched +stiff--were hobbling along with their sticks, anxious to arrive. We +heard sounds of music as we got to the church--the procession was +evidently approaching. The big doors were wide open, a great many people +already inside. We looked straight down the nave to the far end where +the high altar, all flowers and candles, made a bright spot of colour. +Red draperies and banners were hanging from the columns--vases and +wreaths of flowers at the foot of the statues of the saints; chairs and +music-stands in the chancel. We went at once to our places. The curé, +with his choir boys in their little short white soutanes, red petticoats +and red shoes, was just coming out of the sacristy and the procession +was appearing at the bottom of the church. First came the Mayor in a +dress coat and white cravat--the "Adjoint" and one of the municipal +council just behind, then the banner--rather a heavy one, four men +carried it. After that the "pompiers," all in uniform, each man carrying +his instrument; they didn't play as they came up the aisle, stopped +their music at the door; but when they did begin--I don't know exactly +at what moment of the mass--it was something appalling. The first piece +was a military march, executed with all the artistic conviction and +patriotic ardour of their young lungs (they were mostly young men). We +were at the top of the church, very near the performers, and the first +bursts of trumpets and bugles made one jump. They played several times. +It didn't sound too badly at the "Elevation" when they had chosen rather +a soft (comparatively) simple melody. The curé preached a very pretty, +short sermon, telling them about Saint Cécile, the delicately nurtured +young Roman who was not afraid to face martyrdom and death for the sake +of her religion. The men listened most attentively and seemed much +interested when he told them how he had seen in Rome the church of St. +Cécile built over the ruin of the saint's house--the sacristy just over +her bath-room. I asked him how he could reconcile it to his conscience +to speak of the melodious sounds that accompanied the prayers of the +faithful, but he said one must look sometimes at the intention more than +at the result. + +There was a certain _harmony_ among the men when they were practising +and preparing their music for the church, and as long as they held to +coming and gave up their evenings to practising, instead of spending +them in the wine shops, we must do all we could to encourage them. + +The procession went out in the same order--halted at the church door and +then W. made them a nice little speech, saying he was pleased to see how +numerous they were and how much improved--they would certainly take an +honourable place in the concours de fanfares of the department. They +escorted the Mayor back to his house playing their march and wound up +with a copious déjeuner at the "Sauvage." Either the Mayor or the +"Adjoint" always went to the banquet. W. gave the champagne, but +abstained from the feast. + +They really did improve as they went on. They were able to get better +instruments and were stimulated by rival fanfares in the neighbourhood. +They were very anxious to come and play at the château, and we promised +they should whenever a fitting occasion should present itself. + +We had a visit from the Staals one year. The Baron de Staal was Russian +Ambassador in England, and we had been colleagues there for many years. +We asked the Fanfare to come one Sunday afternoon while they were there. +We had a little difficulty over the Russian National Hymn, which they, +naturally, wanted to play. The Chef de Fanfare came to see me one day +and we looked over the music together. I had it only for the piano, but +I explained the tempo and repetitions to him and he arranged it very +well for his men. They made quite an imposing entrance. Half the +population of La Ferté escorted them (all much excited by the idea of +seeing the Russian Ambassador), and they were reinforced by the two +villages they passed through. We waited for them in the gallery--doors +and windows open. They played the spirited French march "Sambre et +Meuse" as they came up the avenue. It sounded quite fine in the open +air. They halted and saluted quite in military style as soon as they +came in front of the gallery--stopped their march and began immediately +the Russian Hymn, playing it very well. + +They were much applauded, we in the gallery giving the signal and their +friends on the lawn joining in enthusiastically. They were a motley +crowd--over a hundred I should think--ranging from the municipal +councillor of La Ferté, in his high hat and black cloth Sunday coat, to +the humpbacked daughter of the village carpenter and the idiot boy who +lived in a cave on the road and frightened the children out of their +wits by running out and making faces at them whenever they passed. They +played three or four times, then W. called up one or two of the +principal performers and presented them to the Staals. Mme. de Staal +spoke to them very prettily, thanked them for playing the Russian Hymn +and said she would like to hear the "Sambre et Meuse" again. That, of +course, delighted them and they marched off to the strains of their +favourite tune. About half-way down the avenue we heard a few cries of +"Vive la Russie," and then came a burst of cheers. + +Our dinner was rather pleasant that evening. We had the Préfet, M. +Sebline; Senator of the Aisne, Jusserand, present Ambassador to +Washington; Mme. Thénard, of the Comédie Française, and several young +people. Jusserand is always a brilliant talker--so easy--no pose of any +kind, and Sebline was interesting, telling about all sorts of old +customs in the country. + +Though we were so near Paris, hardly two hours by the express, the +people had remained extraordinarily primitive. There were no +manufacturing towns anywhere near us, nothing but big farms, forests and +small far-apart villages. The modern socialist-radical ideas were +penetrating very slowly into the heads of the people--they were quite +content to be humble tillers of the soil, as their fathers had been +before them. The men had worked all their lives on the farms, the women +too; beginning quite young, taking care of cows and geese, picking +beet-root, etc. + +What absolutely changed the men was the three years military service. +After knocking about in garrison towns, living with a great many people +always, having all sorts of amusements easily at hand and a certain +independence, once the service of the day was over, they found the dull +regular routine of the farm very irksome. In the summer it was well +enough--harvest time was gay, everyone in the fields, but in the short, +cold winter days, with the frozen ground making all the work doubly +hard, just enough food and no distraction of any kind but a pipe in the +kitchen after supper, the young men grew terribly restive and +discontented. Very few of them remain, and the old traditions handed +down from father to son for three or four generations are disappearing. +After dinner we had music and some charming recitations by Mme. Thénard. +Her first one was a comic monologue which always had the wildest success +in London, "Je suis veuve," beginning it with a ringing peal of laughter +which was curiously contagious--everyone in the room joined in. I like +her better in some of her serious things. When she said "le bon gite" +and "le petit clairon," by Paul Déroulède, in her beautiful deep +voice, I had a decided choke in my throat. + +We often had music at the château. Many of our artist friends came +down--glad to have two or three days rest in the quiet old house. We had +an amusing experience once with the young organist from La Ferté--almost +turned his hair gray. He had taught himself entirely and managed his old +organ very well. He had heard vaguely of Wagner and we had always +promised him we would try and play some of his music with two +pianos--eight hands. Four hands are really not enough for such +complicated music. Mlle. Dubois, premier prix du conservatoire--a +beautiful musician--was staying with us one year and we arranged a +concert for one evening, asking the organist to come to dinner. The poor +man was rather terrified at dining at the château--had evidently taken +great pains with his dress (a bright pink satin cravat was rather +striking) and thanked the butler most gratefully every time he handed +him a dish--"Je vous remercie beaucoup, Monsieur." We had our two grand +pianos and were going to play the overture of Tannhäuser, one of the +simplest and most melodious of Wagner's compositions. The performers +were Francis and I, Mlle. Dubois and the organist. It was a little +difficult to arrange who he should play with. He was very nervous at the +idea of playing with Mlle. Dubois--rather frightened of me and in +absolute terror at the idea of playing before W. Finally it was decided +that he and I should take the second piano--he playing the bass. It was +really funny to see him; his eyes were fixed on the music and he counted +audibly and breathlessly all the time, and I heard him muttering +occasionally to himself, "Non ce n'est pas possible," "Non ce n'est pas +cela." + +I must say that the Walpurgis Night for a person playing at sight and +unaccustomed to Wagner's music is an ordeal--however, he acquitted +himself extremely well and we got through our performance triumphantly, +but great drops of perspiration were on his forehead. W. was very nice +to him and Mlle. Dubois quite charming, encouraging him very much. Still +I don't think his evening at the château was one of unmixed pleasure, +and I am sure he was glad to have that overture behind him. + +We saw our neighbours very rarely; occasionally some men came to +breakfast. The sous-préfet, one or two of the big farmers or some local +swells who wanted to talk politics to W. One frequent visitor was an +architect from Château-Thierry, who had built W.'s farm. He was an +enormous man, very stout and red, always attired in shiny black +broadcloth. He was a very shrewd specimen, very well up in all that +went on in the country and very useful to W. He had a fine appetite, +always tucking his napkin carefully under his chin when he sat down to +table. He talked a great deal one day about his son, who had a good +tenor voice and had just got an engagement at the Opéra Comique. Said he +would like us to hear him sing--might he bring him some day to +breakfast? + +He came back two or three weeks later with the young man, who was a +great improvement upon his father. The Paris boulevards and the +coulisses of the opera had quite modified the young provincial. He +talked a good deal at table, was naturally much pleased to have got into +the Opéra Comique. As it is a "théâtre subventionné" (government +theatre), he considered himself a sort of official functionary. After +breakfast he asked us if we would like to hear him sing--sat down to the +piano, accompanying himself very simply and easily and sang extremely +well. I was much astonished and Mme. A. was delighted, especially when +he sang some old-fashioned songs from the "Dame Blanche" and the "Domino +Noir." The old father was enchanted, a broad smile on his face. He +confided to W. that he had hoped his son would walk in his footsteps and +content himself with a modest position as architect in the country, but +after six months in Paris where he had sent him to learn his +profession his ideas had completely changed and he would not hear of +vegetating in the country. + +[Illustration: A visit at the château.] + +We had, too, sometimes a doctor from one of the neighbouring villages. +He had married an Englishwoman. They had a nice house and garden and he +often had English boys over in the summer to learn French. He brought +them occasionally to us for tea and tennis, begging us not to speak +English to them. But that was rather difficult, with the English terms +at tennis--horses and dogs always spoken to in English. One could not +speak French to a fox-terrier bred in Oxfordshire. + + * * * * * + +Another pretty, simple fête was the Blessing of the Flag given by +Francis to the Pompiers of Montigny, our little village in the woods +just above the château. My husband had always promised them a flag, but +he died before their society was formed. Three years after his death, +when we were living in the small place which now belongs to my son, a +deputation arrived from Montigny one Sunday afternoon to ask if Francis +would give the flag his father had promised. This of course he was +delighted to do. He knew all the men and they all knew him--had seen him +since he was a baby--all of them had worked in his father's woods, and +two or three of the older ones had taken care of him and his gun when he +first began to shoot. + +His father gave him a gun when he was twelve years old--had it made at +Purdy's in London, a reduced model of his own. No one is allowed to +shoot in France till he is sixteen years old and then must have his +"permis de chasse" duly signed by the Mayor. So it was rather difficult +to get Francis and his gun into the woods--once there they were safe. +Nothing would have induced him to let any of the men carry it. He walked +beside the keeper with his gun over his shoulder just like him; they did +meet two gendarmes one day and quickly the gun was given to some one +else. I think the gendarmes quite realised the situation (Labbey, the +keeper, said they knew all about it), but they were friends of the +family, W.'s appointment, probably, and asked no questions. + +It was necessary of course to consult the local authorities before +deciding such an important question as the presentation of a flag to the +Pompiers. Francis went over two or three days later and interviewed the +curé, the Mayor and the school-master, found out where the flag must be +ordered in Paris and decided the day a fortnight later, a Sunday, of +course. The function was to consist of a service and sermon at the +church and a "vin d'honneur" offered by the Pompiers at the Mairie, +which they hoped Madame Waddington would grace by her presence. + +The flag was duly ordered, sent direct to Montigny and everything was +ready on the appointed day. We had fine weather, a bright, cold November +afternoon; the country looked beautiful, all the trees red and yellow, a +black line of pines in the middle of the woods. The long straggling +village street, ending at the church on the top of the hill, was full of +people; all the children in the middle of the road, their mothers +dashing after them when they heard the horn of the auto. + +We were quite a large party, as the house was full, and we brought all +our guests with us, including an American cousin, who was much +interested in the local festivities. The Pompiers were drawn up in the +court-yard of the Mairie, their beautiful new flag well to the front. +Almost all were in uniform, and those who had not yet been able to get +one wore a clean white shirt and the Pompier's red belt. There was a +cheer and a broad smile on all their faces when we drove up. Francis got +out, as he was to head the procession with the Mayor and the curé. We +went on to the church and stationed ourselves on the steps of the Infant +School to see the cortège arrive. + +It was quite a pretty sight as it wound up the hill: first the banner of +blue silk with gold cords, which was held proudly aloft by two tall +young fellows, then Francis walking between the curé and the Mayor, the +Pompiers immediately behind them, then the Municipal Council, the usual +escort of children that always turns out on such occasions bringing up +the rear. We let the procession pass into the church and then took our +places; a front pew was reserved for the family, but Francis and I sat +on two arm-chairs inside the chancel, just behind the Pompiers. + +The fine old church, which is rather large for such a small village, was +crowded; they told me many people had come from the neighbouring +hamlets. The Montigny people had done their best to beautify their +church; there were a few plants and flowers and some banners and +draperies--church property, which always figured upon any great +occasion. They told us with pride that the school-master had arranged +the music. I suppose the poor man did what he could with the material he +had, but the result was something awful. The chorister, a very old man, +a hundred I should think, played the harmonium, which was as old as he +was. It groaned and wheezed and at times stopped altogether. He started +the cantique with a thin quavering voice which was then taken up by the +school-children, particularly the boys who roared with juvenile +patriotism and energy each time they repeated the last line, "pour notre +drapeau, pour notre patrie." + +The sermon was very good--short and simple. It was preached by the Doyen +of Neuilly--a tall, strong, broad-shouldered man who would have seemed +more at home in a dragoon's uniform than in the soutane. But he knew his +business well, had a fine voice and very good delivery; his peroration +and appeal to the men to "remember always that the flag was the symbol +of obedience, of loyalty, of devotion, to their country and their God," +was really very fine. I almost expected to hear cheers. The French are +very emotional, and respond instantly to any allusion to country or +flag. The uniform (even the Pompier's) has an enormous prestige. Then +came the benediction, the flag held high over the kneeling congregation, +and the ceremony was ended. + +We stopped a few moments after the service to let the procession pass +out and also to thank the preacher and one or two curés who had assisted +on the occasion; they did not come to the "vin d'honneur." + +We walked down to the Mairie, where the Mayor and his Adjoint were +waiting for us; they conducted us to a large room upstairs where there +was a table with champagne bottles, glasses and a big brioche. As soon +as we had taken our places at the top of the room, the Pompiers and +Municipal Council trouped in and Francis made quite a pretty little +speech. It was the first time I had ever heard him speak in public; he +did it very well, was not at all shy. Then there was a pause--the Mayor +filled a glass of champagne, handed it to me, took one himself and we +"trinqué'd" solemnly. Still there seemed a little hitch, no one else +took any and there was an air of expectancy. I made a sign to the +school-master, who was also the Adjoint, and he explained to me in a low +voice that he thought it would give great pleasure if I would shake +hands and trinquer with all the Pompiers. So I asked to have all the +glasses filled and made the round, shaking hands with every one. + +Some of them were very shy, could hardly make up their minds to put out +their big, rough hands; some of the old ones were very talkative: "C'est +moi qui suis Jacques, Madame, j'ai nettoyé le premier fusil de M. +Francis." Another in a great hurry to get to me: "C'est moi qui ai +remassé le premier lièvre de M. Francis," etc. I remember the "premier +lièvre" quite well; Francis carried it home himself and dashed into his +father's study swinging the poor beast by its long ears, the blood +dripping from a hole in its neck. It was difficult to scold, the child +was so enchanted, even old Ferdinand did not grumble but came to the +rescue at once with brushes and "savon noir." + +The wine had loosened the tongues and made every one more at ease. I +asked that Hubert (our coachman who had been in W.'s service for +thirty-one years) should be invited to come up and have a glass of +champagne. He knew everybody, having driven W. about in his dog-cart all +over the country. He was delighted to take part in the fête and made his +little speech, saying he had seen Monsieur Francis when he was only a +few hours old, and that he had _grown since_--which joke was received +with great applause. + +Then some of the young men went off with Francis to look at the +automobile, a great novelty at that time. We went out and talked to the +women who were waiting in the street. Every one looked smiling and +pleased to see us; the men all formed again in procession and escorted +us to the end of the street, the whole village naturally following. They +stopped at the foot of the hill, giving us a ringing cheer as we left. + + * * * * * + +I never but once saw the whole neighbourhood assembled--when the only +son of the Baron de L. married. The Baron and his wife were very good +specimens of provincial _noblesse_. He was a tall, heavily-built man, +square-shouldered, with the weather-beaten complexion of a man who spent +all his days riding about his fields and woods; a pleasant, jovial +manner, quite the type of the country gentleman. + +They lived in a charming old Louis XV. château almost in the forest of +Villers-Cotterets--their park touching the line of wood. They went +rarely to Paris; lived almost all the year in the country and were +devoted to their place. One just saw the pointed red roof of the château +in the trees as one passed on the road. It stood high, a very steep road +leading up to it. At the foot of the hill were market gardens, which +made a very curious effect from a distance--the long rows of glass +"cloches" making huge white spots. The vegetables always looked very +tempting as we passed in the early summer. They were all "primeurs"--the +gardens lying in full sun and were sent off to the Paris market. +Half-way up the slope was a pretty little church almost hidden in the +trees, and a tiny village struggled up the hill and along the road. + +The bride, dressed in white--a slight girlish figure--was standing near +her mother-in-law and had a pretty smile of welcome for all the guests. +It was rather an ordeal for her, as she was a stranger in the country +(she came from the south of France) and every one was looking at the +newcomer. + +It was in the first year of my marriage, my first appearance in the +country, and I was rather puzzled about my dress for the occasion. We +were asked to dinner at seven o'clock. My first idea was to wear full +dress--light-blue satin and diamonds--but a niece of Mme. A.'s, who was +staying with us and who had been to some entertainments in that part of +the country, advised me strongly to dress more simply. "They would not +understand that sort of toilette and I would be overdressed and probably +uncomfortable." So I compromised with a high white dress, no diamonds +and one string of pearls. + +We had a short hour's drive. It was a clear, cold night and we saw the +château from a great distance. It was brilliantly lighted. The lights +twinkling through the trees looked like huge fireflies. As we drove into +the rather small court-yard there was quite a stir of carriages arriving +and backing out. The hall doors were wide open; a flood of light +streaming out over the steps--Baron de L. and his son at the door. There +was a hum of voices in the drawing-room and there seemed to be a great +many people. The rooms were handsome--plenty of light, the old tapestry +furniture looked very well, standing straight and stiff against the +wall, and the number of people took away the bare unused look they +generally had. + +All the châteaux of the neighbourhood were represented: The Comte de +Lubersac and his sister had come over from their fine place, Maucreux. +He was a very handsome young man--a great hunter and master of hounds of +the stag hunting in the forest of Villers-Cotterets; his sister, Mlle. +de Lubersac, most attractive, with the face of a saint. She was very +simply dressed in a high black dress. She lived almost the life of a +Sister of Charity--going about all day among the sick and poor, but she +had promised her father, who was a great invalid, almost crippled with +gout, to remain with him as long as he lived. It was only after his +death that she took the vows and entered one of the strictest orders +(Carmelites) in France. + +There were also the châtelaines of Thury en Valois--a fine château and +estate, not very far from us in the other direction. They had splendid +gardens and their fruit and vegetables were famous all over the country. +Mme. de Thury was a compatriot--the daughter of an American general; the +young Comte de Melun from Brumetz--very delicate looking, with a refined +student's face. His father was a great friend of the Maréchal MacMahon +and one of the leaders of the Catholic clerical party, and the young man +was very religious. Their woods touched ours and once or twice when we +were riding late, we saw him kneeling at a little old shrine, "the White +Lady," which was almost hidden under the big trees--so little left that +the ordinary passer-by would have seen nothing. There were also the +owners of Colinance--rather an ugly square house standing low, +surrounded by a marsh, but a good property--and three or four men I did +not know--the bride's brother and one or two of her relations. + +There was hardly time to introduce every one, as dinner was announced +almost immediately. We were a large party, about twenty. All the women, +except the bride and me, were dressed in black, high or a very little +open--no lace, nor jewels. Henriette was right. I would have looked +absurd if I had worn a low dress. The dinner was very good, very +abundant and very long. The men said the wines were excellent. The talk +was animated enough--it was principally the men who talked. I didn't +think the women said much. I listened only, as I was too new in the +country to be at all up in local topics. + +After coffee the men went off to smoke and we women remained alone for +some time. I wasn't sorry, as one had so few opportunities of seeing the +neighbours, particularly the women, who rarely went out of their own +places. One met the men hunting, or in the train, or at the notary's. + +The notary is a most important person in all small country towns in +France. Everybody consults him, from the big landowner when he has +discussions with his neighbour over right of way, to the peasant who +buys a few metres of land as soon as he has any surplus funds. We were +constantly having rows with one of our neighbours over a little strip of +wood that ran up into ours. Whenever he was angry with us, which +happened quite often (we never knew why), he had a deep, ugly ditch made +just across the road which we always took when we were riding around the +property. The woods were so thick and low, with plenty of thorns, that +we could not get along by keeping on one side and were obliged to go +back and make quite a long détour. The notary did his best to buy it for +us, but the man would never sell--rather enjoyed, I think, having the +power to annoy us. + +Mme. de Thury and I fraternised a little and I should have liked to see +more of her, but soon after that evening they had great trouble. They +had a great deal of illness and lost a son. I never saw Thury till after +both of them were dead. The château had been sold, most of the furniture +taken away and the whole place had a deserted, neglected look that made +one feel quite miserable. The big drawing-room was piled up with straw, +over the doors were still two charming dessus-de-porte, the colours +quite fresh--not at all faded--chickens were walking about in another +room, and upstairs in a pretty corner room, with a lovely view over +woods and park, was a collection of photographs, engravings (one the +mother of the late owner), a piece of unfinished tapestry, samplers, +china vases, books, papers, two or three knots of faded ribbon, all +tossed in a corner like a heap of rubbish. The things had evidently been +forgotten in the big move, but it looked melancholy. + +The château must have been charming when it was furnished and lived in. +Quantities of rooms, a long gallery with small rooms on one side, the +"garçonnière" or bachelors' quarters, led directly into the church, +where many Thurys are sleeping their last sleep. The park was beautiful +and there was capital shooting. W. had often shot there in the old days +when their shooting parties were famous. + +We ended our evening with music, the bride playing extremely well. Mme. +de Thury also sang very well. She had learnt in Italy and sang in quite +bravura style. The evening didn't last very long after the men came in. +Everybody was anxious to get the long, cold drive over. + +I enjoyed myself very much. It was my first experience of a French +country entertainment and it was very different from what I had +expected. Not at all stiff and a most cordial welcome. I thought--rather +naïvely perhaps--that it was the beginning of many entertainments of +the same kind, but I never dined out again in the country. It is only +fair to say that we never asked any one to dine either. It was not the +habit of the house, and I naturally fell into their ways. Luncheon was +what people liked best, so as not to be too late on the road or to cross +the forest after nightfall, when the darkness was sometimes +impenetrable. Some of the châtelaines received once a week. On that day +a handsome and plentiful luncheon was provided and people came from the +neighbouring châteaux, and even from Paris, when the distance was not +too great and the trains suited. + + * * * * * + +We had quite an excitement one day at the château. Francis was riding +with the groom one morning about the end of August, and had hardly got +out of the gates, when he came racing back to tell us that the +manoeuvres were to take place very near us, small detachments of troops +already arriving; and the village people had told him that quite a large +contingent, men and horses, were to be quartered at the château. W. sent +him straight off again to the mayor of Marolles--our big village--to +know if his information was correct, and how many people we must provide +for. Francis met the mayor on the road on his way to us, very busy and +bustled with so many people to settle. He was billeting men and horses +in the little hamlet, and at all the farms. He told us we were to have +thirty men and horses--six officers, twenty-four men; and they would +arrive at sundown, in time to cook their dinner. Hubert, the coachman, +was quite bewildered at first how to provide for so many, but +fortunately the stables and dependencies were very large, and it was +quite extraordinary how quickly and comfortably everything was arranged. +Men from the farm brought in large bundles of straw, and everybody lent +a willing hand--they love soldiers in France, and are always proud and +happy to receive them. + +About 4.30, when we had just moved out to the tennis ground for tea, we +saw an officer with his orderly riding up the avenue. He dismounted as +soon as he caught sight of us sitting on the lawn, and introduced +himself, said he was sent on ahead to see about lodging for himself, his +brother-officers, and his men. They were part of a cavalry regiment, +chasseurs, stationed at a small town in the neighbourhood. He asked W. +if he might see the soldiers' quarters, said they brought their own food +and would cook their dinner; asked if there was a room in the château +where the sous-officiers could dine, as they never eat with their men. +He, with W. and Francis, went off to inspect the arrangements and give +the necessary orders. We had already seen to the officers' rooms, but +hadn't thought of a separate dining-room for the sous-officiers; +however, it was easily managed. We gave them the children's dining-room, +in the wing near the kitchen and offices. + +When W. came in he told us the whole party had arrived, and we started +off to the communs to see what was going on. The stable-yard, which is +very large, with some fine trees and outbuildings all around it, was +filled with blue-coated soldiers and small chestnut horses--some were +drinking out of the troughs; some, tied to the trees, and rings on the +wall, were being rubbed down--the men walking about with the officers' +valises and their own kits, undoing blankets, tin plates, and cups; and +I should think every man and boy on our place and in the small hamlet +standing about anxious to do something. Our little fox-terriers were mad +with excitement; even the donkey seemed to feel there was something +different in the air. He brayed noisily, and gave little vicious kicks +occasionally when some of the horses passed too near. A group of +officers was standing at the door of the stables talking to Hubert, who +had managed very well, putting all the officers' horses into a second +stable, which was always kept for guests, and the others in the various +sheds and outhouses, all under cover. + +[Illustration: Soldiers at the château.] + +W. introduced the officers--a nice-looking lot, chasseurs, in the +light-blue uniform, which is so smart. He had asked permission for the +men to dine at the château. They had their own meat and bread, but our +chef was most anxious to cook it for them, and make them another +substantial dish; so it was agreed that they should dine at six in the +servants' hall. They all marched up in procession, headed by their +sergeants; the blue tunics and red trousers looked very pretty as they +came along the big avenue. The commandant asked W. if he would go and +say a few words to them when they were having their coffee. They were +very quiet; one hardly heard anything, though all the windows were open. +W. said it was quite interesting to see all the young faces smiling and +listening hard when he made his little speech. He asked them if they had +had a good dinner; he hoped his man knew how to cook for soldiers. They +all nodded and smiled at the chef, who was standing at the door looking +very hot and very pleased. He had produced a sweet dish--I don't know +what with, as he didn't habitually have thirty extra people to +dinner--but I have always seen that when people _want_ to do anything it +is usually accomplished. + +Our dinner was very pleasant. We were ten at table--W. and I, Henrietta, +and a niece. The men talked easily, some of them Parisians, knowing +every one. They knew that W. had remained at the château all during the +Franco-German War, and were much interested in all he told them of the +Prussian occupation. Only one of them had, as a very young fellow, +served in 1870. All the rest were too young, and, like all young +soldiers who have not been through a war and seen the horrors of it, +were rather anxious to have their chance, and not spend all the best +years of their lives in a small, dull garrison town. + +We discussed the plans for the next day. They were going to have a sham +fight over all the big fields in our neighbourhood, and advised us to +come and see it. They said the best time would be about ten in the +morning, when they were to monter à l'assaut of a large farm with moat +and drawbridge near Dammarie. They were to make a very early start (four +o'clock), and said they would be very pleased to have some hot coffee +before mounting, if it could be had at that unearthly hour. They were +very anxious about choosing a horse out of their squadron for the +general, who was an infantryman, very stout, very rheumatic, and a very +bad rider. The horse must be sure-footed, an easy mouth, easy canter, no +tricks, accustomed to drum and bugle, to say nothing of the +musket-shots, etc. + +Henrietta and I rather amused ourselves after dinner teaching the +commandant and another officer halma, which was just then at the height +of its popularity. We had brought it over from London, where the whole +society was mad over it. We were staying in a country house one year +where there were seven tables of halma in the long gallery. The +gentlemen rather disdained it at first, but as the game went on and they +began to realise that there was really some science in it, and that our +men were placing themselves very comfortably in their little squares, +while theirs were wandering aimlessly about the centre of the board, +they warmed to their task, and were quite vexed when they were badly +beaten. They wanted their revanche. W. came in and gave a word of advice +every now and then. The others finished their billiards, came to look +on, each one suggesting a different move, which, of course, only +complicated matters, and they lost again. Then some of the others tried +with the same result. I think we played five or six games. They were so +much pleased with the game that they asked us to write down the name and +where to get it, and one of them afterward told my nephew, also a +cavalry officer, that they introduced it at their mess and played every +night instead of cards or dominoes. It was really funny to see how +annoyed they were when their scientific combinations failed. The next +morning was beautiful--a splendid August day, not too hot, little white +clouds scurrying over the bright blue sky, veiling the sun. We started +about nine, W., Francis, and I riding, the others driving. There were a +good many people about in the fields and cross-roads, a few farmers +riding, and everybody wildly interested telling us which way to go. +Janet, my American niece, who was staying in the country in France for +the first time, was horrified to see women working in the fields, +couldn't believe that her uncle would allow it on his farm, and made +quite an appeal to him when we all got home, to put an end to such cruel +proceedings. It seems women never work in the fields in America, except +negresses on some of the Southern plantations. I have been so long away +that I had forgotten that they didn't, and I remember quite well my +horror the first time we were in Germany, when we saw a woman and an ox +harnessed together. + +We separated from the carriage at the top of the hill, as we could get a +nice canter and shorter road across the fields. We soon came in sight of +the farmhouse, standing low, with moat and drawbridge, in rather an +isolated position in the middle of the fields, very few trees around it. +There was no longer any water in the moat. It was merely a deep, wide, +damp ditch with long, straggling vines and weeds filling it up, and a +slippery, steep bank. Soldiers were advancing in all directions, the +small infantrymen moving along with a light, quick step; the cavalry +apparently had been on the ground some time, as they were all dismounted +and their horses picketed. We didn't go very near, as W. wasn't quite +sure how the horses would stand the bugle and firing. They were already +pulling hard, and getting a little nervous. It was pretty to see the +soldiers all mount when the bugle rang out, and in a moment the whole +body was in motion. The rush of the soldiers over the wide plains and +the drawbridge looked irresistible--the men swarmed down the bank and +over the ditch--one saw a confused mass of red trousers and kepis. The +cavalry came along very leisurely, guarding the rear. I looked for the +general. He was standing with some of his staff on a small hill +directing operations. He did look stout and very red and warm; however, +it was the last day, so his troubles were over for the present. + +One of the officers saw us and came up to pay his respects; said they +wouldn't be back at the château until about five; perhaps the ladies +would come to the stable-yard and see the pansage. It was quite +interesting; all the horses ranged in a semi-circle, men scrubbing and +combing hard, the sous-officiers superintending, the officers standing +about smoking and seeing that everything was being packed and ready for +an early start the next morning. I was astonished to see how small the +horses were. My English horse, also a chestnut, was not particularly +big, but he looked a giant among the others. They admired him very much, +and one of the officers asked Hubert if he thought I would like to sell +him. + +Our dinner was again very pleasant, and we had more halma in the +evening. W. played once or twice, and as he was a fairly good player, +the adversaries had no chance. We broke up early, as they were to start +again at some unearthly hour the next morning. It seems they were very +lively in the stables after dinner--we heard sounds of merriment, +singing, and choruses, and, I fancy, dancing. However, it made quite a +pleasant break in our summer, and the big place seemed quieter and +lonelier than ever after such unusual animation. W. said the war talk +was much keener than the first day when they were smoking in the +gallery; all the young ones so eager to earn their stripes, and so +confident that the army had profited by its bitter experience during the +Franco-German War. + + * * * * * + +Election day is always a very important day in France. The village +farmers and labourers put on their best clothes--usually a black coat, +silk hat and white shirt--and take themselves solemnly to the Mairie +where the voting takes place. For weeks beforehand agents and lecturers +come from Paris and bamboozle the simple village people with newspapers, +money and wonderful promises. It is astounding how easily the French +peasant believes all that the political agents tell him and all that he +reads in the cheap papers, for, as a rule--taken en masse--they are very +intelligent and at the same time suspicious (méfiants), manage their own +little affairs very well and are rarely taken in; but there is something +in the popular orator that carries them away and they really believe +that a golden epoch is coming--when there will be no rich and no poor +and plenty and equality for all. They don't care a bit what form of +government they live under as long as their crops are good, and they can +have regular work and no war. The political agitators understand that +very well. They never lay any stress on Royalist or Bonapartist, or even +a military candidate. The "People's Candidate" is always their cry--one +of themselves who understands them and will give them all they want. +They are disappointed _always_. The ministers and deputies change, but +their lives don't, and run on in the same groove; but they are just as +sanguine each time there is an election, convinced that, at last, the +promised days of high pay and little work are coming. + +I tried to reason with a nice, respectable man one day, the village +mason--one of the most fiery orators at the café, over his dominoes, but +in everyday life a sober, hard-working man, with a sickly wife and +several children, who are all clothed and generally looked after by us. +His favourite theme was the owners of châteaux and big houses who lived +in luxury and thought nothing of the poor. + +I said to him, "Why do you listen to all those foolish speeches that are +made in the cafés? You know it isn't true half they say. Whenever you +come and ask for anything for your wife and your children, it is always +given to you. You know quite well whenever any one is ill in the +village, they always come here for wine, old linen, or bouillon." + +"Oh, oui, Madame is good, but Madame does not understand." + +"But it is you, mon ami, who don't understand. Once the election is +over, and they have got your vote, no one will think about you any +more." + +"Oh, yes, Madame, everything will be divided--there will be no more big +houses, every one will have a garden and rabbits--not all for the rich. +It is not right; Madame knows it is not right." It was quite useless +talking to him. + +Women in France never take the active part in elections that they do in +England. It interested me so much when we were living in England to see +many of the great ladies doing all they could for their candidate, +driving all over the country, with his colours on servants and horses, a +big bill in the windows of their carriages with "Vote for A." on it. In +the drawing-room windows of a well-known society leader there were two +large bills--"VOTE FOR A." I asked W. one day, when he was standing for +the Senate, if he would like me to drive all about the country with his +colours and "VOTE FOR WADDINGTON" on placards in the windows of the +carriage; but he utterly declined any such intervention on my part, +thought a few breakfasts at the château and a quiet talk over coffee and +cigars would be more to the purpose. He never took much trouble over his +elections the last years--meetings and speeches in all the small towns +and "banquets de pompiers" were things of the past. He said the people +had seen him "à l'oeuvre" and that no speeches would change a vote. + +The only year that we gave ourselves any trouble was during the +Boulanger craze. W. went about a great deal and I often went with him. +The weather was beautiful and we rode all over the country. We were +astounded at the progress "Boulangism" had made in our quiet villages. +Wherever we went--in the cafés, in the auberges, in the grocer's +shop--there was a picture of Boulanger prancing on his black horse. + +We stopped one day at a miserable little cottage, not far from our +place, where a workman had had a horrible accident--been caught in the +machine of one of the sugar mills. Almost all the men in the village +worked in W.'s woods and had always voted--as one man--for him or his +friends. When we went into the poor little dark room, with literally +nothing in it but the bed, a table, and some chairs, the first thing we +saw was the well-known picture of Boulanger, on the mantelpiece. We +talked a little to the man and his wife (the poor fellow was suffering +terribly), and then W. said, "I am surprised to see that picture. Do you +know General Boulanger? Have you ever seen him?" The man's face quite +lighted up as he looked at the picture, and he answered: "Non, Monsieur, +je ne l'ai jamais vu--mais il est crâne celui-là," and that was all that +he could ever get out of him--"il est crâne." I don't know exactly what +he meant. I don't think he knew himself, but he was quite excited when +he spoke of the hero. + +Boulanger's campaign was very cleverly done. His agents distributed +papers, pictures and _money_ most liberally. One of the curious features +of that episode was the quantity of money that was given. Gold flowed +freely in to the General's coffers from all parts of France; great +names, grandes dames, giving largely and openly to the cause--a great +deal sent anonymously and a great deal in very small sums. + +Boulanger lived in our street, and I was astounded one day when I met +him (I did not know him) riding--always with a man on each side of him. +Almost every one took off his hat to him, and there were a few faint +cries of "Vive Boulanger," proceeding chiefly from the painters and +masons who were building a house just opposite ours. + +Certainly for a short time he had the game in his hands--could, I think, +have carried the country, but when the moment to act arrived, his nerve +failed him. It is difficult to understand what made his great popularity. +Politics had not been satisfactory. The President--Grévy--had resigned +under unfortunate circumstances. There had been a succession of weak +and inefficient cabinets, and there was a vague feeling of unrest in +the country. Boulanger seemed to promise something better. He was a +soldier (which always appeals to the French), young and dashing, +surrounded by clever unscrupulous people of all classes. Almost all +the young element of both parties, Radical and Conservative (few of +the moderate Republicans), had rallied to his programme--"Révision et +Dissolution." His friends were much too intelligent to let him issue a +long "manifesto" (circular), promising all sorts of reforms and +changes he never could have carried out, while his two catch words +gave hopes to everybody. A revision of the constitution might mean a +monarchy, empire, or military dictatorship. Each party thought its +turn had come, and dissolving the chambers would of course bring a +new one, where again each party hoped to have the majority. + +The Paris election by an overwhelming majority was his great triumph. +The Government did all they could to prevent it, but nothing could stop +the wave of popularity. The night of the election Boulanger and his +État-major were assembled at Durand's, the well-known café on the corner +of the Boulevard and the rue Royale. As the evening went on and the +returns came in--far exceeding anything they had hoped for--there was +but one thought in every one's mind--"A l'Élysée." Hundreds of people +were waiting outside and he would have been carried in triumph to the +Palace. He could not make up his mind. At midnight he still wavered. His +great friend, the poet Déroulède, then took out his watch--waited, in +perfect silence, until it was five minutes past twelve, and then said, +"Général, depuis cinq minutes votre auréole baisse." Boulanger went out +by a side door, leaving his friends--disappointed and furious--to +announce to the waiting crowd that the General had gone home. He could +certainly have got to the Elysée that night. How long he would have +stayed, and whom he would have put there, we shall never know. + + +MAREUIL, October 31st. + +It has been a beautiful, warm, bright autumn day and, for a wonder, we +have had no frost yet, not even a white one, so that the garden is still +full of flowers, and all day the village children have been +coming--begging for some to decorate the graves for to-morrow. I went in +to the churchyard this afternoon, which was filled with women and +children--looking after their dead. It is not very pretty--our little +churchyard--part of a field enclosed on the slope of the hill, not many +trees, a few tall poplars and a laurel hedge--but there is a fine open +view over the great fields and woods--always the dark blue line of the +forest in the distance. They are mostly humble graves--small farmers and +peasants--but I fancy they must sleep very peacefully in the fields they +have worked in all their lives--full of poppies and cornflowers in +summer and a soft gold brown in the autumn, when the last crops are cut +and the hares run wild over the hills. + +I think these two days--the "Toussaint" and the "Jour des Morts"--are +the two I like best in the Catholic Church, and certainly they are the +only ones, in our part of the world, when the churches are full. I +walked about some little time looking at all the preparations. Every +grave had some flowers (sometimes only a faded bunch of the last field +flowers) except one, where there were no flowers, but a little border of +moss all around and a slip of pasteboard on a stick stuck into the +ground with "à ma Mere" written on it. All the graves are very simple, +generally a plain white cross with headstone and name. One or two of the +rich farmers had something rather more important--a slab of marble, or a +broken column when it was a child's grave, and were more ambitious in +the way of flowers and green plants, but no show of any kind--none of +the terrible bead wreaths one sees in large cities. + +There was a poor old woman, nearly bent double, leaning on a stick, +standing at one of the very modest graves; a child about six years old +with her, with a bunch of flowers in a broken cup she was trying to +arrange at the foot of the grave. I suppose my face was expressive, for +the old woman answered my unspoken thought. "Ah, yes, Madame, it is _I_ +who ought to be lying there instead of my children. All gone before me +except this one grandchild, and I a helpless, useless burden upon the +charity of the parish." + +On my way home I met all the village children carrying flowers. We had +given our best chrysanthemums for the "pain bénit," which we offer +to-morrow to the church. Three or four times a year, at the great fêtes, +the most important families of the village offer the "pain bénit," which +is then a brioche. We gave our boulanger "carte blanche," and he +evidently was very proud of his performance, as he offered to bring it +to us before it was sent to the church, but we told him we would see it +there. I am writing late. We have all come upstairs. It is so mild that +my window is open; there is not a sound except the sighing of the wind +in the pines and the church bells that are ringing for the vigil of All +Saints. Besides our own bells, we hear others, faintly, in the distance, +from the little village of Neufchelles, about two miles off. It is a bad +sign when we hear Neufchelles too well. Means rain. I should be so sorry +if it rained to-morrow, just as all the fresh flowers have been put on +the graves. + + +November 2nd. "Jour des Morts." + +We had a beautiful day yesterday and a nice service in our little +church. Our "pain bénit" was a thing of beauty and quite distracted the +school children. It was a most imposing edifice--two large, round +brioches, four smaller ones on top, they went up in a pyramid. The four +small ones go to the notabilities of the village--the curé, two of the +principal farmers and the miller; the whole thing very well arranged, +with red and white flowers and lighted tapers. It was carried by two +"enfants de choeur," preceded by the beadle with his cocked hat and +staff and followed by two small girls with lighted tapers. The "enfants +de choeur" were not in their festal attire of red soutanes and red +shoes--only in plain black. Since the inventories ordered by the +government in all the churches, most of the people have taken away their +gifts in the way of vestments, soutanes, vases, etc., and the red +soutanes, shoes and caps, with a handsome white satin embroidered +vestment that C. gave the church when she was married, are carefully +folded and put away in a safe place out of the church until better times +should come. + +After luncheon we went over to Soissons in the auto--the most enchanting +drive through the forest of Villers-Cotterets--the poplar trees a line +of gold and all the others taking the most lovely colours of red and +brown. Soissons is a fine old cathedral town with broad squares, planted +with stiff trees like all the provincial towns in France; many large +old-fashioned hotels, entre cour et jardin, and a number of convents and +abbeys, now turned into schools, barracks, government offices of all +kinds, but the fine proportions and beautiful lines are always there. + +The city has seen many changes since its first notoriety as the capital +of the France of Clovis, and one feels how much has happened in the +quiet deserted streets of the old town, where almost every corner is +picturesque. The fine ruins of St. Jean des Vignes faced us as we drove +along the broad boulevard. A façade and two beautiful towers with a +cloister is all that remains of a fine old abbey begun in 1076. It is +now an arsenal. One can not always get in, but the porter made no +difficulty for us, and we wandered about in the court-yard and cloister. +The towers looked beautifully grey and soft against the bright blue sky, +and the view over Soissons, with all its churches and old houses, was +charming. It seems that Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, lived +at the Abbey when he was exiled from England and had taken refuge in +France. + +We wanted to go to the service in the Cathedral, but thought we would go +first to the pâtissier (an excellent one, well known in all the +neighbourhood) famous for a very good bonbon made of coffee and called +"Tors de Soissons." The little place was full--every schoolboy in +Soissons was there eating cakes and bonbons. There was a notice up in +the shop, "Lipton Tea," and we immediately asked for some. The woman +made a place for us, with difficulty, on a corner of a table and gave us +very good English tea, toast and cakes. I complimented the patronne on +her tea and she said so many automobiles with foreigners--English +principally--passed through Soissons in the summer--all asking for +tea--that she thought she must try to get some. One of the ladies told +her where to get Lipton Tea and how much to pay for it. She has found it +a very good speculation. + +We walked to the Cathedral through a grand old Square planted with fine +trees, that had once been a part of the garden of the Évêché. As it was +getting dark, we could not see the outside very well. A gigantic mass of +towers and little steeples loomed up through the twilight, but the +inside was very striking--crowded with people, lights, banners, flowers +everywhere--five or six priests were officiating and the Bishop in full +dress, with his gold mitre on his head, was seated on his red velvet +throne under the big crucifix. The congregation (there were a good many +men) was following the service very devoutly, but there were a great +many people walking about and stopping at the different chapels which +rather takes away from the devotional aspect. Unfortunately the sermon +had only just begun, so we didn't hear any music. The organ is very +fine and they have a very good choir. Neither did we hear the famous +chimes, which we regretted very much. Some of the bells have a beautiful +sound--one in particular, that used to be at St. Jean de Vignes, has a +wonderful deep note. One hears it quite distinctly above all the others. +All the bells have names. This one used to be called "Simon," after a +Bishop Simon le Gras, who blessed it in 1643. When the voice got faint +and cracked with age, it was "refondue" (recast) and called Julie +Pauline. + +It was quite dark and cold when we started back. We had to light our big +lantern almost as soon as we left Soissons. For some little time after +we got out of the town we met people walking and driving--all with +holiday garbs and faces--but once we plunged in the long forest alleys +we were absolutely cut off from the outside world. It is a curious +sensation I have never got accustomed to, those long, dark, lonely +forest roads. The leaves were still so thick on the trees that we could +hardly see the last glow of a beautiful orange sunset. The only sign of +life was a charbonnier's hut in a clearing quite close to the road. They +had a dull light; just enough to let us see dusky figures moving about. + +This morning our church looked quite different--no more banners, +embroideries or bright flowers, all draped in black and a bier covered +with a black pall in the middle of the aisle--the curé in a black satin +vestment; all the congregation in black. I went out before the end of +the service. All the black draperies and the black kneeling figures and +the funeral psalms were so inexpressibly sad and dreary. I was glad to +get out into the sunshine and to the top of the hill, where the cemetery +gates stood wide open and the sun was streaming down on all the green +graves with their fresh flowers and plants. Soon we heard the sound of +the chaunt, and the procession wound slowly up the steep, straggling +village street. A banner and cross carried by the boys and girls--then +the curé, with his "ostensoir," followed by his "enfants de choeur" +carrying books and tapers, then the congregation. There were a great +many people already in the cemetery. The little procession halted at the +foot of the cross in the middle. There were several prayers and psalms, +and then the curé made the tour of the cemetery, sprinkling all the +graves with holy water and saying a short prayer at each. The procession +broke up into groups, all kneeling at the different graves praying for +their dead. There were not many men; a few old ones. They were not +kneeling, but stood reverently, with bowed heads, when the curé passed. +It was a pretty sight--the kneeling figures, the flower-covered graves, +the little procession winding in and out among the tombstones, the white +soutanes of the boys shining in the sun and not a sound except the +droning of the chaunts. As it was fête--one of the great religious fêtes +of the year--there was no work going on--no labourers in the fields, no +carts on the road--nothing but the great stillness of the plains. + +We had our curé at dinner. We were quite sure no one else would ask him +and it seemed a shame to leave him in his empty "presbytère" on a fête +day. I think his evenings with us are the only bright spots in his life +just now. The situation of the priests is really wretched and their +future most uncertain. This government has taken away the very small +stipend they allowed them. Our curé got his house and nine hundred +francs a year--not quite two hundred dollars. In many cases they have +refused to let the priests live in their "presbytères" unless they pay +rent. The churches are still open. They can have their services if they +like, but those who have no fortune (which is the case with most of +them) are entirely dependent upon the voluntary contribution of their +parishioners. + +Our little curé has no longer his servant--the traditional, plain, +middle-aged bonne of the priest (they are not allowed to have a woman +servant under fifty). He lives quite alone in his cold, empty house and +has a meal of some kind brought into him from the railway café. What is +hardest for him is never to have an extra franc to give to his poor. He +is profoundly discouraged, but does his duty simply and cheerfully; +looks after the sick, nurses them when there is a long illness or an +accident, teaches the women how to keep their houses clean and how to +cook good plain food. He is a farmer's son and extraordinarily +practical. He came to us one day to ask if we had a spare washing tub we +could give him. He was going to show a woman who sewed and embroidered +beautifully and who was very poor and unpractical, how to do her +washing. I think the people have a sort of respect for him, but they +don't come to church. Everybody appeals to him. We couldn't do anything +one day with a big kite some one had given the children. No one could in +the house, neither gardener, chauffeur, nor footmen, so we sent for him, +and it was funny to see him shortening the tail of the kite and racing +over the lawn in his black soutane. However, he made it work. + +He was rather embarrassed this evening, as he had refused something I +had asked him to do and was afraid I wouldn't understand. We were +passing along the canal the other day when the "éclusier" came out of +his house and asked me if I would come and look at his child who was +frightfully ill--his wife in despair. Without thinking of my little ones +at home, I went into the house, where I found, in a dirty, smelly room, +a slatternly woman holding in her arms a child, about two years old, +who, I thought, was dead--such a ghastly colour--eyes turned up; +however, the poor little thing moaned and moved and the woman was shaken +with sobs--the father and two older children standing there, not knowing +what to do. They told me the doctor had come in the early morning and +said there was nothing to do. I asked if they had not sent for the curé. +"No, they hadn't thought of it." I said I would tell him as I passed the +presbytère on my way home. He wasn't there, but I left word that the +child was dying--could he go? + +The child died about an hour after I had left the house. I sent a black +skirt to the woman and was then obliged to go to Paris for two or three +days. When I came back I asked my gardener, who is from this part of the +country and knows everybody, if the child's funeral had been quite +right. He told me it was awful--there was no service--the curé would not +bury him as he had never been baptized. The body had been put into a +plain wooden box and carried to the cemetery by the father and a friend. + +I was very much upset, but, of course, the thing was over and there was +nothing to be done. However, when we talked it over, I understood quite +well. To begin with, all priests are forbidden to read the burial +service over any one who has not been baptized, therefore he had no +choice. And this man was not only an unbeliever, but a mocker of all +religion. When his last child was born he had friends over, from some of +the neighbouring villages, who were Freemasons (they are a very bad lot +in France); they had a great feast and baptized the child in red wine. I +rather regretted the black frock I sent the mother, but she looked so +utterly wretched and perhaps she could not help herself. + +The little curé is very pleased to have his midnight mass this year on +Christmas eve. Last year it was suppressed. There was such angry feeling +and hostility to the clergy that the authorities were afraid there might +be scenes and noisy protestations in the churches; perhaps in some +quarters of the big cities, but certainly not in the country where +people hold very much to the midnight mass. It is also one of the +services that most people attend. It is always a pretty sight in the +country, particularly if there happens to be snow on the ground. Every +one that can walk comes. One sees the little bands arriving across the +fields and along the canal--five or six together, with a lantern. +Entire families turn out--the old grandfathers hobbling along on their +sticks, the women carrying their babies, who are generally very +good--quite taken up with the lights and music, or else asleep. We +always sing Adam's "Noël." In almost every church in France, I think, +they sing it. Even in the big Paris churches like the Madeleine and St. +Eustache, where they have orchestras and trained choirs, they always +sing the "Noël" at some period of the service. + + +MAREUIL, le 24 Mai. + +To-day was the Première Communion at La Ferté, and I had promised the +Abbé Devigne to go. I couldn't have the auto, as Francis was at a +meeting of a Syndicat Agricole in quite another direction. So I took the +train (about seven minutes), and I really believe I had the whole train +to myself. No one travels in France, on Sunday, in the middle of the +day. It is quite a long walk from the station to the church (the service +was at Notre Dame, the church on the hill), with rather a steep climb at +the end. The little town looked quite deserted--a few women standing at +their doors and in all directions white figures of all ages were +galloping up the hill. The bells were ringing and we were a little late. +The big doors of the church were wide open, the organ playing, and a +good many people standing about. The altar was bright with flowers and +candles, and "oriflammes" of blue and pink gauze, worked with gold and +silver lilies, were stretched across the church between the pillars. One +or two banners with the head of the Virgin and flowers painted in bright +colours were also hanging from the columns. Two or three priests, with +handsome vestments--white embroidered in gold--were officiating, and the +choir boys wore their red petticoats--soutanes trimmed with lace and red +shoes and caps. The Suisse (beadle), with his cocked hat, silver +embroidered coat and big cane, was hovering about, keeping order. + +Just inside the chancel sat the "communiants"--fifty boys and girls. The +girls--all in white from top to toe--white dresses, shoes, and gloves, +and long white veils coming to the edge of the dress, and either a white +cap (which looks very pretty and quaint on the little heads--rather like +some of the old Dutch pictures) or a wreath of white flowers. With them +sat about half a dozen smaller girls--also in white, with wreaths of +white roses. They were too small to make their first communion, but they +were to hold the cordons of the banner when the procession passed down +the church. The boys were all in black, short jackets, white waistcoats, +and white ribbon bows on their sleeves. + +The church was very full--mostly women, a few men at the bottom. It was +a pretty sight when the procession moved around the church. First came +the "sacristain" in his black skirt and white soutane, then the banner +held by two of the big girls; the group of little ones--some of them +quite tiny and so pretty with the wreaths of white roses on their black +hair--holding the cords and looking most pleased with their part of the +function. Just behind them came the good old religieuse Soeur St. +Antoine, hovering over her little flock and keeping them all in their +places; then all the communiants, the smallest girls first, the boys +behind, all carrying lighted tapers and singing a hymn to the +accompaniment of the organ. + +They went first to the font, stopped there, and one of the girls read a +sort of prayer renewing their baptismal vows. Then they started again, +in the same order, to the Chapelle de la Vierge, always singing their +hymn, and knelt at the rails. Then the hymn stopped, and they recited, +all together, a prayer to the Virgin. The little childish voices sounded +quite distinctly in the old church--one heard every word. The +congregation was much interested. + +There wasn't a sound. I don't know if it was any sort of religious +feeling--some dim recollection of their early days, or merely the love +of a show of any kind that is inherent in all the Latin race, but they +seemed much impressed. While the collection was being made there was +music--very good local talent--two violin soli played by a young fellow, +from one of the small neighbouring châteaux, whom we all knew well, and +the "Panus Angelicus" of César Franck, very well sung by the wife of the +druggist. The curé of La Ferté, a very clever, cultivated man, with a +charming voice and manner, made a very pretty, short address, quite +suited to childish ears and understanding, with a few remarks at the end +to the parents, telling them it was their fault if their children grew +up hostile or indifferent to religion; that it was a perfectly false +idea that to be patriotic and good citizens meant the abandonment of all +religious principles. + +We waited until the end of the service (Francis and his friends arrived +in time to hear the curé's address), and watched the procession +disappear down the steep path and gradually break up as each child was +carried off by a host of friends and relations to its home. The curé was +very pleased, said he had had a "belle fête"--people had sent flowers +and ribbons and helped as much as they could to decorate the church. I +asked him if he thought it made a lasting impression on the children. He +thought it did on the girls, but the boys certainly not. Until their +first communion he held them a little, could interest them in books and +games after school hours, but after that great step in their lives they +felt themselves men, and were impatient of any control. + + + + +VI + +CHRISTMAS IN THE VALOIS + + +It had been a cold December, quite recalling Christmas holidays at +home--when we used to think Christmas without snow wasn't a real +Christmas, and half the pleasure of getting the greens to dress the +church was gone, if the children hadn't to walk up to their ankles in +untrodden snow across the fields to get the long, trailing branches of +ivy and bunches of pine. We were _just_ warm enough in the big +château. There were two calorifères, and roaring wood fires (trees) in +the chimneys; but even I must allow that the great stone staircase +and long corridors were cold: and I couldn't protest when nearly all +the members of the household--of all ages--wrapped themselves in +woolen shawls and even fur capes at night when the procession mounted +the big staircase. I had wanted for a long time to make a Christmas +Tree in our lonely little village of St. Quentin, near Louvry, our +farm, but I didn't get much support from my French friends and +relations. W. was decidedly against it. The people wouldn't +understand--had never seen such a thing; it was entirely a foreign +importation, and just beginning to be understood in the upper classes +of society. One of my friends, Madame Casimir-Périer,[4] who has a +beautiful château at Pont-sur-Seine (of historic renown--"La Grande +Mademoiselle" danced there--"A Pont j'ai fait venir les violons", she +says in her memoirs), also disapproved. She gives away a great deal +herself, and looks after all her village, but not in that way. She +said I had much better spend the money it would cost, on good, +sensible, warm clothes, blankets, "bons de pain," etc.; there was no +use in giving them ideas of pleasure and refinement they had never +had--and couldn't appreciate. Of course it was all perfectly logical +and sensible, but I did so want to be unreasonable, and for once give +these poor, wretched little children something that would be a delight +to them for the whole year--one poor little ray of sunshine in their +gray, dull lives. + + [4] Madame Casimir-Périer, widow of the well-known liberal statesman, + and mother of the ex-President of the Republic. + +We had many discussions in the big drawing-room after dinner, when W. +was smoking in the arm-chair and disposed to look at things less +sternly than in bright daylight. However, he finally agreed to leave +me a free hand, and I told him we should give a warm garment to every +child, and to the very old men and women. I knew I should get plenty +of help, as the Sisters and Pauline promised me dolls and "dragées." I +am sorry he couldn't be here; the presence of the Ambassador would +give more éclat to the fête, and I think in his heart he was rather +curious as to what we could do, but he was obliged to go back to +London for Christmas. His leave was up, and beside, he had various +country and shooting engagements where he would certainly enjoy +himself and see interesting people. I shall stay over Christmas and +start for London about the 29th, so as to be ready to go to +Knowsley[5] by the 30th, where we always spend the New Year's Day. + + [5] The Earl of Derby's fine palace near Liverpool. + +We started off one morning after breakfast to interview the +school-mistress and the Mayor--a most important personage. If you had +ever seen St. Quentin you would hardly believe it could possess such +an exalted functionary. The village consists of about twelve little, +low gray houses, stretching up a steep hill, with a very rough road +toward the woods of Borny behind. There are forty inhabitants, a +church, and a school-house; but it _is_ a "commune," and not the +smallest in France (there is another still smaller somewhere in the +South, toward the Alpes Maritimes). I always go and make a visit to +the Mayor, who is a very small farmer and keeps the drinking shop[6] +of the village. We shake hands and I sit a few minutes in a wooden +chair in the one room (I don't take a drink, which is so much gained), +and we talk about the wants and general behaviour of the population. +The first time I went I was on horseback, so we dismounted and had our +little talk. When we got up to go he hurriedly brought out a bench for +me to mount from, and was quite bewildered when he saw W. lift me to +the saddle from the ground. + + [6] Cabaret. + +The church is a pretty, old gray building--standing very high, with +the little graveyard on one side, and a grass terrace in front, from +which one has the most lovely view down the valley, and over the +green slopes to the woods--Borny and Villers-Cotterets on one side, +Chézy the other. It is very worn and dilapidated inside, and is never +open except on the day of St. Quentin,[7] when the curé of La +Ferté-Milon comes over and has a service. The school-house is a nice +modern little house, built by W. some years ago. It looks as if it had +dropped down by mistake into this very old world little hamlet. + + [7] In August, I think. + +It is a short walk, little more than two kilomètres from the gates of +the big park, and the day was enchanting--cold and bright; too bright, +indeed, for the low, gray clouds of the last days had been promising +snow and I wanted it so much for my tree! We were quite a +party--Henrietta, Anne, Pauline, Alice and Francis, Bonny the +fox-terrier, and a very large and heavy four-wheeled cart, which the +children insisted upon taking and which naturally had to be drawn up all +the hills by the grown-ups, as it was much too heavy for the little +ones. Bonny enjoyed himself madly, making frantic excursions to the +woods in search of rabbits, absolutely unheeding call or whistle, and +finally emerging dirty and scratched, stopping at all the rabbit holes +he met on the way back, and burrowing deep into them until nothing was +left but a stumpy little white tail wagging furiously. + +We went first to the Mayor, as we were obliged to ask his permission to +give our party at the school. Nothing in France can be done without +official sanction. I wanted, too, to speak to him about a church +service, which I was very anxious to have before the Tree was lighted. I +didn't want the children's only idea of Christmas to be cakes and toys; +and that was rather difficult to arrange, as the situation is so +strained between the clergy and the laïques, particularly the curé and +the school-master. I knew I should have no trouble with the +school-mistress (the school is so small it is mixed girls and boys from +four to twelve--and there is a woman teacher; she is the wife of one of +our keepers, and a nice woman)--but I didn't know how the Mayor would +feel on the subject. However, he was most amiable; would do anything I +wanted. I said I held very much to having the church open and that I +would like as many people to come as it would hold. Would he tell all +the people in the neighbourhood? I would write to the principal farmers, +and I was sure we could make a most interesting fête. He was rather +flattered at being consulted; said he would come up with us and open the +church. It was absolutely neglected and there was nothing in the way of +benches, carpets, etc. I told him I must go first to the school, but I +would meet him at the church in half an hour. + +The children were already up the hill, tugging the big cart filled with +pine cones. The school-mistress was much pleased at the idea of the +Christmas Tree; she had never seen one except in pictures, and never +thought she would really have one in her school. We settled the day, and +she promised to come and help arrange the church. Then we went into the +school-room, and it was funny to hear the answer--a roar--of "Oui, +Madame Waddington," when I asked her if the children were "good"; so we +told them if they continued very good there would be a surprise for +them. There are only thirty scholars--rather poor and miserable looking; +some of them come from so far, trudge along the high-road in a little +band, in all weathers, insufficiently clad--one big boy to-day had on a +linen summer jacket. I asked the teacher if he had a tricot underneath. +"Mais non, Madame, où l'aurait-il trouvé?" He had a miserable little +shirt underneath which may once have been flannel, but which was worn +threadbare. + +We chose our day and then adjourned to the church, where the Mayor +and a nice, red-cheeked, wrinkled old woman[8] who keeps the +ornaments, such as they are, of the church were waiting for us. It was +certainly bare and neglected, the old church, bits of plaster dropping +off walls and ceilings, and the altar and one or two little statues +still in good condition; but we saw we could arrange it pretty well +with greens, the few flowers, chrysanthemums, Christmas roses, etc., +that were still in the green-house, a new red carpet for the altar +steps, and of course vases, tall candlesticks, etc. There was one +handsome bit of old lace on a white nappe for the altar, and a good +dress for the Virgin. We could have the school benches, and the Mayor +would lend chairs for the "quality." On the whole we were satisfied, +and told W. triumphantly at dinner that the Mayor, so far from making +any objection, was pleased as Punch; he had never seen a Christmas +Tree either. + + [8] La Mère Rogov. + +[Illustration: The Mayor and a nice, red-cheeked, wrinkled old woman +were waiting for us.] + +The next day the list of the children was sent according to age and +sex--also the old people; and we were very busy settling what we must do +in the way of toys. The principal thing was to go to Paris and get all +we wanted--toys, "bêtises", and shiny things for the Tree, etc. +Henrietta and I undertook that, and we went off the same day that W. +left for London. It was bitterly cold--the ground frozen hard--and we +had a long drive, eighteen kilomètres through Villers-Cotterets +forest--but no snow, only a beautiful white frost--all the trees and +bushes covered with rime. It was like driving through a fairy forest. +When we had occasional gleams of sunlight every leaf sparkled, and the +red berries of the holly stood out beautifully from all the white. The +fine old ruins of La Ferté looked splendid rising out of a mass of +glistening underwood and long grass. We are very proud of our old +château-fort, which has withstood well the work of time. It was begun +(and never finished) by Louis d'Orléans in 1303, and was never +inhabited. Now there is nothing left but the façade and great round +towers, but quite enough to show what it might have been. There is also +a bas-relief, perfectly well preserved, over the big door, of the +Coronation of the Virgin, the kneeling figure quite distinct. On the +other side is a great grass place (village green) where the fêtes of La +Ferté take place, and where all the town dances the days of the +"Assemblée." From the bottom of the terrace, at the foot of the low +wall, one has a magnificent view over the town and the great forest of +Villers-Cotterets stretching away in front, a long blue line on the +horizon. In the main street of La Ferté there is a statue of Racine, who +was born there. It is in white marble, in the classic draperies of the +time, and is also in very good preservation. The baptismal register of +Jean Racine is in the archives of La Ferté. + +The road all the way to Villers-Cotterets was most animated. It was +market-day, and we met every description of vehicle, from the high, +old-fashioned tilbury of the well-to-do farmer, to the peasant's +cart--sometimes an old woman driving, well wrapped up, her turban on her +head, but a knit shawl wound around it, carrying a lot of cheeses to +market; sometimes a man with a cow tied behind his cart, and a calf +inside. We also crossed Menier's équipage de chasse, horses and dogs +being exercised. We talked a few minutes to Hubert, the piqueur, who was +in a very bad humor. They had not hunted for some days, and dogs and +horses were unruly. The horses were a fine lot, almost all white or +light gray. We go sometimes to the meets, and the effect is very good, +as the men all wear scarlet coats and the contrast is striking. + +We had an exhausting day in Paris, but managed to get pretty nearly +everything. The little children were easily disposed of--dolls, drums, +wooden horses, etc.; but the bigger boys and girls, who have outgrown +toys, are more difficult to suit. However, with knives, paint-boxes, +lotos (geographical and historical), for the boys; and handkerchief and +work-boxes, morocco bags, etc., we did finally get our fifty objects. +There are always extra children cropping up. Shopping was not very easy, +as the streets and boulevards were crowded and slippery. We had a fairly +good cab, but the time seemed endless. The big bazaars--Hôtel de Ville, +rue d'Amsterdam, etc.--were the most amusing; really, one could get +anything from a five-sou doll to a ménagère (the little cooking-stove +all the peasant women use in their cottages). There were armies of +extras--white-aproned youths, who did their best for us. We explained to +one of the superintendents what we wanted, and he gave us a very +intelligent boy, who followed us about with an enormous basket, into +which everything was put. When we finally became almost distracted with +the confusion and the crowd and our list, we asked the boy what he had +liked when he was eleven years old at school; and he assured us all boys +liked knives and guns. + +When we had finished with the boys we had the decorations for the Tree +to get, and then to the Bon Marché for yards of flannel, calico, bas de +laine, tricots, etc. We had given W. rendezvous at five at Henrietta's. +He was going to cross at night. We found him there having his tea. He +had seen lots of people; been to the Élysée and had a long interview +with the President (Grévy); then to the Quai d'Orsay to get his last +instructions from the Minister; and he had still people coming to see +him. When we left (our train was before his) he was closeted with one of +his friends, a candidate for the Institute, very keen about his vote +which W. had promised him, and going over for about the twentieth time +the list of the members to see what his chances were. However, I suppose +all candidates are exactly alike, and W. says he is sure he was a +nuisance to all his friends when he presented himself at the Institute. +One or two people were waiting in the dining-room to speak to him, and +his servant was distracted over his valise, which wasn't begun then. I +promised him I would write him a faithful account of our fête once we +had decided our day. We took the five-o'clock train down, and a nice +cold drive we had going home. The roads were rather slippery, and the +forest black and weird. The trees which had been so beautiful in the +morning covered with rime, seemed a massive black wall hemming us in. It +is certainly a lonely bit of country, once we had left the lights of +Villers-Cotterets behind us, crossed the last railway, and were fairly +started in the forest. We didn't meet anything--neither cart, carriage, +bûcheron, nor pedestrian of any kind. + +Henrietta was rather nervous, and she breathed a sigh of relief when we +got out on the plains and trotted down the long hill that leads to La +Ferté. The château lights looked very warm and home-like as we drove in. +We gave a detailed account of all we had bought, and as we had brought +our lists with us we went to work at once, settling what each child +should have. I found a note from the Abbé Maréchal, the curé of +Laferté-Milon, whom I wanted to consult about our service. He is a very +clever, moderate man, a great friend of ours, and I was sure he would +help us and arrange a service of some kind for the children. Of course I +was rather vague about a Catholic service; a Protestant one I could have +arranged myself, with some Christmas carols and a short liturgy, but I +had no idea what Christmas meant to Catholic minds. We had asked him to +come to breakfast, and we would go over to the village afterward, see +the church and what could be done. He was quite pleased at the idea of +doing anything for his poor little parish, and he is so fond of children +and young people that he was quite as much interested as we were. He +knew the church, having held a service there three or four times. We +walked over, talking over the ceremony and what we could do. He said he +would give a benediction, bring over the Enfant Jésus, and make a small +address to the children. The music was rather difficult to arrange, but +we finally agreed that we would send a big omnibus to bring over the +harmonium from La Ferté, one or two Sisters, two choir children, and +three or four of the older girls of the school who could sing, and he +would see that they learned two or three canticles. + +We agreed to do everything in the way of decoration. He made only one +condition: that the people should come to the service. I could answer +for all our household and for some of the neighbours--almost all, in +fact--as I was sure the novelty of the Christmas Tree would attract +them, and they wouldn't mind the church service thrown in. + +We went of course to see the Mayor, as the curé was obliged to notify +him that he wished to open the church, and also to choose the day. We +took Thursday, which is the French holiday; that left us just two +days to make our preparations. We told Madame Isidore (the +school-mistress) we would come on Wednesday for the church, bringing +flowers, candles, etc., and Thursday morning to dress the Tree. The +service was fixed for three o'clock--the Tree afterward in the +school-room. We found our big ballots[9] from the bazaars and other +shops, when we got home, and all the evening we wrote tickets and +names (some of them so high-sounding--Ismérie, Aline, Léocadie, etc.), +and filled little red and yellow bags, which were very troublesome to +make, with "dragées." + + [9] Big packages. + +Wednesday we made a fine expedition to the woods--the whole party, the +donkey-cart, and one of the keepers to choose the Tree--a most important +performance, as we wanted the real pyramid "sapin," tapering off to a +fine point at the top. Labbey (keeper) told us his young son and the +coachman's son had been all the morning in the woods getting enormous +branches of pine, holly, and ivy, which we would find at the church. We +came across various old women making up their bundles of fagots and dead +wood (they are always allowed to come once a week to pick up the dead +wood, under the keeper's surveillance). They were principally from +Louvry and St. Quentin, and were staggering along, carrying quite heavy +bundles on their poor old bent backs. However, they were very smiling +to-day, and I think the burden was lightened by the thought of the +morrow. We found a fine tree, which was installed with some difficulty +in the donkey-cart; Francis and Alice taking turns driving, perched on +the trunk of the tree, and Labbey walking behind, supporting the top +branches. + +We found the boys at the church, having already begun their +decorations--enormous, high pine branches ranged all along the wall, and +trails of ivy on the windows. The maids had arrived in the carriage, +bringing the new red carpet, vases, candelabras and tall candlesticks, +also two splendid wax candles painted and decorated, which Gertrude +Schuyler had brought us from Italy; all the flowers the gardener would +give them, principally chrysanthemums and Christmas roses. It seems he +wasn't at all well disposed; couldn't imagine why "ces dames" wanted to +despoil the green-houses "pour ce petit trou de St. Quentin." + +We all worked hard for about an hour, and the little church looked quite +transformed. The red carpet covered all the worn, dirty places on the +altar steps, and the pine branches were so high and so thick that the +walls almost disappeared. When the old woman (gardienne) appeared she +was speechless with delight! As soon as we had finished there, we +adjourned to the school-house, and to our joy snow was falling--quite +heavy flakes. Madame Isidore turned all the children into a small room, +and we proceeded to set up our Tree. It was a great deal too tall, and +if we hadn't been there they would certainly have chopped it off at the +top, quite spoiling our beautiful point; but as we insisted, they cut +away from the bottom, and it really was the regular pyramid one always +wants for a Christmas Tree. We put it in a big green case (which we had +obtained with great difficulty from the gardener; it was quite empty, +standing in the orangerie, but he was convinced we would never bring it +back), moss all around it, and it made a great effect. The "garde de +Borny" arrived while we were working, and said he would certainly come +to the church in his "tenue de garde"; our two keepers would also be +there. + +[Illustration: There was one handsome bit of old lace on a white nappe +for the altar.] + +Thursday morning we went early (ten o'clock) to St. Quentin and spent +over two hours decorating the Tree, ticketing and arranging all the +little garments. Every child in the neighbourhood was hanging around the +school-house when we arrived, the entrance being strictly forbidden +until after the service, when the Tree would be lighted. I expressed +great surprise at seeing the children at the school on a holiday, and +there were broad grins as they answered, "Madame Waddington nous a dit +de venir." It had snowed all night, and the clouds were low and gray, +and looked as if they were still full of snow. The going was extremely +difficult; not that the snow was very deep, but there was enough to make +the roads very slippery. We had the horses "ferrés à glace," and even +the donkey had nails on his shoes. The country looked beautiful--the +poor little village quite picturesque, snow on all the dark roofs, and +the church standing out splendidly from its carpet of snow--the tall +pines not quite covered, and always the curtain of forest shutting in +the valley. + +We left the maids to breakfast with the keeper, and promised to be back +at three o'clock punctually. Our coachman, Hubert, generally objects +strongly to taking out his horses in bad weather on rough country roads +and making three or four trips backward and forward; but to-day he was +quite serene. He comes from that part of the neighbourhood and is +related to half the village. Our progress was slow, as we stopped a good +deal. It was a pretty sight as we got near St. Quentin: the church, +brightly lighted, stood out well on the top of the hill against a +background of tall trees, the branches just tipped with snow. The bell +was ringing, the big doors wide open, sending out a glow of warmth and +colour, and the carpet of white untrodden country snow was quite intact, +except a little pathway made by the feet of the men who had brought up +the harmonium. The red carpet and bright chrysanthemums made a fine +effect of colour, and the little "niche" (it could hardly be called a +chapel) of the Virgin was quite charming, all dressed with greens and +white flowers, our tall Italian candles making a grand show. + +The La Ferté contingent had arrived. They had much difficulty in getting +the omnibus up to the church, as it was heavy with the harmonium on top; +however, everybody got out and walked up the hill, and all went off +well. The Abbé was robing, with his two choir children, in the minute +sacristy, and the two good Sisters were standing at the gate with all +their little flock--about ten girls, I should think. There were people +in every direction, of all sizes and ages--some women carrying a baby in +their arms and pushing one or two others in a cart, some wretched old +people so bent and wrinkled one couldn't imagine how they could crawl +from one room to another. A miserable old man bent double, really, +leaning on a child and walking with two canes, was pointed out to me as +the "père Colin," who makes the "margottins" (bundles of little dry +sticks used for making the fires) for the château. However, they were +all streaming up the slippery hillside, quite unmindful of cold or +fatigue. We walked up, too, and I went first to the school-house to see +if our provisions had come. Food was also a vexed question, as tea and +buns, which would seem natural to us, were unknown in these parts. After +many consultations with the women about us--lessiveuses (washerwomen), +keepers' wives, etc.--we decided upon hot wine and brioches. The Mayor +undertook to supply the wine and the glasses, and we ordered the +brioches from the Hôtel du Sauvage at La Ferté; the son of the house is +a very good pâtissier. It is a funny, old-fashioned little hotel, not +very clean, but has an excellent cuisine, also a wonderful sign board--a +bright red naked savage, with feathers in his hair and a club in his +hand--rather like the primitive pictures of North American Indians in +our school-books. + +Everything was there, and the children just forming the procession to +walk to the church. Some of the farmers' wives were also waiting for us +at the school-house, so I only had a moment to go into the big +class-room to see if the Tree looked all right. It was quite ready, and +we agreed that the two big boys with the keeper should begin to light it +as soon as the service was over. Madame Isidore (the school-mistress) +was rather unhappy about the quantity of people. There were many more +than thirty children, but Henrietta and Pauline had made up a bundle of +extras, and I was sure there would be enough. She told us people had +been on the way since nine in the morning--women and children arriving +cold and wet and draggled, but determined to see everything. She showed +me one woman from Chézy, the next village (some distance off, as our +part of the country is very scantily populated; it is all great farms +and forests; one can go miles without seeing a trace of habitation). She +had arrived quite early with two children, a boy and a girl of seven and +eight, and a small baby in her arms; and when Madame Isidore +remonstrated, saying the fête was for her school only, not for the +entire country-side, the woman answered that Madame always smiled and +spoke so nicely to her when she passed on horseback that she was sure +she would want her to come. The French peasants love to be spoken to, +always answer civilly, and are interested in the horses, or the donkey, +or the children--anything that passes. + +[Illustration: They were all streaming up the slippery hillside.] + +We couldn't loiter, as the bell was tolling, the children already at the +church, and some one rushed down to say that "M. le Curé attendait ces +dames pour commencer son office." There was quite a crowd on the little +"place," everybody waiting for us to come in. We let the children troop +in first, sitting on benches on one side. In front of the altar there +were rows of chairs for the "quality." The Sisters and their girls sat +close up to the harmonium, and on a table near, covered with a pretty +white linen cloth trimmed with fine old lace (part of the church +property), was the Enfant Jésus in his cradle. This was to be a great +surprise to me. When it was decided that the Sisters should come to the +fête with some of the bigger girls, and bring the Enfant Jésus, they +thought there must be a new dress for the "babe," so every child +subscribed a sou, and the dress was made by the couturière of La Ferté. +It _was_ a surprise, for the Enfant Jésus was attired in a pink satin +garment with the high puffed fashionable sleeves we were all wearing! +However, I concealed my feelings, the good Sisters were so naïvely +pleased. I could only hope the children would think the sleeves were +wings. + +As soon as the party from the château was seated, every one crowded in, +and there were not seats enough, nor room enough in the little church; +so the big doors remained open (it was fairly warm with the lights and +the people), and there were nearly as many people outside as in. The +three keepers (Garde de Borny and our two) looked very imposing. They +are all big men, and their belts and gun-barrels bright and shining. +They stood at the doors to keep order. The Mayor, too, was there, in a +black coat and white cravat, but he came up to the top of the church and +sat in the same row with me. He didn't have on his tricoloured scarf, +so I suppose he doesn't possess one. + +It was a pretty, simple service. When the curé and his two choir +children in their short, white surplices and red petticoats came up the +aisle, the choir sang the fine old hymn "Adeste Fideles," the +congregation all joining in. We sang, too, the English words ("Oh, come, +all ye Faithful"); we didn't know the Latin ones, but hoped nobody would +notice. There were one or two prayers and a pretty, short address, +talking of the wonderful Christmas night so many years ago, when the +bright star guided the shepherds through the cold winter night to the +stable where the heavenly babe was born. The children listened most +attentively, and as all the boys in the village begin life as shepherds +and cow-boys, they were wildly interested. Then there was a benediction, +and at the end all the children in procession passed before the Enfant +Jésus and kissed his foot. It was pretty to see the little ones standing +up on tip-toe to get to the little foot, and the mothers holding up +their babes. While this was going on, the choir sang the Noël Breton of +Holmès, "Deux anges sont venus ce soir m'apporter de bien belles +choses." There was some little delay in getting the children into +procession again to go down to the school-house. They had been +supernaturally good, but were so impatient to see the Tree that it was +difficult to hold them. Henrietta and Pauline hurried on to light the +Tree. I waited for the Abbé. He was much pleased with the attendance, +and spoke so nicely to all the people. + +We found the children all assembled in the small room at the school-house, +and as soon as we could get through the crowd we let them come in. The +Tree was quite beautiful, all white candles--quantities--shiny +ornaments and small toys, dolls, trumpets, drums, and the yellow and +red bags of "dragées" hanging on the branches. It went straight up to +the ceiling, and quite on top was a big gold star, the manufacture of +which had been a source of great tribulation at the château. We forgot +to get one in Paris, and sent in hot haste on Wednesday to La Ferté +for pasteboard and gold paper; but, alas! none of us could draw, and +we had no model. I made one or two attempts, with anything but a +satisfactory result: all the points were of different lengths and +there was nothing but points (more like an octopus than anything +else). However, Pauline finally produced a very good one (it really +looked like a star), and of course the covering it with gold paper was +easy. The crèche made a great effect, standing at the bottom of the +Tree with a tall candle on each side. All the big toys and clothes +were put on a table behind, where we all sat. Then the door was +opened; there was a rush at first, but the school-mistress kept strict +order. The little ones came first, their eyes round and fixed on the +beautiful Tree; then the bigger children, and immediately behind them +the "oldest inhabitants"--such a collection of old, bent, wrinkled, +crippled creatures--then as many as could get in. There wasn't a sound +at first, except some very small babies crowing and choking--then a +sort of hum of pleasure. + +[Illustration: All the children in procession passed.] + +We had two or three recitations in parts from the older scholars; some +songs, and at the end the "compliment," the usual thing--"Madame et +chère Bienfaitrice," said by a small thing about five years old, +speaking very fast and low, trying to look at me, but turning her head +always toward the Tree and being shaken back into her place by Madame +Isidore. Then we began the distribution--the clothes first, so as not to +despoil the Tree too soon. The children naturally didn't take the +slightest interest in warm petticoats or tricots, but their mothers did. + +We had the little ones first, Francis giving to the girls and Alice to +the boys. Henrietta called the names; Pauline gave the toys to our two, +and Madame Isidore called up each child. The faces of the children, when +they saw dolls, trumpets, etc., being taken off the Tree and handed to +each of them, was a thing to remember. The little girls with their dolls +were too sweet, hugging them tight in their little fat arms. One or two +of the boys began to blow softly on the trumpets and beat the drums, and +were instantly hushed up by the parents; but we said they might make as +much noise as they pleased for a few moments, and a fine "vacarme" (row) +it was--the heavy boots of the boys contributing well as they moved +about after their trains, marbles, etc. + +However, the candles were burning low (they only just last an hour) and +we thought it was time for cakes and wine. We asked the children if they +were pleased, also if each child had garment, toy, and "dragées," and to +hold them up. There was a great scamper to the mothers to get the +clothes, and then all the arms went up with their precious load. + +The school-children passed first into the outer room, where the keepers' +wives and our maids were presiding over two great bowls of hot wine +(with a great deal of water, naturally) and a large tray filled with +brioches. When each child had had a drink and a cake they went out, to +make room for the outsiders and old people. Henrietta and Pauline +distributed the "extras"; I think there were about twenty in all, +counting the babies in arms--also, of course, the girls from La Ferté +who had come over with the Sisters to sing. I talked to some of the old +people. There was one poor old woman--looked a hundred--still gazing +spellbound at the Tree with the candles dying out, and most of the +ornaments taken off. As I came up to her she said: "Je suis bien +vieille, mais je n'aurais jamais cru voir quelque chose de si beau! Il +me semble que le ciel est ouvert"--poor old thing! I am so glad I wasn't +sensible, and decided to give them something pretty to look at and think +about. There was wine and cakes for all, and then came the closing +ceremony. + +We (the quality) adjourned to the sitting-room of the school-mistress +(where there were red arm-chairs and a piano), who produced a bottle of +better wine, and then we "trinquéd" (touched glasses) with the Mayor, +who thanked us in the name of the commune for the beautiful fête we had +made for them. I answered briefly that I was quite happy to see them so +happy, and then we all made a rush for wraps and carriages. + +The Abbé came back to the château to dine, but he couldn't get away +until he had seen his Sisters and harmonium packed safely into the big +omnibus and started for La Ferté. It looked so pretty all the way home. +It was quite dark, and the various groups were struggling down the hill +and along the road, their lanterns making a bright spot on the snow; +the little childish voices talking, laughing, and little bands running +backward and forward, some disappearing at a turn of the road, the +lantern getting dimmer, and finally vanishing behind the trees. We went +very slowly, as the roads were dreadfully slippery, and had a running +escort all the way to the Mill of Bourneville, with an accompaniment of +drums and trumpets. The melancholy plains of the Valois were transformed +tonight. In every direction we saw little twinkling lights, as the +various bands separated and struck off across the fields to some lonely +farm or mill. It is a lonely, desolate country--all great stretches of +fields and plains, with a far-away blue line of forests. We often drive +for miles without meeting a vehicle of any kind, and there are such +distances between the little hamlets and isolated farms that one is +almost uncomfortable in the absolute solitude. In winter no one is +working in the fields and one never hears a sound; a dog's bark is +welcome--it means life and movement somewhere. + +[Illustration: There was some poor old woman still gazing spellbound.] + +It is quite the country of the "haute culture," which Cherbuliez wrote +about in his famous novel, "La Ferme du Choquart." The farms are often +most picturesque--have been "abbayes" and monasteries. The massive round +towers, great gate-ways, and arched windows still remain; +occasionally, too, parts of a solid wall. There is a fine old +ruin--the "Commanderie," near Montigny, one of our poor little villages. +It belonged to the Knights Templars, and is most interesting. The chapel +walls are still intact, and the beautiful roof and high, narrow windows. +It is now, alas! a "poulailler" (chicken-house), and turkeys and +chickens are perched on the rafters and great beams that still support +the roof. The dwelling-house, too, is most interesting with its thick +gray walls, high narrow windows, and steep winding staircase. I was +always told there were "donjons" in the cellars, but I never had the +courage to go down the dark, damp, slippery staircase. + +We were quite glad to get back to our big drawing-room with the fire and +the tea-table; for of course the drawback to our entertainment was the +stuffiness (not to say bad smell) of the little room. When all the +children and grown people got inmost of them with damp clothes and +shoes-the odour was something awful. Of course no window could be opened +on account of the candles, and the atmosphere was terrible. At the end, +when it was complicated with wine and cake and all the little ones' +faces smeared with chocolate and "dragées," I really don't know how we +stood it. + +We had a very cheerful dinner. We complimented the Abbé upon his sermon, +which was really very pretty and poetical. He said the children's faces +quite inspired him, and beyond, over their heads, through the open door +he got a glimpse of the tall pines with their frosted heads, and could +almost fancy he saw the beautiful star. + +We were all much pleased with our first "Christmas in the Valois." + + + + +VII + +A RACINE CELEBRATION + + +MAREUIL-SUR-OURCQ, April 20th, 1899. + +I could scarcely believe I was in our quiet little town of La +Ferté-Milon to-day. Such a transformation--flags flying, draperies at +all the windows, garlands of greens and flowers across the streets, and +a fine triumphal arch--all greens and flowers arranged about the centre +of the Grande Rue. Many people standing about, looking on, and making +suggestions; altogether, an air de fête which is most unusual in these +sleepy little streets where nothing ever passes, except at four o'clock, +when the three schools come out, and clatter down the street. The École +Maternelle comes first, the good Mère Cécile bringing up the rear of the +procession, holding the smallest children, babies three and four years +old, by the hand, three or four more clinging to her skirts, and guiding +them across the perilous passage of the bridge over the canal. It is a +pretty view from the bridge. The canal (really the river Ourcq, +canalisée), which has preserved its current and hasn't the dead, +sluggish look of most canals, runs alongside of the Mail, a large green +place with grass, big trees, a broad walk down the centre, and benches +under the trees. It is a sort of promenade for the inhabitants and also +serves as a village green, where all the fairs, shows and markets are +held. The opposite bank is bordered by quaint old houses, with round +towers and gardens, full of bright flowers, running down to the water's +edge. There is one curious old colombier which has been there for +centuries; near the bridge there is a lavoir, where there are always +women washing. They are all there to-day, but much distracted, wildly +interested in all that is going on--and the unwonted stir in the +streets; chattering hard, and giving their opinions as to the decoration +of the arch, which is evidently a source of great pride to the town. + +On a bright sunny day, when the red roofs and flowers are reflected in +the water, and it is not too cold, their work doesn't seem very hard; +but on a winter afternoon, when they have to break the ice sometimes, +and a biting wind is blowing down the canal, it is pitiable to see the +poor things thinly clad, shivering and damp; their hands and arms red +and chapped with cold. On the other side of the bridge, the canal +wanders peacefully along through endless green meadows, bordered with +poplars, to Marolles, a little village where there is the first écluse +on the way to Paris. + +We had been talking vaguely all winter of doing something at La +Ferté-Milon to fêter the bicentenaire of Racine. They were making +preparations at Paris, also at Port Royal, and it seemed hard to do +nothing in his native place. His statue in the Grande Rue is one of the +glories of La Ferté. + +Jean Racine was born in La Ferté in 1639. He lost both father and mother +young, and was brought up by his grandparents. He was sent first to +school at Beauvais, later, while still quite a youth, to Port Royal. His +stay there influenced considerably his character and his writings; and +though he separated himself entirely from the "Solitaires" during the +years of his brilliant career as poet and courtier, there remained +always in his heart a latent tenderness for the quiet green valley of +the Chevreuse, where he had passed all his years of adolescence, +listening to the good Fathers, and imbibing their doctrines of the +necessity of divine grace to complete the character. His masters were +horrified and distressed when his talent developed into plays, which +brought him into contact with actors and actresses, and made him an +habitué of a frivolous Court. + +There is a pretty letter from one of his aunts, a religieuse de Port +Royal, begging him to keep away from "des fréquentations abominables," +and to return to a Christian life. + +His career was rapid and brilliant. He was named to the Académie +Française in 1673, and when he retired from the theatre was a welcome +and honoured guest at the most brilliant court of the world. He was made +private historian to the King and accompanied him on various campaigns. +There are amusing mentions of the poets-historians (Boileau was also +royal historian) in the writings of their contemporaries, "les messieurs +du sublime," much embarrassed with their military accoutrements and much +fatigued by the unwonted exercise and long days on horseback. The King +showed Racine every favour. He was lodged at Versailles and at Marly and +was called upon to amuse and distract the monarch when the cares of +state and increasing years made all diversions pall upon him. He saw the +decline and disgrace of Madame de Montespan, the marvellous good fortune +of Madame de Maintenon. His famous tragedies of Esther and Athalie were +written at Madame de Maintenon's request for her special institution of +St. Cyr, and the performances were honoured by the presence of the King. +Racine himself directed the rehearsals and the music was composed by +Jean Baptiste Moreau, organist of St. Cyr. The youthful actresses showed +wonderful aptitude in interpreting the passionate, tender verses of the +poet. Young imaginations worked and jealousies and rivalries ran high. +After a certain number of representations Mme. de Maintenon was obliged +to suspend the performances in public, with costumes and music. The +plays were only given in private at the Maison de St. Cyr; the young +scholars playing in the dress of the establishment. He made his peace +with Port Royal before he died. He submitted Phèdre to his former +masters and had the satisfaction of being received again by the "Grand +Arnauld,"[10] who had been deeply offended by his ingratitude and his +criticisms and ridicule of many of his early friends and protectors. He +asked to be buried there, and his body remained until the destruction +and devastation of Port Royal, when it was removed to Paris and placed +in the Church of St. Etienne des Monts. + +[10] "Le Grand Arnauld" (Antoine), one of the first and most +influential of the celebrated "Solitaires" who established themselves +at Port Royal, and one of the founders of the famous sect of +Jansenists whose controversies with the Jesuits convulsed the whole +religious world in France during the years 1662-1668. He was followed +in his retreat by his mother (after the husband's death), his brother +and four sisters, one of whom became the "Mère Angélique," Abbesse of +Port Royal. + +He returned many times to La Ferté-Milon, and the great poet and +private historian of the Roi Soleil must often have climbed the steep +little street that leads to the ruins, and thought of the changes, since +the little boy lay on the grass at the foot of the great walls, dreaming +golden dreams of the future, which for him were so brilliantly realised. + +In a small country town one is slow to adopt new ideas, slower still to +carry them out, but the Mayor and curé were both most anxious to do +something in the birthplace of the poet, and that was the general +feeling in the Department. After many discussions we finally arrived at +a solution, or at least we decided what we wanted: a special service in +the fine old church of Notre Dame, which stands beautifully on the hill, +close to the ruins; a representation of the Comédie Française, and of +course a banquet at the Sauvage, with all the official world, senators, +Préfet, Académiciens--a band of music, a torch-light procession, and as +many distinguished visitors as we could get hold of. _Funds_ of course +were a necessary item, but all the countryside contributed largely, and +we knew that the artists would give their services gratis. + +We arranged a breakfast at my house in Paris with Mons. Casimir-Périer, +late President of the Republic, who was always ready to lend his +influence for anything that interests the people, and teaches them +something of their great men, and Mons. Claretie, Directeur of the +Comédie Française, a most cultivated, charming man. He is generally +rather chary of letting his pensionnaires play en province, but this +really was an occasion to break through his rules, and he was quite +ready to help us in every way. We had also M. Sebline, Senator of the +Aisne, and l'Abbé Maréchal, curé of La Ferté-Milon. We had wanted one of +the Administrateurs of the Chemin de Fer du Nord to arrange about a free +transport for the actors, but there seemed some trouble about getting +hold of the right man, and Sebline promised to see about that. + +The Abbe Maréchal and I were very ambitious for the theatrical part of +the entertainment and had views of Esther with the costumes, and +choruses of Moreau, but M. Claretie said that would be impossible. It +was difficult enough to arrange in Paris with all the singers, +instruments, and costumes at hand--and would be impossible in the +country with our modest resources. I think the idea of a tent on a +village green rather frightened him; and he didn't quite see the élite +of his company playing in such a cadre--no décor--and probably very bad +acoustics. However, Sebline reassured him. He knew the tent and its +capabilities, having seen it figure on various occasions, comices +agricoles, banquets de pompiers, at village fêtes generally, and said it +could be arranged quite well. + +We discussed many programmes, but finally accepted whatever M. Claretie +would give--an act of "Les Plaideurs," and two or three of "Bérénice," +with Mme. Bartet, who is charming in that rôle. The Abbé Maréchal +undertook the music in his church, and I was sure he would succeed in +having some of the choruses of Esther. His heart was quite set on it. +Once he had settled our programme, the conversation drifted away from +the purely local talk, and was brilliant enough. All the men were clever +and good talkers, and all well up in Racine, his career, and the various +phases of his work. + +From the classics we got into modern plays and poets, and there of +course the differences of opinion were wide; but I think the general +public (people in the upper galleries) like better when they go to the +Française to see a classic piece--Roman emperors and soldiers, and +vestal virgins and barbarians in chains--and to listen to their long +tirades. The modern light comedy, even when it treats of the vital +subjects of the day, seems less in its place in those old walls. I quite +understand one couldn't see Britannicus,[11] Mithridate, nor the Cid +every evening. + +[11] I remember so well our cousin Arthur's description of his +holidays spent at his grandmother's château. Every evening they read +aloud some classical piece. When he had read Britannicus twice (the +second time to appreciate more fully the beauties which were lightly +passed over at first), he rebelled, had a migraine, or a sore throat, +something which prevented his appearing in the drawing-room after +dinner; and he and his cousins attired themselves in sheets, and stood +on the corner of the wall where the diligence made a sharp turn, +frightening the driver and his horses out of their wits. + +We came down here several times to see how things were getting on, and +always found the little town quite feverishly animated. We had succeeded +in getting the band of the regiment stationed at Soissons. I wrote to +the Colonel, who said he would send it with pleasure, but that he +couldn't on his own authority. An application must be made to the +Ministère de la Guerre. There is always so much red tape in France. One +writes and receives so many letters about anything one wants to do--a +Christmas Tree in the school-house--a distribution of soup for the poor +and old--a turn in a road to be rounded, etc. However, the permission +was graciously accorded for the band. The Mayor's idea was to station it +on the Mail, where quantities of people would congregate who couldn't +get into the church or the tent. + +We went one day to have tea with the Abbé Maréchal in his nice old +presbytère; the salon opening out on a large, old-fashioned garden with +fine trees, and a view of the church towers in the distance. He was +quite pleased with all that he had arranged for his church service. One +of his friends, Abbé Vignon, a most interesting man and eloquent +preacher, promised to deliver a lecture on Racine from the pulpit; and +M. Vincent d'Indy, the distinguished composer and leader of the modern +school of music, undertook the music with Mme. Jeanne Maunay as singer; +he himself presiding at the organ. + +I tried to persuade the proprietors of all the châteaux in the +neighbourhood to come, but I can't say I had much success. Some had +gout--some had mourning. I don't remember if any one "had married a wife +and therefore couldn't come." + +However, we shall fill our own house, and give breakfast and dinner to +any one who will come. To-day we have been wandering about on the green +near the ruins, trying to find some place where we can give our friends +tea. The service in the church will certainly be long, and before the +theatrical performance begins we should like to arrange a little +goûter--but where? It is too far to go back to our house, and the +Sauvage, our usual resort, will be packed on that day, and quite off its +head, as they have two banquets morning and evening. The "Cafe des +Ruines," a dirty little place just under the great walls of the château, +didn't look inviting; but there was literally nothing else, so we +interviewed the proprietor, went in to the big room down stairs, which +was perfectly impossible, reeking with smoke, and smelling of cheap +liquor; but he told us he had a "très belle salle" up stairs, where we +should be quite alone. We climbed up a dark, rickety little turning +staircase, and found ourselves in quite a good room, with three large +windows on the green; the walls covered with pictures from the cheap +illustrated papers, and on the whole not too dirty. We have taken it for +the afternoon, told the patron we would come to-morrow, put up tables, +and make as many preparations as we could for the great day. He was very +anxious to furnish something--some "vin du pays;" but we told him all we +wanted was fire, plenty of hot water, and a good scrubbing of floor and +windows. + +It is enchanting this afternoon. We are taking advantage of the fine +weather to drive about the country, and show our friends some of our big +farms and quaint little villages. They look exactly as they did a +hundred years ago, "when the Cossacks were here," as they say in the +country. Some of the inns have still kept their old-fashioned signs and +names. Near May, on the road to Meaux, Bossuet's fine old cathedral +town, there is a nice old square red-brick house, "L'Auberge du Veau qui +Téte" (The Inn of the Sucking Calf), which certainly indicates that this +is great farming country. There are quantities of big white oxen, cows, +and horses in the fields, but the roads are solitary. One never meets +anything except on market day. The Florians who live in Seine et Marne, +which is thickly populated--villages and châteaux close together--were +much struck with the loneliness and great stretches of wood and plain. + +We are praying for fine weather, as rain would be disastrous. The main +street looks really charming. The green arch is nearly finished, and at +night, when everything is illuminated, will be most effective. + + +22nd. It rained yesterday afternoon and all night--not light April +showers, but a good, steady downpour. Francis and Ctesse. de Gontaut +arrived from Paris in his little open automobile. Such a limp, draggled +female as emerged from the little carriage I never saw. They had had +some sharp showers; pannes (breakdowns), too, and she _says_ she pushed +the carriage up all the hills. She didn't seem either tired or cross, +and looked quite bright and rested when she reappeared at dinner. + +Various friends arrived this morning, and we have been in La Ferté all +the afternoon. The draperies and festoons of flowers don't look any the +worse for the heavy rain, and at least it is over, and we shall probably +have sun to-morrow. The tent is up on the green, and looks fairly large. +I don't think any one will see anything except in the first eight or ten +rows of chairs, but it seems they will all hear. The stage was being +arranged, and, much to our amusement, they told us the Empire chairs and +tables had been lent by the Abbé Maréchal. He is a collectionneur, and +has some handsome furniture. We inspected our tea-room, which didn't +look too bad. Our men were there with tables, china, etc., and when it +is all arranged we shall have quite a respectable buffet. The landlord +was very anxious to decorate the tables with greens, flags, and perhaps +a bust of Racine with a crown of laurels, but we told him it would be +better not to complicate things. + +The view was lovely to-day from the top of the hill--the ruins looking +enormous, standing out against the bright blue sky, and soft and pink at +the top where the outline was irregular and the walls crumbling a +little. We had some difficulty in collecting our party, and finally +discovered Francis, Ctesse de Gontaut and Christiani having chocolate +and cakes in the back parlour of the grocer's shop (nothing like +equality on these occasions), who was telling them all the little gossip +of the town, and naming the radicals who wouldn't go to the church. + +We had a pleasant evening with music and "baraque"--which is not very +fatiguing as a mental exercise. I tried to send all the party to bed +early, and have come upstairs myself, but I still hear the click of the +billiard balls, and sounds of merriment downstairs. It is a splendid +starlight night, the sky quite blue over the pines. I think we shall +have beautiful weather for our fête. I have very vague ideas as to how +many people we shall have for breakfast and dinner to-morrow, but the +"office" is warned. I hope we shan't starve. + + +April 24th. Monday. + +We had a beautiful and most successful day yesterday. All the household +was stirring fairly early, as we had to get ourselves in to La Ferté +before 12 o'clock. We started in all sorts of conveyances--train, +carriage, voiturette--and found the Grande Rue full of people. The +official breakfast was over, also the visit to the Mairie, where there +are a few souvenirs of the poet--his picture, acte de naissance,[12] +and signature. The procession was just forming to climb up the steep, +little street that leads to the church, so we took a short cut (still +steeper), and waited outside the doors to see them arrive. It was a +pretty sight to see the cortège wind up the path--the Bishop of +Soissons and several other ecclesiastics in their robes, blackcoated +officials, some uniforms--the whole escorted by groups of children +running alongside, and a fair sprinkling of women in light dresses, +with flowers on their hats, making patches of colour. The church was +crowded--one didn't remark the absence of certain "esprits forts" who +gloried in remaining outside--and the service was most interesting. +The lecture or rather "Éloge de Racine" was beautifully given by the +Abbé Vignot. It was not very easy for a priest to pronounce from the +pulpit an eulogium on the poet and dramatic author who had strayed so +far from the paths of grace and the early teachings of Port Royal, +where the "petit Racine" had been looked upon as a model pupil +destined to rise high in the ecclesiastical world; but the orator made +us see through the sombre tragedies of Phèdre, Britannicus and others +the fine nature of the poet, who understood so humanly the passions +that tempt and warp the soul, and showed a spirit of tolerance very +remarkable in those days. He dwelt less upon the courtier; spoke more +of the Christian of his last days. He certainly lent to the "charm of +the poet, the beauty of his voice," for it was impossible to hear +anything more perfect than the intonation and diction of the speaker. + +[12] Birth certificate. + +There was a short address from Monseigneur Deramecourt, Bishop of +Soissons--a stately figure seated on the Episcopal throne in the +chancel. The music was quite beautiful. We had the famous "Chanteurs de +St. Gervais," and part of the chæurs d'Esther, composed by Moreau, and +sung in splendid style by Mme. Jeanne Maunay, M. Vincent d'Indy +accompanying on the organ. The simple sixteenth century chaunts sung by +the St. Gervais choir sounded splendidly in the fine old cathedral. The +tones seemed fuller and richer than in their Paris church. + +We went out a little before the end to see what was going on on the +green. It was still quite a climb from the church, and all the people of +the upper town had turned out to see the sight. It is quite a distinct +population from the lower town. They are all canal hands, and mostly a +very bad lot. The men generally drink--not enough to be really +intoxicated (one rarely sees that in France), but enough to make them +quarrelsome; and the women almost all slatternly and idle. They were +standing at their doors, babies in their arms, and troops of dirty, +ragged, pretty little children playing on the road, and accompanying us +to the green, begging for "un petit sou." + +We saw the cortège winding down again, the robes and banners of the +clergy making a great effect, and we heard in the distance the strains +of the military band stationed on the Mail--echoes of the Marseillaise +and the "Père la Victoire" making a curious contrast to the old-world +music we had just been listening to in the church. Our party scattered +a little. Francis went down to the station with his auto to get the +Duc and Duchesse d'Albufera, who had promised to come for the Comédie +and dinner. They are neighbours, and have a beautiful place not very +far off--Montgobert, in the heart of the Villers-Cotteret forest. He +is a descendant of Suchet, one of Napoleon's Marshals, and they have a +fine picture of the Marshal in uniform, and various souvenirs of the +Emperor. Francis had some difficulty in making his way through the +Grande Rue which was packed with people very unwilling to let any +vehicle pass. However, they had a certain curiosity about the little +carriage, which is the first one to appear in this part of the +country--where one sees only farmers' gigs on two high wheels, or a +tapissière, a covered carriage for one horse. However, as every one +knew him they were good natured enough, and let him pass, but he could +not get any further than the foot of the street--too steep for any +carriage to venture. + +It was a pretty sight as we got to the Place. Quantities of people +walking about--many evident strangers, seeing the ruins for the first +time. There was a band of schoolboys, about twenty, with a priest, much +excited. They wanted to go in the tent and get good places, but were +afraid of missing something outside, and were making little excursions +in every direction, evidently rather worrying their Director. The tent, +fairly large, looked small under the shadow of the great walls. We +looked in and found a good many people already in their places, and saw +that the first two or three rows of red arm-chairs were being kept for +the quality. One of the sights was our two tall men standing at the door +of the rather dirty, dilapidated "Cafe des Ruines," piloting our friends +past the groups of workmen smoking and drinking in the porch, and up the +dark, rickety staircase. I don't think any one would have had the +courage to go up, if Henrietta hadn't led the way--once up, the effect +of our banqueting-hall was not bad. The servants had made it look very +well with china and silver brought from the house, also three or four +fresh pictures taken from the illustrated papers to cover those which +already existed, and which looked rather the worse for smoke and damp. +We were actually obliged to cover General Boulanger and his famous +black charger with a "Bois de Boulogne le Matin," with carriages, +riders, bicycles, pretty women and children strolling about. + +The view from the windows was charming, and it was amusing to watch all +the people toiling up the path. We recognised many friends, and made +frantic signs to them to come and have tea. We had about three-quarters +of an hour before the Comédie began, and when we got to the tent it was +crowded--all the dignitaries--Bishop, Préfet, Senator, Deputy (he didn't +object to the theatrical performance), M. Henri Houssaye, Académician; +M. Roujon, Directeur des Beaux Arts, sitting in the front row in their +red arm-chairs, and making quite as much of a show for the villagers as +the actors. + +The performance began with the third act of "Les Plaideurs," played with +extraordinary entrain. There were roars of laughter all through the +salle, or tent--none more amused than the band of schoolboys, and their +youthful enjoyment was quite contagious. People turned to look at them, +and it was evident that, if they didn't see, they _heard_, as they never +missed a point--probably knew it all by heart. Then came a recitation by +Mlle. Moreno, who looked and spoke like a tragic muse the remorse and +suffering of Phèdre. The end of the performance--the two last acts of +Bérénice--was enchanting. Mme. Bartet looked charming in her floating +blue draperies, and was the incarnation of the resigned, poetic, loving +woman; Paul Mounet was a grand, sombre, passionate Titus, torn between +his love for the beautiful Queen and his duty as a Roman to choose only +one of his own people to share his throne and honours. The Roman Senate +was an all-powerful body, and a woman's love too slight a thing to +oppose to it. Bartet was charming all through, either in her long +plaintes to her Confidante, where one felt that in spite of her repeated +assurances of her lover's tenderness there was always the doubt of the +Emperor's faith or in her interviews with Titus--reproaching him and +adoring him, with all the magic of her voice and smile. It was a triumph +for them both, and their splendid talent. With no décor, no room, no +scenic illusions of any kind, they held their audience enthralled. No +one minded the heat, nor the crowd, nor the uncomfortable seats, and all +were sorry when the well-known lines, said by Mme. Bartet, in her +beautiful, clear, pathetic voice + + "Servons tous trois d'exemple à l'Univers + De l'amour la plus tendre et la plus malheureuse + Dont il puisse garder l'histoire douloureuse," + +brought to a close the fierce struggle between love and ambition. + +As soon as it was over, I went with Sebline to compliment the actors. We +found Bartet, not in her dressing-room, but standing outside, still in +her costume, very busy photographing Mounet, superb as a Roman Emperor. +He was posing most impatiently, watching the sun slowly sinking behind +the ruins, as he wanted to photograph Bérénice before the light failed, +and the time was short. They were surrounded by an admiring crowd, the +children much interested in the "beautiful lady with the stars all over +her dress." We waited a few moments, and had a little talk with them. +They said the fête had interested them very much and they were very glad +to have come. They were rather taken aback at first when they saw the +tent, the low small stage, and the very elementary scenery--were afraid +the want of space would bother them, but they soon felt that they held +their audience, and that their voices carried perfectly. They were +rather hurried, as they were all taking the train back to Paris, except +Bartet, who had promised to stay for the banquet. I had half hoped she +would come to me, but of course I was obliged to waive my claim. When I +saw how much the Préfet and the official world held to having her--when +I heard afterwards that she had had the seat of honour next to the +Bishop I was very glad I hadn't insisted, as she certainly doesn't often +have the opportunity of sitting next to a Bishop. It seems he was +delighted with her. + +We loitered about some little time, talking to all our friends. The view +from the terrace was beautiful--directly at our feet the little town, +which is literally two streets forming a long cross, the Grande Rue a +streak of light and color, filled with people moving about, and the air +alive with laughter and music. Just beyond, the long stretches of green +pasture lands, cut every now and then by narrow lanes with apple trees +and hawthorn in flower, and the canal winding along between the green +walls of poplars--the whole hemmed in by the dark blue line of the +Villers-Cotteret forest, which makes a grand sweep on the horizon. + +It was lovely driving back to Mareuil, toward the bright sunset clouds. +We had a gay dinner and evening. I never dared ask where the various men +dressed who came to dinner. The house is not very large, and every room +was occupied--but as they all appeared most correctly attired, I suppose +there are resources in the way of lingerie and fumoir which are +available at such times, and Francis's valet de chambre is so accustomed +to having more people than the house can hold that he probably took his +precautions. Francis started off for the banquet at the Sauvage in his +voiturette, but that long-suffering vehicle having made hundreds of +kilomètres these last days, came to grief at the foot of "la Montagne de +Marolles," and he was towed back by a friendly carter and arrived much +disgusted when we were half through dinner. + +We heard all the details of the dinner from the Abbé Maréchal. Certainly +the banqueting hall of the Sauvage will not soon again see such a +brilliant assembly. Madame Bartet was the Queen of the Fête, and sat +between the Bishop and the Préfet. There were some pretty speeches from +M. Henri Houssaye, M. Roujon--and of course the toast of the President +accompanied by the Marseillaise. + +The departure to the train was most amusing--all the swells, including +Bartet, walking in the cortége, escorted by a torch-light procession, +and surrounded by the entire population of La Ferté. + +The Grande Rue was illuminated from one end to the other, red Bengal +lights throwing out splendidly the grand old château and the towers of +Notre Dame. + + + + +VIII + +A CORNER OF NORMANDY + + +BAGNOLES DE L'ORNE, July-August. + +It is lovely looking out of my window this morning, so green and cool +and quiet. I had my petit déjeuner on my balcony, a big tree in the +garden making perfect shade and a wealth of green wood and meadow in +every direction, so resting to the eyes after the Paris asphalt. It +seems a very quiet little place. Scarcely anything passing--a big +omnibus going, I suppose, to the baths, and a butcher's cart. For the +last ten minutes I have been watching a nice-looking sunburned girl with +a big straw hat tied down over her ears, who is vainly endeavouring to +get her small donkey-cart, piled high with fruit and vegetables, up a +slight incline to the gate of a villa just opposite. She has been +struggling for some time, pulling, talking, and red with the exertion. +One or two workmen have come to her assistance, but they can't do +anything either. The donkey's mind is made up. There is an animated +conversation--I am too high up to hear what they say. Finally she leaves +her cart, ties up her fruit in her apron, balances a basket of eggs with +one hand on her head, and disappears into the garden behind the gate. No +one comes along and the cart is quite unmolested. I think I should have +gone down myself if I had seen anyone making off with any of the fruit. +It is a delightful change from the hot stuffy August Paris I left +yesterday. My street is absolutely deserted, every house closed except +mine, the sun shining down hard on the white pavement, and perfect +stillness all day. The evenings from seven till ten are indescribable--a +horror of musical concierges with accordions, a favorite French +instrument. They all sit outside their doors with their families and +friends, playing and singing all the popular songs, and at intervals all +joining in a loud chorus of "Viens Poupoule." Grooms are teaching lady +friends to ride bicycles, a lot of barking, yapping fox-terriers running +alongside. There is a lively cross-conversation going on from one side +of the street to the other, my own concierge and chauffeur contributing +largely. Of course my balcony is untenable, and I am obliged to sit +inside, until happily sleep descends upon them. They all vanish, and the +street relapses into perfect silence. I am delighted to find myself in +this quiet little Norman bathing-place, just getting known to the +French and foreign public. + +It is hardly a village; the collection of villas, small houses, shops, +and two enormous hotels surrounding the établissement seems to have +sprung up quite suddenly and casually in the midst of the green fields +and woods, shut in on all sides almost by the Forest of Ardennes, which +makes a beautiful curtain of verdure. There are villas dotted about +everywhere, of every possible style; Norman chalets, white and gray, +with the black crossbeams that one is so familiar with all over this +part of the country; English cottages with verandas and bow-windows; +three or four rather pretentious looking buildings with high perrons and +one or two terraces; gardens with no very pretty flowers, principally +red geraniums, some standing back in a nice little green wood, some +directly on the road with benches along the fence so that the +inhabitants can see the passers-by (and get all the dust of the roads). +But there isn't much passing even in these days of automobiles. There +are two trains from Paris, arriving at two in the afternoon and at +eleven at night. The run down from Paris, especially after Dreux, is +charming, almost like driving through a park. The meadows are +beautifully green and the trees very fine--the whole country very like +England in appearance, recalling it all the time, particularly when we +saw pretty gray old farmhouses in the distance--and every now and then a +fine Norman steeple. + +There are two rival hotels and various small pensions and family houses. +We are staying at the Grand, which is very comfortable. There is a +splendid terrace overlooking the lake; rather an ambitious name for the +big pond, which does, however, add to the picturesqueness of the place, +particularly at night, when all the lights are reflected in the water. +The whole hotel adjourns there after dinner, and people walk up and down +and listen to the music until ten o'clock. After that there is a decided +falling off of the beau monde. Many people take their bath at half past +five in the morning and are quite ready to go to bed early. The walk +down in the early morning is charming, through a broad, shaded +alley--Allée de Dante. I wonder why it is called that. I don't suppose +the poet ever took warm baths or douches in any description of +établissement. I remember the tale we were always told when we were +children, and rebelled against the perpetual cleansing and washing that +went on in the nursery, of the Italian countess who said she would be +ashamed, if she couldn't do all her washing in a glass of water. It is +rather amusing to see all the types. I don't think there are many +foreigners. I hear very little English spoken, though they tell me +there are some English here. We certainly don't look our best in the +early morning, but the women stand the test better than the men. With +big hats, veils, and the long cloaks they wear now, they pass muster +very well and don't really look any worse than when they are attired for +a spin in an open auto; but the men, with no waistcoats, a foulard +around their throats, and a very dejected air, don't have at all the +conquering-hero appearance that one likes to see in the stronger sex. + +The établissement is large and fairly good, but nothing like what one +finds in all the Austrian and German baths. When I first go in, coming +out of the fresh morning air, I am rather oppressed with the smell of +hot air, damp clothing, and many people crowded into little hot +bath-rooms. There are terrible little dark closets called cabinets de +repos. Many doctors in white waistcoats and red ribbons are walking +about; plenty of baigneuses, with their sleeves rolled up, showing a red +arm that evidently has been constantly in the water; people who have had +their baths and are resting, wrapped up in blankets, stretched out on +long chairs near the windows; bells going all the time, cries of +"Marie-Louise," "Jeanne," "Anne-Marie." It is rather a pandemonium. Our +baigneuse, who is called Marie-Louise, is upstairs. At the top of the +stairs there is a grand picture of the horse who discovered the +Bagnoles waters, a beautiful white beast standing in a spring, all water +lilies and sparkling water. A lovely young lady in a transparent green +garment with roses over each ear, like the head-dress one sees on +Japanese women, is holding his bridle. The legend says that a certain +gallant and amorous knight of yore, having become old and crippled with +rheumatism, and unable any longer to make a brave show in tournaments +under fair ladies' eyes, determined to retire from the world, and to +leave his horse--faithful companion of many jousts--in a certain green +meadow traversed by a babbling brook, where he could end his days in +peace. What was his surprise, some months later, to find his horse +quietly standing again in his old stable, his legs firm and straight, +his skin glossy, quite renovated. The master took himself off to the +meadow, investigated the quality of the water, bathed himself, and began +life anew with straightened limbs and quickened pulses. The waters +certainly do wonders. We see every day people who had arrived on +crutches or walking with canes quite discarding them after a course of +baths. + +[Illustration: L'Etablissement, Bagnoles de l'Orme.] + +The hotel is full, mostly French, but there are of course some +exceptions. We have a tall and stately royal princess with two daughters +and a niece. The girls are charming--simple, pretty, and evidently much +pleased to be away for a little while from court life and etiquette. +They make their curé quite regularly, like any one else, walking and +sitting in the Allée Dante. The people don't stare at them too much. +There are one or two well-known men--deputies, membres de +l'Institut--but, of course, women are in the majority. There is a +band--not very good, as the performers, some of them good enough alone, +had never played together until they came here. However, it isn't of +much consequence, as no one listens. I make friends with them, as usual; +something always draws me to artists. The boy at the piano looks so +thin--really as if he did not get enough to eat. He plays very well, +told me he was a premier prix of the Conservatoire de Madrid. When one +thinks of the hours of work and fatigue that means, it is rather +pathetic to see him, contented to earn a few francs a night, pounding +away at a piano and generally ending with a "cake walk," danced by some +enterprising young people with all sorts of remarkable steps and +gestures, which would certainly astonish the original negro performers +on a plantation. + +The view from the terrace at night is pretty--quantities of lights +twinkling about among the trees, and beyond, always on each side and in +front, the thick green walls of the forest quite shutting in the quiet +little place. We are usually the last outside. It grows cooler as the +evening gets on, and I fancy it is not wise to sit out too late after +the hot bath and fatigue of the day. + +It is a splendid automobiling country, and every afternoon there is a +goodly show of motors of all sizes and makes waiting to take their +owners on some of the many interesting excursions which abound in this +neighbourhood. We have an English friend who has brought over his +automobile, a capital one--English make--and we have been out several +times with him. The other day we went to Domfront--a lovely road, almost +all the way through woods, the forest of Audaine with its fine old trees +making splendid shade. We passed through the Étoile--well known to all +the hunting men, as it is a favourite rendezvous de chasse. It is a +lovely part of the forest, a great green space with alleys running off +into the woods in all directions. Some of them, where the ground was a +little hilly, looked like beautiful green paths going straight up to the +clouds. + +We kept in the forest almost all the way--as we got near Domfront the +road rising all the time, quite steep at the end, which, however, made +no perceptible difference in our speed. The big auto galloped up all the +hills quite smoothly and with no effort. It was a divine view as we +finally emerged from the woods--miles of beautiful green meadows and +hedges stretching away on each side and a blue line of hills in the +distance. We had been told that we could see Mont St. Michel and the sea +with our glasses, but we didn't, though the day was very clear. Domfront +is a very old walled town, with round towers and a great square donjon, +perched on the top of a mountain. A long stretch of solid wall is still +there, and some of the old towers are converted into modern dwellings. +It looked out of place to see ordinary lace curtains tied back with a +ribbon and pots of red geraniums in the high narrow windows, when one +thought of the rough grim soldiers armed to the teeth who have stood for +hours in those same windows watching anxiously for the first glimpse of +an armed band appearing at the edge of the meadows. The château must +have been a fine feudal fortress in its time and has sheltered many +great personages. William the Conqueror, of course--he has apparently +lived in every château and sailed from every harbour in this part of +Normandy--Charles IX, Catherine de Medicis, and the Montgomery who +killed Henri II in tournament. + +[Illustration: In Domfront some of the old towers are converted into +modern dwellings.] + +It was too early to go home, so we went on to the Château de Lassay. We +raced through pretty little clean gray villages, looking peaceful and +sleepy and deserted and evidently quite accustomed to automobiles. No +one took much notice of us. There were only a few old people and +children in the streets; all the men were working in the fields +gathering in their harvest. Lassay is quite a place, with hotels, shops, +churches, and an old Benedictine convent. We left the auto in the +square, as it couldn't get up the narrow, steep little road to the +hotel. There were swarms of beggars of all ages--old women, girls, +children--lining the road before we got to the château. Monsieur B. +(deputy), who was with us, remonstrated vigorously, particularly with +stout, sturdy young women who were pursuing us, but they didn't care a +bit, and we only got rid of them once we had crossed the moat and +drawbridge and got into the court-yard, where a wrinkled and red-cheeked +old woman locked the door after us. The château is almost entirely in +ruins, but must have been splendid. There is a sort of modern +dwelling-house in the inner court, but I fancy the proprietor rarely +lives there. It is enormous. There are eight massive round towers +connected by a courtine (little green path) that runs along the top of +the ramparts. The big door that opens on the park is modern, and makes +decidedly poor effect after the fine old pointed doorway that gives +access to the great court-yard. The park, with a little care and a +little money spent on it, would be beautiful, but it is quite wild and +uncared for. There are splendid old trees, some of them covered entirely +with ivy growing straight up into the branches and giving a most +peculiar effect to the trees; ragged green paths leading to woods; +running waters with little bridges thrown over them; a splendid +vegetation everywhere, almost a jungle in some places--all utterly +neglected. The old woman took us through the "casemates"--dark stone +galleries with little narrow slits for windows or to fire through; they +used to run all around the house, connected by a subterranean passage, +but they are now, like all the rest, half in ruins. It was most +interesting. We had not the energy, any of us, to go up into the tower +and see the view--we had seen it all the way, culminating at Domfront +on the top of the mountain, and though very beautiful, it is always the +same--great stretches of green fields, hedges, and fine trees. It is a +little too peaceful and monotonous for my taste. I like something bolder +and wilder. A high granite cliff standing out in the sea, with the great +Atlantic rollers breaking perpetually against it, appeals to me much +more than green fields and cows standing placidly in little clear +brooks, and clean, comfortable farmhouses, with pretty gray Norman +steeples rising out of the woods, but my companions were certainly not +of my opinion and were enchanted with the Norman landscape. We had a +long ride back in the soft evening light. I am afraid to say how many +kilomètres we went in the three hours we were away. + +It has been warm these last days. There is a bit of road absolutely +without shade of any kind we have to pass every time we go to the +établissement, which is very trying. I love the early morning walk, +everything is so fresh and the air singularly light and pure. It seems +wicked to go into that atmosphere of hot air and suffering humanity, +which greets one on the threshold of the bathhouse. To-day I have been +driving with the princess. She does not like the automobile when she is +making a cure--says it shakes her too much. + +We had a pretty drive, past the château of Couterne, which is most +picturesque. A beautiful beech avenue leads up to the house, which is +built of brick, with round towers and a large pond or lake which comes +right up to the walls. It is of the sixteenth century, and has been +inhabited ever since by the same family. One of the ancestors was +"chevalier et poète" of Queen Marguerite of Navarre. I had a nice talk +with the princess about everything and everybody. I asked her if she had +ever read "The Lightning Conductor." As her own auto is a Napier, I +thought it would interest her. I told her all the potins (little gossip) +of the hotel--that people said her youngest daughter was going to marry +the King of Spain, and the general verdict was that the princess would +make "a beautiful queen." Every one is horror-struck at the murder of +the Russian Minister of the Interior, and I suppose it is only a +beginning. + +This afternoon I have been walking in the lovely woods at the back of +the établissement. It is rather a steep climb to get to the point de vue +and troublesome walking, as the paths are dry and slippery and the roots +of the pine-trees that spread out over the paths catch one's heels +sometimes. Some people spend all their day high up in the pines--take up +books, seats, work, and goûter, and only come down after six, when the +air gets cooler. We saw parties seated about in all directions and had +glimpses of the white dresses, which are a uniform this year, flitting +through the trees. It was very pretty, but not like the walls of +Marienbad, with the splendid black pine forest all around and every now +and then a glimpse of a green Alm (high field on the top of a mountain), +with the peasant girl in her high Tyrolean hat and clean white +chemisette standing on the edge, with her cows all behind her and the +bells tinkling in the distance. + +[Illustration: Château de Lassay.] + +It was so warm this evening that we sat out until ten o'clock. We had a +visit from Comte de G., son-in-law of our friend Mrs. L.S. He lives at +Deauville, and had announced himself for Monday morning for breakfast at +twelve. He _did_ come for breakfast, but on Tuesday morning, having been +en route since Monday morning at seven o'clock. He was in an automobile +and everything happened to him that can happen to an automobile except +an absolute smash. He punctured his tires, had a big hole in his +reservoir, his steering gear bent, his bougies always doing something +they oughtn't to. He dined and slept at Falaise; rather a sketchy +repast, but as he told us he could always get along with poached eggs, +could eat six in an ordinary way and twelve in an emergency, we were +reassured; for one can always get eggs and milk in Normandy. He arrived +in a perfectly good humour and made himself very pleasant. He is an old +soldier--a cavalry officer--and doesn't mind roughing it. + +The journey from Deauville to Bagnoles is usually accomplished in three +or four hours. Falaise, the birthplace of William the Conqueror, is an +interesting old town, but looks as if it had been asleep ever since that +great event. The old castle is very fine, stands high, close to the edge +of the cliff, so that the rock seems to form part of the great walls. +There is one fine round tower, and always the grass walk around the +ramparts. + +The views are beautiful. Looking down from one of the narrow, pointed +windows, still fairly preserved, we had the classic Norman landscape at +our feet--beautiful green fields, enormous trees making spots of black +shade in the bright grass, the river, sparkling in the sunshine, winding +through the meadows, a group of washerwomen, busy and chattering, +beating their clothes on the flat stones where the river narrows a +little under the castle walls, and a bright blue sky overhead. + +We walked through the Grande Place--picturesque enough. On one side the +Church of La Trinité, and in the middle of the Place the bronze +equestrian statue of William the Conqueror. It is very spirited. He is +in full armor, lance in hand, his horse plunging forward toward +imaginary enemies. They say the figure was copied from Queen Mathilde's +famous tapestries at Bayeux, but it looked more modern to me. I remember +all the men and beasts and ships of those tapestries looked most +extraordinary as to shape. Monsieur R. took over the young princesses +the other day in his auto. They were very keen to see the cradle of +their race. It was curious to see the descendants of the great rough +soldier starting in an auto, fresh, pretty English girls, dressed in the +trotteuses (little short skirts) that we all wear in the country, +carrying their Kodaks and sketching materials. + +All this part of the country teems with legends of the great warrior. +Years ago, when we were at Deauville, we drove over to Dives to +breakfast--one gets a very good breakfast at the little hotel. We +wandered about afterward down to the sea (William the Conqueror is said +to have sailed from Dives), and into the little church where the names +of all the barons who accompanied him to England are written on tablets +on the walls. We saw various relics and places associated with him and +talked naturally a great deal about the Conqueror. On the way home (we +were a large party in a brake) one of our compatriots, a nice young +fellow whose early education had evidently not been very comprehensive, +turned to me, saying; "Do tell me, what did that fellow conquer?" I +could hardly believe my own ears, but unfortunately for him, just at +that moment we were walking up a steep hill and everybody in the +carriage overheard his remark. It was received with such shouts of +laughter that any explanation was difficult, and one may imagine the +jokes, and the numerous and fabulous conquests that were instantly put +down to the great duke's account. The poor fellow was quite bewildered. +However, I don't know if an American is bound to know any history but +that of his own country. I am quite sure that many people in the +carriage didn't know whom Pocahontas married, nor what part she played +in the early days of America. But it was funny all the same. + +We have been out again this afternoon in Monsieur R.'s auto--a charming +turn. We started out by the Étoile, as Monsieur R. wanted to show it to +some gentlemen who were with us. The drive, if anything, was more lovely +than the first time, the slanting rays of the sun were so beautiful +shining through the rich green foliage, making patterns upon the hard, +white road. We raced all over the country, through countless little +villages, all exactly alike, sometimes flying past a stately old brick +château just seen at the end of a long, beech avenue, sometimes past an +old church standing high, its gray stone steeple showing well against +the bright, cloudless sky, and a little graveyard stretching along the +hillside, the roads bordered on each side with high green banks and +hedges, the orchards full of apple-trees, and the whole active +population of the village in the fields. It is a beautiful month to be +in Normandy, for one must have sun in these parts. As soon as it rains +everything is gray and cold and melancholy, the forest looks like a +great high black wall, the meadows are shrouded in mist, and the damp +strikes through one. Now it is smiling, sunny, peaceful. + +We have frightened various horses to-day; a quiet old gray steed, driven +by two old ladies in black bonnets. They were too old to get out, and +were driving their horse timidly and nervously into the ditch in their +anxiety to give us all the road. However, we slowed up and the horse +didn't look as if he could run away. Two big carthorses, too, at the end +of a long line, dragging a heavy wagon, turned short round and almost +ran into us; also a very small donkey, driven by a little brown girl, +showed symptoms of flight. I don't know the names of half the villages +we passed through. Near Bagnoles we came to La Ferté-Macé, which looks +quite imposing as one comes down upon it from the top of a long hill. +The church makes a great effect--looks almost like a cathedral. Bagnoles +looked very animated as we came back. People were loitering about +shopping--quite a number of carriages and autos before the door of the +Grand Hotel, and people sitting out under the trees in the gardens of +the different villas. It was decidedly cool at the end of our outing; I +was glad to have my coat. + +This morning after breakfast, in the big hall, where every one +congregates for coffee, we had a little political talk--not very +satisfactory. Everybody is discontented and everybody protests, but no +one seems able to stop the radical current. The rupture with the Vatican +has come at last, and I think might have been avoided if they had been a +little more patient in Rome. There will be all sorts of complications +and bitter feeling, and I don't quite see what benefit the country at +large will get from the present state of things. A general feeling of +irritation and uncertainty, higher taxes--for they must build +school-houses and pay lay-teachers and country curés. A whole generation +of children cannot be allowed to grow up without religious instruction +of any kind. I can understand how the association of certain religious +orders (men) could be mischievous--harmful even--but I am quite sure +that no one in his heart believes any harm of the women--soeurs de +charité and teachers--who occupy themselves with the old people, the +sick, and the children. In our little town they have sent away an old +sister who had taught and generally looked after three generations of +children. When she was expelled she had been fifty years in the town and +was teaching the grandchildren of her first scholars. Everybody knew +her, everybody loved her; when any one was ill or in trouble she was +always the first person sent for. Now there is at the school an +intelligent, well-educated young laïque with all the necessary brevets. +I dare say she will teach the children very well, but her task ends with +the close of her class. She doesn't go to church, doesn't know the +people, doesn't interest herself in all their little affairs, and will +never have the position and the influence the old religieuse had. + +I am sorry to go away from this quiet little green corner of Normandy, +but we have taken the requisite number of baths. Every one rushes off as +soon as the last bath (twenty-first generally) is taken. Countess F. +took her twenty-first at six o'clock this morning, and left at ten. + + + + +IX + +A NORMAN TOWN + + +VALOGNES, August. + +I seem to have got into another world, almost another century, in this +old town. I had always promised the Florians I would come and stay +with them, and was curious to see their installation in one of the +fine old hotels of the place. The journey was rather long--not +particularly interesting. We passed near Caen, getting a very good +view of the two great abbayes[13] with their towers and spires quite +sharply outlined against the clear blue sky. The train was full. At +almost every station family parties got in--crowds of children all +armed with spades, pails, butterfly nets, and rackets, all the +paraphernalia of happy, healthy childhood. For miles after Caen there +were long stretches of green pasture-lands--hundreds of cows and +horses, some of them the big Norman dray-horses resting a little +before beginning again their hard work, and quantities of long-legged +colts trotting close up alongside of their mothers, none of them +apparently minding the train. We finally arrived at the quiet little +station of Valognes. Countess de Florian was waiting for me, with +their big omnibus, and we had a short drive all through the town to +their hotel, which is quite at one end, a real country road running in +front of their house. It is an old hotel standing back from the road +and shut in with high iron gates. There is a large court-yard with a +grass-plot in the middle, enormous flower-beds on each side, and a +fine sweep of carriage road to the perron. A great double stone +staircase runs straight up to the top of the house, and glass doors +opposite the entrance lead into the garden. I had an impression of +great space and height and floods of light. I went straight into the +garden, where they gave me tea, which was most refreshing after the +long hot day. They have no house party. The dowager countess, +Florian's mother, is here, and there was a cousin, a naval officer, +who went off to Cherbourg directly after dinner. The ground-floor is +charming; on one side of the hall there are three or four salons, and +a billiard-room running directly across the house from the garden to +the court-yard; on the other, a good dining-room and two or three +guests' rooms; the family all live upstairs. + + [13] Abbaye aux Hommes, Abbaye aux Dames. + +It is a delightful house. My room is on the ground-floor, opening from +the corridor, which is large and bright, paved with flagstones. My +windows look out on the entrance court, so that I see all that goes on. +As soon as my maid has opened the windows and brought in my petit +déjeuner, I hear a tap at the door and the countess's maid appears to +ask, with madame's compliments, if I have all I want, if I have had a +good night, and to bring me the morning paper. The first person to move +is the dowager countess, who goes to early mass every morning. She is a +type of the old-fashioned French Faubourg St. Germain lady; a straight, +slender figure, always dressed in black, devoted to her children and to +all her own family, with the courteous, high-bred manner one always +finds in French women of the old school. She doesn't take much interest +in the outside world, nor in anything that goes on in other countries, +but is too polite to show that when she talks to me, for instance, who +have knocked about so much. She doesn't understand the modern life, so +sans gêne and agitated, and it is funny to hear her say when talking of +people she doesn't quite approve of, "Ils ne sont pas de notre monde." + +[Illustration: Entrance to hotel of the Comte de Florian.] + +Then comes the young countess, very energetic and smiling, with her +short skirt and a bag on her arm, going to market. She sees me at the +window and stops to know if I am going out. Will I join her at the +market? All the ladies of Valognes do their own marketing and some of +the well-known fishwomen and farmers' wives who come in from the +country with poultry would be quite hurt if Madame la Comtesse didn't +come herself to give her orders and have a little talk. This morning I +have been to market with Countess Florian. The women looked so nice +and clean in their short, black, heavily plaited skirts, high white +caps, and handkerchiefs pinned over their bodices. The little stalls +went all down the narrow main street and spread out on the big square +before the church. The church is large, with a square tower and fine +dome--nothing very interesting as to architecture. Some of the stalls +were very tempting and the smiling, red-cheeked old women, sitting up +behind their wares, were so civil and anxious to sell us something. +The fish-market was most inviting--quantities of flat white turbots, +shining silver mackerel, and fresh crevettes piled high on a marble +slab with water running over them. Four or five short-skirted, +bare-legged fisher girls were standing at the door with baskets of +fish on their heads. Florian joined us there and seemed on the best of +terms with these young women. He made all kinds of jokes with them, to +which they responded with giggles and a funny little half-courtesy, +half-nod. Both Florians spoke so nicely to all the market people as we +passed from stall to stall. The poultry looked very good--such fat +ducks and chickens. It was funny to see the bourgeoises of Valognes +all armed with a large basket doing their marketing; they looked at +the chickens, poked them, lifted them so as to be sure of their +weight, and evidently knew to a centime what they had to pay. I fancy +the Norman ménagère is a pretty sharp customer and knows exactly what +she must pay for everything. The vegetable stalls were very well +arranged--the most enormous cabbages I ever saw. I think the old +ladies who presided there were doing a flourishing business. I did not +find much to buy--some gray knitted stockings that I thought would be +good for my Mareuil[14] boys and some blue linen blouses with white +embroidery, that all the carters wear, and which the Paris dressmakers +transform into very pretty summer costumes. I bought for myself a +paper bag full of cherries for a few sous, then left the Florians, and +wandered about the streets a little alone. They are generally narrow, +badly paved, with grass growing in the very quiet ones. There are many +large hotels standing well back, entre cour et jardin, the big doors +and gate-ways generally heavy and much ornamented--a great deal of +carving on the façades and cornices, queer heads and beasts. Valognes +has not always been the quiet, dull, little provincial town it is +to-day. It has had its brilliant moment, when all the hotels were +occupied by grands seigneurs, handsome equipages rolled through the +streets, and its society prided itself on its exclusiveness and grand +manner. It used to be said that to rouler carrosse at Valognes was a +titre de noblesse, and the inhabitants considered their town a "petit +Paris." In one of the plays of the time, a marquis, very fashionable +and a well-known courtier, was made to say: "Il faut trois mois de +Valognes pour achever un homme de cour." One can quite imagine "la +grande vie d'autrefois" in the hotel of the Florians. Their garden is +enchanting--quantities of flowers, roses particularly. They have made +two great borders of tall pink rose-bushes, with dwarf palms from +Bordighera planted between, just giving the note of stiffness which +one would expect to find in an old-fashioned garden. On one side is a +large terrace with marble steps and balustrade, and beyond that, half +hidden by a row of fruit-trees, a very good tennis court. We just see +the church-tower at one end of the garden; and it is so quiet one +would never dream there was a town near. The country in every +direction is beautiful--real English lanes, the roads low, high banks +on each side, with hawthorn bushes on top--one drives between thick +green walls. We have made some lovely excursions. They have a big +omnibus with a banquette on top which seats four people, also a place +by the coachman, and two great Norman posters, who go along at a good +steady trot, taking a little gallop occasionally up and down the +hills. + + [14] Mareuil is the name of the village near our place in France. + +Countess de Nadaillac, Countess Florian's sister-in-law, arrived to-day +with her daughter for a short visit. We had a pleasant evening with +music, billiards, and dominoes (a favorite game in this country). The +dowager countess always plays two games, and precisely at half-past nine +her old man-servant appears and escorts her to her rooms. We all break +up early; the ten o'clock bell is usually the signal. It rings every +night, just as it has done for hundreds of years. The town lights are +put out and the inhabitants understand that the authorities are not +responsible for anything that may happen in the streets of Valognes +after such a dangerous hour of the night. + +... There are some fine places in the neighborhood. We went to-day to +Chiffevast, a large château which had belonged to the Darus, but has +been bought recently by a rich couple, Valognes people, who have made a +large fortune in cheese and butter. It seems their great market is +London. + +They send over quantities via Cherbourg, which is only twenty minutes +off by rail. It is a splendid place--with a fine approach by a great +avenue with beautiful old trees. The château is a large, square +house--looks imposing as one drives up. We didn't see the master of the +house--he was away--but madame received us in all her best clothes. She +was much better dressed than we were, evidently by one of the good Paris +houses. Countess Florian had written to ask if we might come, so she was +under arms. She was a little nervous at first, talked a great deal, very +fast, but when she got accustomed to us it went more easily, and she +showed us the house with much pride. There was some good furniture and +one beautiful coverlet of old lace and embroidery, which she had found +somewhere upstairs in an old chest of drawers. They have no +children--such a pity, as they are improving and beautifying the place +all the time. The drive home was delightful, facing the sunset. I was +amused with the Florians' old coachman. He is a curiosity--knows +everybody in the country. He was much interested in our visit and asked +if we had seen "la patronne"--said he knew her well, had often seen her +on a market day at Valognes, sitting in her little cart in the midst of +her cheeses and butter; said she was a brave femme. How strange it must +seem to people like that, just out of their hard-working peasant +life--and it _is_ hard work in France--to find themselves owners of a +splendid château and estate, receiving the great people of the country. +I dare say in ten or twelve years they will be like any one else, and if +there were sons or daughters the young men would get into parliament or +the diplomatic career, the daughters would marry some impoverished scion +of a noble family, and cheeses and butter would be forgotten. + +We had one delightful day at Cherbourg. The Préfet Maritime invited us +to breakfast with him at his hotel. We went by rail to Cherbourg, about +half an hour, and found the admiral's carriage waiting for us. The +prefecture is a nice, old-fashioned house, in the centre of the town, +with a big garden. We took off our coats in a large, handsome room +upstairs. The walls were covered with red damask and there were pictures +of Queen Victoria and Louis Napoleon. It seems the Queen slept in that +room one night when she came over to France to make her visit to Louis +Philippe at the Château d'Eu. We found quite a party assembled--all the +men in uniform and the women generally in white. We breakfasted in a +large dining-room with glass doors opening into the garden, which was +charming, a blaze of bright summer flowers. We adjourned there for +coffee after breakfast. The trees were big, made a good shade, and the +little groups, seated about in the various bosquets, looked pretty and +gay. When coffee and liqueurs were finished we drove down to the quay, +where the admiral's launch was waiting, and had a delightful afternoon +steaming about the harbour. It is enormous, long jetties and breakwaters +stretching far out, almost closing it in. There was every description of +craft--big Atlantic liners, yachts, fishing boats, ironclads, torpedoes, +and once we very nearly ran over a curious dark object floating on the +surface of the water, which they told us was a submarine. It did not +look comfortable as a means of transportation, but the young officers +told us it was delightful. + +[Illustration: Market women. Valognes.] + +We got back to Valognes to a late dinner, having invited a large party +to come over for tennis and dinner the next day. The Florians are a +godsend to Cherbourg. They are most hospitable, and with automobiles the +distance is nothing, and one is quite independent of trains. Yesterday +four of our party went off to Cherbourg to make a cruise in a +torpedo-boat. The ladies were warned that they must put on clothes which +would not mind sea-water, but I should think bathing dresses would be +the only suitable garments for such an expedition. They were remarkable +objects when they came home, Mademoiselle de Nadaillac's hat a +curiosity, also her white blouse, where the red of her hat-ribbons and +cravat had run. However, they had enjoyed themselves immensely--at least +the girl. Countess de Nadaillac was not quite so enthusiastic. They got +into dry clothes and played tennis vigorously all the afternoon. + +We had a pleasant family evening. Mademoiselle de Nadaillac has a pretty +voice and sang well. Florian and I played some duets. I joined in the +dowager's game of dominoes, which I don't seem to have mastered, as I +lose regularly, and after she left us, escorted by her faithful old +butler (a light shawl over his arm to put on her shoulders when she +passed through the corridors), we had rather an interesting conversation +about ways and manners in different countries, particularly the way +young people are brought up. I said we were a large family and that +mother would never let us read in the drawing-room after dinner. If we +were all absorbed in our books, conversation was impossible. We were all +musical, so the piano and singing helped us through. Madame de Florian, +whose father, Marquis de Nadaillac, is quite of the old school, said +they were not even allowed to work or look at pictures in the _salon_ +after dinner! Her father considered it disrespectful if any of his +children did anything but listen when he talked. They might join in the +conversation if they had anything intelligent to say. She told us, too, +of some of the quite old-fashioned châteaux that she stayed in as a +girl, and even a young married woman. There was one fire and one lamp in +the drawing-room. Any one who wanted to be warm, or to work, was obliged +to come into that room. No fires nor lamps allowed anywhere else in the +house; a cup of tea in the afternoon an unheard-of luxury. If you were +ill, a doctor was sent for and he ordered a tisane; if you were merely +tired or cold, you waited until dinner-time. + +We have also made a charming expedition to Quinéville, a small seaside +place about an hour and a half's drive, always through the same green +country, our Norman posters galloping up all the hills. We passed +through various little villages, each one with a pretty little gray, +square-towered church. There was plenty of passing, as it was market +day. We met a good many peasant women carrying milk in those curious old +brass bowls one sees everywhere here. Some of them are very handsome, +polished until they shine like mirrors, with a delicate pattern lightly +traced running around the bowl. They balance them perfectly on their +heads and walk along at a good swinging pace. They all look prosperous, +their skirts (generally black), shoes, and stockings in good condition, +and their white caps and handkerchiefs as clean as possible. Quinéville +is a very quiet little place, no hotel, and rows of ugly little houses +well back from the sea, but there is a beautiful stretch of firm white +sand. To-day it was dead low tide. The sea looked miles away, a long +line of dark sea-weed marking the water's edge. There were plenty of +people about; women and girls with stout bare legs, and a primitive sort +of tool, half pitchfork, half shovel, were piling the sea-weed into the +carts which were waiting on the shore. Children were paddling about in +the numerous little pools and making themselves wreaths and necklaces +out of the berries of the sea-weed--some of them quite bright-coloured, +pink and yellow. We wandered about on the beach, sitting sometimes on +the side of a boat, and walking through the little pools and streams. It +was a lonely bit of water. We didn't see a sail. The sea looked like a +great blue plain meeting the sky--nothing to break the monotony. We got +some very bad coffee at the restaurant--didn't attempt tea. They would +certainly have _said_ they had it, and would have made it probably out +of hay from the barn. The drive home was delicious, almost too cool, as +we went at a good pace, the horses knowing as well as we did that the +end of their day was coming.... We have been again to market this +morning. It was much more amusing than the first time, as it was horse +day, and men and beasts were congregated in the middle of the Cathedral +Square. There was a fair show--splendid big carthorses and good cobs and +ponies--here and there a nice saddle-horse. There were a good many women +driving themselves, and almost all had good, stout little horses. They +know just as much about it as the men and were much interested in the +sales. They told me the landlady of the hotel was the best judge of a +horse and a _man_ in Normandy. She was standing at the entrance of her +court-yard as we passed the hotel on our way home, a comely, buxom +figure, dressed like all the rest in a short black skirt and sabots. She +was exchanging smiling greetings and jokes with every one who passed and +keeping order with the crowds of farmers, drivers, and horse-dealers who +were jostling through the big open doors and clamoring for food for +themselves and their animals. She was the type of the hard-working, +capable Frenchwoman of whom there are thousands in France. + +Some years ago I was on the committee for a great sale we had in our +arrondissement in Paris for the benefit of "L'Assistance par le +Travail," an excellent work which we are all much interested in. I was +in charge of the buffet, and thought it better to apply at once to one +of the great caterers, Potel and Chabot, and see what they could do for +us. We made an appointment, and Mme. de B. and I drove down to the +place. The manager was out, but they told us that Madame was waiting for +us in the back shop. We found rather a pretty woman, very well dressed +in velvet, with diamond earrings, and I was put out at first--thought +that didn't look like business. However, we talked a few minutes; she +said her husband was obliged to go to the country, but would certainly +come and see me the next day. Then she stepped up to her desk, where +there was a big book open, said she understood we wished to give an +order for a buffet for a charity sale, and was at once absorbed in +sandwiches, tea and coffee, orangeade, and all the requirements for such +an occasion. She was perfectly practical and gave us some very useful +hints--said she supposed we wanted some of their maîtres d'hôtel. We +thought not--our own would do. That, she said, would be a great mistake. +They weren't accustomed to that sort of thing and wouldn't know how to +do it. One thing, for instance--they would certainly fill all the +glasses of orangeade and punch much too full and would waste a great +deal. Their men never filled a glass entirely, and consequently gained +two on every dozen. She told us how much we wanted, made out the +estimate at once, and ended by asking if we would allow them to present +the tea as their contribution to the charity. It didn't take more than +twenty minutes--the whole thing. She then shut up her book, went to the +door with us, thanked us for giving them the order, and hoped we would +be satisfied. That business capability and thriftiness runs through +almost all Frenchwomen of a certain class, and when I hear, as of course +I often do, the frivolous, butterfly, pleasure-loving Frenchwoman spoken +of, that energetic, hard-working bourgeoise comes into my mind. We all +who live in France know the type well. + +The whole nation is frugal. During the Franco-German War, my husband, +who had spent all the dreary months of the invasion at his château in +the country, was elected a member of the Assemblée Nationale, which met +at Bordeaux. They were entirely cut off from Paris, surrounded by +Prussian troops on all sides, and he couldn't get any money. Whatever he +had had at the beginning of the war had been spent--sending off recruits +for one of the great army corps near his place. It was impossible to +communicate with his banker or any friends in Paris, and yet he couldn't +start without funds. He applied to the notary of La Ferté-Milon, the +little town nearest the château. He asked how much he wanted. W. said +about 10,000 francs. The notary said, "Give me two days and I will get +it for you." He appeared three days afterward, bringing the 10,000 +francs--a great deal of it in large silver five-franc pieces, very +difficult to carry. He had collected the whole sum from small farmers +and peasants in the neighbourhood--the five-franc pieces coming always +from the peasants, sometimes fifty sewed up in a mattress or in the +woman's thick, wadded Sunday skirt. He said he could get as much more if +W. wanted it. It seems impossible for the peasant to part with his money +or invest it. He must keep it well hidden, but in his possession. + +... We had a pretty drive this afternoon to one of Florian's farms, down +a little green lane, some distance from the high-road and so hidden by +the big trees that we saw nothing until we got close to the gate. It was +late--all the cows coming home, the great Norman horses drinking at the +trough, two girls with bare legs and high caps calling all the fowl to +supper, and the farmer's wife, with a baby in her arms and another +child, almost a baby, pulling at her skirts, seated on a stone bench +underneath a big apple-tree, its branches heavy with fruit. She was +superintending the work of the farm-yard and seeing that the two girls +didn't waste a minute of their time, nor a grain of the seed with which +they were feeding the chickens. A little clear, sparkling stream was +meandering through the meadows, tall poplars on each side, and quite +at the end of the stretch of green fields there was the low blue line of +the sea. The farmhouse is a large, old-fashioned building with one or +two good rooms. It had evidently been a small manor house. One of the +rooms is charming, with handsome panels of dark carved wood. It seemed a +pity to leave them there, and almost a pity, that the Florians could not +have made their home in such a lovely green spot, but they would have +been obliged to add to the house enormously, and it would have +complicated their lives, being so far away from everything. + +[Illustration: Old gate-way. Valogues.] + +... We have had a last walk and flânerie this morning. We went to the +Hospice, formerly a Benedictine convent, where there is a fine gate-way +and court-yard with most extraordinary carving over the doors and +gate--monstrous heads and beasts and emblems alongside of cherubs and +beautiful saints and angels. One wonders what ideas those old artists +had; it seems now such distorted imagination. We walked through some of +the oldest streets and past what had been fine hotels, but they are +quite uninhabited now. Sometimes a bric-à-brac shop on the ground-floor, +and some sort of society on the upper story, but they are all neglected +and half tumbling down. There is still splendid carving on some of the +old gate-ways and cornices, but bits of stone and plaster are falling +off, grass is growing between the paving stones of the court-yards, and +there is an air of poverty and neglect which is a curious contrast to +the prosperous look of the country all around--all the little farms and +villages look so thriving. The people are smiling and well fed; their +animals, too--horses, cows, donkeys--all in good condition. + +I have played my last game of dominoes in this fine old hotel and had my +last cup of tea in the stiff, stately garden, with the delicious salt +sea-breeze always coming at four o'clock, and the cathedral chimes +sounding high and clear over our heads. I leave to-morrow night for +London, via Cherbourg and Southampton. + + + + +X + +NORMAN CHATEAUX + + +We never remained all summer at our place. August was a disagreeable +month there--the woods were full of horse-flies which made riding +impossible. No nets could keep them off the horses who were almost +maddened by the sting. They were so persistent that we had to take them +off with a sharp stick. They stuck like leeches. We generally went to +the sea--almost always to the Norman Coast--establishing ourselves in a +villa--sometimes at Deauville, sometimes at Villers, and making +excursions all over the country. + +Some of the old Norman châteaux are charming, particularly those which +have remained just as they were before the Revolution, but, of course, +there are not many of these. When the young ones succeed, there is +always a tendency to modify and change, and it is not easy to mix the +elaborate luxurious furniture of our times with the stiff old-fashioned +chairs and sofas one finds in the old French houses. Merely to look at +them one understands why our grandfathers and grandmothers always sat +upright. + +One of the most interesting of the Norman châteaux is "Abondant," in the +department of the Eure-et-Loir, belonging until very recently to the +Vallambrosa family. It belonged originally to la Duchesse de Tourzel, +gouvernante des Enfants de France (children of Louis XVI and Marie +Antoinette). After the imprisonment of the Royal Family, Madame de +Tourzel retired to her château d'Abondant and remained there all through +the Revolution. The village people and peasants adored her and she lived +there peacefully through all those terrible days. Neither château nor +park was damaged in any way, although she was known to be a devoted +friend and adherent of the unfortunate Royal Family. A band of +half-drunken "patriots" tried to force their way into the park one day, +with the intention of cutting down the trees and pillaging the château, +but all the villagers instantly assembled, armed with pitchforks, rusty +old guns and stones, and dispersed the rabble. + +Abondant is a Louis XV château--very large--seventeen rooms en +façade--but simple in its architecture. The Duchess occupied a large +corner room on the ground-floor, with four windows. The ceiling (which +was very high) and walls covered with toiles de Jouy. An enormous bed à +baldaquin was trimmed with the same toile and each post had a great +bunch of white feathers on top. + +In 1886, when one of my friends was staying at Abondant, the hangings +were the same which had been there all through the Revolution. She told +me she had never been so miserable as the first time she stayed at the +château during the lifetime of the late Duchesse de Vallambrosa. They +gave her the Duchesse de Tourzel's room, thinking it would interest her +as a chambre historique. She was already nervous at sleeping alone on +the ground-floor, far from all the other inmates of the château. The +room was enormous--walls nearly five metres high--the bed looked like an +island in the midst of space; there was very little furniture, and the +white feathers on the bed-posts nodded and waved in the dim light. She +scarcely closed her eyes, could not reason with herself, and asked the +next morning to have something less magnificent and more modern. + +In all the bedrooms the dressing-tables were covered with dentelle de +Binche[15] of the epoch, and all the mirrors and various little boxes +for powder, rouge, patches, and the hundred accessories for a fine +lady's toilette in those days, were in Vernis Martin absolutely +intact. The drawing-rooms still had their old silk hangings--a white +ground covered with wreaths of flowers and birds with wonderful bright +plumage--hand-painted--framed in wood of two shades of light green. + + [15] Binche, name of a village in Belgium where the lace is made. + +The big drawing-room was entirely panelled in wood of the same light +green, most beautifully and delicately carved. These old boiseries were +all removed when the château was sold. After the death of the Duchesse +de Tourzel the château went to her niece, the Duchesse des Cars--who +left it to her niece, the Duchesse de Vallambrosa, a very rare instance, +in France, of a property descending directly through several generations +in the female line. + +It was sold by the Vallambrosas. The old wood panels are in the Paris +house of a member of that family. The park was very large and +beautifully laid out, with the fine trees one sees all over Normandy. + +Twenty years ago a salle de spectacle "en verdure" still existed in the +park--the seats were all in grass; the coulisses (side scenes) made in +the trees of the park--their boughs cut and trained into shape, to +represent green walls, a marble group of allegorical figures at the +back. It was most carefully preserved--the seats of the amphitheatre +looked like green velvet and the trees were always cut in the same +curious shapes. It seemed quite a fitting part of the fine old place, +with its memories of past fêtes and splendours, before the whirlwind of +liberty and equality swept over the country. + +Many of the châteaux are changing hands. The majorat (entail) doesn't +exist in France, and as the fortunes must always be divided among the +children, it becomes more and more difficult to keep up the large +places. Life gets dearer every day--fortunes don't increase--very few +young Frenchmen of the upper classes do anything. The only way of +keeping up the big places is by making a rich marriage--the daughter of +a rich banker or industrial, or an American. + + * * * * * + +Our cousins, Comte and Comtesse d'Y----, have a pretty little old place +not very far from Villers-sur-Mer, where we went sometimes for +sea-bathing. The house is an ordinary square white stone building, a +fine terrace with a flight of steps leading down to the garden on one +side. The park is delightful--many splendid old trees. Until a few years +ago there were still some that dated since Louis XIV. The last one of +that age--a fine oak, with wide spreading branches--died about two years +ago, but they cannot make up their minds to cut it down. I advised them +to leave the trunk standing--(I think, by degrees, the branches will +fall as they are quite dead)--cover it with ivy or a vine of some kind, +and put a notice on it of the age of the tree. + +The house stands high, and they have splendid views--on one side, from +the terrace, a great expanse of green valley looking toward Falaise--on +the other, the sea--a beautiful, blue summer sea, when we were there the +other day. + +We went over from Villers to breakfast. It was late in the season, the +end of September--one of those bright days one sometimes has in +September, when summer still lingers and the sun gives beautiful mellow +tints to everything without being strong enough to make one feel the +heat. The road was lovely all the way, particularly after we turned off +the high road at the top of the Houlgate Hill. We went through countless +little Norman lanes, quite narrow, sometimes--between high green banks +with a hedge on top, and the trees meeting over our heads--so narrow +that I wondered what would happen if we met another auto. We left the +sea behind us, and plunged into the lovely green valley that runs along +back of the coast line. We came suddenly on the gates of the château, +rather a sharp turn. There was a broad avenue with fine trees leading up +to the house--on one side, meadows fenced off with white wooden palings +where horses and cows were grazing--a pretty lawn before the house with +beds of begonias, and all along the front, high raised borders of red +geranium which looked very well against the grey stone. + +We found a family party, Comte and Comtesse d'Y----, their daughter and +a governess. We went upstairs (a nice wooden staircase with broad +shallow steps) to an end room, with a beautiful view over the park, +where we got out of all the wraps, veils, and glasses that one must have +in an open auto if one wishes to look respectable when one arrives, and +went down at once to the hall where the family was waiting. + +The dining-room was large and light, high, wide windows and beautiful +trees wherever one looked. The decoration of the room was rather +curious. The d'Y----s descend--like many Norman families--from William +the Conqueror, and there are English coats-of-arms on some of the +shields on the walls. A band which looks like fresco, but is really +painted on linen--very cleverly arranged with some composition which +makes it look like the wall--runs straight around the room with all +sorts of curious figures: soldiers, horses, and boats, copied exactly +from the famous Bayeux tapestries, the most striking episodes--the +departure of the Conqueror from Dives--the embarkation of his army (the +cavalry--most extraordinary long queerly shaped horses with faces like +people)--the death of Harold--the fighting Bishop Odo--brother of the +Conqueror, who couldn't carry a lance, but had a good stout stick which +apparently did good service as various Saxons were flying horizontally +through the air as he and his steed advanced; one wonders at the +imagination which could have produced such extraordinary figures, as +certainly no men or beasts, at any period of time, could have looked +like those. The ships were less striking--had rather more the semblance +of boats. + +However, the effect, with all the bright colouring, is very good and +quite in harmony with this part of the country, where everything teems +with legends and traditions of the great Duke. They see Falaise, where +he was born, from their terrace, sometimes. We didn't, for though the +day was beautiful, there was a slight haze which made the far-off +landscapes only a blue line. + +After breakfast we went for a walk in the park. They have arranged it +very well, with rustic bridges and seats wherever the view was +particularly fine. We saw a nice, old, red brick house, near the farm, +which was the manoir where the Dowager Countess lives now. She made over +the château to her son, in her life time, on condition that he would +keep it up and arrange it, which he has done very well. We made the +tour of the park--passing a pretty lodge with roses and creepers all +over it and "Mairie" put upon a sign; d'Y----is mayor of his little +village and finds it convenient to have the Mairie at his own gate. We +rested a little in the drawing-room before going back, and he showed us +various portraits and miniatures of his family which were most +interesting. Some of the miniatures are exactly like one we have of +father, of that period with the high stock and tight-buttoned coat. The +light was lovely--so soft and warm--in the drawing-room, and as there +were no lace curtains or vitrages, and the silk curtains were drawn back +from the high plate glass windows, we seemed to be sitting in the park +under the trees. They gave us tea and the good little cakes, "St. +Pierre," a sort of "sablé," for which all the coast is famous. + +The drive home was enchanting, with a lovely view from the top of the +hill; a beautiful blue sea at our feet and the turrets and pointed roofs +of the Villers houses taking every possible colour from the sunset +clouds. + +We went back once more to a thé dansant given for her seventeen-year-old +daughter. It was a lovely afternoon and the place looked charming--the +gates open--carriages and autos arriving in every direction--people came +from a great distance as with the autos no one hesitates to undertake a +drive of a hundred kilomètres. The young people danced in the +drawing-room--Madame d'Y---- had taken out all the furniture, and the +parents and older people sat about on the terrace where there were +plenty of seats and little tea-tables. The dining-room--with an abundant +buffet--was always full; one arrives with a fine appetite after whirling +for two or three hours through the keen salt air. The girls all looked +charming--the white dresses, bright sashes, and big picture hats are so +becoming. They were dancing hard when we left, about half past six, and +it was a pretty sight as we looked back from the gates--long lines of +sunlight wavering over the grass, figures in white flitting through the +trees, distant strains of music, and what was less agreeable, the +strident sound of a sirène on some of the autos. They are detestable +things. + +We were very comfortable at Villers in a nice, clean house looking on +the sea, with broad balconies at every story, where we put sofas and +tables and green blinds, using them as extra salons. We were never in +the house except to eat and sleep. Nothing is more characteristic of the +French (particularly in the bourgeoise) than the thorough way in which +they _do_ their month at the sea-shore. They generally come for the month +of August. Holidays have begun and business, of all kinds, is slack. +Our plage was really a curiosity. There is a splendid stretch of sand +beach--at low tide one can walk, by the shore, to Trouville or Houlgate +on perfectly firm, dry sand. There are hundreds of cabins and tents, +striped red and white, and umbrellas on the beach, and all day long +whole families sit there. They all bathe, and a curious fashion at +Villers is that you put on your bathing dress in your own house--over +that a peignoir, generally of red and white striped cotton, and walk +quite calmly through the streets to the établissement. Some of the +ladies and gentlemen of mature years are not to their advantage. When +they can, if they have houses with a terrace or garden, they take their +meals outside, and as soon as they have breakfasted, start again for the +beach. When it is low tide they go shrimp-fishing or walk about in the +shallow water looking for shells and sea-weed. When it is high tide, all +sit at the door of their tents sewing, reading, or talking--I mean, of +course, the petite bourgeoisie. + +At other places on the coast, Deauville or Houlgate, the life is like +Newport or Dinard, or any other fashionable seaside place, with +automobiles, dinners, dressing, etc. They get all the sea air and +out-of-door life that they can crowd into one month. One lady said to me +one day, "I can't bathe, but I take a 'bain d'air' every day--I sit on +the rocks as far out in the water as I can--take off my hat and my shoes +and stockings." + +There is a great clearing out always by the first of September and then +the place was enchanting--bright, beautiful September days, one could +still bathe, the sun was so strong; and the afternoons, with just a +little chill in the air, were delightful for walking and driving. There +was a pretty Norman farm--just over the plage--at the top of the falaise +where we went sometimes for tea. They gave us very good tea, milk, and +cider, and excellent bread and butter and cheese. We sat out of doors in +an apple orchard at little tables--all the beasts of the establishment +in the same field. The chickens and sheep surrounded us, were evidently +accustomed to being fed, but the horses, cows, and calves kept quite to +the other end. We saw the girls milking the cows which, of course, +interested the children immensely. + +We made some charming excursions in the auto--went one Saturday to +Caen--such a pretty road through little smiling villages--every house +with a garden, or if too close together to allow that, there were pots +of geraniums, the falling kind, in the windows, which made a red curtain +dropping down over the walls. We stopped at Lisieux--a quaint old Norman +town, with a fine cathedral and curious houses with gables and +towers--one street most picturesque, very narrow, with wooden houses, +their projecting roofs coming so far over the street one could hardly +see the sky in some places. There were all kinds of balconies and +cornices most elaborately carved--the wood so dark one could scarcely +distinguish the original figures and devices, but some of them were +extraordinary, dragons, and enormous winged animals. We did not linger +very long as we were in our new auto--a Martini hill-climber--built in +Switzerland and, of course (like all automobilists), were anxious to +make as fast a run as possible between Villers and Caen. + +The approach to Caen is not particularly interesting--the country is +flat, the road running through poplar-bordered fields--one does not see +it at all until one gets quite near, and then suddenly beautiful towers +and steeples seem to rise out of the green meadows. It was +Saturday--market day--and the town was crowded--every description of +vehicle in the main street and before the hotel, two enormous red +60-horse-power Mercedes--farmers' gigs and donkey carts with cheeses and +butter--a couple generally inside--the man with his blue smock and +broad-brimmed hat, the woman with a high, clean, stiff-starched muslin +cap, a knit shawl over her shoulders. They were not in the least +discomposed by the bustle and the automobiles, never thought of getting +out of the way--jogged comfortably on keeping to their side of the road. + +We left the auto at the hotel and found many others in the court-yard, +and various friends. The d'Y----s had come over from Grangues (their +place). He is Conseiller Général of Calvados, and market day, in a +provincial town, is an excellent occasion for seeing one's electors. +There were also some friends from Trouville-Deauville, most of them in +autos--some in light carriages. We tried to make a rendezvous for tea at +the famous pâtissier's (who sends his cakes and bonbons over half the +department), but that was not very practical, as they had all finished +what they had to do and we had not even begun our sightseeing. However, +d'Y---- told us he would leave our names at the tea-room, a sort of club +they have established over the pâtissier's, where we would be quieter +and better served than in the shop which would certainly be crowded on +Saturday afternoon. We walked about till we were dead tired. + +St. Pierre is a fine old Norman church with beautiful tower and steeple. +It stands fairly well in the Place St. Pierre, but the houses are much +too near. It should have more space around it. There was a market going +on, on the other side of the square--fruit, big apples and pears, +flowers and fish being heaped up together. The apples looked tempting, +such bright red ones. + +We went to the two abbayes--both of them quite beautiful--St. +Étienne--Abbaye aux Hommes was built by William the Conqueror, who was +originally buried there. It is very grand--quite simple, but splendid +proportions--a fitting resting-place for the great soldier, who, +however, was not allowed to sleep his last sleep, undisturbed, in the +city he loved so well. His tomb was desecrated several times and his +remains lost in the work of destruction. + +We went on to the Abbaye aux Dames which is very different; smaller--not +nearly so simple. The façade is very fine with two square towers most +elaborately carved, the steeples have long since disappeared; and there +are richly ornamented galleries and balustrades in the interior of the +church, not at all the high solemn vaulted aisles of the Abbaye aux +Hommes. It was founded by Queen Mathilde, wife of William the Conqueror, +and she is buried there--a perfectly simple tomb with an inscription in +Latin. There was at one time a very handsome monument, but it was +destroyed, like so many others, during the Revolution, and the remains +placed, some years after, in the stone coffin where they now rest. We +hadn't time to see the many interesting things in the churches and in +the town, as it was getting late and we wanted some tea before we +started back. We found our way to the pâtissier's quite easily, but +certainly couldn't have had any tea if d'Y---- had not told us to use +his name and ask for the club-room. The little shop was crowded--people +standing and making frantic dashes into the kitchen for chocolate and +muffins. The club-room upstairs was quite nice--painted white, a good +glass so that we could arrange our hair a little, one or two tables--and +we were attended to at once. They brought us the spécialité of the +place--light, hot brioches with grated ham inside--very good and very +indigestible. + +We went home by a different road, but it looked just like the +other--fewer little hamlets, perhaps, and great pasture fields, filled +with fine specimens of Norman dray horses and mares with long-legged +colts running alongside of them. It was late when we got home. The +lighthouses of Honfleur and Havre made a long golden streak stretching +far out to sea, and the great turning flashlight of St. Adresse was +quite dazzling. + +We went back over the same ground two or three days later on our way to +Bayeux. The town is not particularly interesting, but the cathedral is +beautiful and in wonderful preservation--the columns are very +grand--every capital exquisitely carved and no two alike. Our guide, a +very talkative person--unlike the generality of Norman peasants, who are +usually taciturn--was very anxious to show us each column in detail and +explain all the really beautiful carving, but we were rather hurried as +some of the party were going to lunch at Barbieville--Comte Foy's +château. + +On the same place as the cathedral is the Hôtel de Ville, with the +wonderful tapestries worked by the Queen Mathilde, wife of William the +Conqueror. They are really most extraordinary and so well preserved. The +colours look as if they had been painted yesterday. I hadn't seen them +for years and had forgotten the curious shapes and vivid colouring. We +went to one of the lace shops. The Bayeux lace is very pretty, made with +the "fuseau", very fine--a mixture of Valenciennes and Mechlin. It is +very strong, though it looks delicate. The dentellières still do a very +good business. The little girls begin to work as soon as they can thread +their needle, and follow a simple pattern. + + * * * * * + +The F.'s enjoyed their day at Barbieville, Comte Foy's château, very +much. They said the house was nothing remarkable--a large square +building, but the park was original. Comte Foy is a racing man, breeds +horses, and has his "haras" on his place. The park is all cut up into +paddocks, each one separated from the other by a hedge and all +connected by green paths. F. said the effect from the terrace was quite +charming; one saw nothing but grass and hedges and young horses and +colts running about. Comtesse Foy and her daughters were making lace. +The girls went in to Bayeux three or four times a week and took lessons +from one of the dentellières. + + + + +XI + +BOULOGNE-SUR-MER + + +One year we were at Boulogne for the summer in a funny little house, in +a narrow street just behind the port and close to the Casino and beach. +There were a great many people--all the hotels full and quantities of +automobiles passing all day. The upper part of the town is just like any +other seaside place--rows of hotels and villas facing the sea--some of +the houses built into the high green cliff which rises steep and almost +menacing behind. Already parts of the cliff have crumbled away in some +place and the proprietors of the villas find some difficulty in letting +them. The front rooms on the sea are charming, but the back +ones--directly under the cliff--with no air or sun, are not very +tempting. There is a fine digue and raised broad walk all along the sea +front, with flowers, seats, and music stand. + +It is a perfectly safe beach for children, for though the channel is +very near and the big English boats pass close to the shore, there are +several sand banks which make the beach quite safe, and from seven in +the morning till seven at night there are two boats au large and two men +on the beach, with ropes, life-preservers, and horns which they blow +whenever they think the bathers are too far out. There is an "Inspecteur +de la Plage," a regular French official with a gold band on his cap, who +is a most important and amiable gentleman and sees that no one is +annoyed in any way. We made friends with him at once, moyennant une +pièce de dix francs, and he looked after us, saw that our tents were put +up close to the water, no others near, and warned off stray children and +dogs who were attracted by our children's toys and cakes. + +The plage is a pretty sight on a bright day. There are hundreds of +tents--all bright-coloured. When one approaches Boulogne from the sea +the beach looks like a parterre of flowers. Near the Casino there are a +quantity of old-fashioned ramshackly bathing cabins on wheels, with very +small boys cracking their whips and galloping up and down, from the +digue to the edge of the water, on staid old horses who know their work +perfectly--put themselves at once into the shafts of the +carriages--never go beyond a certain limit in the sea. + +All the bathers are prudent. It is rare to see any one swimming out or +diving from a boat. A policeman presides at the public bathing place +and there are three or four baigneurs and baigneuses who take charge of +the timid bathers; one wonderful old woman, bare-legged, of course, a +handkerchief on her head, a flannel blouse and a very short skirt made +of some water-proof material that stood out stiff all around her and +shed the water--she was the première baigneuse--seventy years old and +had been baigneuse at Boulogne for fifty-one years. She had bathed C. as +a child, and was delighted to see her again and wildly interested in her +two children. + +There were donkeys, of course, and goats. The children knew the goat man +well and all ran to him with their mugs as soon as they heard his +peculiar whistle. They held their mugs close under the goat so that they +got their milk warm and foaming, as it was milked directly into their +mugs. The goats were quite tame--one came always straight to our tents +and lay down there till his master came. Every one wanted to feed them +with cakes and bits of sugar, but he would never let them have anything +for fear it should spoil their milk. + +Another friend was the cake man, dressed all in white, with his basket +of brioches and madeleines on his head--then there were the inevitable +Africans with fezes on their heads and bundles of silks--crêpes-de-chine +and ostrich feathers, that one sees at every plage. I don't think they +did much business. + +The public was not all distinguished. We often wondered where the people +were who lived in the hôtels (all very expensive) and villas, for, with +very rare exceptions, it was the most ordinary petite bourgeoisie that +one saw on the beach--a few Americans, a great many fourth-rate English. +They were a funny contrast to the people who came for the Concours +Hippique, and the Race Week. One saw then a great influx of +automobiles--there were balls at the Casino and many pretty, +well-dressed women, of both worlds, much en evidence. The châtelains +from the neighbouring châteaux appeared and brought their guests. + +For that one week Boulogne was quite fashionable. The last Sunday of the +races was a terrible day. There was an excursion train from Paris and +two excursion steamers from England. We were on the quay when the +English boats came in and it was amusing to see the people. Some of them +had left London at six in the morning. There were all sorts and kinds, +wonderful sportsmen with large checked suits, caps and field glasses +slung over their shoulders--a great many pretty girls--generally in +white. All had bags and baskets with bathing suits and luncheon, and in +an instant they were swarming over the plage--already crowded with the +Paris excursionists. They didn't interfere with us much as we never went +to the beach on Sunday. + +F. was fishing all day with some of his friends in a pilot boat. (They +brought back three hundred mackerel), had a beautiful day--the sea quite +calm and the fish rising in quantities. C. and I, with the children, +went off to the Hardelot woods in the auto. We established ourselves on +a hillside, pines all around us, the sea at our feet, a beautiful blue +sky overhead, and not a sound to break the stillness except sometimes, +in the distance, the sirène of a passing auto. We had our tea-basket, +found a nice clear space to make a fire, which we did very prudently, +scooping out a great hole in the ground and making a sort of oven. It +was very difficult to keep the children from tumbling into the hole as +they were rolling about on the soft ground, but we got home without any +serious detriment to life or limb. + + * * * * * + +The life in our quarter on the quais is very different, an extraordinary +animation and movement. There are hundreds of vessels of every +description in the port. All day and all night boats are coming in and +going out: The English steamers with their peculiar, dull, penetrating +whistle that one hears at a great distance--steam tugs that take +passengers and luggage out to the Atlantic liners, lying just outside +the digue--yachts, pilot boats, easily distinguished by a broad white +line around their hulls, and a number very conspicuously printed in +large black letters on their white sails, "baliseurs," smart-looking +little craft that take buoys out to the various points where they must +be laid. One came in the other day with two large, red, bell-shaped +buoys on her deck which made a great effect from a distance; we were +standing on the pier, and couldn't imagine what they were; "avisos" +(dispatch-boats), with their long, narrow flamme, which marks them as +war vessels, streaming out in the wind. Their sailors looked very +picturesque in white jerseys and blue bérets with red pompons. Small +steamers that run along the coast from Calais to Dunkirk--others, cargo +boats, broad and deep in the water, that take fruit and eggs over to +England. The baskets of peaches, plums, and apricots look most +appetizing when they are taken on board. The steamers look funny when +they come back with empty baskets, quantities of them, piled up on the +decks, tied to the masts. Many little pleasure boats--flat, broad rowing +boats that take one across the harbour to the Gare Maritime (which is a +long way around by the bridge), a most uncomfortable performance at low +tide, as you go down long, steep, slippery steps with no railing, and +have to scramble into the boat as well as you can. + +Of course, there are fishing-boats of every description, from the modest +little sloop with one mast and small sail to the big steam trawlers +which are increasing every year and gradually replacing the +old-fashioned sailing-boat. One always knows when the fishing-boats are +arriving by the crowd that assembles on the quay; that peculiar +population that seems natural to all ports, young, able-bodied sailors, +full of interest about the run and the cargo--old men in blue jerseys +who sit on the wall, in the sun, all day, and recount their +experiences--various officials with gold bands on their caps, men with +hand carts waiting to carry off the fish and fishwives--their baskets +strapped on their backs--hoping for a haul of crabs and shrimps or fish +from some of the small boats. + +_All_ the cargo of the trawlers is sold before they arrive to the +marieurs (men who deal exclusively in fish), and who have a contract +with the big boats. There is no possibility of having a good fish except +at the Halles, where one can sometimes get some from one of the smaller +boats, which fish on their own account and have no contract; but even +those are generally sold at once to small dealers, who send them off to +the neighbouring inland towns. In fact, the proprietor of one of the +big hotels told me he had to get his fish from Paris and paid Paris +prices. + +The fishwives, the young ones particularly, are a fine-looking +lot--tall, straight, with feet and legs bare, a little white cap or +woollen fichu on their heads--they carry off their heavy baskets as +lightly as possible, taking them to the Halles where all the fish must +go. They are quite a feature of Boulogne, the young fishwives. One sees +them often at low tide--fishing for shrimps, carrying their heavy nets +on their shoulders and flat baskets strapped on their backs into which +they tip the fish very cleverly. They are quite distinct from the +Boulonaises matelottes, who are a step higher in the social scale. +_They_ always wear a wonderful white cap with a high starched frill +which stands out around their faces like an auréole. They, too, wear +short full skirts, but have long stockings and very good stout +_shoes_--not sabots--which are also disappearing. They turn out very +well on Sundays. I saw a lot of them the other day coming out of +church--all with their caps scrupulously clean--short, full, black or +brown skirts; aprons ironed in a curious way--_across_ the apron--making +little waves (our maids couldn't think what had happened to their white +aprons the first time they came back from the wash--thought there had +been some mistake and they had some one's else clothes--they had to +explain to the washerwoman that they liked their aprons ironed +straight); long gold earrings and gold chains. They are handsome women, +dark with straight features, a serious look in their eyes. Certainly +people who live by the sea have a different expression--there is +something grave, almost sad in their faces, which one doesn't see in +dwellers in sunny meadows and woodlands. + +We went this morning with the Baron de G., who is at the head of one of +the fishing companies here, to see one of their boats come in and +unload. It was a steam trawler, with enormous nets, that had been +fishing off the English coast near Land's End. There were quite a number +of people assembled on the quay--a policeman, a garde du port, an agent +of the company, and the usual lot of people who are always about when a +fishing-boat comes in. Her cargo seemed to be almost entirely of fish +they call here saumon blanc. They were sending up great baskets of them +from the hold where they were very well packed in ice; half-way up they +were thrown into a big tub which cleaned them--took off the salt and +gave them a silvery look. They are put by hundreds into hand-carts which +were waiting and carried off at once to the Halles. They had brought in +3,500 fish, but didn't seem to think they had made a very good haul. The +whole cargo had been sold to a marieur and was sent off at once, by +him, all over the country. + +Other boats were also sending their cargo to the Halles. They had all +kinds of fish--soles, mackerel, and a big red fish I didn't know at all. +I wouldn't have believed, if I had not seen it with my own eyes, that +such a bright-coloured fish could exist. However, a very sharp little +boy, who was standing near and who answered all my questions, told me +they were rougets. We went on to the Halles--a large gray stone building +facing the sea--rather imposing with a square tower on top, from which +one can see a long way out to sea and signal incoming fishing-boats. It +was very clean--water running over the white marble slabs, and women, +with pails and brushes, washing and wiping the floor. It is evidently a +place that attracts strangers; many tourists were walking about--one +couple, American, I think, passing through in an automobile and laying +in a stock of lobsters and crabs (the big deep-sea crabs) and rougets. +The man rather hesitated about leaving his auto in the streets; they had +no chauffeur with them, tried to find a boy who would watch it. For a +wonder none was forthcoming, but two young fishwives, who were standing +near, said they would; when the man came back with his purchases he gave +each of them a five-franc piece, which munificence so astounded them +that they could hardly find words to thank him. + +Quantities of fish of all kinds had arrived--some being sold à la criée, +but it was impossible to understand the prices or the names of the +fish--at least for us. The buying public seemed to know all about it. +The fishwives were very busy standing behind the marble slabs with short +thick knives, with which they cut off pieces of the large fish when the +customer didn't want a whole one, and laughing and joking with every +one. Here and there we saw a modern young person in a fancy blouse, her +hair dressed and waved, with little combs, but there were not many. We +bought some soles and shrimps. M. de G. tried to bargain a little for +us, but the women were so smiling and so sure we didn't know anything +about it, or what the current price of the fish was, that we had not +much success. + +The trawlers are gradually taking away all the trade from the +old-fashioned fishing-boats. They go faster, carry more and larger nets, +and are, of course, stronger sea-boats. They are not much more +expensive. They burn coal of an inferior quality and their machinery is +of the simplest description. There is not the loss of life with them +that there must be always with the smaller sailing-boats. + +Newfoundland is the most dangerous fishing ground, as the men have so +much to contend with--the passing of transatlantic liners and the cold, +thick fogs which come up off the banks--all of them prefer the Iceland +fishing. The cold is greater, but there is much less fog and very few +big boats to be met en route. Few of the Boulogne boats go to +Newfoundland. It is generally the boats from Fécamp and some of the +Breton ports that monopolize the fishing off the Banks. It seems that +men often die from the cold and exposure in these waters. From the +old-fashioned sailing-boats they usually send them off--two by two in a +dory (they don't fish from the big boats); they start early, fish all +day; if no fog comes up, they are all right and get back to their boats +at dark, but if a sudden fog comes on they often can't find their boats +and remain out all night, half frozen. _One_ night they can stand, but +_two_ nights' cold and exposure are always fatal. When the fog lifts the +little boat is sometimes quite close to the big one, but the men are +dead--frozen. M. de G. tells us all sorts of terrible experiences that +he has heard from his men, and yet they all like the life--wouldn't lead +any other, and have the greatest contempt for a landsman. + + * * * * * +There is a fruit stall at the corner of our street, where we stop every +morning and buy fruit on our way down to the beach. We have become most +intimate with the two women who are there. One, a young one with small +children about the age of ours (to whom she often gives grapes or +cherries when they pass), and the other a little, old, wrinkled, +brown-faced grandmother, who sits all day, in all weathers, under an +awning made of an old sail and helps her daughter. She has very bright +eyes and looks as keen and businesslike as the young woman. She told us +the other day she had _forty_ grandchildren--all the males, men and +boys, sailors and fishermen and "mousses"--many of the girls fishwives +and the mothers married to fishermen or sailors. I asked her why some of +them hadn't tried to do something else--there were so many things people +could do in these days to earn their living without leading such a rough +life. She was quite astonished at my suggestion--replied that they had +lived on the sea all their lives and never thought of doing anything +else. Her own husband had been a fisherman--belonged to one of the +Iceland boats--went three or four times a year regularly--didn't come +back one year--no tidings ever came of ship or crew--it was God's will, +and when his time came he had to go, whether in his bed or on his boat. +And she brought up all her sons to be sailors or fishermen, and when two +were lost at sea, accepted that, too, as part of her lot, only said it +was hard, sometimes, for the poor women when the winter storms came and +the wind was howling and the waves thundering on the beach, and they +thought of their men ("mon homme" she always called her husband when +speaking of him), wet and cold, battling for their lives. I talked to +her often and the words of the old song, + + "But men must work and women must weep, + Though storms be sudden, and waters deep, + And the harbour bar be moaning," + +came back to me more than once, for the floating buoy at the end of the +jetty makes a continuous dull melancholy sound when the sea is at all +rough, and when it is foggy (the channel fogs come up very quickly) we +hear fog horns all around us and quite distinctly the big sirène of Cap +Gris Nez, which sends out its long wailing note over the sea. It is very +powerful and is heard at a long distance. + +The shops on the quay are an unfailing source of interest to me. I make +a tour there every morning before I go down to the beach. They have such +a wonderful variety of things. Shells of all sizes--enormous pink ones +like those I always remember standing on the mantelpiece in the nursery +at home--brought back by a sailor brother who used to tell us to put +them to our ears and we would hear the noise of the sea--and beautiful +delicate little mother-of-pearl shells that are almost jewels--wonderful +frames, boxes, and pincushions, made of shells; big spoons, too, with +a figure or a ship painted on them--knives, penholders, paper-cutters +and brooches, made out of the bones of big fish--tassels of +bright-coloured sea-weed, corals, vanilla beans--curiously worked +leather belts--some roughly carved ivory crosses, umbrella handles, +canes of every description, pipes, long gold earrings, parrots, little +birds with bright-coloured feathers, monkeys--an extraordinary +collection. + +I am sure one would find many curious specimens if one could penetrate +into the back of the old shops and pull the things about--evidently +sailors from all parts of the world have passed at Boulogne. Still I +don't hear many foreign languages spoken--almost always French and +English; occasionally a dark face, with bright black eyes, strikes one. +We saw two Italians the other day, talking and gesticulating hard, +shivering, too, with woollen comforters tied over their caps. There was +a cold fog and we were all wrapped up. It must be awful weather for +Southerners who only live when the sun shines and go to bed when it is +cold and gray. There are all sorts of itinerants, petits marchands, on +the other side of the quay, looking on the water--old women with fruit +and cakes--children with crabs and shrimps--dolls in Boulonaise +costume--fishwives and matelottes, stalls with every description of +food, tea, coffee, chocolate, sandwiches, and fried potatoes. The +children bought some potatoes the other day wrapped up in brown +paper--quite a big portion for two sous--and said they were very good. + +The quais are very broad, happily, for everything is put there. One +morning there were quantities of barrels. I asked what was in them. +Salt, they told me, for the herring-boats which are starting these days. +Nets, coils of ropes, big sails, baskets, boxes, odd bits of iron, some +anchors--one has rather to pick one's way. An automobile has been +standing there for three or four days. I asked if that was going to +Iceland on a trawler, but the man answered quite simply, "Oh, no, +Madame, what should we do with an automobile in a fishing-boat. It +belongs to the owner of one of the ships, and has been here en panne +waiting till he can have it repaired." + +We went one evening to the Casino to see a "bal des matelottes." It was +a curious sight--a band playing on a raised stand--a broad space cleared +all round it and lots of people dancing. The great feature, of course, +was the matelottes. Their costumes were very effective--they all wore +short, very full skirts, different coloured jackets, short, with a belt, +very good stout shoes and stockings, and their white frilled caps. They +always danced together (very rarely with a man--it is not etiquette for +them to dance with any man when their husbands or lovers are at sea), +their hands on each other's shoulders. They dance perfectly well and +keep excellent time and, I suppose, enjoy themselves, but they look very +solemn going round and round until the music stops. Their feet and +ankles are usually small. I heard an explanation the other day of their +dark skins, clean cut features, and small feet. They are of Portuguese +origin. The first foreign sailors who came to France were Portuguese. +Many of them remained, married French girls, and that accounts for that +peculiar type in their descendants which is very different from the look +of the Frenchwoman in general. There are one or two villages in Brittany +where the women have the same colouring and features, and there also +Portuguese sailors had remained and married, and one still hears some +Portuguese names--José, Manuel--and among the women some Annunziatas, +Carmelas, etc. We had a house in Brittany one summer and our kitchen +maid was called Dolores. + + +CAP GRIS NEZ. + +We made a lovely excursion one day to Cap Gris Nez--just at the end of a +wild bit of coast about twenty-five kilomètres from Boulogne. The road +was enchanting on the top of the cliff all along the sea. We passed +through Vimereux, a small bathing-place four or five miles from +Boulogne, and one or two other villages, then went through a wild +desolate tract of sand-hills and plains and came upon the lighthouse, +one of the most important of the coast--a very powerful light that all +inward-bound boats are delighted to see. There are one or two villas +near on the top of the cliff, then the road turns sharply down to the +beach--a beautiful broad expanse of yellow sand, reaching very far out +that day as it was dead low tide. + +In the distance we saw figures; couldn't distinguish what they were +doing, but supposed they were fishing for shrimps, which was what our +party meant to do. The auto was filled with nets, baskets, and clothes, +as well as luncheon baskets. The hotel--a very good, simple one--with a +broad piazza going all around it, was half-way down the cliff, and the +woman was very "complaisante" and helpful--said there were plenty of +shrimps, crabs, and lobsters and no one to fish. She and her husband had +been out at four o'clock that morning and had brought back "quatre +pintes" of shrimps. No one knew what she meant, but it was evidently a +measure of some kind. I suppose an English pint. She gave us a cabin +where the two young matrons dressed, or rather undressed, as they +reappeared in their bathing trousers--which stopped some little distance +above the knee--very short skirts, bare legs, "espadrilles" on their +feet, and large Panama hats to protect them from the sun. The men had +merely rolled up their trousers. They went out very far--I could just +make them out--they seemed a part of the sea and sky, moving objects +standing out against the horizon. + +I made myself very comfortable with rugs and cushions under the cliff--I +had my book as I knew it would be a long operation. It was +enchanting--sitting there, such a beautiful afternoon. We saw the +English coast quite distinctly. There was not a sound--no bathing cabins +or tents, nobody on the shore, but a few fishermen were spreading nets +on poles to catch the fish as the tide came up. The sea was quite blue, +and as the afternoon lengthened there were lovely soft lights over +everything; such warm tints it might almost have been the Mediterranean +and the Riviera. A few fishing-boats passed in the distance, but there +was nothing to break the great stillness--not even the ripple of the +waves, as the sea was too far out. It was a curious sensation to be +sitting there quite alone--the blue sea at my feet and the cliff rising +straight up behind me. + +The bay is small--two points jutting out on each side, completely +shutting it in. There are a good many rocks--the water dashes over them +finely when the tide is high and the sea rough. I got rather stiff +sitting still and walked about a little on the hard beach and talked to +the fishermen. They were looking on amused and indulgently at our +amateurs, and said there were plenty of fish of all kinds _if_ one knew +how to take them. They said they made very good hauls with their nets in +certain seasons--that lots of fish came in with the tide and got +stranded, couldn't get back through the nets. One of them had two +enormous crabs in his baskets, which I bought at once, and we brought +them home in the bottom of the auto wrapped up in _very thick_ paper, as +they were still alive and could give a nasty pinch, the man said. + +About five, I thought I made out my party more distinctly; their faces +were turned homeward, so I went to meet them as far as the dry sand +lasted. I had a very long walk as the tide was at its lowest. They came +back very slowly, stopping at all the little pools and poking their nets +under the rocks to get what they could. They had made a very fair basket +of really big shrimps, were very wet, very hungry, and very pleased with +their performance. + +We had very good tea and excellent bread and butter at the hotel. They +gave us a table on the piazza in the sun which finished drying the +garments of the party. I fancy they had gone in deeper than they +thought. However, salt water never gives cold and nobody was any the +worse for the wetting. The woman of the hotel said we ought to go to see +a fisherman's hut, on the top of the cliff near the lighthouse, before +we went back. The same family of fishermen had lived there for +generations, and it was a marvel how any one _could_ live in such a +place. We could find our way very easily as the path was marked by white +stones. So we climbed up the cliff and a few minutes' walk brought us to +one of the most wretched habitations I have ever seen: a little low +stone hut, built so close to the edge of the cliff one would think a +violent storm must blow it over--no windows--a primitive chimney, hardly +more than a hole in the roof--a little low door that one had to stoop to +pass through, one room, dark and cold--the floor of beaten earth, damp +and uneven, almost in ruts. There were two beds, a table, two chairs, +and a stove--nondescript garments hanging on the walls--a woman with a +baby was sitting at the table--another child on the floor--both +miserable little, puny, weak-eyed, pale children. The woman told me she +had six--all lived there--one man was sitting on the bed mending a net, +another on the floor drinking some black stuff out of a cup--I think +the baby was drinking the same--two or three children were stretching +big nets on the top of the cliff--they, too, looked miserable little +specimens of humanity, bare-legged, unkempt, trousers and jackets in +holes; however, the woman was quite cheerful--didn't complain nor ask +for money. The men accepted two francs to drink our health. One wonders +how children ever grow up in such an atmosphere without light or air or +decent food. + +The drive home was beautiful--not nearly so lonely. Peasants and +fishermen were coming back from their work--women and children driving +the cows home. We noticed, too, a few little, low, whitewashed cottages +in the fields, almost hidden by the sand-hills, which we hadn't seen +coming out. + + +HARDELOT. + +Hardelot was a great resource to us. It is a fine domain, beautiful pine +woods running down to the sea--a great stretch of green meadow and a +most picturesque old castle quite the type of the château-fort. The +castle has now been transformed into a country club with golf-links, +tennis, and well-kept lawns under big trees which give a splendid shade +and are most resting to the eye after the glare of the beach. There is +no view of the sea from the castle, but from the top of the towers on a +fine day one just sees a quiver of light beneath the sky-line which +might be the sea. + +The château has had its history like all the old feudal castles on the +sea-board and has changed hands very often, being sometimes French and +sometimes English. It was strongly fortified and resisted many attacks +from the English before it actually came into their possession. Part of +the wall and a curious old gate-way are all that remain of the feudal +days. The castle is said to have been built by Charlemagne. Henry VIII +of England lived in it for some time, and the preliminaries of a treaty +of peace between that monarch and François I were signed there--the +French and English ambassadors arriving in great state--with an endless +army of retainers. One wonders where they all were lodged, as the castle +could never have been large--one sees that from the foundations; but I +fancy habits were very simple in those days, and the suites probably +slept on the floor in one of the halls with all their clothes on, the +troopers keeping on their jack-boots so long that they had to be cut off +sometimes--the feet and legs so swollen. + +The drive from the club to the plage is charming. Sometimes through +pretty narrow roads with high banks on each side, with hedges on top, +quite like parts of Devonshire, and nice, little, low, whitewashed +cottages with green shutters and red doors, much more like England than +France. + +We stopped at a cottage called the Dickens House, where Charles Dickens +lived for some time. It is only one story high--white with green +shutters--stands at the end of an old-fashioned garden filled with all +sorts of ordinary garden-flowers--roses, hollyhocks, larkspurs, pinks, +all growing most luxuriantly and making patches of colour in the green +surroundings. We saw Dickens' study, his table still in the window +(where he always wrote), looking over the garden to an endless stretch +of green fields. + +The plage is very _new_. There is a nice clean hotel, with broad piazzas +and balconies directly on the sea and a few chalets are already built, +but there is an absolute dearth of trees and shade. There was quite a +strong sea-breeze the day we were there, and the fine white sand was +blown high into the air in circles, getting into our eyes and hair. +There is a splendid beach--miles of sand--not a rock or cliff--absolutely +level. The domain of Hardelot belongs to a company of which Mr. John +Whitley was the president. He had concessions for a tramway from +Boulogne to Hardelot which will certainly bring people to the plage +and club. Now there is only an auto-bus, which goes very slowly and is +constantly out of order; once the club is organized, I think it cannot +fail to be a charming resort. There is plenty of game in the forest +(they have a good piece of it), perfect golf and tennis grounds--as +much deep-sea fishing as one wants. We went often to tea at the +château. F. played golf, and we walked about and sat under the trees, +and the children were quite happy playing on the lawns where they were +as safe as in their nurseries. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATEAU AND COUNTRY LIFE IN FRANCE*** + + +******* This file should be named 14029-8.txt or 14029-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/2/14029 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/14029-8.zip b/old/14029-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cf0404 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14029-8.zip diff --git a/old/14029.txt b/old/14029.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e1fc29 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14029.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7502 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Chateau and Country Life in France, by Mary +King Waddington + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Chateau and Country Life in France + +Author: Mary King Waddington + +Release Date: November 12, 2004 [eBook #14029] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATEAU AND COUNTRY LIFE IN +FRANCE*** + + +E-text prepared by Richard Lammers, Stephanie Bailey, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made +available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr + + + +CHATEAU AND COUNTRY LIFE IN FRANCE + +by + +MARY KING WADDINGTON + +Author of _Letters Of A Diplomat's Wife_ and _Italian Letters of +a Diplomat's Wife_ + +Illustrated + +1909 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: A country wedding] + + + +CONTENTS + + I. CHATEAU LIFE + II. COUNTRY VISITS + III. THE HOME OF LAFAYETTE + IV. WINTER AT THE CHATEAU + V. CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS + VI. CHRISTMAS IN THE VALOIS + VII. A RACINE CELEBRATION + VIII. A CORNER OF NORMANDY + IX. A NORMAN TOWN + X. NORMAN CHATEAUX + XI. BOULOGNE-SUR-MER + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +A COUNTRY WEDDING +A FINE OLD CHATEAU +I LOVED TO HEAR HER PLAY BEETHOVEN AND HANDEL +THERE WERE ALL SORTS AND KINDS +FERDINAND +"MERCI, JE VAIS BIEN" +LONG PAUSES WHEN NOBODY SEEMED TO HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY +THEN HE LIGHTED A FIRE +I SUGGESTED THAT THE WHOLE CHASSE SHOULD ADJOURN TO THE CHATEAU +SOME RED-COATED, SOME GREEN, ALL WITH BREECHES AND HIGH MUDDY BOOTS +PEASANT WOMEN +A VISIT AT THE CHATEAU +SOLDIERS AT THE CHATEAU +THE MAYOR AND A NICE, RED-CHEEKED, WRINKLED OLD WOMAN WERE WAITING FOR US +THERE WAS ONE HANDSOME BIT OF OLD LACE ON A WHITE NAPPE FOR THE ALTAR +THEY WERE ALL STREAMING UP THE SLIPPERY HILL-SIDE +ALL THE CHILDREN IN PROCESSION PASSED +THERE WAS ONE POOR OLD WOMAN STILL GAZING SPELL-BOUND +L'ETABLISSEMENT, BAGNOLES DE L'ORNE +IN DOMFRONT SOME OF THE OLD TOWERS ARE CONVERTED INTO MODERN DWELLINGS +CHATEAU DE LASSAY +ENTRANCE TO HOTEL OF THE COMTE DE FLORIAN +MARKET WOMEN, VALOGNES +OLD GATE-WAY, VALOGNES + + +[Illustration: A fine old chateau.] + + + + +I + +CHATEAU LIFE + + +My first experience of country life in France, about thirty years ago, +was in a fine old chateau standing high in pretty, undulating, wooded +country close to the forest of Villers-Cotterets, and overlooking the +great plains of the Oise--big green fields stretching away to the +sky-line, broken occasionally by little clumps of wood, with steeples +rising out of the green, marking the villages and hamlets which, at +intervals, are scattered over the plains, and in the distance the blue +line of the forest. The chateau was a long, perfectly simple, white +stone building. When I first saw it, one bright November afternoon, I +said to my husband as we drove up, "What a charming old wooden house!" +which remark so astonished him that he could hardly explain that it +was all stone, and that no big houses (nor small, either) in France +were built of wood. I, having been born in a large white wooden house +in America, couldn't understand why he was so horrified at my +ignorance of French architecture. It was a fine old house, high in the +centre, with a lower wing on each side. There were three +drawing-rooms, a library, billiard-room, and dining-room on the ground +floor. The large drawing-room, where we always sat, ran straight +through the house, with glass doors opening out on the lawn on the +entrance side and on the other into a long gallery which ran almost +the whole length of the house. It was always filled with plants and +flowers, open in summer, with awnings to keep out the sun; shut in +winter with glass windows, and warmed by one of the three caloriferes +of the house. In front of the gallery the lawn sloped down to the +wall, which separated the place from the highroad. A belt of fine +trees marked the path along the wall and shut out the road completely, +except in certain places where an opening had been made for the view. + +We were a small party for such a big house: only the proprietor and +his wife (old people), my husband and myself. The life was very +simple, almost austere. The old people lived in the centre of the +chateau, W.[1] and I in one of the wings. It had been all fitted up +for us, and was a charming little house. W. had the ground-floor--a +bedroom, dressing-room, cabinet de travail, dining-room, and a small +room, half reception-room, half library, where he had a large +bookcase filled with books, which he gave away as prizes or to school +libraries. The choice of the books always interested me. They were +principally translations, English and American--Walter Scott, +Marryat, Fenimore Cooper, etc. The bedroom and cabinet de travail had +glass doors opening on the park. I had the same rooms upstairs, +giving one to my maid, for I was nervous at being so far away from +anyone. M. and Mme. A. and all the servants were at the other end of +the house, and there were no bells in our wing (nor anywhere else in +the house except in the dining-room). When I wanted a work-woman who +was sewing in the lingerie I had to go up a steep little winding +staircase, which connected our wing with the main building, and walk +the whole length of the gallery to the lingerie, which was at the +extreme end of the other wing. I was very fond of my rooms. The +bedroom and sitting-room opened on a balcony with a lovely view over +wood and park. When I sat there in the morning with my petit +dejeuner--cup of tea and roll--I could see all that went on in the +place. First the keeper would appear, a tall, handsome man, rather +the northern type, with fair hair and blue eyes, his gun always over +his shoulder, sacoche at his side, swinging along with the free, +vigorous step of a man accustomed to walk all day. Then Hubert, the +coachman, would come for orders, two little fox-terriers always +accompanying him, playing and barking, and rolling about on the +grass. Then the farmer's wife, driving herself in her gig, and +bringing cheese, butter, milk, and sometimes chickens when our +bassecour was getting low. A little later another lot would appear, +people from the village or canton, wanting to see their deputy and +have all manner of grievances redressed. It was curious sometimes to +make out, at the end of a long story, told in peasant dialect, with +many digressions, what particular service notre depute was expected +to render. I was present sometimes at some of the conversations, and +was astounded at W.'s patience and comprehension of what was +wanted--I never understood half. + + [1] W. here and throughout this volume refers to Mme. Waddington's + husband, M. William Waddington. + +We generally had our day to ourselves. We rode almost every +morning--long, delicious gallops in the woods, the horses going easily +and lightly over the grass roads; and the days W. was away and +couldn't ride, I used to walk about the park and gardens. The kitchen +garden was enormous--almost a park in itself--and in the season I eat +pounds of white grapes, which ripened to a fine gold color on the +walls in the sun. We rarely saw M. and Mme. A. until twelve-o'clock +breakfast. + +[Illustration: I loved to hear her play Beethoven and Handel.] + +Sometimes when it was fine we would take a walk with the old people +after breakfast, but we generally spent our days apart. M. and Mme. A. +were charming people, intelligent, cultivated, reading everything and +keeping quite in touch with all the literary and Protestant world, but +they had lived for years entirely in the country, seeing few people, +and living for each other. The first evenings at the chateau made a +great impression upon me. We dined at 7:30, and always sat after +dinner in the big drawing-room. There was one lamp on a round table in +the middle of the room (all the corners shrouded in darkness). M. and +Mme. A. sat in two arm-chairs opposite to each other, Mme. A. with a +green shade in front of her. Her eyes were very bad; she could neither +read nor work. She had been a beautiful musician, and still played +occasionally, by heart, the classics. I loved to hear her play +Beethoven and Handel, such a delicate, old-fashioned touch. Music was +at once a bond of union. I often sang for her, and she liked +everything I sang--Italian stornelli, old-fashioned American negro +songs, and even the very light modern French chansonnette, when there +was any melody in them. There were two other arm-chairs at the table, +destined for W. and me. I will say W. never occupied his. He would sit +for about half an hour with M. A. and talk politics or local matters +with him, but after that he departed to his own quarters, and I +remained with the old people. I felt very strange at first, it was so +unlike anything I had ever seen, so different from my home life, where +we were a happy, noisy family, always one of the party, generally two, +at the piano, everybody laughing, talking, and enjoying life, and +always a troop of visitors, cousins innumerable and friends. + +It was a curious atmosphere. I can't say dull exactly, for both M. and +Mme. A. were clever, and the discussions over books, politics, and +life generally, were interesting, but it was serious, no vitality, +nothing gay, no power of enjoyment. They had had a great grief in +their lives in the loss of an only daughter,[2] which had left +permanent traces. They were very kind and did their best to make me +feel at home, and after the first few evenings I didn't mind. M. A. +had always been in the habit of reading aloud to his wife for an hour +every evening after dinner--the paper, an article in one of the +reviews, anything she liked. I liked that, too, and as I felt more at +home used to discuss everything with M. A. He was quite horrified one +evening when I said I didn't like Moliere, didn't believe anybody did +(particularly foreigners), unless they had been brought up to it. + + [2] W.'s first wife. + +It really rather worried him. He proposed to read aloud part of the +principal plays, which he chose very carefully, and ended by making a +regular cours de Moliere. He read charmingly, with much spirit, +bringing out every touch of humour and fancy, and I was obliged to say +I found it most interesting. We read all sorts of things besides +Moliere--Lundis de Ste.-Beuve, Chateaubriand, some splendid pages on +the French Revolution, Taine, Guizot, Mme. de Stael, Lamartine, etc., +and sometimes rather light memoirs of the Regence and the light ladies +of the eighteenth century, who apparently mixed up politics, religion, +literature, and lovers in the most simple style. These last readings +he always prepared beforehand, and I was often surprised at sudden +transitions and unfinished conversations which meant that he had +suppressed certain passages which he judged too improper for general +reading. + +He read, one evening, a charming feuilleton of George Sand. It began: +"Le Baron avait cause politique toute la soiree," which conversation +apparently so exasperated the baronne and a young cousin that they +wandered out into the village, which they immediately set by the ears. +The cousin was an excellent mimic of all animals' noises. He barked so +loud and so viciously that he started all the dogs in the village, who +went nearly mad with excitement, and frightened the inhabitants out of +their wits. Every window was opened, the cure, the garde champetre, +the school-master, all peering out anxiously into the night, and +asking what was happening. Was it tramps, or a travelling circus, or a +bear escaped from his showman, or perhaps a wolf? I have wished +sometimes since, when I have heard various barons talking politics, +that I, too, could wander out into the night and seek distraction +outside. + +It was a serious life in the big chateau. There was no railway +anywhere near, and very little traffic on the highroad. After +nightfall a mantle of silence seemed to settle on the house and park +that absolute silence of great spaces where you almost hear your own +heart beat. W. went to Paris occasionally, and usually came back by +the last train, getting to the chateau at midnight. I always waited +for him upstairs in my little salon, and the silence was so oppressive +that the most ordinary noise--a branch blowing across a window-pane, +or a piece of charred wood falling on the hearth--sounded like a +cannon shot echoing through the long corridor. It was a relief when I +heard the trot of his big mare at the top of the hill, quite fifteen +minutes before he turned into the park gates. He has often told me how +long and still the evenings and nights were during the Franco-Prussian +War. He remained at the chateau all through the war with the old +people. After Sedan almost the whole Prussian army passed the chateau +on their way to Versailles and Paris. The big white house was seen +from a long distance, so, as soon as it was dark, all the wooden +shutters on the side of the highroad were shut, heavy curtains drawn, +and strict orders given to have as little light as possible. He was +sitting in his library one evening about dusk, waiting for the man to +bring his lamp and shut the shutters, having had a trying day with the +peasants, who were all frightened and nervous at the approach of the +Germans. He was quite absorbed in rather melancholy reflections when +he suddenly felt that someone was looking in at the window (the +library was on the ground-floor, with doors and windows opening on the +park). He rose quickly, going to the window, as he thought one of the +village people wanted to speak to him, and was confronted by a +Pickelhaube and a round German face flattened against the window-pane. +He opened the window at once, and the man poured forth a torrent of +German, which W. fortunately understood. While he was talking W. saw +forms, their muskets and helmets showing out quite distinctly in the +half-light, crossing the lawn and coming up some of the broad paths. +It was a disagreeable sight, which he was destined to see many times. + +It was wonderful what exact information the Germans had. They knew all +the roads, all the villages and little hamlets, the big chateaux, and +most of the small mills and farms. There were still traces of the +German occupation when I went to that part of the country; on some of +the walls and houses marks in red paint--"4 Pferde, 12 Maenner." They +generally wanted food and lodging, which they usually (not always) +paid for. Wherever they found horses they took them, but M. A. and W. +had sent all theirs away except one saddle-horse, which lived in a +stable in the woods near the house. In Normandy, near Rouen, at my +brother-in-law's place, they had German officers and soldiers +quartered for a long time. They instantly took possession of horses +and carriages, and my sister-in-law, toiling up a steep hill, would be +passed by her own carriage and horses filled with German officers. +However, on the whole, W. said, the Germans, as a victorious invading +army, behaved well, the officers always perfectly polite, and keeping +their men in good order. They had all sorts and kinds at the chateau. +They rarely remained long--used to appear at the gate in small bands +of four or five, with a sous-officier, who always asked to see either +the proprietor or someone in authority. He said how many men and +horses he wanted lodged and fed, and announced the arrival, a little +later, of several officers to dine and sleep. They were always +received by M. A. or W., and the same conversation took place every +time. They were told the servant would show them their rooms, and +their dinner would be served at any hour they wished. They replied +that they would have the honour of waiting upon the ladies of the +family as soon as they had made a little toilette and removed the dust +of the route, and that they would be very happy to dine with the +family at their habitual hour. They were then told that the ladies +didn't receive, and that the family dined alone. They were always +annoyed at that answer. As a rule they behaved well, but occasionally +there would be some rough specimens among the officers. + +W. was coming home one day from his usual round just before nightfall, +when he heard loud voices and a great commotion in the hall--M. A. and +one or two German officers. The old man very quiet and dignified, the +Germans most insulting, with threats of taking him off to prison. W. +interfered at once, and learned from the irate officers what was the +cause of the quarrel. They had asked for champagne (with the usual +idea of foreigners that champagne flowed through all French chateaux), +and M. A. had said there was none in the house. They knew better, as +some of their men had seen champagne bottles in the cellar. W. said +there was certainly a mistake--there was none in the house. They again +became most insolent and threatening--said they would take them both +to prison. W. suggested, wouldn't it be better to go down the cellar +with him? Then they could see for themselves there was none. +Accordingly they all adjourned to the cellar and W. saw at once what +had misled them--a quantity of bottles of eau de Seidlitz, rather like +champagne bottles in shape. They pointed triumphantly to these and +asked what he meant by saying there was no champagne, and told their +men to carry off the bottles. W. said again it was not champagne--he +didn't believe they would like it. They were quite sure they had found +a prize, and all took copious draughts of the water--with disastrous +results, as they heard afterward from the servants. + +Later, during the armistice and Prussian occupation, there were +soldiers quartered all around the chateau, and, of course, there were +many distressing scenes. All our little village of Louvry, near our +farm, had taken itself off to the woods. They were quite safe there, +as the Prussians never came into the woods on account of the +sharpshooters. W. said their camp was comfortable enough--they had all +their household utensils, beds, blankets, donkeys, and goats, and +could make fires in the clearing in the middle of the woods. They were +mostly women and children, only a very few old men and young boys +left. The poor things were terrified by the Germans and Bismarck, of +whom they had made themselves an extraordinary picture. "Monsieur sait +que Bismarck tue tous les enfants pour qu'il n'y ait plus de +Francais." (Monsieur knows that Bismarck kills all the children so +that there shall be no more French.) The boys kept W. in a fever. They +had got some old guns, and were always hovering about on the edge of +the wood, trying to have a shot at a German. He was very uncomfortable +himself at one time during the armistice, for he was sending off +parties of recruits to join one of the big corps d'armee in the +neighbourhood, and they all passed at the chateau to get their money +and feuille de route, which was signed by him. He sent them off in +small bands of four or five, always through the woods, with a line to +various keepers and farmers along the route, who could be trusted, and +would help them to get on and find their way. Of course, if anyone of +them had been taken with W.'s signature and recommendation on him, the +Germans would have made short work of W., which he was quite aware of; +so every night for weeks his big black Irish horse Paddy was saddled +and tied to a certain tree in one of the narrow alleys of the big +park--the branches so thick and low that it was difficult to pass in +broad daylight, and at night impossible, except for him who knew every +inch of the ground. With five minutes' start, if the alarm had been +given, he could have got away into his own woods, where he knew no one +would follow him. + +Hubert, the old coachman, used often to talk to me about all that +troubled time. When the weather was dark and stormy he used to stay +himself half the night, starting at every sound, and there are so many +sounds in the woods at night, all sorts of wild birds and little +animals that one never hears in the daytime--sometimes a rabbit would +dart out of a hole and whisk round a corner; sometimes a big buse +(sort of eagle) would fly out of a tree with great flapping of wings; +occasionally a wild-cat with bright-green eyes would come stealthily +along and then make a flying leap over the bushes. His nerves were so +unstrung that every noise seemed a danger, and he had visions of +Germans lying in ambush in the woods, waiting to pounce upon W. if he +should appear. He said Paddy was so wise, seemed to know that he must +be perfectly quiet, never kicked nor snorted. + +It was impossible to realise those dreadful days when we were riding +and walking in the woods, so enchanting in the early summer, with +thousands of lilies of the valley and periwinkles growing wild, and a +beautiful blue flower, a sort of orchid. We used to turn all the +village children into the woods, and they picked enormous bunches of +lilies, which stood all over the chateau in china bowls. I loved the +wood life at all seasons. I often made the round with W. and his +keepers in the autumn when he was preparing a battue. The men were +very keen about the game, knew the tracks of all the animals, showing +me the long narrow rabbit tracks, running a long distance toward the +quarries, which were full of rabbit holes, and the little delicate +hoof-marks of the chevreuil (roe-deer) just where he had jumped across +the road. The wild boar was easy to trace--little twigs broken, and +ferns and leaves quite crushed, where he had passed. The wild boars +and stags never stayed very long in our woods--went through merely to +the forest of Villers-Cotterets--so it was most important to know the +exact moment of their passage, and there was great pride and +excitement when one was taken. + +Another interesting moment was when the coupe de l'annee was being +made. Parts of the woods were cut down regularly every year, certain +squares marked off. The first day's work was the marking of the big +trees along the alleys which were to remain--a broad red ring around +the trunks being very conspicuous. Then came the thinning of the +trees, cutting off the top branches, and that was really a curious +sight. The men climbed high into the tree, and then hung on to the +trunk with iron clamps on their feet, with points which stuck into the +bark, and apparently gave them a perfectly secure hold, but it looked +dangerous to see them swinging off from the trunk with a sort of axe +in their hands, cutting off the branches with a swift, sharp stroke. +When they finally attacked the big trees that were to come down it was +a much longer affair, and they made slow progress. They knew their +work well, the exact moment when the last blow had been given, and +they must spring aside to get out of the way when the tree fell with a +great crash. + +There were usually two or three big battues in November for the +neighbouring farmers and small proprietors. The breakfast always took +place at the keeper's house. We had arranged one room as a +dining-room, and the keeper's wife was a very good cook; her omelette +au lard and civet de lievre, classic dishes for a shooting breakfast, +were excellent. The repast always ended with a galette aux amandes +made by the chef of the chateau. I generally went down to the kennels +at the end of the day, and it was a pretty sight when the party +emerged from the woods, first the shooters, then a regiment of beaters +(men who track the game), the game cart with a donkey bringing up the +rear--the big game, chevreuil or boar, at the bottom of the cart, the +hares and rabbits hanging from the sides. The sportsmen all came back +to the keeper's lodge to have a drink before starting off on their +long drive home, and there was always a great discussion over the +entries in the game book and the number of pieces each man had killed. +It was a very difficult account to make, as every man counted many +more rabbits than the trackers had found, so they were obliged to make +an average of the game that had been brought in. When all the guests +had departed it was killing to hear the old keeper's criticisms. + +[Illustration: There were all sorts and kinds.] + +Another important function was a large breakfast to all the mayors, +conseillers d'arrondissement, and rich farmers of W.'s canton. That +always took place at the chateau, and Mme. A. and I appeared at table. +There were all sorts and kinds--some men in dress coats and white +gloves, some very rough specimens in corduroys and thick-nailed shoes, +having begun life as garcons de ferme (ploughboys). They were all +intelligent, well up in politics, and expressed themselves very well, +but I think, on the whole, they were pleased when Mme. A. and I +withdrew and they went into the gallery for their coffee and cigars. +Mme. A. was extraordinarily easy--talked to them all. They came in +exactly the same sort of equipage, a light, high, two-wheeled trap +with a hood, except the Mayor of La Ferte, our big town, who came in +his victoria. + +I went often with W. to some of the big farms to see the +sheep-shearing and the dairies, and cheese made. The farmer's wife in +France is a very capable, hard-working woman--up early, seeing to +everything herself, and ruling all her carters and ploughboys with a +heavy hand. Once a week, on market day, she takes her cheeses to the +market town, driving herself in her high gig, and several times I have +seen some of them coming home with a cow tied to their wagon behind, +which they had bought at the market. They were always pleased to see +us, delighted to show anything we wanted to see, offered us +refreshment--bread and cheese, milk and wine--but never came to see me +at the chateau. I made the round of all the chateaux with Mme. A. to +make acquaintance with the neighbours. They were all rather far off, +but I loved the long drives, almost always through the forest, which +was quite beautiful in all seasons, changing like the sea. It was +delightful in midsummer, the branches of the big trees almost meeting +over our heads, making a perfect shade, and the long, straight, green +alleys stretching away before us, as far as we could see. When the +wood was a little less thick, the afternoon sun would make long +zigzags of light through the trees and trace curious patterns upon the +hard white road when we emerged occasionally for a few minutes from +the depths of the forest at a cross-road. It was perfectly still, but +summer stillness, when one hears the buzzing and fluttering wings of +small birds and insects, and is conscious of life around one. + +The most beautiful time for the forest is, of course, in the autumn. +October and November are lovely months, with the changing foliage, the +red and yellow almost as vivid as in America, and always a foreground +of moss and brown ferns, which grow very thick and high all through +the forest. We used to drive sometimes over a thick carpet of red and +yellow leaves, hardly hearing the horses' hoofs or the noise of the +wheels, and when we turned our faces homeward toward the sunset there +was really a glory of colour in wood and sky. It was always curiously +lonely--we rarely met anything or anyone, occasionally a group of +wood-cutters or boys exercising dogs and horses from the +hunting-stables of Villers-Cotterets. At long intervals we would come +to a keeper's lodge, standing quite alone in the middle of the forest, +generally near a carrefour where several roads met. There was always a +small clearing--garden and kennels, and a perfectly comfortable house, +but it must be a lonely life for the women when their husbands are off +all day on their rounds. I asked one of them once, a pretty, smiling +young woman who always came out when the carriage passed, with three +or four children hanging to her skirts, if she was never afraid, being +alone with small children and no possibility of help, if any drunkards +or evilly disposed men came along. She said no--that tramps and +vagabonds never came into the heart of the forest, and always kept +clear of the keeper's house, as they never knew where he and his gun +might be. She said she had had one awful night with a sick child. She +was alone in the house with two other small children, almost babies, +while her husband had to walk several miles to get a doctor. The long +wait was terrible. I got to know all the keepers' wives on our side of +the forest quite well, and it was always a great interest to them when +we passed on horseback, so few women rode in that part of France in +those days. + +Sometimes, when we were in the heart of the forest, a stag with +wide-spreading antlers would bound across the road; sometimes a pretty +roebuck would come to the edge of the wood and gallop quickly back as +we got near. + +We had a nice couple at the lodge, an old cavalry soldier who had been +for years coachman at the chateau and who had married a Scotchwoman, +nurse of one of the children. It was curious to see the tall, gaunt +figure of the Scotchwoman, always dressed in a short linsey skirt, +loose jacket, and white cap, in the midst of the chattering, excitable +women of the village. She looked so unlike them. Our peasant women +wear, too, a short; thick skirt, loose jacket, and worsted or knit +stockings, but they all wear sabots and on their heads a turban made +of bright-coloured cotton; the older women, of course--the girls wear +nothing on their heads. They become bent and wrinkled very soon--old +women before their time--having worked always in the fields and +carried heavy burdens on their backs. The Scotchwoman kept much to +herself and rarely left the park. But all the women came to her with +their troubles. Nearly always the same story--the men spending their +earnings on drink and the poor mothers toiling and striving from dawn +till dark to give the little ones enough to eat. She was a strict +Protestant, very taciturn and reserved, quite the type of the old +Calvinist race who fought so hard against the "Scarlet Woman" when the +beautiful and unhappy Mary Stuart was reigning in Scotland and trying +to rule her wild subjects. I often went to see her and she would tell +me of her first days at the chateau, where everything was so different +from what she was accustomed to. + +She didn't tell me what Mme. A. did--that she was a very handsome girl +and all the men of the establishment fell in love with her. There were +dramas of jealousy when she finally decided to marry the coachman. Our +chef had learned how to make various English cakes in London, and +whenever he made buns or a plum-pudding we used to take some to her. +She was a great reader, and we always kept the _Times_ for her, and +she and I sympathised with each other--two Anglo-Saxons married in +France. + +Some of the traditions of the chateau were quite charming. I was +sitting in the lodge one day talking to Mme. Antoine, when the baker +appeared with what seemed to me an extraordinary provision of bread. I +said, "Does he leave the bread for the whole village with you?" "It is +not for me, madame, it is for the trainards (tramps) who pass on the +road," and she explained that all the chateaux gave a piece of bread +and two sous to any wayfarer who asked for food. She cut the bread +into good thick slices, and showed me a wooden bowl on the chimney, +filled with two-sous pieces. While I was there two men appeared at the +big gates, which were always open in the day. They were strong young +fellows carrying their bundles, and a sort of pitchfork slung over +their shoulders. They looked weary and footsore, their shoes worn in +holes. They asked for something to drink and some tobacco, didn't care +very much for the water, which was all that Mme. Antoine had to give +them, but thanked her civilly enough for the bread and sous. + +The park wall was a good vantage-ground to see all (and that wasn't +much) that went on on the highroad. The diligence to Meaux passed +twice a day, with a fine rattle of old wheels and chains, and cracking +of whips. It went down the steep hill well enough, but coming up was +quite another affair. All the passengers and the driver got out +always, and even then it was difficult to get the heavy, cumbersome +vehicle up the hill, in winter particularly, when the roads were muddy +and slippery. The driver knew us all well, and was much interested in +all that went on at the chateau. He often brought parcels, and +occasionally people from the village who wanted to see W.--sometimes a +blind piano-tuner who came from Villers-Cotterets. He was very kind to +the poor blind man, helped him down most carefully from the diligence, +and always brought him through the park gates to the lodge, where he +delivered him over to Antoine. It was curious to see the blind man at +work. Once he had been led through the rooms, he was quite at home, +found the pianos, fussed over the keys and the strings, exactly as if +he saw everything. He tuned all the pianos in the country, and was +much pleased to put his hands on one that wasn't fifty years old. I +had brought down my new Erard. + +Sometimes a country wedding passed, and that was always a pretty +sight. A marriage is always an important affair in France in every +class of life. There are long discussions with all the members of the +two families. The cure, the notary, the patron (if the young man is a +workman), are all consulted, and there are as many negotiations and +agreements in the most humble families as in the grand monde of the +Faubourg St. Germain. Almost all French parents give a dot of some +kind to their children, and whatever the sum is, either five hundred +francs or two thousand, it is always scrupulously paid over to the +notary. The wedding-day is a long one. After the religious ceremony in +the church, all the wedding party--members of the two families and a +certain number of friends--adjourn to the hotel of the little town for +a breakfast, which is long and most abundant. Then comes the crowning +glory of the day--a country walk along the dusty highroad to some wood +or meadow where they can spend the whole afternoon. It is pretty to +see the little procession trudging along--the bride in all her wedding +garments, white dress, white shoes, wreath, and veil; the groom in a +dress coat, top-hat, white cravat and waistcoat, with a white ribbon +bow on his sleeve. Almost all the girls and young women are dressed in +white or light colours; the mothers and grandmothers (the whole family +turns out) in black with flowers in their bonnets. There is usually a +fiddler walking ahead making most remarkable sounds on his old cracked +instrument, and the younger members of the party take an occasional +gallop along the road. They are generally very gay; there is much +laughing, and from time to time a burst of song. It is always a +mystery to me how the bride keeps her dress and petticoat so clean, +but she does, with that extraordinary knack all Frenchwomen seem to +have of holding up their skirts. They passed often under the wall of +the chateau, for a favourite resting-place was in our woods at the +entrance of the allee verte, where it widens out a little; the moss +makes a beautiful soft carpet, and the big trees give perfect shade. +We heard sounds of merriment one day when we were passing and we +stopped to look on, from behind the bushes, where we couldn't be seen. +There was quite a party assembled. The fiddler was playing some sort +of country-dance and all the company, except the very old people, were +dancing and singing, some of the men indulging in most wonderful steps +and capers. The children were playing and running under the trees. One +stout man was asleep, stretched out full length on the side of the +road. I fancy his piquette, as they call the ordinary white wine of +the country, had been too much for him. The bride and groom were +strolling about a little apart from the others, quite happy and +lover-like, his arm around her waist, she blushing and giggling. + +The gendarmes passed also very regularly. They always stopped and +talked, had a drink with Antoine, and gave all the local news--how +many braconniers (poachers) had been caught, how long they were to +stay in prison, how some of the farmers' sheep had disappeared, no one +knew how exactly--there were no more robbers. One day two of them +passed, dragging a man between them who had evidently been struggling +and fighting. His blouse was torn, and there was a great gash on his +face. We were wildly excited, of course. They told us he was an old +sinner, a poacher who had been in prison various times, but these last +days, not contented with setting traps for the rabbits, he had set +fire to some of the hay-stacks, and they had been hunting for him for +some time. He looked a rough customer, had an ugly scowl on his face. +One of the little hamlets near the chateau, on the canal, was a +perfect nest of poachers, and I had continual struggles with the +keepers when I gave clothes or blankets to the women and children. +They said some of the women were as bad as the men, and that I ought +not to encourage them to come up to the house and beg for food and +clothing; that they sold all the little jackets and petticoats we gave +them to the canal hands (also a bad lot) for brandy. I believe it was +true in some cases, but in the middle of winter, with snow on the +ground (we were hardly warm in the house with big fires everywhere), I +couldn't send away women with four or five children, all +insufficiently clothed and fed, most of them in cotton frocks with an +old worn knit shawl around their shoulders, legs and arms bare and +chapped, half frozen. Some of them lived in caverns or great holes in +the rocks, really like beasts. On the road to La Ferte there was a big +hole (there is no other word for it) in the bank where a whole family +lived. The man was always in prison for something, and his wife, a +tall, gaunt figure, with wild hair and eyes, spent most of her time in +the woods teaching her boys to set traps for the game. The cure told +us that one of the children was ill, and that there was literally +nothing in the house, so I took one of my cousins with me, and we +climbed up the bank, leaving the carriage with Hubert, the coachman, +expostulating seriously below. We came to a rickety old door which +practically consisted of two rotten planks nailed together. It was +ajar; clouds of black smoke poured out as we opened it, and it was +some time before we could see anything. We finally made out a heap of +filthy rags in one corner near a sort of fire made of charred pieces +of black peat. Two children, one a boy about twelve years old, was +lying on the heap of rags, coughing his heart out. He hardly raised +his head when we came in. Another child, a girl, some two years +younger, was lying beside him, both of them frightfully thin and +white; one saw nothing but great dark eyes in their faces. The mother +was crouched on the floor close to the children. She hardly moved at +first, and was really a terrifying object when she got up; half +savage, scarcely clothed--a short petticoat in holes and a ragged +bodice gaping open over her bare skin, no shoes or stockings; big +black eyes set deep in her head, and a quantity of unkempt black hair. +She looked enormous when she stood up, her head nearly touching the +roof. I didn't feel very comfortable, but we were two, and the +carriage and Hubert within call. The woman was civil enough when she +saw I had not come empty-handed. We took her some soup, bread, and +milk. The children pounced upon the bread like little wild animals. +The mother didn't touch anything while we were there--said she was +glad to have the milk for the boy. I never saw human beings living in +such utter filth and poverty. A crofter's cottage in Scotland, or an +Irish hovel with the pigs and children all living together, was a +palace compared to that awful hole. I remonstrated vigorously with W. +and the Mayor of La Ferte for allowing people to live in that way, +like beasts, upon the highroad, close to a perfectly prosperous +country town. However, they were vagrants, couldn't live anywhere, for +when we passed again, some days later, there was no one in the hole. +The door had fallen down, there was no smoke coming out, and the +neighbours told us the family had suddenly disappeared. The +authorities then took up the matter--the holes were filled up, and no +one was allowed to live in them. It really was too awful--like the +dwellers in caves of primeval days. + +We didn't have many visits at the chateau, though we were so near +Paris (only about an hour and a half by the express), but the old +people had got accustomed to their quiet life, and visitors would have +worried them. Sometimes a Protestant pasteur would come down for two +days. We had a nice visit once from M. de Pressense, father of the +present deputy, one of the most charming, cultivated men one could +imagine. He talked easily and naturally, using beautiful language. He +was most interesting when he told us about the Commune, and all the +horrors of that time in Paris. He was in the Tuileries when the mob +sacked and burned the palace; saw the femmes de la halle sitting on +the brocade and satin sofas, saying, "C'est nous les princesses +maintenant"; saw the entrance of the troops from Versailles, and the +quantity of innocent people shot who were merely standing looking on +at the barricades, having never had a gun in their hands. The only +thing I didn't like was his long extempore (to me familiar) prayers at +night. I believe it is a habit in some old-fashioned French Protestant +families to pray for each member of the family by name. I thought it +was bad enough when he prayed for the new menage just beginning their +married life (that was us), that they might be spiritually guided to +do their best for each other and their respective families; but when +he proceeded to _name_ some others of the family who had strayed a +little from the straight and narrow path, hoping they would be brought +to see, by Divine grace, the error of their ways, I was horrified, and +could hardly refrain from expressing my opinion to the old people. +However, I was learning prudence, and when my opinion and judgment +were diametrically opposed to those of my new family (which happened +often) I kept them to myself. Sunday was strictly kept. There was no +Protestant church anywhere near. We had a service in the morning in M. +A.'s library. He read prayers and a short sermon, all the household +appearing, as most of the servants were Swiss and Protestants. In the +afternoon Mme. A. had all the village children at the chateau. She had +a small organ in one of the rooms in the wing of the dining-room, +taught them hymns and read them simple little stories. The cure was +rather anxious at first, having his little flock under such a +dangerous heretic influence, but he very soon realized what an +excellent thing it was for the children, and both he and the mothers +were much disappointed when anything happened to put off the lesson. +They didn't see much of the cure. He would pay one formal visit in the +course of the year, but there was never any intimacy. + +We lived much for ourselves, and for a few months in the year it was a +rest and change from Paris, and the busy, agitated life, social and +political, that one always led there. I liked the space, too, the +great high, empty rooms, with no frivolous little tables and screens +or stuff on the walls, no photograph stands nor fancy vases for +flowers, no bibelot of any kind--large, heavy pieces of furniture +which were always found every morning in exactly the same place. Once +or twice, in later years, I tried to make a few changes, but it was +absolutely useless to contend with a wonderful old servant called +Ferdinand, who was over sixty years old, and had been brought up at +the chateau, had always remained there with the various owners, and +who knew every nook and corner of the house and everything that was in +it. It was years before I succeeded in talking to him. I used to meet +him sometimes on the stairs and corridors, always running, and +carrying two or three pails and brooms. If he could, he dived into any +open door when he saw me coming, and apparently never heard me when I +spoke, for he never answered. He was a marvellous servant, cleaned the +whole house, opened and shut all the windows night and morning (almost +work enough for one man), lit the caloriferes, scrubbed and swept and +polished floors from early dawn until ten o'clock, when we left the +salon. He never lived with the other servants, cooked his own food at +his own hours in his room, and his only companion was a large black +cat, which always followed him about. He did W.'s service, and W. said +that they used to talk about all sorts of things, but I fancy master +and servant were equally reticent and understood each other without +many words. + +I slipped one day on the very slippery wooden steps leading from W.'s +little study to the passage. Baby did the same, and got a nasty fall +on the stone flags, so I asked W. if he would ask Ferdinand to put a +strip of carpet on the steps (there were only four). W. gave the +order, but no carpet appeared. He repeated it rather curtly. The old +Ferdinand made no answer, but grumbled to himself over his broom that +it was perfectly foolish and useless to put down a piece of carpet, +that for sixty years people and children, and babies, had walked down +those steps and no one had ever thought of asking for carpets. W. had +really rather to apologize and explain that his wife was nervous and +unused to such highly polished floors. However, we became great +friends afterward, Ferdinand and I, and when he understood how fond I +was of the chateau, he didn't mind my deranging the furniture a +little. Two grand pianos were a great trial to him. I think he would +have liked to put one on top of the other. + +[Illustration: Ferdinand.] + +The library, quite at one end of the house, separated from the +drawing-room we always sat in by a second large salon, was a +delightful, quiet resort when any one wanted to read or write. There +were quantities of books, French, English, and German--the classics in +all three languages, and a fine collection of historical memoirs. + + + + +II + +COUNTRY VISITS + + +We didn't pay many visits; but sometimes, when the weather was fine +and there was no hunting, and W. gone upon an expedition to some +outlying village, Mme. A. and I would start off for one of the +neighbouring chateaux. We went one day to the chateau de C, where +there was a large family party assembled, four generations--the old +grandmother, her son and daughter, both married, the daughter's +daughter, also married, and her children. It was a pretty drive, +about an hour all through the forest. The house is quite modern, not +at all pretty, a square white building, with very few trees near it, +the lawn and one or two flower-beds not particularly well kept. The +grounds ran straight down to the Villers-Cotterets forest, where M. +M. has good shooting. The gates were open, the concierge said the +ladies were there. (They didn't have to be summoned by a bell. That +is one of the habits of this part of the country. There is almost +always a large bell at the stable or "communs," and when visitors +arrive and the family are out in the grounds, not too far off, they +are summoned by the bell. I was quite surprised one day at +Bourneville, when we were in the woods at some little distance from +the chateau, when we heard the bell, and my companion, a niece of +Mme. A., instantly turned back, saying, "That means there are visits; +we must go back.") We found all the ladies sitting working in a +corner salon with big windows opening on the park. The old +grandmother was knitting, but she was so straight and slight, with +bright black eyes, that it wouldn't have seemed at all strange to see +her bending over an embroidery frame like all the others. The other +three ladies were each seated at an embroidery frame in the +embrasures of the windows. I was much impressed, particularly with +the large pieces of work that they were undertaking, a portiere, +covers for the billiard-table, bed, etc. It quite recalled what one +had always read of feudal France, when the seigneur would be off with +his retainers hunting or fighting, and the chatelaine, left alone in +the chateau, spent her time in her "bower" surrounded by her maidens, +all working at the wonderful tapestries one sees still in some of the +old churches and convents. I was never much given to work, but I made +a mental resolve that I, too, would set up a frame in one of the +drawing-rooms at home, and had visions of yards of pale-blue satin, +all covered with wonderful flowers and animals, unrolling themselves +under my skilful fingers--but I must confess that it remained a +vision. I never got further than little crochet petticoats, which +clothed every child in the village. To make the picture complete +there should have been a page in velvet cap and doublet, stretched on +the floor at the feet of his mistress, trying to distract her with +songs and ballads. The master of the house, M. M., was there, having +come in from shooting. He had been reading aloud to the +ladies--Alfred de Musset, I think. That part of the picture I could +never realize, as there is nothing W. loathes like reading aloud +except, perhaps, being read to. + +They were very friendly and easy, showed us the downstairs part of the +house, and gave us gouter, not tea, wine and cake. The house looked +comfortable enough, nothing picturesque; a large square hall with +horns, whips, foxes' brushes, antlers, and all sorts of trophies of +the chase on the walls. They are sporting people; all ride. The +dining-room, a large bright room, was panelled with life-size +portraits of the family: M. and Mme. M. in hunting dress, green coats, +tricorne hats, _on_ their horses; the daughter of the house and one of +her brothers, rowing in a boat on a small lake; the eldest son in +shooting dress, corduroys, his gun slung over his shoulder, his dog by +his side. They were all very like. + +[Illustration: "Merci, je vais bien."] + +We strolled about the garden a little, and saw lots of pheasants +walking peacefully about at the edge of the woods. They made me +promise to come back one day with W., he to shoot and I to walk about +with the ladies. We saw the children of the fourth generation, and +left with the impression of a happy, simple family party. M. M. was a +conseiller general of the Aisne and a colleague of W.'s. They always +stayed at the same hotel (de la Hure) in Laon at the time of the +conseil general, and M. M. was much amused at first with W.'s baggage: +a large bath-tub, towels (for in small French provincial hotels towels +were microscopic and few in number), and a package of tea, which was +almost an unknown commodity in those days. None of our visitors ever +took any, and always excused themselves with the same phrase, "Merci, +je vais bien," evidently looking upon it as some strange and hurtful +medicine. That has all changed, like everything else. Now one finds +tea not only at all the chateaux, with brioches and toast, but even in +all the hotels, but I wouldn't guarantee what we get there as ever +having seen China or Ceylon, and it is still wiser to take chocolate +or coffee, which is almost always good. We had a lovely drive back. +The forest was beautiful in the waning light. As usual, we didn't meet +any vehicle of any kind, and were quite excited when we saw a carriage +approaching in the distance--however, it proved to be W. in his +dog-cart. We passed through one or two little villages quite lost in +the forest--always the same thing, one long, straggling street, with +nobody in it, a large farm at one end and very often the church at the +other. As it was late, the farm gates were all open, the cattle +inside, teams of white oxen drinking out of a large trough. + +In a large farm near Boursonne there was much animation and +conversation. All the beasts were in, oxen, cows, horses, chickens, +and in one corner, a flock of geese. The poor little "goose girl," a +child about ten years old with bright-blue eyes and a pig-tail like +straw hanging down her back, was being scolded violently by the +farmer's wife, who was presiding in person over the rentree of the +animals, for having brought her geese home on a run. They wouldn't +eat, and would certainly all be ill, and probably die before morning. +There is a pretty little old chateau at Boursonne; the park, however, +so shut in by high walls that one sees nothing in passing. W. had shot +there once or twice in former years, but it has changed hands very +often. + +[Illustration: Long pauses when nobody seemed to have anything to say.] + +Sometimes we paid more humble visits, not to chateaux, but to the +principal people of the little country town near, from which we had +all our provisions. We went to see the doctor's wife, the notary's +wife, the mayor's wife, and the two schools--the asile or infant +school, and the more important school for bigger girls. The old doctor +was quite a character, had been for years in the country, knew +everybody and everybody's private history. He was the doctor of the +chateau, by the year, attended to everybody, masters and servants, and +received a regular salary, like a secretary. He didn't come very often +for us in his medical capacity, but he often dropped in at the end of +the day to have a talk with W. The first time I saw him W. presented +him to me, as un bon ami de la famille. I naturally put out my hand, +which so astonished and disconcerted him (he barely touched the tips +of my fingers) that I was rather bewildered. W. explained after he had +gone that in that class of life in France they never shook hands with +a lady, and that the poor man was very much embarrassed. He was very +useful to W. as a political agent, as he was kind to the poor people +and took small (or no) fees. They all loved him, and talked to him +quite freely. His women-kind were very shy and provincial. I think our +visits were a great trial to them. They always returned them most +punctiliously, and came in all their best clothes. When we went to see +them we generally found them in short black skirts, and when they were +no longer very young, with black caps, but they always had handsome +silk dresses, velvet cloaks, and hats with flowers and feathers when +they came to see us. Some of them took the cup of tea we offered, but +they didn't know what to do with it, and sat on the edge of their +chairs, looking quite miserable until we relieved them of the burden +of the tea-cup. Mme. A. was rather against the tea-table; she +preferred the old-fashioned tray handed around with wine and cakes, +but I persuaded her to try, and after a little while she acknowledged +that it was better to have the tea-table brought in. It made a +diversion; I got up to make the tea. Someone gave me a chair, someone +else handed the cups. It made a little movement, and was not so stiff +as when we all sat for over an hour on the same chairs making +conversation. It is terrible to have to make conversation, and +extraordinary how little one finds to say. We had always talked easily +enough at home, but then things came more naturally, and even the +violent family discussions were amusing, but my recollection of these +French provincial visits is something awful. Everybody so polite, so +stiff, and the long pauses when nobody seemed to have anything to say. +I of course was a novelty and a foreign element--they didn't quite +know what to do with me. Even to Mme. A., and I grew very fond of her, +and she was invariably charming to me, I was something different. We +had many talks on every possible subject during our long drives, and +also in the winter afternoons. At first I had my tea always upstairs +in my own little salon, which I loved with the curtains drawn, a +bright wood-fire burning, and all my books about; but when I found +that she sat alone in the big drawing-room, not able to occupy herself +in any way, I asked her if I might order my tea there, and there were +very few afternoons that I didn't sit with her when I was at home. She +talked often about her early married life--winters in Cannes and in +Paris, where they received a great deal, principally Protestants, and +I fancy she sometimes regretted the interchange of ideas and the +brilliant conversation she had been accustomed to, but she never said +it. She was never tired of hearing about my early days in America--our +family life--the extraordinary liberty of the young people, etc. We +often talked over the religious question, and though we were both +Protestants, we were as far apart almost as if one was a pagan. +Protestantism in France always has seemed to me such a rigid form of +worship, so little calculated to influence young people or draw them +to church. The plain, bare churches with white-washed walls, the long +sermons and extempore prayers, speaking so much of the anger of God +and the terrible punishments awaiting the sinner, the trials and +sorrows that must come to all. I often think of a sermon I heard +preached in one Protestant church, to the boys and girls who were +making their first communion--all little things, the girls in their +white frocks and long white veils, the boys with white waistcoats and +white ribbons on their arms, making such a pretty group as they sat on +the front benches listening hard to all the preacher said. I wondered +that the young, earnest faces didn't suggest something to him besides +the horrors of eternal punishment, the wickedness and temptations of +the world they were going to face, but his only idea seemed to be that +he must warn them of all the snares and temptations that were going to +beset their paths. Mme. A. couldn't understand my ideas when I said I +loved the Episcopal service--the prayers and litany I had always +heard, the Easter and Christmas hymns I had always sung, the carols, +the anthems, the great organ, the flowers at Easter, the greens at +Christmas. All that seemed to her to be a false sentiment appealing to +the senses and imagination. "But if it brings people to church, and +the beautiful music elevates them and raises their thoughts to higher +things--" "That is not religion; real religion means the prayer of St. +Chrysostom, 'Where two or three are gathered together in My name I +will grant their requests.'" "That is very well for really religious, +strong people who think out their religion and don't care for any +outward expression of it, but for weaker souls who want to be helped, +and who are helped by the beautiful music and the familiar prayers, +surely it is better to give them something that brings them to church +and makes them better men and women than to frighten them away with +such strict, uncompromising doctrines--" "No, that is only sentiment, +not real religious feeling." I don't think we ever understood each +other any better on that subject, and we discussed it so often. + + * * * * * + +Mme. A., with whom I made my round of calls at the neighbouring +chateaux, was a charming companion. She had lived a great deal in +Paris, in the Protestant coterie, which was very intellectual and +cultivated. The salons of the Duchesse de Broglie, Mmes. de Stael, +d'Haussonville, Guizot, were most interesting and recherches, very +exclusive and very serious, but a centre for all political and +literary talk. I have often heard my husband say some of the best +talkers in society s'etaient formes dans ces salons, where, as young +men, they listened modestly to all the brilliant conversation going on +around them. + +It was an exception when we found anyone at home when we called in the +neighbourhood, and when we did, it was evident that afternoon visits +were a rarity. We did get in one cold November afternoon, and our +visit was a sample of many others that we paid. + +The door was opened by a footman struggling into his coat, with a +handful of faggots in his arms. He ushered us through several bare, +stiff, cold rooms (proportions handsome enough) to a smaller salon, +which the family usually occupied. Then he lighted a fire (which +consisted principally of smoke) and went to summon his mistress. The +living-room was just as bare and stiff as the others, no trace of +anything that looked like habitation or what we should consider +comfort--no books nor work nor flowers (that, however, is +comparatively recent in France). I remember quite well Mme. +Casimir-Perier telling me that when she went with her husband to St. +Petersburg about fifty years ago, one of the things that struck her +most in the Russian salons, was the quantity of green plants and cut +flowers--she had never seen them in France. There were often fine +pictures, tapestries, and furniture, all the chairs in a row against +the wall. + +[Illustration: Then he lighted a fire.] + +Our visits were always long, as most of the chateaux were at a certain +distance, and we were obliged to stay an hour and a half, sometimes +longer, to rest the horses. It was before the days of five-o'clock +tea. A tray was brought in with sweet wine (Malaga or Vin de Chypre) +and cakes (ladies'-fingers) which evidently had figured often before +on similar occasions. Conversation languished sometimes, though Mme. +A. was wonderful, talking so easily about everything. In the smaller +places, when people rarely went to Paris, it ran always in the same +grooves--the woods, the hunting (very good in the Villers-Cotterets +forest), the schoolmaster (so difficult to get proper books for the +children to read), the cure, and all local gossip, and as much about +the iniquities of the republic as could be said before the wife of a +republican senator. Wherever we went, even to the largest chateaux, +where the family went to Paris for the season, the talk was almost +entirely confined to France and French interests. Books, politics, +music, people, nothing existed apparently au-dela des frontieres. +America was an unknown quantity. It was strange to see intelligent +people living in the world so curiously indifferent as to what went on +in other countries. At first I used to talk a little about America and +Rome, where I had lived many years and at such an interesting +time--the last days of Pio Nono and the transformation of the old +superstitious papal Rome to the capital of young Italy--but I soon +realized that it didn't interest any one, and by degrees I learned to +talk like all the rest. + +I often think of one visit to a charming little Louis XV chateau +standing quite on the edge of the forest--just room enough for the +house, and the little hamlet at the gates; a magnificent view of the +forest, quite close to the lawn behind the chateau, and then sweeping +off, a dark-blue mass, as far as one could see. We were shown into a +large, high room, no carpet, no fire, some fine portraits, very little +furniture, all close against the wall, a round table in the middle +with something on it, I couldn't make out what at first. Neither +books, reviews, nor even a photographic album--the supreme resource of +provincial salons. When we got up to take leave I managed to get near +the table, and the _ornament_ was a large white plate with a piece of +fly-paper on it. The mistress of the house was shy and uncomfortable; +sent at once for her husband, and withdrew from the conversation as +soon as he appeared, leaving him to make all the "frais." We walked a +little around the park before leaving. It was really a lovely little +place, with its background of forest and the quiet, sleepy little +village in front; very lonely and far from everything, but with a +certain charm of its own. Two or three dogs were playing in the +court-yard, and one curious little animal who made a rush at the +strangers. I was rather taken aback, particularly when the master of +the house told me not to be afraid, it was only a marcassin (small +wild boar), who had been born on the place, and was as quiet as a +kitten. I did not think the great tusks and square, shaggy head looked +very pleasant, but the little thing was quiet enough, came and rubbed +itself against its master's legs and played quite happily with the +dogs. We heard afterward that they were obliged to kill it. It grew +fierce and unmanageable, and no one would come near the place. + + * * * * * + +I took Henrietta with me sometimes when I had a distant visit to pay; +an hour and a half's drive alone on a country road where you never +meet anything was rather dull. We went one cold December afternoon to +call upon Mme. B., the widow of an old friend and colleague of W.'s. +We were in the open carriage, well wrapped up, and enjoyed the drive +immensely. The country looked beautiful in the bright winter sunshine, +the distant forest always in a blue mist, the trees with their +branches white with "givre" (hoarfrost), and patches of snow and ice +all over the fields. + +For a wonder we didn't go through the forest--drove straight away from +it and had charming effects of colour upon some of the thatched +cottages in the villages we passed through; one or two had been mended +recently and the mixture of old brown, bright red and glistening white +was quite lovely. + +We went almost entirely along the great plains, occasionally small +bits of wood and very fair hills as we got near our destination. The +villages always very scattered and almost deserted--when it is cold +everybody stays indoors--and of course there is no work to be done on +the farms when the ground is hard frozen. It is a difficult question +to know what to do with the men of all the small hamlets when the real +winter sets in; the big farms turn off many of their labourers, and as +it is a purely agricultural country all around us there is literally +nothing to do. My husband and several of the owners of large estates +gave work to many with their regular "coupe" of wood, but that only +lasts a short time, and the men who are willing to work but can find +nothing drift naturally into cafes and billiard saloons, where they +read cheap bad papers and talk politics of the wildest description. + +We found our chateau very well situated on the top of a hill, a good +avenue leading up to the gate, a pretty little park with fine trees at +the back, the tower of the village church just visible through the +trees at the end of the central alley. It was hardly a chateau--half +manor, half farm. We drove into a large courtyard, or rather farmyard, +quite deserted; no one visible anywhere; the door of the house was +open, but there was no bell nor apparently any means of communicating +with any one. Hubert cracked his whip noisily several times without +any result--and we were just wondering what we should do (perhaps put +our cards under a stone on the steps) when a man appeared, said Mme. +B. was at home, but she was in the stable looking after a sick cow--he +would go and tell her we were there. In a few minutes she appeared +attired in a short, rusty-black skirt, sabots on her feet, and a black +woollen shawl over her head and shoulders. She seemed quite pleased to +see us--was not at all put out at being caught in such very simple +attire--begged us to come in and ushered us through a long, narrow +hall and several cold, comfortless rooms, the shutters not open and no +fire anywhere, into her bedroom. All the furniture--chairs, tables and +bed--was covered with linen. She explained that it was her "lessive" +(general wash) she had just made, that all the linen was _dry_, but +she had not had time to put it away. She called a maid and they +cleared off two chairs--she sat on the bed. + +It was frightfully cold--we were thankful we had kept our wraps on. +She said she supposed we would like a fire after our long, cold drive, +and rang for a man to bring some wood. He (in his shirt sleeves) +appeared with two or three logs of wood and was preparing to make a +fire with them all, but she stopped him, said one log was enough, the +ladies were not going to stay long--so, naturally, we had no fire and +clouds of smoke. She was very talkative, never stopped--told us all +about her servants, her husband's political campaigns and how W. would +never have been named to the Conseil General if M.B. hadn't done all +his work for him. She asked a great many questions, answering them all +herself; then said, "I don't offer you any tea, as I know you always +go back to have your tea at home, and I am quite sure you don't want +any wine." + +There was such an evident reluctance to give us anything that I didn't +like to insist, and said we must really be going as we had a long +drive before us, though I should have liked something hot; tea, of +course, she knew nothing about, but even a glass of ordinary hot wine, +which they make very well in France, would have been acceptable. +Henrietta was furious; she was shivering with cold, her eyes smarting +with the smoke, and not at all interested in M.B.'s political career, +or Madame's servants, and said she would have been thankful to have +even a glass of vin de Chypre. + +It was unfortunate, perhaps, that we had arrived during the "lessive"; +that is always a most important function in France. In almost all the +big houses in the country (small ones, too) that is the way they do +their washing; once a month or once every three months, according to +the size of the establishment, the whole washing of the household is +done; all the linen: master's, servants', guests'; house is turned +out; the linen closets cleaned and aired! Every one looks busy and +energetic. It is quite a long affair--lasts three or four days. I +often went to see the performance when we made our "lessive" at the +chateau every month. + +It always interested our English and American friends, as the washing +is never done in that way in either of their countries. It was very +convenient at our place as we had plenty of room. The "lavoir" stood +at the top of the steps leading into the kitchen gardens; there was a +large, square tank sunk in the ground, so that the women could kneel +to their work, then a little higher another of beautiful clear water, +all under cover. Just across the path there was a small house with a +blazing wood fire; in the middle an enormous tub where all the linen +was passed through wood ashes. There were four "lessiveuses" +(washerwomen), sturdy peasant women with very short skirts, sabots, +and turbans (made of blue and white checked calico) on their heads, +their strong red arms bared above the elbow. The Mere Michon, the +eldest of the four, directed everything and kept them well at work, +allowed very little talking; they generally chatter when they are +washing and very often quarrel. When they are washing at the public +"lavoir" in the village one hears their shrill voices from a great +distance. Our "lingere," Mme. Hubert, superintended the whole +operation; she was very keen about it and remonstrated vigorously when +they slapped the linen too hard sometimes with the little flat sticks, +like spades, they use. The linen all came out beautifully white and +smooth, hadn't the yellow look that all city-washed clothes have. + +I think Mme. B. was very glad to get rid of us, and to begin folding +her linen and putting it back in the big wooden wardrobes, that one +sees everywhere in France. Some of the old Norman wardrobes, with +handsome brass locks and beautifully carved doors, are real works of +art--very difficult to get and very expensive. Fifty years ago the +peasant did not understand the value of such a "meuble" and parted +with it easily--but now, with railways everywhere and strangers and +bric-a-brac people always on the lookout for a really old piece of +furniture, they understand quite well that they possess a treasure and +exact its full value. + +Our drive back was rather shorter, downhill almost all the way, the +horses going along at a good steady trot, knowing they were going +home. + +When we drew up at our own door Hubert remarked respectfully that he +thought it was the first time that Madame and Mademoiselle had ever +been received by a lady in sabots. + +We wondered afterward if she had personally attended to the cow--in +the way of poulticing or rubbing it. She certainly didn't wash her +hands afterward, and it rather reminded me of one of Charles de +Bunsen's stories when he was Secretary of Legation at Turin. In the +summer they took a villa in the country just out of the town and had +frequent visitors to lunch or dinner. One day two of their friends, +Italians, had spent the whole day with them; had walked in the garden, +picked fruit and flowers, played with the child and the dogs and the +pony, and as they were coming back to the house for dinner, Charles +suggested that they might like to come up to his dressing-room and +wash their hands before dinner--to which one of them replied, "Grazie, +non mi sporco facilmente" (literal translation, "Thanks, I don't dirty +myself easily"), and declined the offer of soap and water. + + * * * * * + +We paid two or three visits one year to the neighbouring chateaux, and +had one very pleasant afternoon at the Chateau de Pinon, belonging to +the Courval family. W. had known the late proprietor, the Vicomte de +Courval, very well. They had been colleagues of the Conseil General of +the Aisne, were both very fond of the country and country life, and +used to have long talks in the evening, when the work of the day was +over, about plantation, cutting down trees, preservation of game, etc. +Without these talks, I think W. would have found the evenings at the +primitive little Hotel de la Hure, at Laon, rather tedious. + +The chateau is not very old and has no historic interest. It was built +by a Monsieur du Bois, Vicomte de Courval, at the end of the +seventeenth century. He lived at first in the old feudal chateau of +which nothing now remains. Already times were changing--the thick +walls, massive towers, high, narrow windows, almost slits, and deep +moat, which were necessary in the old troubled days, when all isolated +chateaux might be called upon, at any time, to defend themselves from +sudden attack, had given way to the larger and more spacious +residences of which Mansard, the famous architect of Louis XIV, has +left so many chefs d'oeuvre. It was to Mansard that M. de Courval +confided the task of building the chateau as it now stands, while the +no less famous Le Notre was charged to lay out the park and gardens. + +It was an easy journey from B----ville to Pinon. An hour's drive through +our beautiful forest of Villers-Cotterets and another hour in the +train. We stopped at the little station of Anizy just outside the +gates of the park; a brougham was waiting for us and a very short +drive through a stately avenue brought us to the drawbridge and the +iron gates of the "Cour d'honneur." The house looked imposing; I had +an impression of a very high and very long facade with two towers +stretching out into the court-yard, which is very large, with fine old +trees and broad parterres of bright-coloured flowers on either side of +the steps. There was a wide moat of running water, the banks covered +with shrubs and flowers--the flowers were principally salvias and +chrysanthemums, as it was late in the season, but they made a warm bit +of colour. The house stands low, as do all houses surrounded by a +moat, but the park rises a little directly behind it and there is a +fine background of wood. + +We drew up at a flight of broad, shallow steps; the doors were open. +There were three or four footmen in the ante-room. While we were +taking off our wraps Mme. de Courval appeared; she was short, stout, +dressed in black, with that terrible black cap which all widows wear +in France--so different from the white cap and soft white muslin +collar and cuffs we are accustomed to. She had a charming, easy manner +and looked very intelligent and capable. It seems she managed the +property extremely well, made the tour of the house, woods and garden +every day with her "regisseur." W. had the highest opinion of her +business capacity--said she knew the exact market value of everything +on the place--from an old tree that must be cut down for timber to the +cheeses the farmer's wife made and sold at the Soissons market. + +She suggested that I should come upstairs to leave my heavy coat. We +went up a broad stone staircase, the walls covered with pictures and +engravings; one beautiful portrait of her daughter, the Marquise de +Chaponay, on horseback. There were handsome carved chests and china +vases on the landing, which opened on a splendid long gallery, very +high and light--bedrooms on one side, on the other big windows (ten or +twelve, I should think) looking over the park and gardens. She took me +to a large, comfortable room, bright wood fire blazing, and a pretty +little dressing-room opening out of it, furnished in a gay, +old-fashioned pattern of chintz. She said breakfast would be ready in +ten minutes--supposed I could find my way down, and left me to my own +devices. + +I found the family assembled in the drawing-room; four women: Mme. de +Courval and her daughter, the Marquise de Chaponay, a tall handsome +woman, and two other ladies of a certain age; I did not catch their +names, but they looked like all the old ladies one always sees in a +country house in France. I should think they were cousins or habituees +of the chateau, as they each had their embroidery frame and one a +little dog. I am haunted by the embroidery frames--I am sure I shall +end my days in a black cap, bending over a frame making portieres or a +piano-cover. + +We breakfasted in a large square dining-room running straight through +the house, windows on each side. The room was all in wood +panelling--light gray--the sun streaming in through the windows. Mme. +de Courval put W. on her right, me on her other side. We had an +excellent breakfast, which we appreciated after our early start. There +was handsome old silver on the table and sideboard, which is a rare +thing in France, as almost all the silver was melted during the +Revolution. Both Mme. de Courval and her daughter were very easy and +animated. The Marquise de Chaponay told me she had known W. for years, +that in the old days before he became such a busy man and so engrossed +in politics he used to read Alfred de Musset to her, in her atelier, +while she painted. She supposed he read now to me--which he certainly +never did--as he always told me he hated reading aloud. They talked +politics, of course, but their opinions were the classic Faubourg St. +Germain opinions: "A Republic totally unfitted for France and the +French"--"none of the gentlemen in France really Republican at heart" +(with evidently a few exceptions)--W.'s English blood and education +having, of course, influenced him. + +As soon as breakfast was over one of the windows on the side of the +moat was opened and we all gave bread to the carp, handed to us by the +butler--small square pieces of bread in a straw basket. It was funny +to see the fish appear as soon as the window was opened--some of them +were enormous and very old. It seems they live to a great age; a +guardian of the Palace at Fontainebleau always shows one to tourists, +who is supposed to have been fed by the Emperor Napoleon. Those of +Pinon knew all about it, lifting their brown heads out of the water +and never missing their piece of bread. + +We went back to the drawing-room for coffee, passing through the +billiard room, where there are some good pictures. A fine life-size +portrait of General Moreau (father of Mme. de Courval) in uniform, by +Gerard--near it a trophy of four flags--Austrian, Saxon, Bavarian, and +Hungarian--taken by the General; over the trophy three or four "lames +d'honneur" (presentation swords) with name and inscription. There are +also some pretty women's portraits in pastel--very delicate colours in +old-fashioned oval frames--quite charming. + +The drawing-room was a very handsome room also panelled in light gray +carved wood; the furniture rather heavy and massive, curtains and +coverings of thick, bright flowered velvet, but it looked suitable in +that high old-fashioned room--light modern furniture would have been +out of place. + +As soon as we had finished our coffee we went for a walk--not the two +old ladies, who settled down at once to their embroidery frames; one +of them showed me her work--really quite beautiful--a church ornament +of some kind, a painted Madonna on a ground of white satin; she was +covering the whole ground with heavy gold embroidery, so thick it +looked like mosaic. + +The park is splendid, a real domain, all the paths and alleys +beautifully kept and every description of tree--M. de Courval was +always trying experiments with foreign trees and shrubs and apparently +most successfully. I think the park would have been charming in its +natural state, as there was a pretty little river running through the +grounds and some tangles of bushes and rocks that looked quite +wild--it might have been in the middle of the forest but everything +had been done to assist nature. There were a "piece d'eau," cascades, +little bridges thrown over the river in picturesque spots, and on the +highest point a tower (donjon), which was most effective, looked quite +the old feudal towers of which so few remain now. They were used as +watch towers, as a sentinel posted on the top could see a great +distance over the plains and give warning of the approach of the +enemy. As the day was fine--no mist--we had a beautiful view from the +top, seeing plainly the great round tower of Coucy, the finest ruin in +France--the others made out quite well the towers of the Laon +Cathedral, but those I couldn't distinguish, seeing merely a dark spot +on the horizon which might have been a passing cloud. + +Coming back we crossed the "Allee des Soupirs," which has its legend +like so many others in this country: It was called the "Allee des +Soupirs" on account of the tragedy that took place there. The owner of +the chateau at that time--a Comte de Lamothe--discovered his wife on +too intimate terms with his great friend and her cousin; they fought +in the Allee, and the Comte de Lamothe was killed by his friend. The +widow tried to brave it out and lived on for some time at the chateau; +but she was accursed and an evil spell on the place--everything went +wrong and the chateau finally burnt down. The place was then sold to +the de Courval family. + +At the end of an hour the Marquise had had enough; I should not think +she was much of a walker; she was struggling along in high-heeled +shoes and proposed that she and I should return to the house and she +would show me her atelier. W. and Mme. de Courval continued their tour +of inspection which was to finish at the Home Farm, where she wanted +to show him some small Breton cows which had just arrived. The atelier +was a charming room; panelled like all the others in a light grey +wood. One hardly saw the walls, for they were covered with pictures, +engravings and a profusion of mirrors in gilt oval frames. It was +evidently a favourite haunt of the Marquise's: books, papers and +painting materials scattered about; the piano open and quantities of +music on the music-stand; miniatures, snuff-boxes and little +old-fashioned bibelots on all the tables, and an embroidery frame, of +course, in one of the windows, near it a basket filled with bright +coloured silks. The miniatures were, almost all, portraits of de +Courvals of every age and in every possible costume: shepherdesses, +court ladies of the time of Louis XV, La Belle Ferronniere with the +jewel on her forehead, men in armour with fine, strongly marked faces; +they must have been a handsome race. It is a pity there is no son to +carry on the name. One daughter-in-law had no children; the other one, +born an American, Mary Ray of New York, had only one daughter, the +present Princesse de Poix, to whom Pinon now belongs. + +We played a little; four hands--the classics, of course. All French +women of that generation who played at all were brought up on strictly +classical music. She had a pretty, delicate, old-fashioned touch; her +playing reminded me of Madame A.'s. + +When it was too dark to see any more we sat by the fire and talked +till the others came in. She asked a great deal about my new life in +Paris--feared I would find it stiff and dull after the easy happy +family life I had been accustomed to. I said it was very different, of +course, but there was much that was interesting, only I did not know +the people well enough yet to appreciate the stories they were always +telling about each other, also that I had made several "gaffes" quite +innocently. I told her one which amused her very much, though she +could not imagine how I ever could have said it. It was the first year +of my marriage; we were dining in an Orleanist house, almost all the +company Royalists and intimate friends of the Orleans Princes, and +three or four moderate, _very_ moderate Republicans like us. It was +the 20th of January and the women were all talking about a ball they +were going to the next night, 21st of January (anniversary of the +death of Louis XVI). They supposed they must wear mourning--such a +bore. Still, on account of the Comtesse de Paris and the Orleans +family generally, they thought they must do it--upon which I asked, +really very much astonished: "On account of the Orleans family? but +did not the Duc d'Orleans vote the King's execution?" There was an +awful silence and then M. Leon Say, one of the cleverest and most +delightful men of his time, remarked, with a twinkle in his eye: "Ma +foi; je crois que Mme. Waddington a raison." There was a sort of +nervous laugh and the conversation was changed. W. was much annoyed +with me, "a foreigner so recently married, throwing down the gauntlet +in that way." I assured him I had no purpose of any kind--I merely +said what I thought, which is evidently unwise. + +Mme. de Chaponay said she was afraid I would find it very difficult +sometimes. French people--in society at least--were so excited against +the Republic, anti-religious feeling, etc. "It must be very painful +for you." "I don't think so; you see I am American, Republican and a +Protestant; my point of view must be very different from that of a +Frenchwoman and a Catholic." She was very charming, however; +intelligent, cultivated, speaking beautiful French with a pretty +carefully trained voice--English just as well; we spoke the two +languages going from one to the other without knowing why. I was quite +sorry when we were summoned to tea. The room looked so pretty in the +twilight, the light from the fire danced all over the pictures and +gilt frames of the mirrors, leaving the corners quite in shadow. The +curtains were not drawn and we saw the darkness creeping up over the +lawn; quite at the edge of the wood the band of white mist was rising, +which we love to see in our part of the country, as it always means a +fine day for the morrow. + +We had a cheery tea. W. and Mme. de Courval had made a long "tournee," +and W. quite approved of all the changes and new acquisitions she had +made, particularly the little Breton cows. We left rather hurriedly as +we had just time to catch our train. + +Our last glimpse of the chateau as we looked back from the turn in the +avenue was charming; there were lights in almost all the windows, +which were reflected in the moat; the moon was rising over the woods +at the back, and every tower and cornice of the enormous pile stood +out sharply in the cold clear light. + + * * * * * + +We didn't move often once we were settled in the chateau for the +autumn. It was very difficult to get W. away from his books and coins +and his woods; but occasionally a shooting party tempted him. We went +sometimes, about the Toussaint when the leaves were nearly fallen, to +stay with friends who had a fine chateau and estate about three hours +by rail from Paris, in the midst of the great plains of the Aube. The +first time we went, soon after my marriage, I was rather doubtful as +to how I should like it. I had never stayed in a French country house +and imagined it would be very stiff and formal; however, the +invitation was for three days--two days of shooting and one of +rest--and I thought that I could get through without being too +homesick. + +We arrived about 4.30 for tea; the journey from Paris was through just +the same uninteresting country one always sees when leaving by the +Gare de l'Est. I think it is the ugliest sortie of all Paris. As we +got near the chateau the Seine appeared, winding in and out of the +meadows in very leisurely fashion. We just saw the house from the +train, standing rather low. The station is at the park gates--in fact, +the railway and the canal run through the property. Two carriages were +waiting (we were not the only guests), and a covered cart for the +maids and baggage. A short drive through a fine avenue of big trees +skirting broad lawns brought us to the house, which looked very +imposing with its long facade and rows of lighted windows. We drove +through arcades covered with ivy into a very large court-yard, the +chateau stables and communs taking three sides. There was a piece +d'eau at one end, a colombier at the other. There was no perron or +stately entrance; in one corner a covered porch, rather like what one +sees in England, shut in with glass door and windows and filled with +plants, a good many chrysanthemums, which made a great mass of colour. +The hall doors were wide open as the carriage drove up, Monsieur A. +and his wife waiting for us just inside, Mme. A. his mother, the +mistress of the chateau, at the door of the salon. We went into a +large, high hall, well lighted, a bright fire burning, plenty of +servants. It looked most cheerful and comfortable on a dark November +afternoon. We left our wraps in the hall, and went straight into the +drawing-room. I have been there so often since that I hardly remember +my first impression. It was a corner room, high ceiling, big windows, +and fine tapestries on the walls; some of them with a pink ground +(very unusual), and much envied and admired by all art collectors. +Mme. A. told me she found them all rolled up in a bundle in the garret +when she married. A tea-table was standing before the sofa, and +various people working and having their tea. We were not a large +party--Comte and Comtesse de B. (she a daughter of the house) and +three or four men, deputies and senators, all political. They counted +eight guns. We sat there about half an hour, then there was a general +move, and young Mme. A. showed us our rooms, which were most +comfortable, fires burning, lamps lighted. She told us dinner was at +7.30; the first bell would ring at seven. I was the only lady besides +the family. I told my maid to ask some of the others what their +mistresses were going to wear. She said ordinary evening dress, with +natural flowers in their hair, and that I would receive a small +bouquet, which I did, only as I never wear anything in my hair, I put +them on my corsage, which did just as well. + +The dinner was pleasant, the dining-room a fine, large hall (had been +stables) with a fireplace at each end, and big windows giving on the +court-yard. It was so large that the dinner table (we were fourteen) +seemed lost in space. The talk was almost exclusively political and +amusing enough. All the men were, or had been, deputies, and every +possible question was discussed. Mme. A. was charming, very +intelligent, and animated, having lived all her life with clever +people, and having taken part in all the changes that France has gone +through in the last fifty years. She had been a widow for about two +years when I first stayed there, and it was pretty to see her children +with her. Her two sons, one married, the other a young officer, were +so respectful and fond of their mother, and her daughter perfectly +devoted to her. + +The men all went off to smoke after coffee, and we women were left to +ourselves for quite a long time. The three ladies all had +work--knitting or crochet--and were making little garments, +brassieres, and petticoats for all the village children. They were +quite surprised that I had nothing and said they would teach me to +crochet. The evening was not very long after the men came back. Some +remained in the billiard-room, which opens out of the salon, and +played cochonnet, a favourite French game. We heard violent +discussions as to the placing of the balls, and some one asked for a +yard measure, to be quite sure the count was correct. Before we broke +up M. A. announced the programme for the next day. Breakfast for all +the men at eight o'clock in the dining-room, and an immediate start +for the woods; luncheon at the Pavilion d'Hiver at twelve in the +woods, the ladies invited to join the shooters and follow one or two +battues afterward. It was a clear, cold night, and there seemed every +prospect of a beautiful day for the battues. + +The next morning was lovely. I went to my maid's room, just across the +corridor to see the motors start. All our rooms looked out on the +park, and on the other side of the corridor was a succession of small +rooms giving on the court-yard, which were always kept for the maids +and valets of the guests. It was an excellent arrangement, for in some +of the big chateaux, where the servants were at the top of the house, +or far off in another wing, communications were difficult. There were +two carriages and a sort of tapissiere following with guns, servants, +and cartridges. I had a message from Mme. A. asking if I had slept +well, and sending me the paper; and a visit from Comtesse de B. who, I +think, was rather anxious about my garments. She had told me the night +before that the ploughed fields were something awful, and hoped I had +brought short skirts and thick boots. I think the sight of my short +Scotch homespun skirt and high boots reassured her. We started about +11.30 in an open carriage with plenty of furs and wraps. It wasn't +really very cold--just a nice nip in the air, and no wind. We drove +straight into the woods from the park. There is a beautiful green +alley which faces one just going out of the gate, but it was too steep +to mount in a carriage. The woods are very extensive, the roads not +too bad--considering the season, extremely well kept. Every now and +then through an opening in the trees we had a pretty view over the +plains. As we got near the pavilion we heard shots not very far +off--evidently the shooters were getting hungry and coming our way. It +was a pretty rustic scene as we arrived. The pavilion, a log house, +standing in a clearing, alleys branching off in every direction, a +horse and cart which had brought the provisions from the chateau tied +to one of the trees. It was shut in on three sides, wide open in +front, a bright fire burning and a most appetizing table spread. Just +outside another big fire was burning, the cook waiting for the first +sportsman to appear to begin his classic dishes, omelette au lard and +ragoat de mouton. I was rather hungry and asked for a piece of the +pain de menage they had for the traqueurs (beaters). I like the brown +country bread so much better than the little rolls and crisp loaves +most people ask for in France. Besides our own breakfast there was an +enormous pot on the fire with what looked like an excellent +substantial soup for the men. In a few minutes the party arrived; +first the shooters, each man carrying his gun; then the game cart, +which looked very well garnished, an army of beaters bringing up the +rear. They made quite a picturesque group, all dressed in white. There +have been so many accidents in some of the big shoots, people +imprudently firing at something moving in the bushes, which proved to +be a man and not a roebuck, that M. A. dresses all his men in white. +The gentlemen were very cheerful, said they had had capital sport, and +were quite ready for their breakfast. We didn't linger very long at +table, as the days were shortening fast, and we wanted to follow some +of the battues. The beaters had their breakfast while we were having +ours--were all seated on the ground around a big kettle of soup, with +huge hunks of brown bread on their tin plates. + +We started off with the shooters. Some walking, some driving, and had +one pretty battue of rabbits; after that two of pheasants, which were +most amusing. There were plenty of birds, and they came rocketing over +our heads in fine style. I found that Comtesse de B. was quite right +about the necessity for short skirts and thick boots. We stood on the +edge of a ploughed field, which we had to cross afterward on our way +home, and I didn't think it was possible to have such cakes of mud as +we had on our boots. We scraped off some with sticks, but our boots +were so heavy with what remained that the walk home was tiring. + +Mme. A. was standing at the hall-door when we arrived, and requested +us not to come into the hall, but to go in by the lingerie entrance +and up the back stairs, so I fancy we hadn't got much dirt off. I had +a nice rest until 4.30, when I went down to the salon for tea. We had +all changed our outdoor garments and got into rather smart day dresses +(none of those ladies wore tea-gowns). The men appeared about five; +some of them came into the salon notwithstanding their muddy boots, +and then came the livre de chasse and the recapitulation of the game, +which is always most amusing. Everyman counted more pieces than his +beater had found. + +The dinner and evening were pleasant, the guests changing a little. +Two of the original party went off before dinner, two others arrived, +one of them a Cabinet minister (Finances). He was very clever and +defended himself well when his policy was freely criticised. While we +women were alone after dinner, Mme. A. showed me how to make crochet +petticoats. She gave me a crochet-needle and some wool and had +wonderful patience, for it seemed a most arduous undertaking to me, +and all my rows were always crooked; however, I did learn, and have +made hundreds since. All the children in our village pull up their +little frocks and show me their crochet petticoats whenever we meet +them. They are delighted to have them, for those we make are of good +wool (not laine de bienfaisance, which is stiff and coarse), and last +much longer than those one buys. + +The second day was quite different. There was no shooting. We were +left to our own devices until twelve o'clock breakfast. W. and I went +for a short stroll in the park. We met M. A., who took us over the +farm, all so well ordered and prosperous. After breakfast we had about +an hour of salon before starting for the regular tournee de +proprietaire through park and gardens. The three ladies--Mme. A., her +daughter, and daughter-in-law--had beautiful work. Mme. A. was making +portieres for her daughter's room, a most elaborate pattern, reeds and +high plants, a very large piece of work; the other two had also very +complicated work--one a table-cover, velvet, heavily embroidered, the +other a church ornament (almost all the Frenchwomen of a certain monde +turn their wedding dresses, usually of white satin, into a priest's +vetement). The Catholic priests have all sorts of vestments which they +wear on different occasions; purple in Lent, red on any martyr's fete, +white for all the fetes of the Virgin. Some of the churches are very +rich with chasubles and altar-cloths trimmed with fine old lace, which +have been given to them. It looks funny sometimes to see a very +ordinary country cure, a farmer's son, with a heavy peasant face, +wearing one of those delicate white-satin chasubles. + +Before starting to join the shooters at breakfast Mme. A. took me all +over the house. It is really a beautiful establishment, very large, +and most comfortable. Quantities of pictures and engravings, and +beautiful Empire furniture. There is quite a large chapel at the end +of the corridor on the ground-floor, where they have mass every +Sunday. The young couple have a charming installation, really a small +house, in one of the wings--bedrooms, dressing-rooms, boudoir, cabinet +de travail, and a separate entrance--so that M. A. can receive any one +who comes to see him on business without having them pass through the +chateau. Mme. A. has her rooms on the ground-floor at the other end of +the house. Her sitting-room with glass door opens into a winter garden +filled with plants, which gives on the park; her bedroom is on the +other side, looking on the court-yard; a large library next it, light +and space everywhere, plenty of servants, everything admirably +arranged. + +The evening mail goes out at 7.30, and every evening at seven exactly +the letter-carrier came down the corridor knocking at all the doors +and asking for letters. He had stamps, too, at least _French_ stamps. +I could never get a foreign stamp (twenty-five centimes)--had to put +one of fifteen and two of five when I had a foreign letter. I don't +really think there were any in the country. I don't believe they had a +foreign correspondent of any description. It was a thoroughly French +establishment of the best kind. + +We walked about the small park and gardens in the afternoon. The +gardens are enormous; one can drive through them. Mme. A. drove in her +pony carriage. They still had some lovely late roses which filled me +with envy--ours were quite finished. + +The next day was not quite so fine, gray and misty, but a good +shooting day, no wind. We joined the gentlemen for lunch in another +pavilion farther away and rather more open than the one of the other +day. However, we were warm enough with our coats on, a good fire +burning, and hot bricks for our feet. The battues (aux echelles) that +day were quite a new experience for me. I had never seen anything like +it. The shooters were placed in a semicircle, not very far apart. Each +man was provided with a high double ladder. The men stood on the top +(the women seated themselves on the rungs of the ladders and hung on +as well as they could). I went the first time with W., and he made me +so many recommendations that I was quite nervous. I mustn't sit too +high up or I would gener him, as he was obliged to shoot down for the +rabbits; and I mustn't sit too near the ground, or I might get a shot +in the ankles from one of the other men. I can't say it was an +absolute pleasure. The seat (if seat it could be called) was anything +but comfortable, and the detonation of the gun just over my head was +decidedly trying; still it was a novelty, and if the other women could +stand it I could. + +For the second battue I went with Comte de B. That was rather worse, +for he shot much oftener than W., and I was quite distracted with the +noise of the gun. We were nearer the other shooters, too, and I +fancied their aim was very near my ankles. It was a pretty view from +the top of the ladder. I climbed up when the battues were over. We +looked over the park and through the trees, quite bare and stripped of +their leaves, on the great plains, with hardly a break of wood or +hills, stretching away to the horizon. The ground was thickly carpeted +with red and yellow leaves, little columns of smoke rising at +intervals where people were burning weeds or rotten wood in the +fields; and just enough purple mist to poetize everything. B. is a +very careful shot. I was with him the first day at a rabbit battue +where we were placed rather near each other, and every man was asked +to keep quite to his own place and to shoot straight before him. After +one or two shots B. stepped back and gave his gun to his servant. I +asked what was the matter. He showed me the man next, evidently not +used to shooting, who was walking up and down, shooting in every +direction, and as fast as he could cram the cartridges into his gun. +So he stepped back into the alley and waited until the battue was +over. + +The party was much smaller that night at dinner. Every one went away +but W. and me. The talk was most interesting--all about the war, the +first days of the Assemblee Nationale at Bordeaux, and the famous +visit of the Comte de Chambord to Versailles, when the Marechal de +MacMahon, President of the Republic, refused to see him. I told them +of my first evening visit to Mme. Thiers, the year I was married. Mme. +Thiers lived in a big gloomy house in the Place St. Georges, and +received every evening. M. Thiers, who was a great worker all his life +and a very early riser, always took a nap at the end of the day. The +ladies (Mlle. Dosne, a sister of Mme. Thiers, lived with them) +unfortunately had not that good habit. They took their little sleep +after dinner. We arrived there (it was a long way from us, we lived +near the Arc de l'Etoile) one evening a little before ten. There were +already four or five men, no ladies. We were shown into a large +drawing-room, M. Thiers standing with his back to the fireplace, the +centre of a group of black coats. He was very amiable, said I would +find Mme. Thiers in a small salon just at the end of the big one; told +W. to join their group, he had something to say to him, and I passed +on. I did find Mme. Thiers and Mlle. Dosne in the small salon at the +other end, both asleep, each in an arm-chair. I was really +embarrassed. They didn't hear me coming in, and were sleeping quite +happily and comfortably. I didn't like to go back to the other salon, +where there were only men, so I sat down on a sofa and looked about +me, and tried to feel as if it was quite a natural occurrence to be +invited to come in the evening and to find my hostess asleep. After a +few minutes I heard the swish of a satin dress coming down the big +salon and a lady appeared, very handsome and well dressed, whom I +didn't know at all. She evidently was accustomed to the state of +things; she looked about her smilingly, then came up to me, called me +by name, and introduced herself, Mme. A. the wife of an admiral whom I +often met afterward. She told me not to mind, there wasn't the +slightest intention of rudeness, that both ladies would wake up in a +few minutes quite unconscious of having really slept. We talked about +ten minutes, not lowering our voices particularly. Suddenly Mme. +Thiers opened her eyes, was wide awake at once--how quietly we must +have come in; she had only just closed her eyes for a moment, the +lights tired her, etc. Mlle. Dosne said the same thing, and then we +went on talking easily enough. Several more ladies came in, but only +two or three men. _They_ all remained in the farther room talking, or +rather listening, to M. Thiers. He was already a very old man, and +when he began to talk no one interrupted him; it was almost a +monologue. I went back several times to the Place St. Georges, but +took good care to go later, so that the ladies should have their nap +over. One of the young diplomat's wives had the same experience, +rather worse, for when the ladies woke up they didn't know her. She +was very shy, spent a wretched ten minutes before they woke, and was +too nervous to name herself. She was half crying when her husband came +to the rescue. + +We left the next morning early, as W. had people coming to him in the +afternoon. I enjoyed my visit thoroughly, and told them afterward of +my misgivings and doubts as to how I should get along with strangers +for two or three days. I think they had rather the same feeling. They +were very old friends of my husband's, and though they received me +charmingly from the first, it brought a foreign and new element into +their circle. + + * * * * * + +Another interesting old chateau, most picturesque, with towers, moat, +and drawbridge, is Lorrey-le-Bocage, belonging to the Comte de S. It +stands very well, in a broad moat--the water clear and rippling and +finishing in a pretty little stream that runs off through the meadows. +The place is beautifully kept--gardens, lawns, courts, in perfect +order. It has no particular _historic_ interest for the family, having +been bought by the parents of the present owner. + +I was there, the first time, in very hot weather, the 14th of July +(the French National fete commemorating the fall of the Bastille). I +went for a stroll in the park the morning after I arrived, but I +collapsed under a big tree at once--hadn't the energy to move. +Everything looked so hot and not a breath of air anywhere. The moat +looked glazed--so absolutely still under the bright summer sun--big +flies were buzzing and skimming over the surface, and the flowers and +plants were drooping in their beds. + +Inside it was delightful, the walls so thick that neither heat nor +cold could penetrate. The house is charming. The big drawing-room--where +we always sat--was a large, bright room with windows on each side and +lovely views over park and gardens; and all sorts of family portraits +and souvenirs dating from Louis XV to the Comte de Paris. The men of +the family--all ardent Royalists--have been, for generations, +distinguished as soldiers and statesmen. + +One of them--a son of the famous Marechal de S, brought up in the last +years of the reign of Louis XV--carried his youthful ardour and dreams +of liberty to America and took part, as did so many of the young +French nobles, in the great struggle for independence that was being +fought out on the other side of the Atlantic. Soon after his return to +France he was named Ambassador to Russia to the court of Catherine II, +and was supposed to have been very much in the good graces of that +very pleasure-loving sovereign. He accompanied her on her famous trip +to the Crimea, arranged for her by her minister and favourite, +Potemkin--when fairy villages, with happy populations singing and +dancing, sprang up in the road wherever she passed as if by +magic--quite dispelling her ideas of the poverty and oppression of +some of her subjects. + +Among the portraits there is a miniature of the Empress Catherine. It +is a fine, strongly marked face. She wears a high fur cap--a sort of +military pelisse with lace jabots and diamond star. The son of the +Marechal, also soldier and courtier, was aide-de-camp to Napoleon and +made almost all his campaigns with him. His description of the Russian +campaign and the retreat of the "Grande Armee" from Moscow is one of +the most graphic and interesting that has ever been written of those +awful days. His memoirs are quite charming. Childhood and early youth +passed in the country in all the agonies of the Terror--simply and +severely brought up in an atmosphere absolutely hostile to any +national or popular movement. + +The young student, dreaming of a future and regeneration for France, +arrived one day in Paris, where an unwonted stir denoted that +something was going on. He heard and saw the young Republican General +Bonaparte addressing some regiments. He marked the proud bearing of +the men--even the recruits--and in an explosion of patriotism his +vocation was decided. He enlisted at once in the Republican ranks. It +was a terrible decision to confide to his family, and particularly to +his grandfather, the old Marechal de S. a glorious veteran of many +campaigns and an ardent Royalist. His father approved, although it was +a terrible falling off from all the lessons and examples of his +family--but it was a difficult confession to make to the Marechal. I +will give the scene in his own words (translated, of course--the +original is in French). + +"I was obliged to return to Chalenoy to relate my 'coup-de-tete' to my +grandfather. I arrived early in the morning and approached his bed in +the most humble attitude. He said to me, very sharply, 'You have been +unfaithful to all the traditions of your ancestors--but it is done. +Remember that you have enlisted voluntarily in the Republican army; +serve it frankly and loyally, for your decision is made, you cannot +now go back on it.' Then seeing the tears running down my cheeks (he +too was moved), and taking my hand with the only one he had left, he +drew me to him and pressed me on his heart. Then giving me seventy +louis (it was all he had), he added, 'This will help you to complete +your equipment--go, and at least carry bravely and faithfully, under +the flag it has pleased you to choose, the name you bear and the +honour of your family.'" + +The present Count, too, has played a part in politics in these +troublous times, when decisions were almost as hard to take, and one +was torn between the desire to do something for one's country and the +difficulty of detaching oneself from old traditions and memories. +People whose grandfathers have died on the scaffold can hardly be +expected to be enthusiastic about the Republic and the Marseillaise. +Yet if the nation wants the Republic, and every election accentuates +that opinion, it is very difficult to fight against the current. + +When I first married, just after the Franco-Prussian War, there seemed +some chance of the moderate men, on both sides, joining in a common +effort against the radical movement, putting themselves at the head of +it and in that way directing and controlling--but very soon the +different sections in parliament defined themselves so sharply that +any sort of compromise was difficult. My host was named deputy, +immediately after the war, and though by instinct, training, and +association a Royalist and a personal friend of the Orleans family, he +was one of a small group of liberal-patriotic deputies who might have +supported loyally a moderate Republic had the other Republicans not +made their position untenable. There was an instinctive, unreasonable +distrust of any of the old families whose names and antecedents had +kept them apart from any republican movement. + +We had pleasant afternoons in the big drawing-room. In the morning we +did what we liked. The Maitresse de Maison never appeared in the +drawing-room till the twelve o'clock breakfast. I used to see her from +my window, coming and going--sometimes walking, when she was making +the round of the farm and garden, oftener in her little pony carriage +and occasionally in the automobile of her niece, who was staying in +the house. She occupied herself very much with all the village--old +people and children, everybody. After breakfast we used to sit +sometimes in the drawing-room--the two ladies working, the Comte de S. +reading his paper and telling us anything interesting he found there. +Both ladies had most artistic work--Mme. de S. a church ornament, +white satin ground with raised flowers and garlands, stretched, of +course, on the large embroidery frames they all use. Her niece, +Duchesse d'E., had quite another "installation" in one of the +windows--a table with all sorts of delicate little instruments. She +was book-binding--doing quite lovely things in imitation of the old +French binding. It was a work that required most delicate +manipulation, but she seemed to do it quite easily. I was rather +humiliated with my little knit petticoats--very hot work it is on a +blazing July day. + + + + +III + +THE HOME OF LAFAYETTE + + +La Grange was looking its loveliest when I arrived the other day. It +was a bright, beautiful October afternoon and the first glimpse of the +chateau was most picturesque. It was all the more striking as the run +down from Paris was so ugly and commonplace. The suburbs of Paris +around the Gare de l'Est--the Plain of St. Denis and all the small +villages, with kitchen gardens, rows of green vegetables under glass +"cloches"--are anything but interesting. It was not until we got near +Grety and alongside of Ferrieres, the big Rothschild place, that we +seemed to be in the country. The broad green alleys of the park, with +the trees just changing a little, were quite charming. Our station was +Verneuil l'Etang, a quiet little country station dumped down in the +middle of the fields, and a drive of about fifty minutes brought us to +the chateau. The country is not at all pretty, always the same +thing--great cultivated fields stretching off on each side of the +road--every now and then a little wood or clump of trees. One does not +see the chateau from the high road. + +We turned off sharply to the left and at the end of a long avenue saw +the house, half hidden by the trees. The entrance through a low +archway, flanked on each side by high round towers covered with ivy, +is most picturesque. The chateau is built around three sides of a +square court-yard, the other side looking straight over broad green +meadows ending in a background of wood. A moat runs almost all around +the house--a border of salvias making a belt of colour which is most +effective. We found the family--Marquis and Marquise de Lasteyrie and +their two sons--waiting at the hall door. The Marquis, great-grandson +of the General Marquis de Lafayette, is a type of the well-born, +courteous French gentleman (one of the most attractive types, to my +mind, that one can meet anywhere). There is something in perfectly +well-bred French people of a certain class that one never sees in any +other nationality. Such refinement and charm of manner--a great desire +to put every one at their ease and to please the person with whom they +are thrown for the moment. That, after all, is all one cares for in +the casual acquaintances one makes in society. From friends, of +course, we want something deeper and more lasting, but life is too +short to find out the depth and sterling qualities of the world in +general. + +The Marquise is an Englishwoman, a cousin of her husband, their common +ancestor being the Duke of Leinster; clever, cultivated, hospitable, +and very large minded, which has helped her very much in her married +life in France during our troubled epoch, when religious questions and +political discussions do so much to embitter personal relations. The +two sons are young and gay, doing the honours of their home simply and +with no pose of any kind. There were two English couples staying in +the house. + +We had tea in the dining-room downstairs--a large room with panels and +chimney-piece of dark carved wood. Two portraits of men in armour +stand out well from the dark background. There is such a wealth of +pictures, engravings, and tapestries all over the house that one +cannot take it all in at first. The two drawing-rooms on the first +floor are large and comfortable, running straight through the house; +the end room in the tower--a round room with windows on all sides--quite +charming. The contrast between the modern--English--comforts (low, +wide chairs, writing-table, rugs, cushions, and centre-table covered +with books in all languages, a very rare thing in a French chateau, +picture papers, photographs, etc.) and the straight-backed, +spindle-legged old furniture and stiff, old-fashioned ladies and +gentlemen, looking down from their heavy gold frames, is very +attractive. There is none of the formality and look of not being lived +in which one sees in so many French salons, and yet it is not at all +modern. One never loses for a moment the feeling of being in an old +chateau-fort. + +It was so pretty looking out of my bedroom window this morning. It was +a bright, beautiful autumn day, the grass still quite green. Some of +the trees changing a little, the yellow leaves quite golden in the +sun. There are many American trees in the park--a splendid Virginia +Creeper, and a Gloire de Dijon rose-bush, still full of bloom, were +sprawling over the old gray walls. Animals of all kinds were walking +about the court-yard; some swans and a lame duck, which had wandered +up from the moat, standing on the edge and looking about with much +interest; a lively little fox-terrier, making frantic dashes at +nothing; one of the sons starting for a shoot with gaiters and +game-bag, and his gun over his shoulder, his dog at his heels +expectant and eager. Some of the guests were strolling about and from +almost all the windows--wide open to let in the warm morning +sun--there came cheerful greetings. + +I went for a walk around the house before breakfast. There are five +large round towers covered with ivy--the walls extraordinarily +thick--the narrow little slits for shooting with arrows and the round +holes for cannon balls tell their own story of rough feudal life. On +one side of the castle there is a large hole in the wall, made by a +cannon ball sent by Turenne. He was passing one day and asked to whom +the chateau belonged. On hearing that the owner was the Marechal de la +Feuillade, one of his political adversaries, he sent a cannon ball as +a souvenir of his passage, and the gap has never been filled up. + +I went all over the house later with the Marquis de Lasteyrie. Of +course, what interested me most was Lafayette's private +apartments--bedroom and library--the latter left precisely as it was +during Lafayette's lifetime; bookcases filled with his books in their +old-fashioned bindings, running straight around the walls and a +collection of manuscripts and autograph letters from kings and queens +of France and most of the celebrities of the days of the Valois--among +them several letters from Catherine de Medicis, Henry IV, and la Reine +Margot. One curious one from Queen Margot in which she explains to the +Vicomte de Chabot (ancestor of my host) that she was very much +preoccupied in looking out for a wife for him with a fine dot, but +that it was always difficult to find a rich heiress for a poor +seigneur. + +There are also autographs of more modern days, among which is a letter +from an English prince to the Vicomte de Chabot (grandfather of the +Marquis de Lasteyrie), saying that he loses no time in telling him of +the birth of a very fine little girl. He certainly never realized when +he wrote that letter what would be the future of his baby daughter. +The writer was the Duke of Kent--the fine little girl, Queen Victoria. + +In a deep window-seat in one corner, overlooking the farm, is the +writing-table of Lafayette. In the drawers are preserved several books +of accounts, many of the items being in his handwriting. Also his +leather arm-chair (which was exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair), +and a horn or speaking-trumpet through which he gave his orders to the +farm hands from the window. The library opened into his bedroom--now +the boudoir of the Marquise de Lasteyrie--with a fine view over moat +and meadow. In this room there have been many changes, but the old +doors of carved oak still remain. + +There are many interesting family portraits--one of the father of +Lafayette, killed at Minden, leaving his young son to be brought up by +two aunts, whose portraits are on either side of the fireplace. + +It is curious to see the two portraits of the same epoch so absolutely +unlike. Mme. de Chavagnac, an old lady, very simply dressed, almost +Puritanical, with a white muslin fichu over her plain black silk +dress--the other, Mademoiselle de Lafayette, in the court dress of the +time of Louis XVI, pearls and roses in the high, powdered coiffure and +a bunch of orange flowers on one shoulder, to indicate that she was +not a married woman. + +There were pictures and souvenirs of all the Orleans family--the +Lasteyries having been always faithful and devoted friends of those +unfortunate princes; a charming engraving of the Comte de Paris, a +noble looking boy in all the bravery of white satin and feathers--the +original picture is in the possession of the Duc de Chartres. It was +sad to realize when one looked at the little prince with his bright +eyes and proud bearing, that the end of his life would be so +melancholy--exile and death in a foreign land. + +There are all sorts of interesting pictures and engravings scattered +about the house in the numberless corridors and anterooms. One most +interesting and very rare print represents a review at Potsdam held by +Frederick the Great. Two conspicuous figures are the young Marquis de +Lafayette in powdered wig and black silk ribbon, and the English +General Lord Cornwallis, destined to meet as adversaries many years +later during the American Revolution. There are many family pictures +on the great stone staircase, both French and English, the Marquis de +Lasteyrie, on the maternal side, being a great-grandson of the Duke of +Leinster. Some of the English portraits are very charming, quite +different from the French pictures. + +In the centre panel is the well-known portrait of Lafayette by Ary +Scheffer--not in uniform--no trace of the dashing young soldier; a +middle-aged man in a long fur coat, hat and stick in his hand; +looking, as one can imagine he did when he settled down, after his +brilliant and eventful career, to the simple patriarchal life at La +Grange, surrounded by devoted children, grandchildren, and friends. + +We were interrupted long before I had seen all the interesting part of +the house and its contents, as it was time to start for La Houssaye, +where all the party were expected at tea. We went off in three +carriages--quite like a "noce," as the Marquise remarked. The drive +(about an hour) was not particularly interesting. We were in the heart +of the great agricultural district and drove through kilometres of +planted fields--no hills and few woods. + +We came rather suddenly on the chateau, which stands low, like all +chateaux surrounded by moats, turning directly from the little village +into the park, which is beautifully laid out with fine old trees. We +had glimpses of a lovely garden as we drove up to the house, and of +two old towers--one round and one square. The chateau stands well--a +very broad moat, almost a river, running straight around the house and +gardens. We crossed the drawbridge, which always gives me a sensation +of old feudal times and recalls the days of my childhood when I used +to sit under the sickle-pear tree at "Cherry Lawn" reading Scott's +"Marmion"--"Up drawbridge, grooms--what, Warder, ho! Let the +portcullis fall!" wondering what a "portcullis" was, and if I should +ever see one or even a chateau-fort. + +La Houssaye is an old castle built in the eleventh century, but has +passed through many vicissitudes. All that remains of the original +building are the towers and the foundations. It was restored in the +sixteenth century and has since remained unchanged. During the French +Revolution the family of the actual proprietor installed themselves in +one of the towers and lived there many long weary weeks, never daring +to venture out, show any lights, or give any sign of life--in daily +terror of being discovered and dragged to Paris before the dreaded +revolutionary tribunals. Later it was given, by Napoleon, to the +Marshall Augereau, who died there. It has since been in the family of +the present proprietor, Monsieur de Mimont, who married an American, +Miss Forbes. + +The rain, which had been threatening all the afternoon, came down in +torrents just as we crossed the drawbridge, much to the disappointment +of our host and hostess, who were anxious to show us their garden, +which is famous in all the countryside. However, in spite of the +driving rain, we caught glimpses through the windows of splendid +parterres of salvias and cannas, making great spots of colour in a +beautiful bit of smooth green lawn. In old days the chateau was much +bigger, stretching out to the towers. Each successive proprietor has +diminished the buildings, and the present chateau, at the back, stands +some little distance from the moat, the vacant space being now +transformed into their beautiful gardens. + +We only saw the ground-floor of the house, which is most comfortable. +We left our wraps in the large square hall and passed through one +drawing-room and a small library into another, which is charming--a +corner room looking on the gardens--the walls, panels of light gray +wood, prettily carved with wreaths and flowers. + +We had tea in the dining-room on the other side of the hall; a curious +room, rather, with red brick walls and two old narrow doors of carved +oak. The tea--most abundant--was very acceptable after our long damp +drive. One dish was rather a surprise--American waffles--not often to +be found, I imagine, in an old French feudal castle, but Madame de +Mimont's nationality explained it. I was very sorry not to see the +park which is beautifully laid out, but the rain was falling straight +down as hard as it could--almost making waves in the moat, and a +curtain of mist cut off the end of the park. + +Our dinner and evening at La Grange were delightful. The dining-room +is particularly charming at night. The flowers on the table, this +evening, were red, and the lights from the handsome silver candelabres +made a brilliant spot of warmth and colour against the dark panelled +walls--just shining on the armour of the fine Ormond portraits hanging +on each side of the fireplace. The talk was always easy and pleasant. + +One of the guests, the naval attache to the British Embassy to France, +had been "en mission" at Madrid at the time of the Spanish Royal +marriage. The balcony of the English Embassy overlooked the spot where +the bomb was thrown. In eighty-five seconds from the time they heard +the detonation (in the first second they thought it was a salute), the +Ambassador, followed by his suite, was at the door of the royal +carriage. He said the young sovereigns looked very pale but calm; the +king, perhaps, more agitated than the Queen. + +We finished the evening with music and dumb crambo--that particularly +English form of amusement, which I have never seen well done except by +English people. It always fills me with astonishment whenever I see +it. It is so at variance with the English character. They are usually +so very shy and self-conscious. One would never believe they could +throw themselves into this really childish game with so much entrain. +The performance is simple enough. Some of the company retire from the +drawing-room; those who remain choose a word--chair, hat, cat, etc. +This evening the word was "mat." We told the two actors--Mrs. P. and +the son of the house--they must act (nothing spoken) a word which +rhymed with _hat_. I will say they found it very quickly, but some of +their attempts were funny enough--really very cleverly done. It amused +me perfectly, though I must frankly confess I should have been +incapable of either acting or guessing the word. The only one I made +out was fat, when they both came in so stuffed out with pillows and +bolsters as to be almost unrecognizable. The two dogs--a beautiful +little fox-terrier and a fine collie--went nearly mad, barking and +yapping every time the couple appeared--their excitement reaching a +climax when the actors came in and stretched themselves out on each +side of the door, having finally divined the word mat. The dogs made +such frantic dashes at them that M. and Mme. de Lasteyrie had to carry +them off bodily. + +The next morning I went for a walk with M. de Lasteyrie. We strolled +up and down the "Allee des Soupirs," so called in remembrance of one +of the early chatelaines who trailed her mourning robes and widow's +veil over the fallen leaves, bemoaning her solitude until a favoured +suitor appeared on the scene and carried her away to his distant +home--but the Allee still retains its name. + +The park is small, but very well laid out. Many of the memoirs of the +time speak of walks and talks with Lafayette under the beautiful +trees. + +During the last years of Lafayette's life, La Grange was a +cosmopolitan centre. Distinguished people from all countries came +there, anxious to see the great champion of liberty; among them many +Americans, who always found a gracious, cordial welcome; one silent +guest--a most curious episode which I will give in the words of the +Marquis de Lasteyrie: + +"One American, however, in Lafayette's own time, came on a lonely +pilgrimage to La Grange; he was greeted with respect, but of that +greeting he took no heed. He was a silent guest, nor has he left any +record of his impressions; in fact, he was dead before starting on his +journey. He arrived quite simply one fine autumn morning, in his +coffin, accompanied by a letter which said: 'William Summerville, +having the greatest admiration for the General Lafayette, begs he will +bury him in his land at La Grange.' This, being against the law, could +not be done, but Lafayette bought the whole of the small cemetery of +the neighbouring village and laid the traveller from over the sea to +rest in his ground indeed, though not under one of the many American +trees at La Grange itself, of which the enthusiastic wanderer had +probably dreamed." + +They told me many interesting things, too long to write, about the +last years of Lafayette's life spent principally at La Grange. A +charming account of that time and the lavish hospitality of the +chateau is given by Lady Morgan, in her well-known "Diary." Some of +her descriptions are most amusing; the arrival, for instance, of Lady +Holland at the home of the Republican General. "She is always preceded +by a fourgon from London containing her own favourite meubles of +Holland House--her bed, fauteuil, carpet, etc., and divers other +articles too numerous to mention, but which enter into her Ladyship's +superfluchoses tres necessaires, at least to a grande dame one of her +female attendants and a groom of the chambers precede her to make all +ready for her reception. However, her original manner, though it +startles the French ladies, amuses them." + +Her Irish ladyship (Lady Morgan) seems to have been troubled by no +shyness in asking questions of the General. She writes: "Is it true, +General, I asked, that you once went to a bal masque at the opera with +the Queen of France--Marie Antoinette--leaning on your arm, the King +knowing nothing of the matter till her return? I am afraid so, said +he. She was so indiscreet, and I can conscientiously add--so innocent. +However, the Comte d'Artois was also of the party, and we were all +young, enterprising, and pleasure-loving. But what is most absurd in +the adventure was that, when I pointed out Mme. du Barry to her--whose +figure and favourite domino I knew--the Queen expressed the most +anxious desire to hear her speak and bade me intriguer her. She +answered me flippantly, and I am sure if I had offered her my other +arm, the Queen would not have objected to it. Such was the esprit +d'aventure at that time in the court of Versailles and in the head of +the haughty daughter of Austria." + +I remember quite well the parents of my host. The Marquise, a type of +the grande dame, with blue eyes and snow white hair survived her +husband many years. During the war of 1870 they, like many other +chatelains, had Prussian soldiers in their house. The following +characteristic anecdote of the Marquise was told to me by her son: + +"There are still to be seen at La Grange two little cannon which +had been given to Lafayette by the Garde Nationale. One December +morning, in 1870, when the house was full of German troops, Madame de +Lasteyrie was awakened by a noise under the archway, and looking out +of her window saw, in the dim light, the two guns being carried off by +the German soldiers. In an instant, her bare feet hastily thrust into +slippers, her hair like a long white mane hanging down her back, with +a dressing gown thrown over her shoulders, she started in pursuit. She +followed them about three miles and at last came upon them at the top +of a hill. After much persuasion and after spiking the guns (in no +case could they have done great damage), the soldiers were induced to +give them up, and departed, leaving her alone in the frost and +starlight waiting for the morning. She sat bare-footed (for she had +lost her shoes) but triumphant on her small cannon in the deep snow +till the day came and the farm people stole out and dragged them +all--the old lady and the two guns--back to the house." + +I was sorry to go--the old chateau, with its walls and towers soft and +grey in the sunlight, seems to belong absolutely to another century. I +felt as if I had been transported a hundred years back and had lived a +little of the simple patriarchal life that made such a beautiful end +to Lafayette's long and eventful career. The present owner keeps up +the traditions of his grandfather. I was thinking last night what a +cosmopolitan group we were. Three or four different nationalities, +speaking alternately the two languages--French and English--many of +the party having travelled all over the world and all interested in +politics, literature, and music; in a different way, perhaps, but +quite as much as the "belles dames et beaux esprits" of a hundred +years ago. Everything changes as time goes on (I don't know if I would +say that _everything_ improves), but I carried away the same +impression of a warm welcome and large hospitable life that every one +speaks of who saw La Grange during Lafayette's life. + + + + +IV + +WINTER AT THE CHATEAU + + +We had a very cold winter one year--a great deal of snow, which froze +as it fell and lay a long time on the hard ground. We woke up one +morning in a perfectly still white world. It had snowed heavily during +the night, and the house was surrounded by a glistening white carpet +which stretched away to the "sapinette" at the top of the lawn without +a speck or flaw. There was no trace of path or road, or little low +shrubs, and even the branches of the big lime-trees were heavy with +snow. It was a bright, beautiful day--blue sky and a not too pale +winter sun. Not a vehicle of any kind had ventured out. In the middle +of the road were footprints deep in the snow where evidently the +keepers and some workmen had passed. Nothing and no one had arrived +from outside, neither postman, butcher, nor baker. The chef was in a +wild state; but I assured him we could get on with eggs and game, of +which there was always a provision for one day at any rate. + +About eleven, Pauline and I started out. We thought we would go as far +as the lodge and see what was going on on the highroad. We put on +thick boots, gaiters and very short skirts, and had imagined we could +walk in the footsteps of the keepers; but, of course, we couldn't take +their long stride, and we floundered about in the snow. In some places +where it had drifted we went in over our knees. + +There was nothing visible on the road--not a creature, absolute +stillness; a line of footprints in the middle where some labourer had +passed, and the long stretch of white fields, broken by lines of black +poplars running straight away to the forest. + +While we were standing at the gate talking to old Antoine, who was all +muffled up with a woollen comforter tied over his cap, and socks over +his shoes, we saw a small moving object in the distance. As it came +nearer we made out it was the postman, also so muffled up as to be +hardly recognizable. He too had woollen socks over his shoes, and said +the going was something awful, the "Montagne de Marolles" a sheet of +ice; he had fallen twice, in spite of his socks and pointed stick. He +said neither butcher nor baker would come--that no horse could get up +the hill. + +We sent him into the kitchen to thaw, and have his breakfast. That was +one also of the traditions of the chateau; the postman always +breakfasted. On Sundays, when there was no second delivery, he brought +his little girl and an accordion, and remained all the afternoon. He +often got a lift back to La Ferte, when the carriage was going in to +the station, or the chef to market in the donkey-cart. _Now_ many of +the postmen have bicycles. + +We had a curious feeling of being quite cut off from the outside +world. The children, Francis and Alice, were having a fine time in the +stable-yard, where the men had made them two snow figures--man and +woman (giants)--and they were pelting them with snowballs and tumbling +headlong into the heaps of snow on each side of the gate, where a +passage had been cleared for the horses. + +We thought it would be a good opportunity to do a little coasting and +inaugurate a sled we had had made with great difficulty the year +before. It was rather a long operation. The wheelwright at Marolles +had never seen anything of the kind, had no idea _what_ we wanted. +Fortunately Francis had a little sled which one of his cousins had +sent him from America; and with that as a model, and many +explanations, the wheelwright and the blacksmith produced really a +very creditable sled--quite large, a seat for two in front, and one +behind for the person who steered. Only when the sled was finished the +snow had disappeared! It rarely lasts long in France. + +We had the sled brought out--the runners needed a little +repairing--and the next day made our first attempt. There was not much +danger of meeting anything. A sort of passage had been cleared, and +gravel sprinkled in the middle of the road; but very few vehicles had +passed, and the snow was as hard as ice. All the establishment +"assisted" at the first trial, and the stable-boy accompanied us with +the donkey who was to pull the sled up the hill. + +We had some little difficulty in starting, Pauline and I in front, +Francis behind; but as soon as we got fairly on the slope the thing +flew. Pauline was frightened to death, screaming, and wanted to get +off; but I held her tight, and we landed in the ditch near the foot of +the hill. Half-way down (the hill is steep but straight, one sees a +great distance) Francis saw the diligence arriving; and as he was not +quite sure of his steering-gear, he thought it was better to take no +risks, and steered us straight into the ditch as hard as we could go. +The sled upset; we all rolled off into the deep soft snow, lost our +hats, and emerged quite white from head to foot. + +The diligence had stopped at the foot of the hill. There were only two +men in it besides the driver, the old Pere Jacques, who was +dumbfounded when he recognized Madame Waddington. It seems they +couldn't think what had happened. As they got to the foot of the hill, +they saw a good many people at the gate of the chateau; then suddenly +something detached itself from the group and rushed wildly down the +hill. They thought it was an accident, some part of a carriage broken, +and before they had time to collect their senses the whole thing +collapsed in the ditch. The poor old man was quite disturbed--couldn't +think we were not hurt, and begged us to get into the diligence and +not trust ourselves again to such a dangerous vehicle. However we +reassured him, and all walked up the hill together, the donkey pulling +the sled, which was tied to him with a very primitive arrangement of +ropes, the sled constantly swinging round and hitting him on the legs, +which he naturally resented and kicked viciously. + +We amused ourselves very much as long as the snow lasted, about ten +days--coasted often, and made excursions to the neighbouring villages +with the sled and the donkey. We wanted to skate, but that was not +easy to arrange, as the ponds and "tourbieres" near us were very deep, +and I was afraid to venture with the children. I told Hubert, the +coachman, who knew the country well, to see what he could find. He +said there was a very good pond in the park of the chateau of La +Ferte, and he was sure the proprietor, an old man who lived there by +himself, would be quite pleased to let us come there. + +The old gentleman was most amiable--begged we would come as often as +we liked--merely making one condition, that we should have a man on +the bank (the pond was only about a foot deep) with a rope in case of +accidents.... We went there nearly every afternoon, and made quite a +comfortable "installation" on the bank: a fire, rugs, chairs and a +very good little gouter, the grocer's daughter bringing us hot wine +and biscuits from the town. + +It was a perfect sight for La Ferte. The whole town came to look at +us, and the carters stopped their teams on the road to look on--one +day particularly when one of our cousins, Maurice de Bunsen,[3] was +staying with us. He skated beautifully, doing all sorts of figures, +and his double eights and initials astounded the simple country folk. +For some time after they spoke of "l'Anglais" who did such wonderful +things on the ice. + + [3] To-day British Embassador at Madrid. + +They were bad days for the poor. We used to meet all the children +coming back from school when we went home. The poor little things +toiled up the steep, slippery hill, with often a cold wind that must +have gone through the thin worn-out jackets and shawls they had for +all covering, carrying their satchels and remnants of dinner. Those +that came from a distance always brought their dinner with them, +generally a good hunk of bread and a piece of chocolate, the poorer +ones bread alone, very often only a stale hard crust that couldn't +have been very nourishing. They were a very poor lot at our little +village, St. Quentin, and we did all we could in the way of warm +stockings and garments; but the pale, pinched faces rather haunted me, +and Henrietta and I thought we would try and arrange with the school +mistress who was wife of one of the keepers, to give them a hot plate +of soup every day during the winter months. W., who knew his people +well, rather discouraged us--said they all had a certain sort of +pride, notwithstanding their poverty, and might perhaps be offended at +being treated like tramps or beggars; but we could try if we liked. + +We got a big kettle at La Ferte, and the good Mere Cecile of the Asile +lent us the tin bowls, also telling us we wouldn't be able to carry +out our plan. She had tried at the Asile, but it didn't go; the +children didn't care about the soup--liked the bread and chocolate +better. It was really a curious experience. I am still astonished when +I think of it. The soup was made at the head-keeper's cottage, +standing on the edge of the woods. + +We went over the first day about eleven o'clock--a cold, clear day, a +biting wind blowing down the valley. The children were all assembled, +waiting impatiently for us to come. The soup was smoking in a big pot +hung high over the fire. We, of course, tasted it, borrowing two bowls +from the children and asking Madame Labbey to cut us two pieces of +bread, the children all giggling and rather shy. The soup was very +good, and we were quite pleased to think that the poor little things +should have something warm in their stomachs. The first depressing +remark was made by our own coachman on the way home. His little +daughter was living at the keeper's. I said to him, "I did not see +Celine with the other children." "Oh, no, Madame; she wasn't there. We +pay for the food at Labbey's; she doesn't need charity." + +The next day, equally cold, about half the children came (there were +only twenty-seven in the school); the third, five or six, rather +shamefaced; the fourth, not one; and at the end of the week the +keeper's wife begged us to stop the distribution; all the parents were +hurt at the idea of their children receiving _public_ charity from +Madame Waddington. She had thought some of the very old people of the +village might like what was left; but no one came except some tramps +and rough-looking men who had heard there was food to be had, and they +made her very nervous prowling around the house when she was alone, +her husband away all day in the woods. + +W. was amused--not at all surprised--said he was quite sure we +shouldn't succeed, but it was just as well to make our own experience. +We took our bowls back sadly to the Asile, where the good sister shook +her head, saying, "Madame verra comme c'est difficile de faire du bien +dans ce paysci; on ne pense qu'a s'amuser." And yet we saw the +miserable little crusts of hard bread, and some of the boys in linen +jackets over their skin, no shirt, and looking as if they had never +had a good square meal in their lives. + +I had one other curious experience, and after that I gave up trying +anything that was a novelty or that they hadn't seen all their lives. +The French peasant is really conservative; and if left to himself, +with no cheap political papers or socialist orators haranguing in the +cafes on the eternal topic of the rich and the poor, he would be quite +content to go on leading the life he and his fathers have always +led--would never want to destroy or change anything. + +I was staying one year with Lady Derby at Knowsley, in Christmas week, +and I was present one afternoon when she was making her annual +distribution of clothes to the village children. I was much pleased +with some ulsters and some red cloaks she had for the girls. They were +so pleased, too--broad smiles on their faces when they were called up +and the cloaks put on their shoulders. They looked so warm and +comfortable, when the little band trudged home across the snow. I had +instantly visions of my school children attired in these cloaks, +climbing our steep hills in the dark winter days. + +I had a long consultation with Lady Margaret Cecil, Lady Derby's +daughter--a perfect saint, who spent all her life helping other +people--and she gave me the catalogue of "Price Jones," a well-known +Welsh shop whose "specialite" was all sorts of clothes for country +people, schools, workmen's families, etc. I ordered a large collection +of red cloaks, ulsters, and flannel shirts at a very reasonable price, +and they promised to send them in the late summer, so that we should +find them when we went back to France. + +We found two large cases when we got home, and were quite pleased at +all the nice warm cloaks we had in store for the winter. + +As soon as the first real cold days began, about the end of November, +the women used to appear at the chateau asking for warm clothes for +the children. The first one to come was the wife of the "garde de +Borny"--a slight, pale woman, the mother of nine small children +(several of them were members of the school at St. Quentin, who had +declined our soup, and I rather had _their_ little pinched, bloodless +faces in my mind when I first thought about it). She had three with +her--a baby in her arms, a boy and a girl of six and seven, both +bare-legged, the boy in an old worn-out jersey pulled over his chest, +the girl in a ragged blue and white apron, a knitted shawl over her +head and shoulders. The baby had a cloak. I don't believe there was +much on underneath, and the mother was literally a bundle of rags, her +skirt so patched one could hardly make out the original colour, and a +wonderful cloak all frayed at the ends and with holes in every +direction. However, they were all clean. + +The baby and the boy were soon provided for. The boy was much pleased +with his flannel shirt. Then we produced the red cloak for the girl. +The woman's face fell: "Oh, no, Madame, I couldn't take that; my +little girl couldn't wear it." I, astounded: "But you don't see what +it is--a good, thick cloak that will cover her all up and keep her +warm." "Oh, no, Madame, she couldn't wear that; all the people on the +road would laugh at her! Cela ne se porte pas dans notre pays" (that +is not worn in our country). + +I explained that I had several, and that she would see all the other +little girls with the same cloaks; but I got only the same answer, +adding that Madame would see--no child would wear such a cloak. I was +much disgusted--thought the woman was capricious; but she was +perfectly right; not a single mother, and Heaven knows they were poor +enough, would take a red cloak, and they all had to be transformed +into red flannel petticoats. Every woman made me the same answer: +"Every one on the road would laugh at them." + +I was not much luckier with the ulsters. What I had ordered for big +girls of nine and ten would just go on girls of six and seven. Either +French children are much stouter than English, or they wear thicker +things underneath. Here again there was work to do--all the sleeves +were much too long; my maids had to alter and shorten them, which they +did with rather a bad grace. + +A most interesting operation that very cold year was taking ice out of +the big pond at the foot of the hill. The ice was several inches +thick, and beautifully clear in the middle of the pond; toward the +edges the reeds and long grass had all got frozen into it, and it was +rather difficult to get the big blocks out. We had one of the farm +carts with a pair of strong horses, and three or four men with axes +and a long pointed stick. It was so solid that we all stood on the +pond while the men were cutting their first square hole in the middle. +It was funny to see the fish swimming about under the ice. + +The whole village of course looked on, and the children were much +excited, and wanted to come and slide on the ice, but I got nervous as +the hole got bigger and the ice at the edges thinner, so we all +adjourned to the road and watched operations from there. + +There were plenty of fish in the pond, and once a year it was +thoroughly drained and cleaned--the water drawn off, and the bottom of +the pond, which got choked up with mud and weeds, cleared out. They +made a fine haul of fish on those occasions from the small pools that +were left on each side while the cleaning was going on. + +Our ice-house was a godsend to all the countryside. Whenever any one +was ill, and ice was wanted, they always came to the chateau. Our good +old doctor was not at all in the movement as regarded fresh air and +cold water, but ice he often wanted. He was a rough, kindly old man, +quite the type of the country practitioner--a type that is also +disappearing, like everything else. Everybody knew his cabriolet (with +a box at the back where he kept his medicine chest and instruments), +with a strong brown horse that trotted all day and all night up and +down the steep hills in all weathers. A very small boy was always with +him to hold the horse while he made his visits. + +Our doctor was very kind to the poor, and never refused to go out at +night. It was funny to see him arrive on a cold day, enveloped in so +many cloaks and woollen comforters that it took him some time to get +out of his wraps. He had a gruff voice, and heavy black overhanging +eyebrows which frightened people at first, but they soon found out +what a kind heart there was beneath such a rough exterior, and the +children loved him. He had always a box of liquorice lozenges in his +waistcoat pocket which he distributed freely to the small ones. + +The country doctors about us now are a very different type--much +younger men, many foreigners. There are two Russians and a Greek in +some of the small villages near us. I believe they are very good. I +met the Greek one day at the keeper's cottage. He was looking after +the keeper's wife, who was very ill. It seemed funny to see a Greek, +with one of those long Greek names ending in "popolo," in a poor +little French village almost lost in the woods; but he made a very +good impression on me--was very quiet, didn't give too much medicine +(apothecaries' bills are always such a terror to the poor), and spoke +kindly to the woman. He comes still in a cabriolet, but his Russian +colleague has an automobile--indeed so have now many of the young +French doctors. I think there is a little rivalry between the +Frenchmen and the foreigners, but the latter certainly make their way. + +What is very serious now is the open warfare between the cure and the +school-master. When I first married, the school-masters and mistresses +took their children to church, always sat with them and kept them in +order. The school-mistress sometimes played the organ. Now they not +only don't go to church themselves, but they try to prevent the +children from going. The result is that half the children don't go +either to the church or to the catechism. + +I had a really annoying instance of this state of things one year when +we wanted to make a Christmas tree and distribution of warm clothes at +Montigny, a lonely little village not far from us. We talked it over +with the cure and the school-master. They gave us the names and ages +of all the children, and were both much pleased to have a fete in +their quiet little corner. I didn't suggest a service in the church, +as I thought that might perhaps be a difficulty for the school-master. + +Two days before the fete I had a visit from the cure of Montigny, who +looked embarrassed and awkward; had evidently something on his mind, +and finally blurted out that he was very sorry he couldn't be present +at the Christmas tree, as he was obliged to go to Reims that day. I, +much surprised and decidedly put out: "You are going to Reims the one +day in the year when we come and make a fete in your village? It is +most extraordinary, and surprises me extremely. The date has been +fixed for weeks, and I hold very much to your being there." + +He still persisted, looking very miserable and uncomfortable, and +finally said he was going away on purpose, so as not to be at the +school-house. He liked the school-master very much, got on with him +perfectly; he was intelligent and taught the children very well; but +all school-masters who had anything to do with the Church or the cure +were "malnotes." The mayor of Montigny was a violent radical; and +surely if he heard that the cure was present at our fete in the +school-house, the school-master would be dismissed the next day. The +man was over thirty, with wife and children; it would be difficult for +him to find any other employment; and he himself would regret him, as +his successor might be much worse and fill the children's heads with +impossible ideas. + +I was really very much vexed, and told him I would talk it over with +my son and see what we could do. The poor little cure was much +disappointed, but begged me not to insist upon his presence. + +A little later the school-master arrived, also very much embarrassed, +saying practically the same thing--that he liked the cure very much. +He never talked politics, nor interfered in any way with his +parishioners. Whenever any one was ill or in trouble, he was always +the first person to come forward and nurse and help. But he saw him +very little. If I held to the cure being present at the Christmas +tree, of course he could say nothing; but he would certainly be +dismissed the next day. He was married--had nothing but his salary; it +would be a terrible blow to him. + +I was very much perplexed, particularly as the time was short and I +couldn't get hold of the mayor. So we called a family council--Henrietta +and Francis were both at home--and decided that we must let our fete +take place without the cure. The school-master was very grateful, and +said he would take my letter to the post-office. I had to write to the +cure to tell him what we had decided, and that he might go to Reims. + +One of our great amusements in the winter was the hunting. We knew +very well the two gentlemen, Comtes de B. and de L., who hunted the +Villers-Cotterets forest, and often rode with them. It was beautiful +riding country--stretches of grass alongside the hard highroad, where +one could have a capital canter, the only difficulty being the +quantity of broad, low ditches made for the water to run off. Once the +horses knew them they took them quite easily in their stride, but they +were a little awkward to manage at first. The riding was very +different from the Roman Campagna, which was my only experience. There +was very little to jump; long straight alleys, with sometimes a big +tree across the road, occasionally ditches; nothing like the very +stiff fences and stone walls one meets in the Campagna, or the +slippery bits of earth (tufa) where the horses used to slide sometimes +in the most uncomfortable way. One could gallop for miles in the +Villers-Cotterets forest with a loose rein. It was disagreeable +sometimes when we left the broad alleys and took little paths in and +out of the trees. When the wood was thick and the branches low, I was +always afraid one would knock me off the saddle or come into my eyes. +Some of the meets were most picturesque; sometimes in the heart of the +forest at a great carrefour, alleys stretching off in every direction, +hemmed in by long straight lines of winter trees on each side, with a +thick, high undergrowth of ferns, and a broad-leaved plant I didn't +know, which remained green almost all winter. It was pretty to see the +people arriving from all sides, in every description of +vehicle--breaks, dog-carts, victorias, farmer's gigs--grooms with led +horses, hunting men in green or red coats, making warm bits of colour +in the rather severe landscape. The pack of hounds, white with brown +spots, big, powerful animals, gave the valets de chiens plenty to do. +Apparently they knew all their names, as we heard frequent admonitions +to Comtesse, Diane (a very favourite name for hunting dogs in France), +La Grise, etc., to keep quiet, and not make little excursions into the +woods. As the words were usually accompanied by a cut of the whip, the +dogs understood quite well, and remained a compact mass on the side of +the road. There was the usual following of boys, tramps, and stray +bucherons (woodmen), and when the day was fine, and the meet not too +far, a few people would come from the neighbouring villages, or one or +two carriages from the livery stables of Villers-Cotterets, filled +with strangers who had been attracted by the show and the prospect of +spending an afternoon in the forest. A favourite meet was at the +pretty little village of Ivors, standing just on the edge of the +forest not far from us. It consisted of one long street, a church, and +a chateau at one end. The chateau had been a fine one, but was fast +going to ruin, uninhabited, paint and plaster falling off, roof and +walls remaining, and showing splendid proportions, but had an air of +decay and neglect that was sad to see in such a fine place. The owner +never lived there; had several other places. An agent came down +occasionally, and looked after the farm and woods. There was a fine +double court-yard and enormous "communs," a large field only +separating the kitchen garden from the forest. A high wall in fairly +good condition surrounded the garden and small park. On a hunting +morning the little place quite waked up, and it was pretty to see the +dogs and horses grouped under the walls of the old chateau, and the +hunting men in their bright coats moving about among the peasants and +carters in their dark-blue smocks. + +The start was very pretty--one rode straight into the forest, the +riders spreading in all directions. The field was never very +large--about thirty--I the only lady. The cor de chasse was a +delightful novelty to me, and I soon learned all the calls--the +debouche, the vue and the hallali, when the poor beast is at the last +gasp. The first time I saw the stag taken I was quite miserable. We +had had a splendid gallop. I was piloted by one of the old stagers, +who knew every inch of the forest, and who promised I should be in at +the death, if I would follow him, "mais il faut me suivre partout, +avez-vous peur?" As he was very stout, and not particularly well +mounted, and I had a capital English mare, I was quite sure I could +pass wherever he could. He took me through all sorts of queer little +paths, the branches sometimes so low that it didn't seem possible to +get through, but we managed it. Sometimes we lost sight of the hunt +entirely, but he always guided himself by the sound of the horns, +which one hears at a great distance. Once a stag bounded across the +road just in front of us, making our horses shy violently, but he said +that was not the one we were after. I wondered how he knew, but didn't +ask any questions. Once or twice we stopped in the thick of the woods, +having apparently lost ourselves entirely, not hearing a sound, and +then in the distance there would be the faint sound of the horn, +enough for him to distinguish the vue, which meant that they were +still running. Suddenly, very near, we heard the great burst of the +hallali--horses, dogs, riders, all joining in; and pushing through the +brushwood we found ourselves on the edge of a big pond, almost a lake. +The stag, a fine one, was swimming about, nearly finished, his eyes +starting out of his head, and his breast shaken with great sobs. The +whole pack of dogs was swimming after him, the hunters all swarming +down to the edge, sounding their horns, and the master of hounds +following in a small flatboat, waiting to give the coup de grace with +his carbine when the poor beast should attempt to get up the bank. It +was a sickening sight. I couldn't stand it, and retreated (we had all +dismounted) back into the woods, much to the surprise and disgust of +my companion, who was very proud and pleased at having brought me in +at the death among the very first. Of course, one gets hardened, and a +stag at bay is a fine sight. In the forest they usually make their +last stand against a big tree, and sell their lives dearly. The dogs +sometimes get an ugly blow. I was really very glad always when the +stag got away. I had all the pleasure and excitement of the hunt +without having my feelings lacerated at the end of the day. The sound +of the horns and the unwonted stir in the country had brought out all +the neighbourhood, and the inhabitants of the little village, +including the cure and the chatelaine of the small chateau near, soon +appeared upon the scene. The cure, a nice, kindly faced old man, with +white hair and florid complexion, was much interested in all the +details of the hunt. It seems the stag is often taken in these ponds, +les etangs de la ramee, which are quite a feature in the country, and +one of the sights of the Villers-Cotterets forest, where strangers are +always brought. They are very picturesque; the trees slope down to the +edge of the ponds, and when the bright autumn foliage is reflected in +the water the effect is quite charming. + +Mme. de M., the chatelaine, was the type of the grande dame Francaise, +fine, clear-cut features, black eyes, and perfectly white hair, very +well arranged. She was no longer young, but walked with a quick, light +step, a cane in her hand. She, too, was much interested, such an +influx of people, horses, dogs, and carriages (for in some mysterious +way the various vehicles always seemed to find their way to the +finish). It was an event in the quiet little village. She admired my +mare very much, which instantly won my affections. She asked us to +come back with her to the chateau--it was only about a quarter of an +hour's walk--to have some refreshment after our long day; so I held up +my skirt as well as I could, and we walked along together. The chateau +is not very large, standing close to the road in a small park, really +more of a manor house than a chateau. She took us into the +drawing-room just as stiff and bare as all the others I had seen, a +polished parquet floor, straight-backed, hard chairs against the wall +(the old lady herself looked as if she had sat up straight on a hard +chair all her life). In the middle of the room was an enormous +palm-tree going straight up to the ceiling. She said it had been there +for years and always remained when she went to Paris in the spring. +She was a widow, lived alone in the chateau with the old servants. Her +daughter and grandchildren came occasionally to stay with her. She +gave us wine and cake, and was most agreeable. I saw her often +afterward, both in the country and Paris, and loved to hear her talk. +She had remained absolutely ancien regime, couldn't understand modern +life and ways at all. One of the things that shocked her beyond words +was to see her granddaughters and their young friends playing tennis +with young men in flannels. In her day a young man in bras de chemise +would have been ashamed to appear before ladies in such attire. We +didn't stay very long that day, as we were far from home, and the +afternoon was shortening fast. The retraite was sometimes long when we +had miles of hard road before us, until we arrived at the farm or +village where the carriage was waiting. When we could walk our horses +it was bearable, but sometimes when they broke into a jog-trot, which +nothing apparently could make them change, it was very fatiguing after +a long day. + +Sometimes, when we had people staying with us, we followed the hunt in +the carriage. We put one of the keepers of the Villers-Cotterets +forest on the box, and it was wonderful how much we could see. The +meet was always amusing, but when once the hunt had moved off, and the +last stragglers disappeared in the forest, it didn't seem as if there +was any possibility of catching them; and sometimes we would drive in +a perfectly opposite direction, but the old keeper knew all about the +stags and their haunts when they would break out and cross the road, +and when they would double and go back into the woods. We were waiting +one day in the heart of the forest, at one of the carrefours, miles +away apparently from everything, and an absolute stillness around us. +Suddenly there came a rush and noise of galloping horses, baying +hounds and horns, and a flash of red and green coats dashed by, +disappearing in an instant in the thick woods before we had time to +realize what it was. It was over in a moment--seemed an hallucination. +We saw and heard nothing more, and the same intense stillness +surrounded us. We had the same sight, the stag taken in the water, +some years later, when we were alone at the chateau. Mme. A. was dead, +and her husband had gone to Paris to live. We were sitting in the +gallery one day after breakfast, finishing our coffee, and making +plans for the day, when suddenly we saw red spots and moving figures +in the distance, on the hills opposite, across the canal. Before we +had time to get glasses and see what was happening, the children came +rushing in to say the hunt was in the woods opposite, the horns +sounding the hallali, and the stag probably in the canal. With the +glasses we made out the riders quite distinctly, and soon heard faint +echoes of the horn. We all made a rush for hats and coats, and started +off to the canal. We had to go down a steep, slippery path which was +always muddy in all weathers, and across a rather rickety narrow +plank, also very slippery. As we got nearer, we heard the horns very +well, and the dogs yelping. By the time we got to the bridge, which was +open to let a barge go through, everything had disappeared--horses, +dogs, followers, and not a sound of horn or hoof. One solitary +horseman only, who had evidently lost the hunt and didn't know which +way to go. We lingered a little, much disgusted, but still hoping we +might see something, when suddenly we heard again distant sounds of +horns and yelping dogs. The man on the other side waved his cap +wildly, pointed to the woods, and started off full gallop. In a few +minutes the hill slope was alive with hunters coming up from all +sides. We were nearly mad with impatience, but couldn't swim across +the canal, the bridge was still open, the barge lumbering through. The +children with their Fraeulein and some of the party crossed a little +lower down on a crazy little plank, which I certainly shouldn't have +dared attempt, and at last the bargeman took pity on us and put us +across. We raced along the bank as fast as we could, but the canal +turns a great deal, and a bend prevented our seeing the stag, with the +hounds at his heels, galloping down the slope and finally jumping +into the canal, just where it widens out and makes a sort of lake +between our hamlet of Bourneville and Marolles. It was a pretty sight, +all the hunters dismounted, walking along the edge of the water, +sounding their hallali, the entire population of Bourneville and +Marolles and all our household arriving in hot haste, and groups of +led horses and valets de chiens in their green coats half-way up the +slope. The stag, a very fine one, was swimming round and round, every +now and then making an effort to get up the bank, and falling back +heavily--he was nearly done, half his body sinking in the water, and +his great eyes looking around to see if any one would help him. I went +back to the barge (they had stayed, too, to see the sight), and the +woman, a nice, clean, motherly body with two babies clinging to her, +was much excited over the cruelty of the thing. + +[Illustration: I suggested that the whole chasse should adjourn to the +chateau.] + +"Madame trouve que c'est bien de tourmenter une pauvre bete qui ne +fait de mal a personne, pour s'amuser?" Madame found that rather +difficult to answer, and turned the conversation to her life on the +barge. The minute little cabin looked clean, with several pots of red +geraniums, clean muslin curtains, a canary bird, and a nondescript +sort of dog, who, she told me, was very useful, taking care of the +children and keeping them from falling into the water when she was +obliged to leave them on the boat while she went on shore to get her +provisions. I asked: "_How_ does he keep them from falling into the +water--does he take hold of their clothes?" "No, I leave them in the +cabin, when I am obliged to go ashore, and he stands at the door and +barks and won't let them come out." While I was talking to her I heard +a shot, and realised that the poor stag had been finished at last. It +was early in the afternoon--three o'clock, and I suggested that the +whole chasse should adjourn to the chateau for gouter. This they +promptly accepted, and started off to find their horses. Then I had +some misgivings as to what I could give them for gouter. We were a +small party, mostly women and children. W. was away, and I thought +that probably the chef, who was a sportsman as well as a cook, was +shooting (he had hired a small chasse not far from us); I had told him +there was nothing until dinner. I had visions of twenty or thirty +hungry men and an ordinary tea-table, with some thin bread and butter, +a pot of damson jam, and some sables, so I sent off Francis's tutor, +the stable-boy, and the gardener's boy to the chateau as fast as their +legs could carry them, to find somebody, anybody, to prepare us as +much food as they could, and to sacrifice the dinner at once, to make +sandwiches--tea and chocolate, of course, were easily provided. + +We all started back to the house up the steep, muddy path, some of the +men with us leading their horses, some riding round by Marolles to +give orders to the breaks and various carriages to come to the +chateau. The big gates were open, Hubert there to arrange at once for +the accommodation of so many horses and equipages, and the billiard +and dining-rooms, with great wood-fires, looking most comfortable. The +chasseurs begged not to come into the drawing-room, as they were +covered with mud, so they brushed off what they could in the hall, and +we went at once to the gouter. It was funny to see our quiet +dining-room invaded by such a crowd of men, some red-coated, some +green, all with breeches and high muddy boots. The master of hounds, +M. Menier, proposed to make the curee on the lawn after tea, which I +was delighted to accept. We had an English cousin staying with us who +knew all about hunting in her own country, but had never seen a French +chasse a courre, and she was most keen about it. The gouter was very +creditable. It seems that they had just caught the chef, who had been +attracted by the unusual sounds and bustle on the hillside, and who +had also come down to see the show. He promptly grasped the situation, +hurried back to the house, and produced beef and mayonnaise +sandwiches, and a splendid savarin with whipped cream in the middle +(so we naturally didn't have any dessert--but nobody minded), tea, +chocolate, and whiskey, of course. As soon as it began to get dark we +all adjourned to the lawn. All the carriages, the big breaks with four +horses, various lighter vehicles, grooms and led horses were massed at +the top of the lawn, just where it rises slightly to meet the woods. A +little lower down was Hubert, the huntsman (a cousin of our coachman, +Hubert, who was very pleased to do the honours of his stable-yard), +with one or two valets de chiens, the pack of dogs, and a great whip, +which was very necessary to keep the pack back until he allowed them +to spring upon the carcass of the stag. He managed them beautifully. +Two men held up the stag--the head had already been taken off; it was +a fine one, with broad, high antlers, a dix cors. Twice Hubert led his +pack up, all yelping and their eyes starting out of their heads, and +twice drove them back, but the third time he let them spring on the +carcass. It was an ugly sight, the compact mass of dogs, all snarling +and struggling, noses down and tails up. In a few minutes nothing was +left of the poor beast but bones, and not many of them. Violet had les +honneurs du pied (the hoof of one of the hind legs of the stag), which +is equivalent to the "brush" one gives in fox-hunting. She thanked M. +M., the master of hounds, very prettily and said she would have it +arranged and hang it up in the hall of her English home, in +remembrance of a lovely winter afternoon, and her first experience of +what still remains of the old French venerie. The horns sounded again +the curee and the depart, and the whole company gradually dispersed, +making quite a cortege as they moved down the avenue, horses and +riders disappearing in the gray mist that was creeping up from the +canal, and the noise of wheels and hoofs dying away in the distance. + +[Illustration: Some red-coated, some green, all with breeches and high +muddy boots.] + + * * * * * + +We were pottering about in our woods one day, waiting for Labbez (the +keeper) to come and decide about some trees that must be cut down, +when a most miserable group emerged from one of the side alleys and +slipped by so quickly and quietly that we couldn't speak to them. A +woman past middle age, lame, unclothed really--neither shoes nor +stockings, not even a chemise--two sacks of coarse stuff, one tied +around her waist half covering her bare legs, one over her shoulders; +two children with her, a big overgrown girl of about twelve, equally +without clothing, an old black bodice gaping open over her bare skin, +held together by one button, a short skirt so dirty and torn that one +wondered what kept it on, no shoes nor stockings, black hair falling +straight down over her forehead and eyes; the boy, about six, in a +dirty apron, also over his bare skin. I was horrified, tried to make +them turn and speak to me, but they disappeared under the brushwood as +quickly as they could, "evidently up to no good," said W. In a few +moments the keeper appeared, red and breathless, having been running +after poachers--a woman the worst of the lot. We described the party +we had just seen, and he was wildly excited, wanted to start again in +pursuit, said they were just the ones he was looking for. The woman +belonged to a band of poachers and vagabonds they could not get hold +of. They could trace her progress sometimes by the blood on the grass +where the thorns and sharp stones had torn her feet. It seems they +were quite a band, living anywhere in the woods, in old +charcoal-burners' huts or under the trees, never staying two nights in +the same place. There are women, and children, and babies, who appear +and disappear, in the most extraordinary manner. Many of them have +been condemned, and have had two weeks or a month of prison. One +family is employed by one of the small farmers near, who lets them +live in a tumbledown hut in the midst of his woods, and that is their +centre. We passed by there two or three days later, when we were +riding across the fields, and anything so miserable I never saw; the +house half falling to pieces, no panes of glass, dirty rags stuffed in +the windows, no door at all, bundles of dirty straw inside, a pond of +filthy water at one side of the house, two or three dirty children +playing in it, and inside at the opening, where the door should have +been, the same lame woman in her two sacks. She glowered at us, +standing defiantly at the opening to prevent our going in, in case we +had any such intention. I suppose she had various rabbits and hares +hung up inside she couldn't have accounted for. There was no other +habitation anywhere near; no cart or vehicle of any kind could have +got there. We followed a narrow path, hardly visible in the long +grass, and the horses had to pick their way--one couldn't imagine a +more convenient trysting-place for vagabonds and tramps. It seems +incredible that such things should go on at our doors, so to speak, +but it is very difficult to get at them. Our keepers and M. de M., +whose property touches ours, have had various members of the gang +arrested, but they always begin again. The promiscuity of living is +something awful, girls and young men squatting and sleeping in the +same room on heaps of dirty rags. There have been some arrests for +infanticide, when a baby's appearance and disappearance was too +flagrant, but the girls don't care. They do their time of prison, come +out quite untamed by prison discipline, and begin again their wild, +free life. One doesn't quite understand the farmer who gives any +shelter to such a bad lot, but I fancy there is a tacit understanding +that his hares and rabbits must be left unmolested. + +It is amusing to see the keepers when they suspect poachers are in +their woods. When the leaves are off they can see at a great distance, +and with their keen, trained eyes make out quite well when a moving +object is a hare, or a roebuck, or a person on all fours, creeping +stealthily along. They have powerful glasses, too, which help them +very much. They, too, have their various tricks, like the poachers. As +the gun-barrel is seen at a great distance when the sun strikes it, +they cover it with a green stuff that takes the general tint of the +leaves and the woods, and post themselves, half hidden in the bushes, +near some of the quarries, where the poachers generally come. Then +they give a gun to an under-strapper, telling him to stand in some +prominent part of the woods, _his_ gun well in sight. That, of course, +the poachers see at once, so they make straight for the other side, +and often fall upon the keepers who are lying in wait for them. As a +general rule, they don't make much resistance, as they know the +keepers will shoot--not to kill them, but a shot in the ankle or leg +that will disable them for some time. I had rather a weakness for one +poaching family. The man was young, good-looking, and I don't really +believe a bad lot, but he had been unfortunate, had naturally a high +temper, and couldn't stand being howled at and sworn at when things +didn't go exactly as the patron wanted; consequently he never stayed +in any place, tried to get some other work, but was only fit for the +woods, where he knew every tree and root and the habits and haunts of +all the animals. He had a pretty young wife and two children, who had +also lived in the woods all their lives, and could do nothing else. +The wife came to see me one day to ask for some clothes for herself +and the children, which I gave, of course, and then tried mildly to +speak to her about her husband, who spent half his time in prison, and +was so sullen and scowling when he came out that everybody gave him a +wide berth. The poor thing burst into a passion of tears and +incoherent defence of her husband. Everybody had been so hard with +him. When he had done his best, been up all night looking after the +game, and then was rated and sworn at by his master before every one +because un des Parisiens didn't know what to do with a gun when he had +one in his hand, and couldn't shoot a hare that came and sat down in +front of him, it was impossible not to answer un peu vivement +peut-etre, and it was hard to be discharged at once without a chance +of finding anything else, etc., and at last winding up with the +admission that he did take hares and rabbits occasionally; but when +there was nothing to eat in the house and the children were crying +with hunger, what was he to do? Madame would never have known or +missed the rabbits, and after all, le Bon Dieu made them for +everybody. I tried to persuade W. to take him as a workman in the +woods, with the hope of getting back as under-keeper, but he would not +hear of it, said the man was perfectly unruly and violent-tempered, +and would demoralize all the rest. They remained some time in the +country, and the woman came sometimes to see me, but she had grown +hard, evidently thought I could have done something for her husband, +and couldn't understand that as long as he went on snaring game no one +would have anything to do with him--always repeating the same thing, +that a Bon Dieu had made the animals pour tout le monde. Of course it +must be an awful temptation for a man who has starving children at +home, and who knows that he has only to walk a few yards in the woods +to find rabbits in plenty; and one can understand the feeling that le +Bon Dieu provided food for all his children, and didn't mean some to +starve, while others lived on the fat of the land. + +It was a long time before I could get accustomed to seeing women work +in the fields (which I had never seen in America). In the cold autumn +days, when they were picking the betterave (a big beet root) that is +used to make sugar in France, it made me quite miserable to see them. +Bending all day over the long rows of beets, which required quite an +effort to pull out of the hard earth, their hands red and chapped, +sometimes a cold wind whistling over the fields that no warm garment +could keep out, and they never had any really warm garment. We met an +old woman one day quite far from any habitation, who was toiling home, +dragging her feet, in wretched, half-worn shoes, over the muddy +country roads, who stopped and asked us if we hadn't a warm petticoat +to give her. She knew me, called me by name, and said she lived in the +little hamlet near the chateau. She looked miserably cold and tired. I +asked where she came from, and what she had been doing all day. +"Scaring the crows in M. A.'s fields," was the answer. "What does your +work consist of?" I asked. "Oh, I just sit there and make a +noise--beat the top of an old tin kettle with sticks and shake a bit +of red stuff in the air." Poor old woman, she looked half paralyzed +with cold and fatigue, and I was really almost ashamed to be seated so +warmly and comfortably in the carriage, well wrapped up in furs and +rugs, and should have quite understood if she had poured out a torrent +of abuse. It must rouse such bitter and angry feeling when these poor +creatures, half frozen and half starved, see carriages rolling past +with every appliance of wealth and luxury. I suppose what saves us is +that they are so accustomed to their lives, the long days of hard +work, the wretched, sordid homes, the insufficient meals, the +quantities of children clamouring for food and warmth. Their parents +and grandparents have lived the same lives, and anything else would +seem as unattainable as the moon, or some fairy tale. There has been +one enormous change in all the little cottages--the petroleum lamp. +All have got one--petroleum is cheap and gives much more light and +heat than the old-fashioned oil lamp. In the long winter afternoons, +when one must have light for work of any kind, the petroleum lamp is a +godsend. We often noticed the difference coming home late. The +smallest hamlets looked quite cheerful with the bright lights shining +through the cracks and windows. I can't speak much from _personal_ +experience of the _inside_ of the cottages--I was never much given to +visiting among the poor. I suppose I did not take it in the right +spirit, but I could never see the poetry, the beautiful, patient +lives, the resignation to their humble lot. I only saw the dirt, and +smelt all the bad smells, and heard how bad most of the young ones +were to all the poor old people. "Cela mange comme quatre, et cela +n'est plus bon a rien," I heard one woman remark casually to her poor +old father sitting huddled up in a heap near the fire. I don't know, +either, whether they liked to have us come. What suited them best was +to send the children to the chateau. They always got a meal and a warm +jacket and petticoat. + +[Illustration: Peasant women.] + + + + +V + +CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS + + +We were very particular about attending all important ceremonies at La +Ferte, as we rarely went to church there except on great occasions. We +had our service regularly at the chateau every Sunday morning. All the +servants, except ours, were Protestants, Swiss generally, and very +respectable they looked--all the women in black dresses and white +caps--when they assembled in M. A.'s library, sitting on cane chairs near +the door. + +Some, in fact most, Protestants in France attach enormous importance to +having all their household Protestant. A friend of mine, a Protestant, +having tea with me one day in Paris was rather pleased with the bread or +little "croissants," and asked me where they came from. I said I didn't +know, but would ask the butler. That rather surprised her. Then she +said, "Your baker of course is a Protestant." That I didn't know either, +and, what was much worse in her eyes, I didn't care. She was quite +distressed, gave me the address of an excellent Swiss Protestant baker +and begged me to sever all connection with the Catholic at once. I asked +her if she really thought dangerous papist ideas were kneaded in with +the bread, but she would not listen to my mild "persiflage," and went +away rather anxious about my spiritual welfare. + +We went always to the church at La Ferte for the fete of St. Cecile, as +the Fanfare played in the church on that day. The Fanfare was a very +important body. Nearly all the prominent citizens of La Ferte, who had +any idea of music, were members--the butcher, the baker, the coiffeur, +etc. The Mayor was president and walked at the head of the procession +when they filed into the church. I was "Presidente d'Honneur" and always +wore my badge pinned conspicuously on my coat. It was a great day for +the little town. Weeks before the fete we used to hear all about it from +the coiffeur when he came to the chateau to shave the gentlemen. He +played the big drum and thought the success of the whole thing depended +on his performance. He proposed to bring his instrument one morning and +play his part for us. We were very careful to be well dressed on that +day and discarded the short serge skirts we generally wore. All the La +Ferte ladies, particularly the wives and sisters of the performers, put +on their best clothes, and their feelings would have been hurt if we had +not done the same. + +In fact it was a little difficult to dress up to the occasion. The older +women all had jet and lace on their dresses, with long trailing skirts, +and the younger ones, even children, had wonderful hats with +feathers--one or two long white ones. + +It was a pretty, animated sight as we arrived. All along the road we had +met bands of people hurrying on to the town--the children with clean +faces and pinafores, the men with white shirts, and even the old +grandmothers--their shawls on their shoulders and their turbans starched +stiff--were hobbling along with their sticks, anxious to arrive. We +heard sounds of music as we got to the church--the procession was +evidently approaching. The big doors were wide open, a great many people +already inside. We looked straight down the nave to the far end where +the high altar, all flowers and candles, made a bright spot of colour. +Red draperies and banners were hanging from the columns--vases and +wreaths of flowers at the foot of the statues of the saints; chairs and +music-stands in the chancel. We went at once to our places. The cure, +with his choir boys in their little short white soutanes, red petticoats +and red shoes, was just coming out of the sacristy and the procession +was appearing at the bottom of the church. First came the Mayor in a +dress coat and white cravat--the "Adjoint" and one of the municipal +council just behind, then the banner--rather a heavy one, four men +carried it. After that the "pompiers," all in uniform, each man carrying +his instrument; they didn't play as they came up the aisle, stopped +their music at the door; but when they did begin--I don't know exactly +at what moment of the mass--it was something appalling. The first piece +was a military march, executed with all the artistic conviction and +patriotic ardour of their young lungs (they were mostly young men). We +were at the top of the church, very near the performers, and the first +bursts of trumpets and bugles made one jump. They played several times. +It didn't sound too badly at the "Elevation" when they had chosen rather +a soft (comparatively) simple melody. The cure preached a very pretty, +short sermon, telling them about Saint Cecile, the delicately nurtured +young Roman who was not afraid to face martyrdom and death for the sake +of her religion. The men listened most attentively and seemed much +interested when he told them how he had seen in Rome the church of St. +Cecile built over the ruin of the saint's house--the sacristy just over +her bath-room. I asked him how he could reconcile it to his conscience +to speak of the melodious sounds that accompanied the prayers of the +faithful, but he said one must look sometimes at the intention more than +at the result. + +There was a certain _harmony_ among the men when they were practising +and preparing their music for the church, and as long as they held to +coming and gave up their evenings to practising, instead of spending +them in the wine shops, we must do all we could to encourage them. + +The procession went out in the same order--halted at the church door and +then W. made them a nice little speech, saying he was pleased to see how +numerous they were and how much improved--they would certainly take an +honourable place in the concours de fanfares of the department. They +escorted the Mayor back to his house playing their march and wound up +with a copious dejeuner at the "Sauvage." Either the Mayor or the +"Adjoint" always went to the banquet. W. gave the champagne, but +abstained from the feast. + +They really did improve as they went on. They were able to get better +instruments and were stimulated by rival fanfares in the neighbourhood. +They were very anxious to come and play at the chateau, and we promised +they should whenever a fitting occasion should present itself. + +We had a visit from the Staals one year. The Baron de Staal was Russian +Ambassador in England, and we had been colleagues there for many years. +We asked the Fanfare to come one Sunday afternoon while they were there. +We had a little difficulty over the Russian National Hymn, which they, +naturally, wanted to play. The Chef de Fanfare came to see me one day +and we looked over the music together. I had it only for the piano, but +I explained the tempo and repetitions to him and he arranged it very +well for his men. They made quite an imposing entrance. Half the +population of La Ferte escorted them (all much excited by the idea of +seeing the Russian Ambassador), and they were reinforced by the two +villages they passed through. We waited for them in the gallery--doors +and windows open. They played the spirited French march "Sambre et +Meuse" as they came up the avenue. It sounded quite fine in the open +air. They halted and saluted quite in military style as soon as they +came in front of the gallery--stopped their march and began immediately +the Russian Hymn, playing it very well. + +They were much applauded, we in the gallery giving the signal and their +friends on the lawn joining in enthusiastically. They were a motley +crowd--over a hundred I should think--ranging from the municipal +councillor of La Ferte, in his high hat and black cloth Sunday coat, to +the humpbacked daughter of the village carpenter and the idiot boy who +lived in a cave on the road and frightened the children out of their +wits by running out and making faces at them whenever they passed. They +played three or four times, then W. called up one or two of the +principal performers and presented them to the Staals. Mme. de Staal +spoke to them very prettily, thanked them for playing the Russian Hymn +and said she would like to hear the "Sambre et Meuse" again. That, of +course, delighted them and they marched off to the strains of their +favourite tune. About half-way down the avenue we heard a few cries of +"Vive la Russie," and then came a burst of cheers. + +Our dinner was rather pleasant that evening. We had the Prefet, M. +Sebline; Senator of the Aisne, Jusserand, present Ambassador to +Washington; Mme. Thenard, of the Comedie Francaise, and several young +people. Jusserand is always a brilliant talker--so easy--no pose of any +kind, and Sebline was interesting, telling about all sorts of old +customs in the country. + +Though we were so near Paris, hardly two hours by the express, the +people had remained extraordinarily primitive. There were no +manufacturing towns anywhere near us, nothing but big farms, forests and +small far-apart villages. The modern socialist-radical ideas were +penetrating very slowly into the heads of the people--they were quite +content to be humble tillers of the soil, as their fathers had been +before them. The men had worked all their lives on the farms, the women +too; beginning quite young, taking care of cows and geese, picking +beet-root, etc. + +What absolutely changed the men was the three years military service. +After knocking about in garrison towns, living with a great many people +always, having all sorts of amusements easily at hand and a certain +independence, once the service of the day was over, they found the dull +regular routine of the farm very irksome. In the summer it was well +enough--harvest time was gay, everyone in the fields, but in the short, +cold winter days, with the frozen ground making all the work doubly +hard, just enough food and no distraction of any kind but a pipe in the +kitchen after supper, the young men grew terribly restive and +discontented. Very few of them remain, and the old traditions handed +down from father to son for three or four generations are disappearing. +After dinner we had music and some charming recitations by Mme. Thenard. +Her first one was a comic monologue which always had the wildest success +in London, "Je suis veuve," beginning it with a ringing peal of laughter +which was curiously contagious--everyone in the room joined in. I like +her better in some of her serious things. When she said "le bon gite" +and "le petit clairon," by Paul Deroulede, in her beautiful deep +voice, I had a decided choke in my throat. + +We often had music at the chateau. Many of our artist friends came +down--glad to have two or three days rest in the quiet old house. We had +an amusing experience once with the young organist from La Ferte--almost +turned his hair gray. He had taught himself entirely and managed his old +organ very well. He had heard vaguely of Wagner and we had always +promised him we would try and play some of his music with two +pianos--eight hands. Four hands are really not enough for such +complicated music. Mlle. Dubois, premier prix du conservatoire--a +beautiful musician--was staying with us one year and we arranged a +concert for one evening, asking the organist to come to dinner. The poor +man was rather terrified at dining at the chateau--had evidently taken +great pains with his dress (a bright pink satin cravat was rather +striking) and thanked the butler most gratefully every time he handed +him a dish--"Je vous remercie beaucoup, Monsieur." We had our two grand +pianos and were going to play the overture of Tannhaeuser, one of the +simplest and most melodious of Wagner's compositions. The performers +were Francis and I, Mlle. Dubois and the organist. It was a little +difficult to arrange who he should play with. He was very nervous at the +idea of playing with Mlle. Dubois--rather frightened of me and in +absolute terror at the idea of playing before W. Finally it was decided +that he and I should take the second piano--he playing the bass. It was +really funny to see him; his eyes were fixed on the music and he counted +audibly and breathlessly all the time, and I heard him muttering +occasionally to himself, "Non ce n'est pas possible," "Non ce n'est pas +cela." + +I must say that the Walpurgis Night for a person playing at sight and +unaccustomed to Wagner's music is an ordeal--however, he acquitted +himself extremely well and we got through our performance triumphantly, +but great drops of perspiration were on his forehead. W. was very nice +to him and Mlle. Dubois quite charming, encouraging him very much. Still +I don't think his evening at the chateau was one of unmixed pleasure, +and I am sure he was glad to have that overture behind him. + +We saw our neighbours very rarely; occasionally some men came to +breakfast. The sous-prefet, one or two of the big farmers or some local +swells who wanted to talk politics to W. One frequent visitor was an +architect from Chateau-Thierry, who had built W.'s farm. He was an +enormous man, very stout and red, always attired in shiny black +broadcloth. He was a very shrewd specimen, very well up in all that +went on in the country and very useful to W. He had a fine appetite, +always tucking his napkin carefully under his chin when he sat down to +table. He talked a great deal one day about his son, who had a good +tenor voice and had just got an engagement at the Opera Comique. Said he +would like us to hear him sing--might he bring him some day to +breakfast? + +He came back two or three weeks later with the young man, who was a +great improvement upon his father. The Paris boulevards and the +coulisses of the opera had quite modified the young provincial. He +talked a good deal at table, was naturally much pleased to have got into +the Opera Comique. As it is a "theatre subventionne" (government +theatre), he considered himself a sort of official functionary. After +breakfast he asked us if we would like to hear him sing--sat down to the +piano, accompanying himself very simply and easily and sang extremely +well. I was much astonished and Mme. A. was delighted, especially when +he sang some old-fashioned songs from the "Dame Blanche" and the "Domino +Noir." The old father was enchanted, a broad smile on his face. He +confided to W. that he had hoped his son would walk in his footsteps and +content himself with a modest position as architect in the country, but +after six months in Paris where he had sent him to learn his +profession his ideas had completely changed and he would not hear of +vegetating in the country. + +[Illustration: A visit at the chateau.] + +We had, too, sometimes a doctor from one of the neighbouring villages. +He had married an Englishwoman. They had a nice house and garden and he +often had English boys over in the summer to learn French. He brought +them occasionally to us for tea and tennis, begging us not to speak +English to them. But that was rather difficult, with the English terms +at tennis--horses and dogs always spoken to in English. One could not +speak French to a fox-terrier bred in Oxfordshire. + + * * * * * + +Another pretty, simple fete was the Blessing of the Flag given by +Francis to the Pompiers of Montigny, our little village in the woods +just above the chateau. My husband had always promised them a flag, but +he died before their society was formed. Three years after his death, +when we were living in the small place which now belongs to my son, a +deputation arrived from Montigny one Sunday afternoon to ask if Francis +would give the flag his father had promised. This of course he was +delighted to do. He knew all the men and they all knew him--had seen him +since he was a baby--all of them had worked in his father's woods, and +two or three of the older ones had taken care of him and his gun when he +first began to shoot. + +His father gave him a gun when he was twelve years old--had it made at +Purdy's in London, a reduced model of his own. No one is allowed to +shoot in France till he is sixteen years old and then must have his +"permis de chasse" duly signed by the Mayor. So it was rather difficult +to get Francis and his gun into the woods--once there they were safe. +Nothing would have induced him to let any of the men carry it. He walked +beside the keeper with his gun over his shoulder just like him; they did +meet two gendarmes one day and quickly the gun was given to some one +else. I think the gendarmes quite realised the situation (Labbey, the +keeper, said they knew all about it), but they were friends of the +family, W.'s appointment, probably, and asked no questions. + +It was necessary of course to consult the local authorities before +deciding such an important question as the presentation of a flag to the +Pompiers. Francis went over two or three days later and interviewed the +cure, the Mayor and the school-master, found out where the flag must be +ordered in Paris and decided the day a fortnight later, a Sunday, of +course. The function was to consist of a service and sermon at the +church and a "vin d'honneur" offered by the Pompiers at the Mairie, +which they hoped Madame Waddington would grace by her presence. + +The flag was duly ordered, sent direct to Montigny and everything was +ready on the appointed day. We had fine weather, a bright, cold November +afternoon; the country looked beautiful, all the trees red and yellow, a +black line of pines in the middle of the woods. The long straggling +village street, ending at the church on the top of the hill, was full of +people; all the children in the middle of the road, their mothers +dashing after them when they heard the horn of the auto. + +We were quite a large party, as the house was full, and we brought all +our guests with us, including an American cousin, who was much +interested in the local festivities. The Pompiers were drawn up in the +court-yard of the Mairie, their beautiful new flag well to the front. +Almost all were in uniform, and those who had not yet been able to get +one wore a clean white shirt and the Pompier's red belt. There was a +cheer and a broad smile on all their faces when we drove up. Francis got +out, as he was to head the procession with the Mayor and the cure. We +went on to the church and stationed ourselves on the steps of the Infant +School to see the cortege arrive. + +It was quite a pretty sight as it wound up the hill: first the banner of +blue silk with gold cords, which was held proudly aloft by two tall +young fellows, then Francis walking between the cure and the Mayor, the +Pompiers immediately behind them, then the Municipal Council, the usual +escort of children that always turns out on such occasions bringing up +the rear. We let the procession pass into the church and then took our +places; a front pew was reserved for the family, but Francis and I sat +on two arm-chairs inside the chancel, just behind the Pompiers. + +The fine old church, which is rather large for such a small village, was +crowded; they told me many people had come from the neighbouring +hamlets. The Montigny people had done their best to beautify their +church; there were a few plants and flowers and some banners and +draperies--church property, which always figured upon any great +occasion. They told us with pride that the school-master had arranged +the music. I suppose the poor man did what he could with the material he +had, but the result was something awful. The chorister, a very old man, +a hundred I should think, played the harmonium, which was as old as he +was. It groaned and wheezed and at times stopped altogether. He started +the cantique with a thin quavering voice which was then taken up by the +school-children, particularly the boys who roared with juvenile +patriotism and energy each time they repeated the last line, "pour notre +drapeau, pour notre patrie." + +The sermon was very good--short and simple. It was preached by the Doyen +of Neuilly--a tall, strong, broad-shouldered man who would have seemed +more at home in a dragoon's uniform than in the soutane. But he knew his +business well, had a fine voice and very good delivery; his peroration +and appeal to the men to "remember always that the flag was the symbol +of obedience, of loyalty, of devotion, to their country and their God," +was really very fine. I almost expected to hear cheers. The French are +very emotional, and respond instantly to any allusion to country or +flag. The uniform (even the Pompier's) has an enormous prestige. Then +came the benediction, the flag held high over the kneeling congregation, +and the ceremony was ended. + +We stopped a few moments after the service to let the procession pass +out and also to thank the preacher and one or two cures who had assisted +on the occasion; they did not come to the "vin d'honneur." + +We walked down to the Mairie, where the Mayor and his Adjoint were +waiting for us; they conducted us to a large room upstairs where there +was a table with champagne bottles, glasses and a big brioche. As soon +as we had taken our places at the top of the room, the Pompiers and +Municipal Council trouped in and Francis made quite a pretty little +speech. It was the first time I had ever heard him speak in public; he +did it very well, was not at all shy. Then there was a pause--the Mayor +filled a glass of champagne, handed it to me, took one himself and we +"trinque'd" solemnly. Still there seemed a little hitch, no one else +took any and there was an air of expectancy. I made a sign to the +school-master, who was also the Adjoint, and he explained to me in a low +voice that he thought it would give great pleasure if I would shake +hands and trinquer with all the Pompiers. So I asked to have all the +glasses filled and made the round, shaking hands with every one. + +Some of them were very shy, could hardly make up their minds to put out +their big, rough hands; some of the old ones were very talkative: "C'est +moi qui suis Jacques, Madame, j'ai nettoye le premier fusil de M. +Francis." Another in a great hurry to get to me: "C'est moi qui ai +remasse le premier lievre de M. Francis," etc. I remember the "premier +lievre" quite well; Francis carried it home himself and dashed into his +father's study swinging the poor beast by its long ears, the blood +dripping from a hole in its neck. It was difficult to scold, the child +was so enchanted, even old Ferdinand did not grumble but came to the +rescue at once with brushes and "savon noir." + +The wine had loosened the tongues and made every one more at ease. I +asked that Hubert (our coachman who had been in W.'s service for +thirty-one years) should be invited to come up and have a glass of +champagne. He knew everybody, having driven W. about in his dog-cart all +over the country. He was delighted to take part in the fete and made his +little speech, saying he had seen Monsieur Francis when he was only a +few hours old, and that he had _grown since_--which joke was received +with great applause. + +Then some of the young men went off with Francis to look at the +automobile, a great novelty at that time. We went out and talked to the +women who were waiting in the street. Every one looked smiling and +pleased to see us; the men all formed again in procession and escorted +us to the end of the street, the whole village naturally following. They +stopped at the foot of the hill, giving us a ringing cheer as we left. + + * * * * * + +I never but once saw the whole neighbourhood assembled--when the only +son of the Baron de L. married. The Baron and his wife were very good +specimens of provincial _noblesse_. He was a tall, heavily-built man, +square-shouldered, with the weather-beaten complexion of a man who spent +all his days riding about his fields and woods; a pleasant, jovial +manner, quite the type of the country gentleman. + +They lived in a charming old Louis XV. chateau almost in the forest of +Villers-Cotterets--their park touching the line of wood. They went +rarely to Paris; lived almost all the year in the country and were +devoted to their place. One just saw the pointed red roof of the chateau +in the trees as one passed on the road. It stood high, a very steep road +leading up to it. At the foot of the hill were market gardens, which +made a very curious effect from a distance--the long rows of glass +"cloches" making huge white spots. The vegetables always looked very +tempting as we passed in the early summer. They were all "primeurs"--the +gardens lying in full sun and were sent off to the Paris market. +Half-way up the slope was a pretty little church almost hidden in the +trees, and a tiny village struggled up the hill and along the road. + +The bride, dressed in white--a slight girlish figure--was standing near +her mother-in-law and had a pretty smile of welcome for all the guests. +It was rather an ordeal for her, as she was a stranger in the country +(she came from the south of France) and every one was looking at the +newcomer. + +It was in the first year of my marriage, my first appearance in the +country, and I was rather puzzled about my dress for the occasion. We +were asked to dinner at seven o'clock. My first idea was to wear full +dress--light-blue satin and diamonds--but a niece of Mme. A.'s, who was +staying with us and who had been to some entertainments in that part of +the country, advised me strongly to dress more simply. "They would not +understand that sort of toilette and I would be overdressed and probably +uncomfortable." So I compromised with a high white dress, no diamonds +and one string of pearls. + +We had a short hour's drive. It was a clear, cold night and we saw the +chateau from a great distance. It was brilliantly lighted. The lights +twinkling through the trees looked like huge fireflies. As we drove into +the rather small court-yard there was quite a stir of carriages arriving +and backing out. The hall doors were wide open; a flood of light +streaming out over the steps--Baron de L. and his son at the door. There +was a hum of voices in the drawing-room and there seemed to be a great +many people. The rooms were handsome--plenty of light, the old tapestry +furniture looked very well, standing straight and stiff against the +wall, and the number of people took away the bare unused look they +generally had. + +All the chateaux of the neighbourhood were represented: The Comte de +Lubersac and his sister had come over from their fine place, Maucreux. +He was a very handsome young man--a great hunter and master of hounds of +the stag hunting in the forest of Villers-Cotterets; his sister, Mlle. +de Lubersac, most attractive, with the face of a saint. She was very +simply dressed in a high black dress. She lived almost the life of a +Sister of Charity--going about all day among the sick and poor, but she +had promised her father, who was a great invalid, almost crippled with +gout, to remain with him as long as he lived. It was only after his +death that she took the vows and entered one of the strictest orders +(Carmelites) in France. + +There were also the chatelaines of Thury en Valois--a fine chateau and +estate, not very far from us in the other direction. They had splendid +gardens and their fruit and vegetables were famous all over the country. +Mme. de Thury was a compatriot--the daughter of an American general; the +young Comte de Melun from Brumetz--very delicate looking, with a refined +student's face. His father was a great friend of the Marechal MacMahon +and one of the leaders of the Catholic clerical party, and the young man +was very religious. Their woods touched ours and once or twice when we +were riding late, we saw him kneeling at a little old shrine, "the White +Lady," which was almost hidden under the big trees--so little left that +the ordinary passer-by would have seen nothing. There were also the +owners of Colinance--rather an ugly square house standing low, +surrounded by a marsh, but a good property--and three or four men I did +not know--the bride's brother and one or two of her relations. + +There was hardly time to introduce every one, as dinner was announced +almost immediately. We were a large party, about twenty. All the women, +except the bride and me, were dressed in black, high or a very little +open--no lace, nor jewels. Henriette was right. I would have looked +absurd if I had worn a low dress. The dinner was very good, very +abundant and very long. The men said the wines were excellent. The talk +was animated enough--it was principally the men who talked. I didn't +think the women said much. I listened only, as I was too new in the +country to be at all up in local topics. + +After coffee the men went off to smoke and we women remained alone for +some time. I wasn't sorry, as one had so few opportunities of seeing the +neighbours, particularly the women, who rarely went out of their own +places. One met the men hunting, or in the train, or at the notary's. + +The notary is a most important person in all small country towns in +France. Everybody consults him, from the big landowner when he has +discussions with his neighbour over right of way, to the peasant who +buys a few metres of land as soon as he has any surplus funds. We were +constantly having rows with one of our neighbours over a little strip of +wood that ran up into ours. Whenever he was angry with us, which +happened quite often (we never knew why), he had a deep, ugly ditch made +just across the road which we always took when we were riding around the +property. The woods were so thick and low, with plenty of thorns, that +we could not get along by keeping on one side and were obliged to go +back and make quite a long detour. The notary did his best to buy it for +us, but the man would never sell--rather enjoyed, I think, having the +power to annoy us. + +Mme. de Thury and I fraternised a little and I should have liked to see +more of her, but soon after that evening they had great trouble. They +had a great deal of illness and lost a son. I never saw Thury till after +both of them were dead. The chateau had been sold, most of the furniture +taken away and the whole place had a deserted, neglected look that made +one feel quite miserable. The big drawing-room was piled up with straw, +over the doors were still two charming dessus-de-porte, the colours +quite fresh--not at all faded--chickens were walking about in another +room, and upstairs in a pretty corner room, with a lovely view over +woods and park, was a collection of photographs, engravings (one the +mother of the late owner), a piece of unfinished tapestry, samplers, +china vases, books, papers, two or three knots of faded ribbon, all +tossed in a corner like a heap of rubbish. The things had evidently been +forgotten in the big move, but it looked melancholy. + +The chateau must have been charming when it was furnished and lived in. +Quantities of rooms, a long gallery with small rooms on one side, the +"garconniere" or bachelors' quarters, led directly into the church, +where many Thurys are sleeping their last sleep. The park was beautiful +and there was capital shooting. W. had often shot there in the old days +when their shooting parties were famous. + +We ended our evening with music, the bride playing extremely well. Mme. +de Thury also sang very well. She had learnt in Italy and sang in quite +bravura style. The evening didn't last very long after the men came in. +Everybody was anxious to get the long, cold drive over. + +I enjoyed myself very much. It was my first experience of a French +country entertainment and it was very different from what I had +expected. Not at all stiff and a most cordial welcome. I thought--rather +naively perhaps--that it was the beginning of many entertainments of +the same kind, but I never dined out again in the country. It is only +fair to say that we never asked any one to dine either. It was not the +habit of the house, and I naturally fell into their ways. Luncheon was +what people liked best, so as not to be too late on the road or to cross +the forest after nightfall, when the darkness was sometimes +impenetrable. Some of the chatelaines received once a week. On that day +a handsome and plentiful luncheon was provided and people came from the +neighbouring chateaux, and even from Paris, when the distance was not +too great and the trains suited. + + * * * * * + +We had quite an excitement one day at the chateau. Francis was riding +with the groom one morning about the end of August, and had hardly got +out of the gates, when he came racing back to tell us that the +manoeuvres were to take place very near us, small detachments of troops +already arriving; and the village people had told him that quite a large +contingent, men and horses, were to be quartered at the chateau. W. sent +him straight off again to the mayor of Marolles--our big village--to +know if his information was correct, and how many people we must provide +for. Francis met the mayor on the road on his way to us, very busy and +bustled with so many people to settle. He was billeting men and horses +in the little hamlet, and at all the farms. He told us we were to have +thirty men and horses--six officers, twenty-four men; and they would +arrive at sundown, in time to cook their dinner. Hubert, the coachman, +was quite bewildered at first how to provide for so many, but +fortunately the stables and dependencies were very large, and it was +quite extraordinary how quickly and comfortably everything was arranged. +Men from the farm brought in large bundles of straw, and everybody lent +a willing hand--they love soldiers in France, and are always proud and +happy to receive them. + +About 4.30, when we had just moved out to the tennis ground for tea, we +saw an officer with his orderly riding up the avenue. He dismounted as +soon as he caught sight of us sitting on the lawn, and introduced +himself, said he was sent on ahead to see about lodging for himself, his +brother-officers, and his men. They were part of a cavalry regiment, +chasseurs, stationed at a small town in the neighbourhood. He asked W. +if he might see the soldiers' quarters, said they brought their own food +and would cook their dinner; asked if there was a room in the chateau +where the sous-officiers could dine, as they never eat with their men. +He, with W. and Francis, went off to inspect the arrangements and give +the necessary orders. We had already seen to the officers' rooms, but +hadn't thought of a separate dining-room for the sous-officiers; +however, it was easily managed. We gave them the children's dining-room, +in the wing near the kitchen and offices. + +When W. came in he told us the whole party had arrived, and we started +off to the communs to see what was going on. The stable-yard, which is +very large, with some fine trees and outbuildings all around it, was +filled with blue-coated soldiers and small chestnut horses--some were +drinking out of the troughs; some, tied to the trees, and rings on the +wall, were being rubbed down--the men walking about with the officers' +valises and their own kits, undoing blankets, tin plates, and cups; and +I should think every man and boy on our place and in the small hamlet +standing about anxious to do something. Our little fox-terriers were mad +with excitement; even the donkey seemed to feel there was something +different in the air. He brayed noisily, and gave little vicious kicks +occasionally when some of the horses passed too near. A group of +officers was standing at the door of the stables talking to Hubert, who +had managed very well, putting all the officers' horses into a second +stable, which was always kept for guests, and the others in the various +sheds and outhouses, all under cover. + +[Illustration: Soldiers at the chateau.] + +W. introduced the officers--a nice-looking lot, chasseurs, in the +light-blue uniform, which is so smart. He had asked permission for the +men to dine at the chateau. They had their own meat and bread, but our +chef was most anxious to cook it for them, and make them another +substantial dish; so it was agreed that they should dine at six in the +servants' hall. They all marched up in procession, headed by their +sergeants; the blue tunics and red trousers looked very pretty as they +came along the big avenue. The commandant asked W. if he would go and +say a few words to them when they were having their coffee. They were +very quiet; one hardly heard anything, though all the windows were open. +W. said it was quite interesting to see all the young faces smiling and +listening hard when he made his little speech. He asked them if they had +had a good dinner; he hoped his man knew how to cook for soldiers. They +all nodded and smiled at the chef, who was standing at the door looking +very hot and very pleased. He had produced a sweet dish--I don't know +what with, as he didn't habitually have thirty extra people to +dinner--but I have always seen that when people _want_ to do anything it +is usually accomplished. + +Our dinner was very pleasant. We were ten at table--W. and I, Henrietta, +and a niece. The men talked easily, some of them Parisians, knowing +every one. They knew that W. had remained at the chateau all during the +Franco-German War, and were much interested in all he told them of the +Prussian occupation. Only one of them had, as a very young fellow, +served in 1870. All the rest were too young, and, like all young +soldiers who have not been through a war and seen the horrors of it, +were rather anxious to have their chance, and not spend all the best +years of their lives in a small, dull garrison town. + +We discussed the plans for the next day. They were going to have a sham +fight over all the big fields in our neighbourhood, and advised us to +come and see it. They said the best time would be about ten in the +morning, when they were to monter a l'assaut of a large farm with moat +and drawbridge near Dammarie. They were to make a very early start (four +o'clock), and said they would be very pleased to have some hot coffee +before mounting, if it could be had at that unearthly hour. They were +very anxious about choosing a horse out of their squadron for the +general, who was an infantryman, very stout, very rheumatic, and a very +bad rider. The horse must be sure-footed, an easy mouth, easy canter, no +tricks, accustomed to drum and bugle, to say nothing of the +musket-shots, etc. + +Henrietta and I rather amused ourselves after dinner teaching the +commandant and another officer halma, which was just then at the height +of its popularity. We had brought it over from London, where the whole +society was mad over it. We were staying in a country house one year +where there were seven tables of halma in the long gallery. The +gentlemen rather disdained it at first, but as the game went on and they +began to realise that there was really some science in it, and that our +men were placing themselves very comfortably in their little squares, +while theirs were wandering aimlessly about the centre of the board, +they warmed to their task, and were quite vexed when they were badly +beaten. They wanted their revanche. W. came in and gave a word of advice +every now and then. The others finished their billiards, came to look +on, each one suggesting a different move, which, of course, only +complicated matters, and they lost again. Then some of the others tried +with the same result. I think we played five or six games. They were so +much pleased with the game that they asked us to write down the name and +where to get it, and one of them afterward told my nephew, also a +cavalry officer, that they introduced it at their mess and played every +night instead of cards or dominoes. It was really funny to see how +annoyed they were when their scientific combinations failed. The next +morning was beautiful--a splendid August day, not too hot, little white +clouds scurrying over the bright blue sky, veiling the sun. We started +about nine, W., Francis, and I riding, the others driving. There were a +good many people about in the fields and cross-roads, a few farmers +riding, and everybody wildly interested telling us which way to go. +Janet, my American niece, who was staying in the country in France for +the first time, was horrified to see women working in the fields, +couldn't believe that her uncle would allow it on his farm, and made +quite an appeal to him when we all got home, to put an end to such cruel +proceedings. It seems women never work in the fields in America, except +negresses on some of the Southern plantations. I have been so long away +that I had forgotten that they didn't, and I remember quite well my +horror the first time we were in Germany, when we saw a woman and an ox +harnessed together. + +We separated from the carriage at the top of the hill, as we could get a +nice canter and shorter road across the fields. We soon came in sight of +the farmhouse, standing low, with moat and drawbridge, in rather an +isolated position in the middle of the fields, very few trees around it. +There was no longer any water in the moat. It was merely a deep, wide, +damp ditch with long, straggling vines and weeds filling it up, and a +slippery, steep bank. Soldiers were advancing in all directions, the +small infantrymen moving along with a light, quick step; the cavalry +apparently had been on the ground some time, as they were all dismounted +and their horses picketed. We didn't go very near, as W. wasn't quite +sure how the horses would stand the bugle and firing. They were already +pulling hard, and getting a little nervous. It was pretty to see the +soldiers all mount when the bugle rang out, and in a moment the whole +body was in motion. The rush of the soldiers over the wide plains and +the drawbridge looked irresistible--the men swarmed down the bank and +over the ditch--one saw a confused mass of red trousers and kepis. The +cavalry came along very leisurely, guarding the rear. I looked for the +general. He was standing with some of his staff on a small hill +directing operations. He did look stout and very red and warm; however, +it was the last day, so his troubles were over for the present. + +One of the officers saw us and came up to pay his respects; said they +wouldn't be back at the chateau until about five; perhaps the ladies +would come to the stable-yard and see the pansage. It was quite +interesting; all the horses ranged in a semi-circle, men scrubbing and +combing hard, the sous-officiers superintending, the officers standing +about smoking and seeing that everything was being packed and ready for +an early start the next morning. I was astonished to see how small the +horses were. My English horse, also a chestnut, was not particularly +big, but he looked a giant among the others. They admired him very much, +and one of the officers asked Hubert if he thought I would like to sell +him. + +Our dinner was again very pleasant, and we had more halma in the +evening. W. played once or twice, and as he was a fairly good player, +the adversaries had no chance. We broke up early, as they were to start +again at some unearthly hour the next morning. It seems they were very +lively in the stables after dinner--we heard sounds of merriment, +singing, and choruses, and, I fancy, dancing. However, it made quite a +pleasant break in our summer, and the big place seemed quieter and +lonelier than ever after such unusual animation. W. said the war talk +was much keener than the first day when they were smoking in the +gallery; all the young ones so eager to earn their stripes, and so +confident that the army had profited by its bitter experience during the +Franco-German War. + + * * * * * + +Election day is always a very important day in France. The village +farmers and labourers put on their best clothes--usually a black coat, +silk hat and white shirt--and take themselves solemnly to the Mairie +where the voting takes place. For weeks beforehand agents and lecturers +come from Paris and bamboozle the simple village people with newspapers, +money and wonderful promises. It is astounding how easily the French +peasant believes all that the political agents tell him and all that he +reads in the cheap papers, for, as a rule--taken en masse--they are very +intelligent and at the same time suspicious (mefiants), manage their own +little affairs very well and are rarely taken in; but there is something +in the popular orator that carries them away and they really believe +that a golden epoch is coming--when there will be no rich and no poor +and plenty and equality for all. They don't care a bit what form of +government they live under as long as their crops are good, and they can +have regular work and no war. The political agitators understand that +very well. They never lay any stress on Royalist or Bonapartist, or even +a military candidate. The "People's Candidate" is always their cry--one +of themselves who understands them and will give them all they want. +They are disappointed _always_. The ministers and deputies change, but +their lives don't, and run on in the same groove; but they are just as +sanguine each time there is an election, convinced that, at last, the +promised days of high pay and little work are coming. + +I tried to reason with a nice, respectable man one day, the village +mason--one of the most fiery orators at the cafe, over his dominoes, but +in everyday life a sober, hard-working man, with a sickly wife and +several children, who are all clothed and generally looked after by us. +His favourite theme was the owners of chateaux and big houses who lived +in luxury and thought nothing of the poor. + +I said to him, "Why do you listen to all those foolish speeches that are +made in the cafes? You know it isn't true half they say. Whenever you +come and ask for anything for your wife and your children, it is always +given to you. You know quite well whenever any one is ill in the +village, they always come here for wine, old linen, or bouillon." + +"Oh, oui, Madame is good, but Madame does not understand." + +"But it is you, mon ami, who don't understand. Once the election is +over, and they have got your vote, no one will think about you any +more." + +"Oh, yes, Madame, everything will be divided--there will be no more big +houses, every one will have a garden and rabbits--not all for the rich. +It is not right; Madame knows it is not right." It was quite useless +talking to him. + +Women in France never take the active part in elections that they do in +England. It interested me so much when we were living in England to see +many of the great ladies doing all they could for their candidate, +driving all over the country, with his colours on servants and horses, a +big bill in the windows of their carriages with "Vote for A." on it. In +the drawing-room windows of a well-known society leader there were two +large bills--"VOTE FOR A." I asked W. one day, when he was standing for +the Senate, if he would like me to drive all about the country with his +colours and "VOTE FOR WADDINGTON" on placards in the windows of the +carriage; but he utterly declined any such intervention on my part, +thought a few breakfasts at the chateau and a quiet talk over coffee and +cigars would be more to the purpose. He never took much trouble over his +elections the last years--meetings and speeches in all the small towns +and "banquets de pompiers" were things of the past. He said the people +had seen him "a l'oeuvre" and that no speeches would change a vote. + +The only year that we gave ourselves any trouble was during the +Boulanger craze. W. went about a great deal and I often went with him. +The weather was beautiful and we rode all over the country. We were +astounded at the progress "Boulangism" had made in our quiet villages. +Wherever we went--in the cafes, in the auberges, in the grocer's +shop--there was a picture of Boulanger prancing on his black horse. + +We stopped one day at a miserable little cottage, not far from our +place, where a workman had had a horrible accident--been caught in the +machine of one of the sugar mills. Almost all the men in the village +worked in W.'s woods and had always voted--as one man--for him or his +friends. When we went into the poor little dark room, with literally +nothing in it but the bed, a table, and some chairs, the first thing we +saw was the well-known picture of Boulanger, on the mantelpiece. We +talked a little to the man and his wife (the poor fellow was suffering +terribly), and then W. said, "I am surprised to see that picture. Do you +know General Boulanger? Have you ever seen him?" The man's face quite +lighted up as he looked at the picture, and he answered: "Non, Monsieur, +je ne l'ai jamais vu--mais il est crane celui-la," and that was all that +he could ever get out of him--"il est crane." I don't know exactly what +he meant. I don't think he knew himself, but he was quite excited when +he spoke of the hero. + +Boulanger's campaign was very cleverly done. His agents distributed +papers, pictures and _money_ most liberally. One of the curious features +of that episode was the quantity of money that was given. Gold flowed +freely in to the General's coffers from all parts of France; great +names, grandes dames, giving largely and openly to the cause--a great +deal sent anonymously and a great deal in very small sums. + +Boulanger lived in our street, and I was astounded one day when I met +him (I did not know him) riding--always with a man on each side of him. +Almost every one took off his hat to him, and there were a few faint +cries of "Vive Boulanger," proceeding chiefly from the painters and +masons who were building a house just opposite ours. + +Certainly for a short time he had the game in his hands--could, I think, +have carried the country, but when the moment to act arrived, his nerve +failed him. It is difficult to understand what made his great popularity. +Politics had not been satisfactory. The President--Grevy--had resigned +under unfortunate circumstances. There had been a succession of weak +and inefficient cabinets, and there was a vague feeling of unrest in +the country. Boulanger seemed to promise something better. He was a +soldier (which always appeals to the French), young and dashing, +surrounded by clever unscrupulous people of all classes. Almost all +the young element of both parties, Radical and Conservative (few of +the moderate Republicans), had rallied to his programme--"Revision et +Dissolution." His friends were much too intelligent to let him issue a +long "manifesto" (circular), promising all sorts of reforms and +changes he never could have carried out, while his two catch words +gave hopes to everybody. A revision of the constitution might mean a +monarchy, empire, or military dictatorship. Each party thought its +turn had come, and dissolving the chambers would of course bring a +new one, where again each party hoped to have the majority. + +The Paris election by an overwhelming majority was his great triumph. +The Government did all they could to prevent it, but nothing could stop +the wave of popularity. The night of the election Boulanger and his +Etat-major were assembled at Durand's, the well-known cafe on the corner +of the Boulevard and the rue Royale. As the evening went on and the +returns came in--far exceeding anything they had hoped for--there was +but one thought in every one's mind--"A l'Elysee." Hundreds of people +were waiting outside and he would have been carried in triumph to the +Palace. He could not make up his mind. At midnight he still wavered. His +great friend, the poet Deroulede, then took out his watch--waited, in +perfect silence, until it was five minutes past twelve, and then said, +"General, depuis cinq minutes votre aureole baisse." Boulanger went out +by a side door, leaving his friends--disappointed and furious--to +announce to the waiting crowd that the General had gone home. He could +certainly have got to the Elysee that night. How long he would have +stayed, and whom he would have put there, we shall never know. + + +MAREUIL, October 31st. + +It has been a beautiful, warm, bright autumn day and, for a wonder, we +have had no frost yet, not even a white one, so that the garden is still +full of flowers, and all day the village children have been +coming--begging for some to decorate the graves for to-morrow. I went in +to the churchyard this afternoon, which was filled with women and +children--looking after their dead. It is not very pretty--our little +churchyard--part of a field enclosed on the slope of the hill, not many +trees, a few tall poplars and a laurel hedge--but there is a fine open +view over the great fields and woods--always the dark blue line of the +forest in the distance. They are mostly humble graves--small farmers and +peasants--but I fancy they must sleep very peacefully in the fields they +have worked in all their lives--full of poppies and cornflowers in +summer and a soft gold brown in the autumn, when the last crops are cut +and the hares run wild over the hills. + +I think these two days--the "Toussaint" and the "Jour des Morts"--are +the two I like best in the Catholic Church, and certainly they are the +only ones, in our part of the world, when the churches are full. I +walked about some little time looking at all the preparations. Every +grave had some flowers (sometimes only a faded bunch of the last field +flowers) except one, where there were no flowers, but a little border of +moss all around and a slip of pasteboard on a stick stuck into the +ground with "a ma Mere" written on it. All the graves are very simple, +generally a plain white cross with headstone and name. One or two of the +rich farmers had something rather more important--a slab of marble, or a +broken column when it was a child's grave, and were more ambitious in +the way of flowers and green plants, but no show of any kind--none of +the terrible bead wreaths one sees in large cities. + +There was a poor old woman, nearly bent double, leaning on a stick, +standing at one of the very modest graves; a child about six years old +with her, with a bunch of flowers in a broken cup she was trying to +arrange at the foot of the grave. I suppose my face was expressive, for +the old woman answered my unspoken thought. "Ah, yes, Madame, it is _I_ +who ought to be lying there instead of my children. All gone before me +except this one grandchild, and I a helpless, useless burden upon the +charity of the parish." + +On my way home I met all the village children carrying flowers. We had +given our best chrysanthemums for the "pain benit," which we offer +to-morrow to the church. Three or four times a year, at the great fetes, +the most important families of the village offer the "pain benit," which +is then a brioche. We gave our boulanger "carte blanche," and he +evidently was very proud of his performance, as he offered to bring it +to us before it was sent to the church, but we told him we would see it +there. I am writing late. We have all come upstairs. It is so mild that +my window is open; there is not a sound except the sighing of the wind +in the pines and the church bells that are ringing for the vigil of All +Saints. Besides our own bells, we hear others, faintly, in the distance, +from the little village of Neufchelles, about two miles off. It is a bad +sign when we hear Neufchelles too well. Means rain. I should be so sorry +if it rained to-morrow, just as all the fresh flowers have been put on +the graves. + + +November 2nd. "Jour des Morts." + +We had a beautiful day yesterday and a nice service in our little +church. Our "pain benit" was a thing of beauty and quite distracted the +school children. It was a most imposing edifice--two large, round +brioches, four smaller ones on top, they went up in a pyramid. The four +small ones go to the notabilities of the village--the cure, two of the +principal farmers and the miller; the whole thing very well arranged, +with red and white flowers and lighted tapers. It was carried by two +"enfants de choeur," preceded by the beadle with his cocked hat and +staff and followed by two small girls with lighted tapers. The "enfants +de choeur" were not in their festal attire of red soutanes and red +shoes--only in plain black. Since the inventories ordered by the +government in all the churches, most of the people have taken away their +gifts in the way of vestments, soutanes, vases, etc., and the red +soutanes, shoes and caps, with a handsome white satin embroidered +vestment that C. gave the church when she was married, are carefully +folded and put away in a safe place out of the church until better times +should come. + +After luncheon we went over to Soissons in the auto--the most enchanting +drive through the forest of Villers-Cotterets--the poplar trees a line +of gold and all the others taking the most lovely colours of red and +brown. Soissons is a fine old cathedral town with broad squares, planted +with stiff trees like all the provincial towns in France; many large +old-fashioned hotels, entre cour et jardin, and a number of convents and +abbeys, now turned into schools, barracks, government offices of all +kinds, but the fine proportions and beautiful lines are always there. + +The city has seen many changes since its first notoriety as the capital +of the France of Clovis, and one feels how much has happened in the +quiet deserted streets of the old town, where almost every corner is +picturesque. The fine ruins of St. Jean des Vignes faced us as we drove +along the broad boulevard. A facade and two beautiful towers with a +cloister is all that remains of a fine old abbey begun in 1076. It is +now an arsenal. One can not always get in, but the porter made no +difficulty for us, and we wandered about in the court-yard and cloister. +The towers looked beautifully grey and soft against the bright blue sky, +and the view over Soissons, with all its churches and old houses, was +charming. It seems that Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, lived +at the Abbey when he was exiled from England and had taken refuge in +France. + +We wanted to go to the service in the Cathedral, but thought we would go +first to the patissier (an excellent one, well known in all the +neighbourhood) famous for a very good bonbon made of coffee and called +"Tors de Soissons." The little place was full--every schoolboy in +Soissons was there eating cakes and bonbons. There was a notice up in +the shop, "Lipton Tea," and we immediately asked for some. The woman +made a place for us, with difficulty, on a corner of a table and gave us +very good English tea, toast and cakes. I complimented the patronne on +her tea and she said so many automobiles with foreigners--English +principally--passed through Soissons in the summer--all asking for +tea--that she thought she must try to get some. One of the ladies told +her where to get Lipton Tea and how much to pay for it. She has found it +a very good speculation. + +We walked to the Cathedral through a grand old Square planted with fine +trees, that had once been a part of the garden of the Eveche. As it was +getting dark, we could not see the outside very well. A gigantic mass of +towers and little steeples loomed up through the twilight, but the +inside was very striking--crowded with people, lights, banners, flowers +everywhere--five or six priests were officiating and the Bishop in full +dress, with his gold mitre on his head, was seated on his red velvet +throne under the big crucifix. The congregation (there were a good many +men) was following the service very devoutly, but there were a great +many people walking about and stopping at the different chapels which +rather takes away from the devotional aspect. Unfortunately the sermon +had only just begun, so we didn't hear any music. The organ is very +fine and they have a very good choir. Neither did we hear the famous +chimes, which we regretted very much. Some of the bells have a beautiful +sound--one in particular, that used to be at St. Jean de Vignes, has a +wonderful deep note. One hears it quite distinctly above all the others. +All the bells have names. This one used to be called "Simon," after a +Bishop Simon le Gras, who blessed it in 1643. When the voice got faint +and cracked with age, it was "refondue" (recast) and called Julie +Pauline. + +It was quite dark and cold when we started back. We had to light our big +lantern almost as soon as we left Soissons. For some little time after +we got out of the town we met people walking and driving--all with +holiday garbs and faces--but once we plunged in the long forest alleys +we were absolutely cut off from the outside world. It is a curious +sensation I have never got accustomed to, those long, dark, lonely +forest roads. The leaves were still so thick on the trees that we could +hardly see the last glow of a beautiful orange sunset. The only sign of +life was a charbonnier's hut in a clearing quite close to the road. They +had a dull light; just enough to let us see dusky figures moving about. + +This morning our church looked quite different--no more banners, +embroideries or bright flowers, all draped in black and a bier covered +with a black pall in the middle of the aisle--the cure in a black satin +vestment; all the congregation in black. I went out before the end of +the service. All the black draperies and the black kneeling figures and +the funeral psalms were so inexpressibly sad and dreary. I was glad to +get out into the sunshine and to the top of the hill, where the cemetery +gates stood wide open and the sun was streaming down on all the green +graves with their fresh flowers and plants. Soon we heard the sound of +the chaunt, and the procession wound slowly up the steep, straggling +village street. A banner and cross carried by the boys and girls--then +the cure, with his "ostensoir," followed by his "enfants de choeur" +carrying books and tapers, then the congregation. There were a great +many people already in the cemetery. The little procession halted at the +foot of the cross in the middle. There were several prayers and psalms, +and then the cure made the tour of the cemetery, sprinkling all the +graves with holy water and saying a short prayer at each. The procession +broke up into groups, all kneeling at the different graves praying for +their dead. There were not many men; a few old ones. They were not +kneeling, but stood reverently, with bowed heads, when the cure passed. +It was a pretty sight--the kneeling figures, the flower-covered graves, +the little procession winding in and out among the tombstones, the white +soutanes of the boys shining in the sun and not a sound except the +droning of the chaunts. As it was fete--one of the great religious fetes +of the year--there was no work going on--no labourers in the fields, no +carts on the road--nothing but the great stillness of the plains. + +We had our cure at dinner. We were quite sure no one else would ask him +and it seemed a shame to leave him in his empty "presbytere" on a fete +day. I think his evenings with us are the only bright spots in his life +just now. The situation of the priests is really wretched and their +future most uncertain. This government has taken away the very small +stipend they allowed them. Our cure got his house and nine hundred +francs a year--not quite two hundred dollars. In many cases they have +refused to let the priests live in their "presbyteres" unless they pay +rent. The churches are still open. They can have their services if they +like, but those who have no fortune (which is the case with most of +them) are entirely dependent upon the voluntary contribution of their +parishioners. + +Our little cure has no longer his servant--the traditional, plain, +middle-aged bonne of the priest (they are not allowed to have a woman +servant under fifty). He lives quite alone in his cold, empty house and +has a meal of some kind brought into him from the railway cafe. What is +hardest for him is never to have an extra franc to give to his poor. He +is profoundly discouraged, but does his duty simply and cheerfully; +looks after the sick, nurses them when there is a long illness or an +accident, teaches the women how to keep their houses clean and how to +cook good plain food. He is a farmer's son and extraordinarily +practical. He came to us one day to ask if we had a spare washing tub we +could give him. He was going to show a woman who sewed and embroidered +beautifully and who was very poor and unpractical, how to do her +washing. I think the people have a sort of respect for him, but they +don't come to church. Everybody appeals to him. We couldn't do anything +one day with a big kite some one had given the children. No one could in +the house, neither gardener, chauffeur, nor footmen, so we sent for him, +and it was funny to see him shortening the tail of the kite and racing +over the lawn in his black soutane. However, he made it work. + +He was rather embarrassed this evening, as he had refused something I +had asked him to do and was afraid I wouldn't understand. We were +passing along the canal the other day when the "eclusier" came out of +his house and asked me if I would come and look at his child who was +frightfully ill--his wife in despair. Without thinking of my little ones +at home, I went into the house, where I found, in a dirty, smelly room, +a slatternly woman holding in her arms a child, about two years old, +who, I thought, was dead--such a ghastly colour--eyes turned up; +however, the poor little thing moaned and moved and the woman was shaken +with sobs--the father and two older children standing there, not knowing +what to do. They told me the doctor had come in the early morning and +said there was nothing to do. I asked if they had not sent for the cure. +"No, they hadn't thought of it." I said I would tell him as I passed the +presbytere on my way home. He wasn't there, but I left word that the +child was dying--could he go? + +The child died about an hour after I had left the house. I sent a black +skirt to the woman and was then obliged to go to Paris for two or three +days. When I came back I asked my gardener, who is from this part of the +country and knows everybody, if the child's funeral had been quite +right. He told me it was awful--there was no service--the cure would not +bury him as he had never been baptized. The body had been put into a +plain wooden box and carried to the cemetery by the father and a friend. + +I was very much upset, but, of course, the thing was over and there was +nothing to be done. However, when we talked it over, I understood quite +well. To begin with, all priests are forbidden to read the burial +service over any one who has not been baptized, therefore he had no +choice. And this man was not only an unbeliever, but a mocker of all +religion. When his last child was born he had friends over, from some of +the neighbouring villages, who were Freemasons (they are a very bad lot +in France); they had a great feast and baptized the child in red wine. I +rather regretted the black frock I sent the mother, but she looked so +utterly wretched and perhaps she could not help herself. + +The little cure is very pleased to have his midnight mass this year on +Christmas eve. Last year it was suppressed. There was such angry feeling +and hostility to the clergy that the authorities were afraid there might +be scenes and noisy protestations in the churches; perhaps in some +quarters of the big cities, but certainly not in the country where +people hold very much to the midnight mass. It is also one of the +services that most people attend. It is always a pretty sight in the +country, particularly if there happens to be snow on the ground. Every +one that can walk comes. One sees the little bands arriving across the +fields and along the canal--five or six together, with a lantern. +Entire families turn out--the old grandfathers hobbling along on their +sticks, the women carrying their babies, who are generally very +good--quite taken up with the lights and music, or else asleep. We +always sing Adam's "Noel." In almost every church in France, I think, +they sing it. Even in the big Paris churches like the Madeleine and St. +Eustache, where they have orchestras and trained choirs, they always +sing the "Noel" at some period of the service. + + +MAREUIL, le 24 Mai. + +To-day was the Premiere Communion at La Ferte, and I had promised the +Abbe Devigne to go. I couldn't have the auto, as Francis was at a +meeting of a Syndicat Agricole in quite another direction. So I took the +train (about seven minutes), and I really believe I had the whole train +to myself. No one travels in France, on Sunday, in the middle of the +day. It is quite a long walk from the station to the church (the service +was at Notre Dame, the church on the hill), with rather a steep climb at +the end. The little town looked quite deserted--a few women standing at +their doors and in all directions white figures of all ages were +galloping up the hill. The bells were ringing and we were a little late. +The big doors of the church were wide open, the organ playing, and a +good many people standing about. The altar was bright with flowers and +candles, and "oriflammes" of blue and pink gauze, worked with gold and +silver lilies, were stretched across the church between the pillars. One +or two banners with the head of the Virgin and flowers painted in bright +colours were also hanging from the columns. Two or three priests, with +handsome vestments--white embroidered in gold--were officiating, and the +choir boys wore their red petticoats--soutanes trimmed with lace and red +shoes and caps. The Suisse (beadle), with his cocked hat, silver +embroidered coat and big cane, was hovering about, keeping order. + +Just inside the chancel sat the "communiants"--fifty boys and girls. The +girls--all in white from top to toe--white dresses, shoes, and gloves, +and long white veils coming to the edge of the dress, and either a white +cap (which looks very pretty and quaint on the little heads--rather like +some of the old Dutch pictures) or a wreath of white flowers. With them +sat about half a dozen smaller girls--also in white, with wreaths of +white roses. They were too small to make their first communion, but they +were to hold the cordons of the banner when the procession passed down +the church. The boys were all in black, short jackets, white waistcoats, +and white ribbon bows on their sleeves. + +The church was very full--mostly women, a few men at the bottom. It was +a pretty sight when the procession moved around the church. First came +the "sacristain" in his black skirt and white soutane, then the banner +held by two of the big girls; the group of little ones--some of them +quite tiny and so pretty with the wreaths of white roses on their black +hair--holding the cords and looking most pleased with their part of the +function. Just behind them came the good old religieuse Soeur St. +Antoine, hovering over her little flock and keeping them all in their +places; then all the communiants, the smallest girls first, the boys +behind, all carrying lighted tapers and singing a hymn to the +accompaniment of the organ. + +They went first to the font, stopped there, and one of the girls read a +sort of prayer renewing their baptismal vows. Then they started again, +in the same order, to the Chapelle de la Vierge, always singing their +hymn, and knelt at the rails. Then the hymn stopped, and they recited, +all together, a prayer to the Virgin. The little childish voices sounded +quite distinctly in the old church--one heard every word. The +congregation was much interested. + +There wasn't a sound. I don't know if it was any sort of religious +feeling--some dim recollection of their early days, or merely the love +of a show of any kind that is inherent in all the Latin race, but they +seemed much impressed. While the collection was being made there was +music--very good local talent--two violin soli played by a young fellow, +from one of the small neighbouring chateaux, whom we all knew well, and +the "Panus Angelicus" of Cesar Franck, very well sung by the wife of the +druggist. The cure of La Ferte, a very clever, cultivated man, with a +charming voice and manner, made a very pretty, short address, quite +suited to childish ears and understanding, with a few remarks at the end +to the parents, telling them it was their fault if their children grew +up hostile or indifferent to religion; that it was a perfectly false +idea that to be patriotic and good citizens meant the abandonment of all +religious principles. + +We waited until the end of the service (Francis and his friends arrived +in time to hear the cure's address), and watched the procession +disappear down the steep path and gradually break up as each child was +carried off by a host of friends and relations to its home. The cure was +very pleased, said he had had a "belle fete"--people had sent flowers +and ribbons and helped as much as they could to decorate the church. I +asked him if he thought it made a lasting impression on the children. He +thought it did on the girls, but the boys certainly not. Until their +first communion he held them a little, could interest them in books and +games after school hours, but after that great step in their lives they +felt themselves men, and were impatient of any control. + + + + +VI + +CHRISTMAS IN THE VALOIS + + +It had been a cold December, quite recalling Christmas holidays at +home--when we used to think Christmas without snow wasn't a real +Christmas, and half the pleasure of getting the greens to dress the +church was gone, if the children hadn't to walk up to their ankles in +untrodden snow across the fields to get the long, trailing branches of +ivy and bunches of pine. We were _just_ warm enough in the big +chateau. There were two caloriferes, and roaring wood fires (trees) in +the chimneys; but even I must allow that the great stone staircase +and long corridors were cold: and I couldn't protest when nearly all +the members of the household--of all ages--wrapped themselves in +woolen shawls and even fur capes at night when the procession mounted +the big staircase. I had wanted for a long time to make a Christmas +Tree in our lonely little village of St. Quentin, near Louvry, our +farm, but I didn't get much support from my French friends and +relations. W. was decidedly against it. The people wouldn't +understand--had never seen such a thing; it was entirely a foreign +importation, and just beginning to be understood in the upper classes +of society. One of my friends, Madame Casimir-Perier,[4] who has a +beautiful chateau at Pont-sur-Seine (of historic renown--"La Grande +Mademoiselle" danced there--"A Pont j'ai fait venir les violons", she +says in her memoirs), also disapproved. She gives away a great deal +herself, and looks after all her village, but not in that way. She +said I had much better spend the money it would cost, on good, +sensible, warm clothes, blankets, "bons de pain," etc.; there was no +use in giving them ideas of pleasure and refinement they had never +had--and couldn't appreciate. Of course it was all perfectly logical +and sensible, but I did so want to be unreasonable, and for once give +these poor, wretched little children something that would be a delight +to them for the whole year--one poor little ray of sunshine in their +gray, dull lives. + + [4] Madame Casimir-Perier, widow of the well-known liberal statesman, + and mother of the ex-President of the Republic. + +We had many discussions in the big drawing-room after dinner, when W. +was smoking in the arm-chair and disposed to look at things less +sternly than in bright daylight. However, he finally agreed to leave +me a free hand, and I told him we should give a warm garment to every +child, and to the very old men and women. I knew I should get plenty +of help, as the Sisters and Pauline promised me dolls and "dragees." I +am sorry he couldn't be here; the presence of the Ambassador would +give more eclat to the fete, and I think in his heart he was rather +curious as to what we could do, but he was obliged to go back to +London for Christmas. His leave was up, and beside, he had various +country and shooting engagements where he would certainly enjoy +himself and see interesting people. I shall stay over Christmas and +start for London about the 29th, so as to be ready to go to +Knowsley[5] by the 30th, where we always spend the New Year's Day. + + [5] The Earl of Derby's fine palace near Liverpool. + +We started off one morning after breakfast to interview the +school-mistress and the Mayor--a most important personage. If you had +ever seen St. Quentin you would hardly believe it could possess such +an exalted functionary. The village consists of about twelve little, +low gray houses, stretching up a steep hill, with a very rough road +toward the woods of Borny behind. There are forty inhabitants, a +church, and a school-house; but it _is_ a "commune," and not the +smallest in France (there is another still smaller somewhere in the +South, toward the Alpes Maritimes). I always go and make a visit to +the Mayor, who is a very small farmer and keeps the drinking shop[6] +of the village. We shake hands and I sit a few minutes in a wooden +chair in the one room (I don't take a drink, which is so much gained), +and we talk about the wants and general behaviour of the population. +The first time I went I was on horseback, so we dismounted and had our +little talk. When we got up to go he hurriedly brought out a bench for +me to mount from, and was quite bewildered when he saw W. lift me to +the saddle from the ground. + + [6] Cabaret. + +The church is a pretty, old gray building--standing very high, with +the little graveyard on one side, and a grass terrace in front, from +which one has the most lovely view down the valley, and over the +green slopes to the woods--Borny and Villers-Cotterets on one side, +Chezy the other. It is very worn and dilapidated inside, and is never +open except on the day of St. Quentin,[7] when the cure of La +Ferte-Milon comes over and has a service. The school-house is a nice +modern little house, built by W. some years ago. It looks as if it had +dropped down by mistake into this very old world little hamlet. + + [7] In August, I think. + +It is a short walk, little more than two kilometres from the gates of +the big park, and the day was enchanting--cold and bright; too bright, +indeed, for the low, gray clouds of the last days had been promising +snow and I wanted it so much for my tree! We were quite a +party--Henrietta, Anne, Pauline, Alice and Francis, Bonny the +fox-terrier, and a very large and heavy four-wheeled cart, which the +children insisted upon taking and which naturally had to be drawn up all +the hills by the grown-ups, as it was much too heavy for the little +ones. Bonny enjoyed himself madly, making frantic excursions to the +woods in search of rabbits, absolutely unheeding call or whistle, and +finally emerging dirty and scratched, stopping at all the rabbit holes +he met on the way back, and burrowing deep into them until nothing was +left but a stumpy little white tail wagging furiously. + +We went first to the Mayor, as we were obliged to ask his permission to +give our party at the school. Nothing in France can be done without +official sanction. I wanted, too, to speak to him about a church +service, which I was very anxious to have before the Tree was lighted. I +didn't want the children's only idea of Christmas to be cakes and toys; +and that was rather difficult to arrange, as the situation is so +strained between the clergy and the laiques, particularly the cure and +the school-master. I knew I should have no trouble with the +school-mistress (the school is so small it is mixed girls and boys from +four to twelve--and there is a woman teacher; she is the wife of one of +our keepers, and a nice woman)--but I didn't know how the Mayor would +feel on the subject. However, he was most amiable; would do anything I +wanted. I said I held very much to having the church open and that I +would like as many people to come as it would hold. Would he tell all +the people in the neighbourhood? I would write to the principal farmers, +and I was sure we could make a most interesting fete. He was rather +flattered at being consulted; said he would come up with us and open the +church. It was absolutely neglected and there was nothing in the way of +benches, carpets, etc. I told him I must go first to the school, but I +would meet him at the church in half an hour. + +The children were already up the hill, tugging the big cart filled with +pine cones. The school-mistress was much pleased at the idea of the +Christmas Tree; she had never seen one except in pictures, and never +thought she would really have one in her school. We settled the day, and +she promised to come and help arrange the church. Then we went into the +school-room, and it was funny to hear the answer--a roar--of "Oui, +Madame Waddington," when I asked her if the children were "good"; so we +told them if they continued very good there would be a surprise for +them. There are only thirty scholars--rather poor and miserable looking; +some of them come from so far, trudge along the high-road in a little +band, in all weathers, insufficiently clad--one big boy to-day had on a +linen summer jacket. I asked the teacher if he had a tricot underneath. +"Mais non, Madame, ou l'aurait-il trouve?" He had a miserable little +shirt underneath which may once have been flannel, but which was worn +threadbare. + +We chose our day and then adjourned to the church, where the Mayor +and a nice, red-cheeked, wrinkled old woman[8] who keeps the +ornaments, such as they are, of the church were waiting for us. It was +certainly bare and neglected, the old church, bits of plaster dropping +off walls and ceilings, and the altar and one or two little statues +still in good condition; but we saw we could arrange it pretty well +with greens, the few flowers, chrysanthemums, Christmas roses, etc., +that were still in the green-house, a new red carpet for the altar +steps, and of course vases, tall candlesticks, etc. There was one +handsome bit of old lace on a white nappe for the altar, and a good +dress for the Virgin. We could have the school benches, and the Mayor +would lend chairs for the "quality." On the whole we were satisfied, +and told W. triumphantly at dinner that the Mayor, so far from making +any objection, was pleased as Punch; he had never seen a Christmas +Tree either. + + [8] La Mere Rogov. + +[Illustration: The Mayor and a nice, red-cheeked, wrinkled old woman +were waiting for us.] + +The next day the list of the children was sent according to age and +sex--also the old people; and we were very busy settling what we must do +in the way of toys. The principal thing was to go to Paris and get all +we wanted--toys, "betises", and shiny things for the Tree, etc. +Henrietta and I undertook that, and we went off the same day that W. +left for London. It was bitterly cold--the ground frozen hard--and we +had a long drive, eighteen kilometres through Villers-Cotterets +forest--but no snow, only a beautiful white frost--all the trees and +bushes covered with rime. It was like driving through a fairy forest. +When we had occasional gleams of sunlight every leaf sparkled, and the +red berries of the holly stood out beautifully from all the white. The +fine old ruins of La Ferte looked splendid rising out of a mass of +glistening underwood and long grass. We are very proud of our old +chateau-fort, which has withstood well the work of time. It was begun +(and never finished) by Louis d'Orleans in 1303, and was never +inhabited. Now there is nothing left but the facade and great round +towers, but quite enough to show what it might have been. There is also +a bas-relief, perfectly well preserved, over the big door, of the +Coronation of the Virgin, the kneeling figure quite distinct. On the +other side is a great grass place (village green) where the fetes of La +Ferte take place, and where all the town dances the days of the +"Assemblee." From the bottom of the terrace, at the foot of the low +wall, one has a magnificent view over the town and the great forest of +Villers-Cotterets stretching away in front, a long blue line on the +horizon. In the main street of La Ferte there is a statue of Racine, who +was born there. It is in white marble, in the classic draperies of the +time, and is also in very good preservation. The baptismal register of +Jean Racine is in the archives of La Ferte. + +The road all the way to Villers-Cotterets was most animated. It was +market-day, and we met every description of vehicle, from the high, +old-fashioned tilbury of the well-to-do farmer, to the peasant's +cart--sometimes an old woman driving, well wrapped up, her turban on her +head, but a knit shawl wound around it, carrying a lot of cheeses to +market; sometimes a man with a cow tied behind his cart, and a calf +inside. We also crossed Menier's equipage de chasse, horses and dogs +being exercised. We talked a few minutes to Hubert, the piqueur, who was +in a very bad humor. They had not hunted for some days, and dogs and +horses were unruly. The horses were a fine lot, almost all white or +light gray. We go sometimes to the meets, and the effect is very good, +as the men all wear scarlet coats and the contrast is striking. + +We had an exhausting day in Paris, but managed to get pretty nearly +everything. The little children were easily disposed of--dolls, drums, +wooden horses, etc.; but the bigger boys and girls, who have outgrown +toys, are more difficult to suit. However, with knives, paint-boxes, +lotos (geographical and historical), for the boys; and handkerchief and +work-boxes, morocco bags, etc., we did finally get our fifty objects. +There are always extra children cropping up. Shopping was not very easy, +as the streets and boulevards were crowded and slippery. We had a fairly +good cab, but the time seemed endless. The big bazaars--Hotel de Ville, +rue d'Amsterdam, etc.--were the most amusing; really, one could get +anything from a five-sou doll to a menagere (the little cooking-stove +all the peasant women use in their cottages). There were armies of +extras--white-aproned youths, who did their best for us. We explained to +one of the superintendents what we wanted, and he gave us a very +intelligent boy, who followed us about with an enormous basket, into +which everything was put. When we finally became almost distracted with +the confusion and the crowd and our list, we asked the boy what he had +liked when he was eleven years old at school; and he assured us all boys +liked knives and guns. + +When we had finished with the boys we had the decorations for the Tree +to get, and then to the Bon Marche for yards of flannel, calico, bas de +laine, tricots, etc. We had given W. rendezvous at five at Henrietta's. +He was going to cross at night. We found him there having his tea. He +had seen lots of people; been to the Elysee and had a long interview +with the President (Grevy); then to the Quai d'Orsay to get his last +instructions from the Minister; and he had still people coming to see +him. When we left (our train was before his) he was closeted with one of +his friends, a candidate for the Institute, very keen about his vote +which W. had promised him, and going over for about the twentieth time +the list of the members to see what his chances were. However, I suppose +all candidates are exactly alike, and W. says he is sure he was a +nuisance to all his friends when he presented himself at the Institute. +One or two people were waiting in the dining-room to speak to him, and +his servant was distracted over his valise, which wasn't begun then. I +promised him I would write him a faithful account of our fete once we +had decided our day. We took the five-o'clock train down, and a nice +cold drive we had going home. The roads were rather slippery, and the +forest black and weird. The trees which had been so beautiful in the +morning covered with rime, seemed a massive black wall hemming us in. It +is certainly a lonely bit of country, once we had left the lights of +Villers-Cotterets behind us, crossed the last railway, and were fairly +started in the forest. We didn't meet anything--neither cart, carriage, +bucheron, nor pedestrian of any kind. + +Henrietta was rather nervous, and she breathed a sigh of relief when we +got out on the plains and trotted down the long hill that leads to La +Ferte. The chateau lights looked very warm and home-like as we drove in. +We gave a detailed account of all we had bought, and as we had brought +our lists with us we went to work at once, settling what each child +should have. I found a note from the Abbe Marechal, the cure of +Laferte-Milon, whom I wanted to consult about our service. He is a very +clever, moderate man, a great friend of ours, and I was sure he would +help us and arrange a service of some kind for the children. Of course I +was rather vague about a Catholic service; a Protestant one I could have +arranged myself, with some Christmas carols and a short liturgy, but I +had no idea what Christmas meant to Catholic minds. We had asked him to +come to breakfast, and we would go over to the village afterward, see +the church and what could be done. He was quite pleased at the idea of +doing anything for his poor little parish, and he is so fond of children +and young people that he was quite as much interested as we were. He +knew the church, having held a service there three or four times. We +walked over, talking over the ceremony and what we could do. He said he +would give a benediction, bring over the Enfant Jesus, and make a small +address to the children. The music was rather difficult to arrange, but +we finally agreed that we would send a big omnibus to bring over the +harmonium from La Ferte, one or two Sisters, two choir children, and +three or four of the older girls of the school who could sing, and he +would see that they learned two or three canticles. + +We agreed to do everything in the way of decoration. He made only one +condition: that the people should come to the service. I could answer +for all our household and for some of the neighbours--almost all, in +fact--as I was sure the novelty of the Christmas Tree would attract +them, and they wouldn't mind the church service thrown in. + +We went of course to see the Mayor, as the cure was obliged to notify +him that he wished to open the church, and also to choose the day. We +took Thursday, which is the French holiday; that left us just two +days to make our preparations. We told Madame Isidore (the +school-mistress) we would come on Wednesday for the church, bringing +flowers, candles, etc., and Thursday morning to dress the Tree. The +service was fixed for three o'clock--the Tree afterward in the +school-room. We found our big ballots[9] from the bazaars and other +shops, when we got home, and all the evening we wrote tickets and +names (some of them so high-sounding--Ismerie, Aline, Leocadie, etc.), +and filled little red and yellow bags, which were very troublesome to +make, with "dragees." + + [9] Big packages. + +Wednesday we made a fine expedition to the woods--the whole party, the +donkey-cart, and one of the keepers to choose the Tree--a most important +performance, as we wanted the real pyramid "sapin," tapering off to a +fine point at the top. Labbey (keeper) told us his young son and the +coachman's son had been all the morning in the woods getting enormous +branches of pine, holly, and ivy, which we would find at the church. We +came across various old women making up their bundles of fagots and dead +wood (they are always allowed to come once a week to pick up the dead +wood, under the keeper's surveillance). They were principally from +Louvry and St. Quentin, and were staggering along, carrying quite heavy +bundles on their poor old bent backs. However, they were very smiling +to-day, and I think the burden was lightened by the thought of the +morrow. We found a fine tree, which was installed with some difficulty +in the donkey-cart; Francis and Alice taking turns driving, perched on +the trunk of the tree, and Labbey walking behind, supporting the top +branches. + +We found the boys at the church, having already begun their +decorations--enormous, high pine branches ranged all along the wall, and +trails of ivy on the windows. The maids had arrived in the carriage, +bringing the new red carpet, vases, candelabras and tall candlesticks, +also two splendid wax candles painted and decorated, which Gertrude +Schuyler had brought us from Italy; all the flowers the gardener would +give them, principally chrysanthemums and Christmas roses. It seems he +wasn't at all well disposed; couldn't imagine why "ces dames" wanted to +despoil the green-houses "pour ce petit trou de St. Quentin." + +We all worked hard for about an hour, and the little church looked quite +transformed. The red carpet covered all the worn, dirty places on the +altar steps, and the pine branches were so high and so thick that the +walls almost disappeared. When the old woman (gardienne) appeared she +was speechless with delight! As soon as we had finished there, we +adjourned to the school-house, and to our joy snow was falling--quite +heavy flakes. Madame Isidore turned all the children into a small room, +and we proceeded to set up our Tree. It was a great deal too tall, and +if we hadn't been there they would certainly have chopped it off at the +top, quite spoiling our beautiful point; but as we insisted, they cut +away from the bottom, and it really was the regular pyramid one always +wants for a Christmas Tree. We put it in a big green case (which we had +obtained with great difficulty from the gardener; it was quite empty, +standing in the orangerie, but he was convinced we would never bring it +back), moss all around it, and it made a great effect. The "garde de +Borny" arrived while we were working, and said he would certainly come +to the church in his "tenue de garde"; our two keepers would also be +there. + +[Illustration: There was one handsome bit of old lace on a white nappe +for the altar.] + +Thursday morning we went early (ten o'clock) to St. Quentin and spent +over two hours decorating the Tree, ticketing and arranging all the +little garments. Every child in the neighbourhood was hanging around the +school-house when we arrived, the entrance being strictly forbidden +until after the service, when the Tree would be lighted. I expressed +great surprise at seeing the children at the school on a holiday, and +there were broad grins as they answered, "Madame Waddington nous a dit +de venir." It had snowed all night, and the clouds were low and gray, +and looked as if they were still full of snow. The going was extremely +difficult; not that the snow was very deep, but there was enough to make +the roads very slippery. We had the horses "ferres a glace," and even +the donkey had nails on his shoes. The country looked beautiful--the +poor little village quite picturesque, snow on all the dark roofs, and +the church standing out splendidly from its carpet of snow--the tall +pines not quite covered, and always the curtain of forest shutting in +the valley. + +We left the maids to breakfast with the keeper, and promised to be back +at three o'clock punctually. Our coachman, Hubert, generally objects +strongly to taking out his horses in bad weather on rough country roads +and making three or four trips backward and forward; but to-day he was +quite serene. He comes from that part of the neighbourhood and is +related to half the village. Our progress was slow, as we stopped a good +deal. It was a pretty sight as we got near St. Quentin: the church, +brightly lighted, stood out well on the top of the hill against a +background of tall trees, the branches just tipped with snow. The bell +was ringing, the big doors wide open, sending out a glow of warmth and +colour, and the carpet of white untrodden country snow was quite intact, +except a little pathway made by the feet of the men who had brought up +the harmonium. The red carpet and bright chrysanthemums made a fine +effect of colour, and the little "niche" (it could hardly be called a +chapel) of the Virgin was quite charming, all dressed with greens and +white flowers, our tall Italian candles making a grand show. + +The La Ferte contingent had arrived. They had much difficulty in getting +the omnibus up to the church, as it was heavy with the harmonium on top; +however, everybody got out and walked up the hill, and all went off +well. The Abbe was robing, with his two choir children, in the minute +sacristy, and the two good Sisters were standing at the gate with all +their little flock--about ten girls, I should think. There were people +in every direction, of all sizes and ages--some women carrying a baby in +their arms and pushing one or two others in a cart, some wretched old +people so bent and wrinkled one couldn't imagine how they could crawl +from one room to another. A miserable old man bent double, really, +leaning on a child and walking with two canes, was pointed out to me as +the "pere Colin," who makes the "margottins" (bundles of little dry +sticks used for making the fires) for the chateau. However, they were +all streaming up the slippery hillside, quite unmindful of cold or +fatigue. We walked up, too, and I went first to the school-house to see +if our provisions had come. Food was also a vexed question, as tea and +buns, which would seem natural to us, were unknown in these parts. After +many consultations with the women about us--lessiveuses (washerwomen), +keepers' wives, etc.--we decided upon hot wine and brioches. The Mayor +undertook to supply the wine and the glasses, and we ordered the +brioches from the Hotel du Sauvage at La Ferte; the son of the house is +a very good patissier. It is a funny, old-fashioned little hotel, not +very clean, but has an excellent cuisine, also a wonderful sign board--a +bright red naked savage, with feathers in his hair and a club in his +hand--rather like the primitive pictures of North American Indians in +our school-books. + +Everything was there, and the children just forming the procession to +walk to the church. Some of the farmers' wives were also waiting for us +at the school-house, so I only had a moment to go into the big +class-room to see if the Tree looked all right. It was quite ready, and +we agreed that the two big boys with the keeper should begin to light it +as soon as the service was over. Madame Isidore (the school-mistress) +was rather unhappy about the quantity of people. There were many more +than thirty children, but Henrietta and Pauline had made up a bundle of +extras, and I was sure there would be enough. She told us people had +been on the way since nine in the morning--women and children arriving +cold and wet and draggled, but determined to see everything. She showed +me one woman from Chezy, the next village (some distance off, as our +part of the country is very scantily populated; it is all great farms +and forests; one can go miles without seeing a trace of habitation). She +had arrived quite early with two children, a boy and a girl of seven and +eight, and a small baby in her arms; and when Madame Isidore +remonstrated, saying the fete was for her school only, not for the +entire country-side, the woman answered that Madame always smiled and +spoke so nicely to her when she passed on horseback that she was sure +she would want her to come. The French peasants love to be spoken to, +always answer civilly, and are interested in the horses, or the donkey, +or the children--anything that passes. + +[Illustration: They were all streaming up the slippery hillside.] + +We couldn't loiter, as the bell was tolling, the children already at the +church, and some one rushed down to say that "M. le Cure attendait ces +dames pour commencer son office." There was quite a crowd on the little +"place," everybody waiting for us to come in. We let the children troop +in first, sitting on benches on one side. In front of the altar there +were rows of chairs for the "quality." The Sisters and their girls sat +close up to the harmonium, and on a table near, covered with a pretty +white linen cloth trimmed with fine old lace (part of the church +property), was the Enfant Jesus in his cradle. This was to be a great +surprise to me. When it was decided that the Sisters should come to the +fete with some of the bigger girls, and bring the Enfant Jesus, they +thought there must be a new dress for the "babe," so every child +subscribed a sou, and the dress was made by the couturiere of La Ferte. +It _was_ a surprise, for the Enfant Jesus was attired in a pink satin +garment with the high puffed fashionable sleeves we were all wearing! +However, I concealed my feelings, the good Sisters were so naively +pleased. I could only hope the children would think the sleeves were +wings. + +As soon as the party from the chateau was seated, every one crowded in, +and there were not seats enough, nor room enough in the little church; +so the big doors remained open (it was fairly warm with the lights and +the people), and there were nearly as many people outside as in. The +three keepers (Garde de Borny and our two) looked very imposing. They +are all big men, and their belts and gun-barrels bright and shining. +They stood at the doors to keep order. The Mayor, too, was there, in a +black coat and white cravat, but he came up to the top of the church and +sat in the same row with me. He didn't have on his tricoloured scarf, +so I suppose he doesn't possess one. + +It was a pretty, simple service. When the cure and his two choir +children in their short, white surplices and red petticoats came up the +aisle, the choir sang the fine old hymn "Adeste Fideles," the +congregation all joining in. We sang, too, the English words ("Oh, come, +all ye Faithful"); we didn't know the Latin ones, but hoped nobody would +notice. There were one or two prayers and a pretty, short address, +talking of the wonderful Christmas night so many years ago, when the +bright star guided the shepherds through the cold winter night to the +stable where the heavenly babe was born. The children listened most +attentively, and as all the boys in the village begin life as shepherds +and cow-boys, they were wildly interested. Then there was a benediction, +and at the end all the children in procession passed before the Enfant +Jesus and kissed his foot. It was pretty to see the little ones standing +up on tip-toe to get to the little foot, and the mothers holding up +their babes. While this was going on, the choir sang the Noel Breton of +Holmes, "Deux anges sont venus ce soir m'apporter de bien belles +choses." There was some little delay in getting the children into +procession again to go down to the school-house. They had been +supernaturally good, but were so impatient to see the Tree that it was +difficult to hold them. Henrietta and Pauline hurried on to light the +Tree. I waited for the Abbe. He was much pleased with the attendance, +and spoke so nicely to all the people. + +We found the children all assembled in the small room at the school-house, +and as soon as we could get through the crowd we let them come in. The +Tree was quite beautiful, all white candles--quantities--shiny +ornaments and small toys, dolls, trumpets, drums, and the yellow and +red bags of "dragees" hanging on the branches. It went straight up to +the ceiling, and quite on top was a big gold star, the manufacture of +which had been a source of great tribulation at the chateau. We forgot +to get one in Paris, and sent in hot haste on Wednesday to La Ferte +for pasteboard and gold paper; but, alas! none of us could draw, and +we had no model. I made one or two attempts, with anything but a +satisfactory result: all the points were of different lengths and +there was nothing but points (more like an octopus than anything +else). However, Pauline finally produced a very good one (it really +looked like a star), and of course the covering it with gold paper was +easy. The creche made a great effect, standing at the bottom of the +Tree with a tall candle on each side. All the big toys and clothes +were put on a table behind, where we all sat. Then the door was +opened; there was a rush at first, but the school-mistress kept strict +order. The little ones came first, their eyes round and fixed on the +beautiful Tree; then the bigger children, and immediately behind them +the "oldest inhabitants"--such a collection of old, bent, wrinkled, +crippled creatures--then as many as could get in. There wasn't a sound +at first, except some very small babies crowing and choking--then a +sort of hum of pleasure. + +[Illustration: All the children in procession passed.] + +We had two or three recitations in parts from the older scholars; some +songs, and at the end the "compliment," the usual thing--"Madame et +chere Bienfaitrice," said by a small thing about five years old, +speaking very fast and low, trying to look at me, but turning her head +always toward the Tree and being shaken back into her place by Madame +Isidore. Then we began the distribution--the clothes first, so as not to +despoil the Tree too soon. The children naturally didn't take the +slightest interest in warm petticoats or tricots, but their mothers did. + +We had the little ones first, Francis giving to the girls and Alice to +the boys. Henrietta called the names; Pauline gave the toys to our two, +and Madame Isidore called up each child. The faces of the children, when +they saw dolls, trumpets, etc., being taken off the Tree and handed to +each of them, was a thing to remember. The little girls with their dolls +were too sweet, hugging them tight in their little fat arms. One or two +of the boys began to blow softly on the trumpets and beat the drums, and +were instantly hushed up by the parents; but we said they might make as +much noise as they pleased for a few moments, and a fine "vacarme" (row) +it was--the heavy boots of the boys contributing well as they moved +about after their trains, marbles, etc. + +However, the candles were burning low (they only just last an hour) and +we thought it was time for cakes and wine. We asked the children if they +were pleased, also if each child had garment, toy, and "dragees," and to +hold them up. There was a great scamper to the mothers to get the +clothes, and then all the arms went up with their precious load. + +The school-children passed first into the outer room, where the keepers' +wives and our maids were presiding over two great bowls of hot wine +(with a great deal of water, naturally) and a large tray filled with +brioches. When each child had had a drink and a cake they went out, to +make room for the outsiders and old people. Henrietta and Pauline +distributed the "extras"; I think there were about twenty in all, +counting the babies in arms--also, of course, the girls from La Ferte +who had come over with the Sisters to sing. I talked to some of the old +people. There was one poor old woman--looked a hundred--still gazing +spellbound at the Tree with the candles dying out, and most of the +ornaments taken off. As I came up to her she said: "Je suis bien +vieille, mais je n'aurais jamais cru voir quelque chose de si beau! Il +me semble que le ciel est ouvert"--poor old thing! I am so glad I wasn't +sensible, and decided to give them something pretty to look at and think +about. There was wine and cakes for all, and then came the closing +ceremony. + +We (the quality) adjourned to the sitting-room of the school-mistress +(where there were red arm-chairs and a piano), who produced a bottle of +better wine, and then we "trinqued" (touched glasses) with the Mayor, +who thanked us in the name of the commune for the beautiful fete we had +made for them. I answered briefly that I was quite happy to see them so +happy, and then we all made a rush for wraps and carriages. + +The Abbe came back to the chateau to dine, but he couldn't get away +until he had seen his Sisters and harmonium packed safely into the big +omnibus and started for La Ferte. It looked so pretty all the way home. +It was quite dark, and the various groups were struggling down the hill +and along the road, their lanterns making a bright spot on the snow; +the little childish voices talking, laughing, and little bands running +backward and forward, some disappearing at a turn of the road, the +lantern getting dimmer, and finally vanishing behind the trees. We went +very slowly, as the roads were dreadfully slippery, and had a running +escort all the way to the Mill of Bourneville, with an accompaniment of +drums and trumpets. The melancholy plains of the Valois were transformed +tonight. In every direction we saw little twinkling lights, as the +various bands separated and struck off across the fields to some lonely +farm or mill. It is a lonely, desolate country--all great stretches of +fields and plains, with a far-away blue line of forests. We often drive +for miles without meeting a vehicle of any kind, and there are such +distances between the little hamlets and isolated farms that one is +almost uncomfortable in the absolute solitude. In winter no one is +working in the fields and one never hears a sound; a dog's bark is +welcome--it means life and movement somewhere. + +[Illustration: There was some poor old woman still gazing spellbound.] + +It is quite the country of the "haute culture," which Cherbuliez wrote +about in his famous novel, "La Ferme du Choquart." The farms are often +most picturesque--have been "abbayes" and monasteries. The massive round +towers, great gate-ways, and arched windows still remain; +occasionally, too, parts of a solid wall. There is a fine old +ruin--the "Commanderie," near Montigny, one of our poor little villages. +It belonged to the Knights Templars, and is most interesting. The chapel +walls are still intact, and the beautiful roof and high, narrow windows. +It is now, alas! a "poulailler" (chicken-house), and turkeys and +chickens are perched on the rafters and great beams that still support +the roof. The dwelling-house, too, is most interesting with its thick +gray walls, high narrow windows, and steep winding staircase. I was +always told there were "donjons" in the cellars, but I never had the +courage to go down the dark, damp, slippery staircase. + +We were quite glad to get back to our big drawing-room with the fire and +the tea-table; for of course the drawback to our entertainment was the +stuffiness (not to say bad smell) of the little room. When all the +children and grown people got inmost of them with damp clothes and +shoes-the odour was something awful. Of course no window could be opened +on account of the candles, and the atmosphere was terrible. At the end, +when it was complicated with wine and cake and all the little ones' +faces smeared with chocolate and "dragees," I really don't know how we +stood it. + +We had a very cheerful dinner. We complimented the Abbe upon his sermon, +which was really very pretty and poetical. He said the children's faces +quite inspired him, and beyond, over their heads, through the open door +he got a glimpse of the tall pines with their frosted heads, and could +almost fancy he saw the beautiful star. + +We were all much pleased with our first "Christmas in the Valois." + + + + +VII + +A RACINE CELEBRATION + + +MAREUIL-SUR-OURCQ, April 20th, 1899. + +I could scarcely believe I was in our quiet little town of La +Ferte-Milon to-day. Such a transformation--flags flying, draperies at +all the windows, garlands of greens and flowers across the streets, and +a fine triumphal arch--all greens and flowers arranged about the centre +of the Grande Rue. Many people standing about, looking on, and making +suggestions; altogether, an air de fete which is most unusual in these +sleepy little streets where nothing ever passes, except at four o'clock, +when the three schools come out, and clatter down the street. The Ecole +Maternelle comes first, the good Mere Cecile bringing up the rear of the +procession, holding the smallest children, babies three and four years +old, by the hand, three or four more clinging to her skirts, and guiding +them across the perilous passage of the bridge over the canal. It is a +pretty view from the bridge. The canal (really the river Ourcq, +canalisee), which has preserved its current and hasn't the dead, +sluggish look of most canals, runs alongside of the Mail, a large green +place with grass, big trees, a broad walk down the centre, and benches +under the trees. It is a sort of promenade for the inhabitants and also +serves as a village green, where all the fairs, shows and markets are +held. The opposite bank is bordered by quaint old houses, with round +towers and gardens, full of bright flowers, running down to the water's +edge. There is one curious old colombier which has been there for +centuries; near the bridge there is a lavoir, where there are always +women washing. They are all there to-day, but much distracted, wildly +interested in all that is going on--and the unwonted stir in the +streets; chattering hard, and giving their opinions as to the decoration +of the arch, which is evidently a source of great pride to the town. + +On a bright sunny day, when the red roofs and flowers are reflected in +the water, and it is not too cold, their work doesn't seem very hard; +but on a winter afternoon, when they have to break the ice sometimes, +and a biting wind is blowing down the canal, it is pitiable to see the +poor things thinly clad, shivering and damp; their hands and arms red +and chapped with cold. On the other side of the bridge, the canal +wanders peacefully along through endless green meadows, bordered with +poplars, to Marolles, a little village where there is the first ecluse +on the way to Paris. + +We had been talking vaguely all winter of doing something at La +Ferte-Milon to feter the bicentenaire of Racine. They were making +preparations at Paris, also at Port Royal, and it seemed hard to do +nothing in his native place. His statue in the Grande Rue is one of the +glories of La Ferte. + +Jean Racine was born in La Ferte in 1639. He lost both father and mother +young, and was brought up by his grandparents. He was sent first to +school at Beauvais, later, while still quite a youth, to Port Royal. His +stay there influenced considerably his character and his writings; and +though he separated himself entirely from the "Solitaires" during the +years of his brilliant career as poet and courtier, there remained +always in his heart a latent tenderness for the quiet green valley of +the Chevreuse, where he had passed all his years of adolescence, +listening to the good Fathers, and imbibing their doctrines of the +necessity of divine grace to complete the character. His masters were +horrified and distressed when his talent developed into plays, which +brought him into contact with actors and actresses, and made him an +habitue of a frivolous Court. + +There is a pretty letter from one of his aunts, a religieuse de Port +Royal, begging him to keep away from "des frequentations abominables," +and to return to a Christian life. + +His career was rapid and brilliant. He was named to the Academie +Francaise in 1673, and when he retired from the theatre was a welcome +and honoured guest at the most brilliant court of the world. He was made +private historian to the King and accompanied him on various campaigns. +There are amusing mentions of the poets-historians (Boileau was also +royal historian) in the writings of their contemporaries, "les messieurs +du sublime," much embarrassed with their military accoutrements and much +fatigued by the unwonted exercise and long days on horseback. The King +showed Racine every favour. He was lodged at Versailles and at Marly and +was called upon to amuse and distract the monarch when the cares of +state and increasing years made all diversions pall upon him. He saw the +decline and disgrace of Madame de Montespan, the marvellous good fortune +of Madame de Maintenon. His famous tragedies of Esther and Athalie were +written at Madame de Maintenon's request for her special institution of +St. Cyr, and the performances were honoured by the presence of the King. +Racine himself directed the rehearsals and the music was composed by +Jean Baptiste Moreau, organist of St. Cyr. The youthful actresses showed +wonderful aptitude in interpreting the passionate, tender verses of the +poet. Young imaginations worked and jealousies and rivalries ran high. +After a certain number of representations Mme. de Maintenon was obliged +to suspend the performances in public, with costumes and music. The +plays were only given in private at the Maison de St. Cyr; the young +scholars playing in the dress of the establishment. He made his peace +with Port Royal before he died. He submitted Phedre to his former +masters and had the satisfaction of being received again by the "Grand +Arnauld,"[10] who had been deeply offended by his ingratitude and his +criticisms and ridicule of many of his early friends and protectors. He +asked to be buried there, and his body remained until the destruction +and devastation of Port Royal, when it was removed to Paris and placed +in the Church of St. Etienne des Monts. + +[10] "Le Grand Arnauld" (Antoine), one of the first and most +influential of the celebrated "Solitaires" who established themselves +at Port Royal, and one of the founders of the famous sect of +Jansenists whose controversies with the Jesuits convulsed the whole +religious world in France during the years 1662-1668. He was followed +in his retreat by his mother (after the husband's death), his brother +and four sisters, one of whom became the "Mere Angelique," Abbesse of +Port Royal. + +He returned many times to La Ferte-Milon, and the great poet and +private historian of the Roi Soleil must often have climbed the steep +little street that leads to the ruins, and thought of the changes, since +the little boy lay on the grass at the foot of the great walls, dreaming +golden dreams of the future, which for him were so brilliantly realised. + +In a small country town one is slow to adopt new ideas, slower still to +carry them out, but the Mayor and cure were both most anxious to do +something in the birthplace of the poet, and that was the general +feeling in the Department. After many discussions we finally arrived at +a solution, or at least we decided what we wanted: a special service in +the fine old church of Notre Dame, which stands beautifully on the hill, +close to the ruins; a representation of the Comedie Francaise, and of +course a banquet at the Sauvage, with all the official world, senators, +Prefet, Academiciens--a band of music, a torch-light procession, and as +many distinguished visitors as we could get hold of. _Funds_ of course +were a necessary item, but all the countryside contributed largely, and +we knew that the artists would give their services gratis. + +We arranged a breakfast at my house in Paris with Mons. Casimir-Perier, +late President of the Republic, who was always ready to lend his +influence for anything that interests the people, and teaches them +something of their great men, and Mons. Claretie, Directeur of the +Comedie Francaise, a most cultivated, charming man. He is generally +rather chary of letting his pensionnaires play en province, but this +really was an occasion to break through his rules, and he was quite +ready to help us in every way. We had also M. Sebline, Senator of the +Aisne, and l'Abbe Marechal, cure of La Ferte-Milon. We had wanted one of +the Administrateurs of the Chemin de Fer du Nord to arrange about a free +transport for the actors, but there seemed some trouble about getting +hold of the right man, and Sebline promised to see about that. + +The Abbe Marechal and I were very ambitious for the theatrical part of +the entertainment and had views of Esther with the costumes, and +choruses of Moreau, but M. Claretie said that would be impossible. It +was difficult enough to arrange in Paris with all the singers, +instruments, and costumes at hand--and would be impossible in the +country with our modest resources. I think the idea of a tent on a +village green rather frightened him; and he didn't quite see the elite +of his company playing in such a cadre--no decor--and probably very bad +acoustics. However, Sebline reassured him. He knew the tent and its +capabilities, having seen it figure on various occasions, comices +agricoles, banquets de pompiers, at village fetes generally, and said it +could be arranged quite well. + +We discussed many programmes, but finally accepted whatever M. Claretie +would give--an act of "Les Plaideurs," and two or three of "Berenice," +with Mme. Bartet, who is charming in that role. The Abbe Marechal +undertook the music in his church, and I was sure he would succeed in +having some of the choruses of Esther. His heart was quite set on it. +Once he had settled our programme, the conversation drifted away from +the purely local talk, and was brilliant enough. All the men were clever +and good talkers, and all well up in Racine, his career, and the various +phases of his work. + +From the classics we got into modern plays and poets, and there of +course the differences of opinion were wide; but I think the general +public (people in the upper galleries) like better when they go to the +Francaise to see a classic piece--Roman emperors and soldiers, and +vestal virgins and barbarians in chains--and to listen to their long +tirades. The modern light comedy, even when it treats of the vital +subjects of the day, seems less in its place in those old walls. I quite +understand one couldn't see Britannicus,[11] Mithridate, nor the Cid +every evening. + +[11] I remember so well our cousin Arthur's description of his +holidays spent at his grandmother's chateau. Every evening they read +aloud some classical piece. When he had read Britannicus twice (the +second time to appreciate more fully the beauties which were lightly +passed over at first), he rebelled, had a migraine, or a sore throat, +something which prevented his appearing in the drawing-room after +dinner; and he and his cousins attired themselves in sheets, and stood +on the corner of the wall where the diligence made a sharp turn, +frightening the driver and his horses out of their wits. + +We came down here several times to see how things were getting on, and +always found the little town quite feverishly animated. We had succeeded +in getting the band of the regiment stationed at Soissons. I wrote to +the Colonel, who said he would send it with pleasure, but that he +couldn't on his own authority. An application must be made to the +Ministere de la Guerre. There is always so much red tape in France. One +writes and receives so many letters about anything one wants to do--a +Christmas Tree in the school-house--a distribution of soup for the poor +and old--a turn in a road to be rounded, etc. However, the permission +was graciously accorded for the band. The Mayor's idea was to station it +on the Mail, where quantities of people would congregate who couldn't +get into the church or the tent. + +We went one day to have tea with the Abbe Marechal in his nice old +presbytere; the salon opening out on a large, old-fashioned garden with +fine trees, and a view of the church towers in the distance. He was +quite pleased with all that he had arranged for his church service. One +of his friends, Abbe Vignon, a most interesting man and eloquent +preacher, promised to deliver a lecture on Racine from the pulpit; and +M. Vincent d'Indy, the distinguished composer and leader of the modern +school of music, undertook the music with Mme. Jeanne Maunay as singer; +he himself presiding at the organ. + +I tried to persuade the proprietors of all the chateaux in the +neighbourhood to come, but I can't say I had much success. Some had +gout--some had mourning. I don't remember if any one "had married a wife +and therefore couldn't come." + +However, we shall fill our own house, and give breakfast and dinner to +any one who will come. To-day we have been wandering about on the green +near the ruins, trying to find some place where we can give our friends +tea. The service in the church will certainly be long, and before the +theatrical performance begins we should like to arrange a little +gouter--but where? It is too far to go back to our house, and the +Sauvage, our usual resort, will be packed on that day, and quite off its +head, as they have two banquets morning and evening. The "Cafe des +Ruines," a dirty little place just under the great walls of the chateau, +didn't look inviting; but there was literally nothing else, so we +interviewed the proprietor, went in to the big room down stairs, which +was perfectly impossible, reeking with smoke, and smelling of cheap +liquor; but he told us he had a "tres belle salle" up stairs, where we +should be quite alone. We climbed up a dark, rickety little turning +staircase, and found ourselves in quite a good room, with three large +windows on the green; the walls covered with pictures from the cheap +illustrated papers, and on the whole not too dirty. We have taken it for +the afternoon, told the patron we would come to-morrow, put up tables, +and make as many preparations as we could for the great day. He was very +anxious to furnish something--some "vin du pays;" but we told him all we +wanted was fire, plenty of hot water, and a good scrubbing of floor and +windows. + +It is enchanting this afternoon. We are taking advantage of the fine +weather to drive about the country, and show our friends some of our big +farms and quaint little villages. They look exactly as they did a +hundred years ago, "when the Cossacks were here," as they say in the +country. Some of the inns have still kept their old-fashioned signs and +names. Near May, on the road to Meaux, Bossuet's fine old cathedral +town, there is a nice old square red-brick house, "L'Auberge du Veau qui +Tete" (The Inn of the Sucking Calf), which certainly indicates that this +is great farming country. There are quantities of big white oxen, cows, +and horses in the fields, but the roads are solitary. One never meets +anything except on market day. The Florians who live in Seine et Marne, +which is thickly populated--villages and chateaux close together--were +much struck with the loneliness and great stretches of wood and plain. + +We are praying for fine weather, as rain would be disastrous. The main +street looks really charming. The green arch is nearly finished, and at +night, when everything is illuminated, will be most effective. + + +22nd. It rained yesterday afternoon and all night--not light April +showers, but a good, steady downpour. Francis and Ctesse. de Gontaut +arrived from Paris in his little open automobile. Such a limp, draggled +female as emerged from the little carriage I never saw. They had had +some sharp showers; pannes (breakdowns), too, and she _says_ she pushed +the carriage up all the hills. She didn't seem either tired or cross, +and looked quite bright and rested when she reappeared at dinner. + +Various friends arrived this morning, and we have been in La Ferte all +the afternoon. The draperies and festoons of flowers don't look any the +worse for the heavy rain, and at least it is over, and we shall probably +have sun to-morrow. The tent is up on the green, and looks fairly large. +I don't think any one will see anything except in the first eight or ten +rows of chairs, but it seems they will all hear. The stage was being +arranged, and, much to our amusement, they told us the Empire chairs and +tables had been lent by the Abbe Marechal. He is a collectionneur, and +has some handsome furniture. We inspected our tea-room, which didn't +look too bad. Our men were there with tables, china, etc., and when it +is all arranged we shall have quite a respectable buffet. The landlord +was very anxious to decorate the tables with greens, flags, and perhaps +a bust of Racine with a crown of laurels, but we told him it would be +better not to complicate things. + +The view was lovely to-day from the top of the hill--the ruins looking +enormous, standing out against the bright blue sky, and soft and pink at +the top where the outline was irregular and the walls crumbling a +little. We had some difficulty in collecting our party, and finally +discovered Francis, Ctesse de Gontaut and Christiani having chocolate +and cakes in the back parlour of the grocer's shop (nothing like +equality on these occasions), who was telling them all the little gossip +of the town, and naming the radicals who wouldn't go to the church. + +We had a pleasant evening with music and "baraque"--which is not very +fatiguing as a mental exercise. I tried to send all the party to bed +early, and have come upstairs myself, but I still hear the click of the +billiard balls, and sounds of merriment downstairs. It is a splendid +starlight night, the sky quite blue over the pines. I think we shall +have beautiful weather for our fete. I have very vague ideas as to how +many people we shall have for breakfast and dinner to-morrow, but the +"office" is warned. I hope we shan't starve. + + +April 24th. Monday. + +We had a beautiful and most successful day yesterday. All the household +was stirring fairly early, as we had to get ourselves in to La Ferte +before 12 o'clock. We started in all sorts of conveyances--train, +carriage, voiturette--and found the Grande Rue full of people. The +official breakfast was over, also the visit to the Mairie, where there +are a few souvenirs of the poet--his picture, acte de naissance,[12] +and signature. The procession was just forming to climb up the steep, +little street that leads to the church, so we took a short cut (still +steeper), and waited outside the doors to see them arrive. It was a +pretty sight to see the cortege wind up the path--the Bishop of +Soissons and several other ecclesiastics in their robes, blackcoated +officials, some uniforms--the whole escorted by groups of children +running alongside, and a fair sprinkling of women in light dresses, +with flowers on their hats, making patches of colour. The church was +crowded--one didn't remark the absence of certain "esprits forts" who +gloried in remaining outside--and the service was most interesting. +The lecture or rather "Eloge de Racine" was beautifully given by the +Abbe Vignot. It was not very easy for a priest to pronounce from the +pulpit an eulogium on the poet and dramatic author who had strayed so +far from the paths of grace and the early teachings of Port Royal, +where the "petit Racine" had been looked upon as a model pupil +destined to rise high in the ecclesiastical world; but the orator made +us see through the sombre tragedies of Phedre, Britannicus and others +the fine nature of the poet, who understood so humanly the passions +that tempt and warp the soul, and showed a spirit of tolerance very +remarkable in those days. He dwelt less upon the courtier; spoke more +of the Christian of his last days. He certainly lent to the "charm of +the poet, the beauty of his voice," for it was impossible to hear +anything more perfect than the intonation and diction of the speaker. + +[12] Birth certificate. + +There was a short address from Monseigneur Deramecourt, Bishop of +Soissons--a stately figure seated on the Episcopal throne in the +chancel. The music was quite beautiful. We had the famous "Chanteurs de +St. Gervais," and part of the chaeurs d'Esther, composed by Moreau, and +sung in splendid style by Mme. Jeanne Maunay, M. Vincent d'Indy +accompanying on the organ. The simple sixteenth century chaunts sung by +the St. Gervais choir sounded splendidly in the fine old cathedral. The +tones seemed fuller and richer than in their Paris church. + +We went out a little before the end to see what was going on on the +green. It was still quite a climb from the church, and all the people of +the upper town had turned out to see the sight. It is quite a distinct +population from the lower town. They are all canal hands, and mostly a +very bad lot. The men generally drink--not enough to be really +intoxicated (one rarely sees that in France), but enough to make them +quarrelsome; and the women almost all slatternly and idle. They were +standing at their doors, babies in their arms, and troops of dirty, +ragged, pretty little children playing on the road, and accompanying us +to the green, begging for "un petit sou." + +We saw the cortege winding down again, the robes and banners of the +clergy making a great effect, and we heard in the distance the strains +of the military band stationed on the Mail--echoes of the Marseillaise +and the "Pere la Victoire" making a curious contrast to the old-world +music we had just been listening to in the church. Our party scattered +a little. Francis went down to the station with his auto to get the +Duc and Duchesse d'Albufera, who had promised to come for the Comedie +and dinner. They are neighbours, and have a beautiful place not very +far off--Montgobert, in the heart of the Villers-Cotteret forest. He +is a descendant of Suchet, one of Napoleon's Marshals, and they have a +fine picture of the Marshal in uniform, and various souvenirs of the +Emperor. Francis had some difficulty in making his way through the +Grande Rue which was packed with people very unwilling to let any +vehicle pass. However, they had a certain curiosity about the little +carriage, which is the first one to appear in this part of the +country--where one sees only farmers' gigs on two high wheels, or a +tapissiere, a covered carriage for one horse. However, as every one +knew him they were good natured enough, and let him pass, but he could +not get any further than the foot of the street--too steep for any +carriage to venture. + +It was a pretty sight as we got to the Place. Quantities of people +walking about--many evident strangers, seeing the ruins for the first +time. There was a band of schoolboys, about twenty, with a priest, much +excited. They wanted to go in the tent and get good places, but were +afraid of missing something outside, and were making little excursions +in every direction, evidently rather worrying their Director. The tent, +fairly large, looked small under the shadow of the great walls. We +looked in and found a good many people already in their places, and saw +that the first two or three rows of red arm-chairs were being kept for +the quality. One of the sights was our two tall men standing at the door +of the rather dirty, dilapidated "Cafe des Ruines," piloting our friends +past the groups of workmen smoking and drinking in the porch, and up the +dark, rickety staircase. I don't think any one would have had the +courage to go up, if Henrietta hadn't led the way--once up, the effect +of our banqueting-hall was not bad. The servants had made it look very +well with china and silver brought from the house, also three or four +fresh pictures taken from the illustrated papers to cover those which +already existed, and which looked rather the worse for smoke and damp. +We were actually obliged to cover General Boulanger and his famous +black charger with a "Bois de Boulogne le Matin," with carriages, +riders, bicycles, pretty women and children strolling about. + +The view from the windows was charming, and it was amusing to watch all +the people toiling up the path. We recognised many friends, and made +frantic signs to them to come and have tea. We had about three-quarters +of an hour before the Comedie began, and when we got to the tent it was +crowded--all the dignitaries--Bishop, Prefet, Senator, Deputy (he didn't +object to the theatrical performance), M. Henri Houssaye, Academician; +M. Roujon, Directeur des Beaux Arts, sitting in the front row in their +red arm-chairs, and making quite as much of a show for the villagers as +the actors. + +The performance began with the third act of "Les Plaideurs," played with +extraordinary entrain. There were roars of laughter all through the +salle, or tent--none more amused than the band of schoolboys, and their +youthful enjoyment was quite contagious. People turned to look at them, +and it was evident that, if they didn't see, they _heard_, as they never +missed a point--probably knew it all by heart. Then came a recitation by +Mlle. Moreno, who looked and spoke like a tragic muse the remorse and +suffering of Phedre. The end of the performance--the two last acts of +Berenice--was enchanting. Mme. Bartet looked charming in her floating +blue draperies, and was the incarnation of the resigned, poetic, loving +woman; Paul Mounet was a grand, sombre, passionate Titus, torn between +his love for the beautiful Queen and his duty as a Roman to choose only +one of his own people to share his throne and honours. The Roman Senate +was an all-powerful body, and a woman's love too slight a thing to +oppose to it. Bartet was charming all through, either in her long +plaintes to her Confidante, where one felt that in spite of her repeated +assurances of her lover's tenderness there was always the doubt of the +Emperor's faith or in her interviews with Titus--reproaching him and +adoring him, with all the magic of her voice and smile. It was a triumph +for them both, and their splendid talent. With no decor, no room, no +scenic illusions of any kind, they held their audience enthralled. No +one minded the heat, nor the crowd, nor the uncomfortable seats, and all +were sorry when the well-known lines, said by Mme. Bartet, in her +beautiful, clear, pathetic voice + + "Servons tous trois d'exemple a l'Univers + De l'amour la plus tendre et la plus malheureuse + Dont il puisse garder l'histoire douloureuse," + +brought to a close the fierce struggle between love and ambition. + +As soon as it was over, I went with Sebline to compliment the actors. We +found Bartet, not in her dressing-room, but standing outside, still in +her costume, very busy photographing Mounet, superb as a Roman Emperor. +He was posing most impatiently, watching the sun slowly sinking behind +the ruins, as he wanted to photograph Berenice before the light failed, +and the time was short. They were surrounded by an admiring crowd, the +children much interested in the "beautiful lady with the stars all over +her dress." We waited a few moments, and had a little talk with them. +They said the fete had interested them very much and they were very glad +to have come. They were rather taken aback at first when they saw the +tent, the low small stage, and the very elementary scenery--were afraid +the want of space would bother them, but they soon felt that they held +their audience, and that their voices carried perfectly. They were +rather hurried, as they were all taking the train back to Paris, except +Bartet, who had promised to stay for the banquet. I had half hoped she +would come to me, but of course I was obliged to waive my claim. When I +saw how much the Prefet and the official world held to having her--when +I heard afterwards that she had had the seat of honour next to the +Bishop I was very glad I hadn't insisted, as she certainly doesn't often +have the opportunity of sitting next to a Bishop. It seems he was +delighted with her. + +We loitered about some little time, talking to all our friends. The view +from the terrace was beautiful--directly at our feet the little town, +which is literally two streets forming a long cross, the Grande Rue a +streak of light and color, filled with people moving about, and the air +alive with laughter and music. Just beyond, the long stretches of green +pasture lands, cut every now and then by narrow lanes with apple trees +and hawthorn in flower, and the canal winding along between the green +walls of poplars--the whole hemmed in by the dark blue line of the +Villers-Cotteret forest, which makes a grand sweep on the horizon. + +It was lovely driving back to Mareuil, toward the bright sunset clouds. +We had a gay dinner and evening. I never dared ask where the various men +dressed who came to dinner. The house is not very large, and every room +was occupied--but as they all appeared most correctly attired, I suppose +there are resources in the way of lingerie and fumoir which are +available at such times, and Francis's valet de chambre is so accustomed +to having more people than the house can hold that he probably took his +precautions. Francis started off for the banquet at the Sauvage in his +voiturette, but that long-suffering vehicle having made hundreds of +kilometres these last days, came to grief at the foot of "la Montagne de +Marolles," and he was towed back by a friendly carter and arrived much +disgusted when we were half through dinner. + +We heard all the details of the dinner from the Abbe Marechal. Certainly +the banqueting hall of the Sauvage will not soon again see such a +brilliant assembly. Madame Bartet was the Queen of the Fete, and sat +between the Bishop and the Prefet. There were some pretty speeches from +M. Henri Houssaye, M. Roujon--and of course the toast of the President +accompanied by the Marseillaise. + +The departure to the train was most amusing--all the swells, including +Bartet, walking in the cortege, escorted by a torch-light procession, +and surrounded by the entire population of La Ferte. + +The Grande Rue was illuminated from one end to the other, red Bengal +lights throwing out splendidly the grand old chateau and the towers of +Notre Dame. + + + + +VIII + +A CORNER OF NORMANDY + + +BAGNOLES DE L'ORNE, July-August. + +It is lovely looking out of my window this morning, so green and cool +and quiet. I had my petit dejeuner on my balcony, a big tree in the +garden making perfect shade and a wealth of green wood and meadow in +every direction, so resting to the eyes after the Paris asphalt. It +seems a very quiet little place. Scarcely anything passing--a big +omnibus going, I suppose, to the baths, and a butcher's cart. For the +last ten minutes I have been watching a nice-looking sunburned girl with +a big straw hat tied down over her ears, who is vainly endeavouring to +get her small donkey-cart, piled high with fruit and vegetables, up a +slight incline to the gate of a villa just opposite. She has been +struggling for some time, pulling, talking, and red with the exertion. +One or two workmen have come to her assistance, but they can't do +anything either. The donkey's mind is made up. There is an animated +conversation--I am too high up to hear what they say. Finally she leaves +her cart, ties up her fruit in her apron, balances a basket of eggs with +one hand on her head, and disappears into the garden behind the gate. No +one comes along and the cart is quite unmolested. I think I should have +gone down myself if I had seen anyone making off with any of the fruit. +It is a delightful change from the hot stuffy August Paris I left +yesterday. My street is absolutely deserted, every house closed except +mine, the sun shining down hard on the white pavement, and perfect +stillness all day. The evenings from seven till ten are indescribable--a +horror of musical concierges with accordions, a favorite French +instrument. They all sit outside their doors with their families and +friends, playing and singing all the popular songs, and at intervals all +joining in a loud chorus of "Viens Poupoule." Grooms are teaching lady +friends to ride bicycles, a lot of barking, yapping fox-terriers running +alongside. There is a lively cross-conversation going on from one side +of the street to the other, my own concierge and chauffeur contributing +largely. Of course my balcony is untenable, and I am obliged to sit +inside, until happily sleep descends upon them. They all vanish, and the +street relapses into perfect silence. I am delighted to find myself in +this quiet little Norman bathing-place, just getting known to the +French and foreign public. + +It is hardly a village; the collection of villas, small houses, shops, +and two enormous hotels surrounding the etablissement seems to have +sprung up quite suddenly and casually in the midst of the green fields +and woods, shut in on all sides almost by the Forest of Ardennes, which +makes a beautiful curtain of verdure. There are villas dotted about +everywhere, of every possible style; Norman chalets, white and gray, +with the black crossbeams that one is so familiar with all over this +part of the country; English cottages with verandas and bow-windows; +three or four rather pretentious looking buildings with high perrons and +one or two terraces; gardens with no very pretty flowers, principally +red geraniums, some standing back in a nice little green wood, some +directly on the road with benches along the fence so that the +inhabitants can see the passers-by (and get all the dust of the roads). +But there isn't much passing even in these days of automobiles. There +are two trains from Paris, arriving at two in the afternoon and at +eleven at night. The run down from Paris, especially after Dreux, is +charming, almost like driving through a park. The meadows are +beautifully green and the trees very fine--the whole country very like +England in appearance, recalling it all the time, particularly when we +saw pretty gray old farmhouses in the distance--and every now and then a +fine Norman steeple. + +There are two rival hotels and various small pensions and family houses. +We are staying at the Grand, which is very comfortable. There is a +splendid terrace overlooking the lake; rather an ambitious name for the +big pond, which does, however, add to the picturesqueness of the place, +particularly at night, when all the lights are reflected in the water. +The whole hotel adjourns there after dinner, and people walk up and down +and listen to the music until ten o'clock. After that there is a decided +falling off of the beau monde. Many people take their bath at half past +five in the morning and are quite ready to go to bed early. The walk +down in the early morning is charming, through a broad, shaded +alley--Allee de Dante. I wonder why it is called that. I don't suppose +the poet ever took warm baths or douches in any description of +etablissement. I remember the tale we were always told when we were +children, and rebelled against the perpetual cleansing and washing that +went on in the nursery, of the Italian countess who said she would be +ashamed, if she couldn't do all her washing in a glass of water. It is +rather amusing to see all the types. I don't think there are many +foreigners. I hear very little English spoken, though they tell me +there are some English here. We certainly don't look our best in the +early morning, but the women stand the test better than the men. With +big hats, veils, and the long cloaks they wear now, they pass muster +very well and don't really look any worse than when they are attired for +a spin in an open auto; but the men, with no waistcoats, a foulard +around their throats, and a very dejected air, don't have at all the +conquering-hero appearance that one likes to see in the stronger sex. + +The etablissement is large and fairly good, but nothing like what one +finds in all the Austrian and German baths. When I first go in, coming +out of the fresh morning air, I am rather oppressed with the smell of +hot air, damp clothing, and many people crowded into little hot +bath-rooms. There are terrible little dark closets called cabinets de +repos. Many doctors in white waistcoats and red ribbons are walking +about; plenty of baigneuses, with their sleeves rolled up, showing a red +arm that evidently has been constantly in the water; people who have had +their baths and are resting, wrapped up in blankets, stretched out on +long chairs near the windows; bells going all the time, cries of +"Marie-Louise," "Jeanne," "Anne-Marie." It is rather a pandemonium. Our +baigneuse, who is called Marie-Louise, is upstairs. At the top of the +stairs there is a grand picture of the horse who discovered the +Bagnoles waters, a beautiful white beast standing in a spring, all water +lilies and sparkling water. A lovely young lady in a transparent green +garment with roses over each ear, like the head-dress one sees on +Japanese women, is holding his bridle. The legend says that a certain +gallant and amorous knight of yore, having become old and crippled with +rheumatism, and unable any longer to make a brave show in tournaments +under fair ladies' eyes, determined to retire from the world, and to +leave his horse--faithful companion of many jousts--in a certain green +meadow traversed by a babbling brook, where he could end his days in +peace. What was his surprise, some months later, to find his horse +quietly standing again in his old stable, his legs firm and straight, +his skin glossy, quite renovated. The master took himself off to the +meadow, investigated the quality of the water, bathed himself, and began +life anew with straightened limbs and quickened pulses. The waters +certainly do wonders. We see every day people who had arrived on +crutches or walking with canes quite discarding them after a course of +baths. + +[Illustration: L'Etablissement, Bagnoles de l'Orme.] + +The hotel is full, mostly French, but there are of course some +exceptions. We have a tall and stately royal princess with two daughters +and a niece. The girls are charming--simple, pretty, and evidently much +pleased to be away for a little while from court life and etiquette. +They make their cure quite regularly, like any one else, walking and +sitting in the Allee Dante. The people don't stare at them too much. +There are one or two well-known men--deputies, membres de +l'Institut--but, of course, women are in the majority. There is a +band--not very good, as the performers, some of them good enough alone, +had never played together until they came here. However, it isn't of +much consequence, as no one listens. I make friends with them, as usual; +something always draws me to artists. The boy at the piano looks so +thin--really as if he did not get enough to eat. He plays very well, +told me he was a premier prix of the Conservatoire de Madrid. When one +thinks of the hours of work and fatigue that means, it is rather +pathetic to see him, contented to earn a few francs a night, pounding +away at a piano and generally ending with a "cake walk," danced by some +enterprising young people with all sorts of remarkable steps and +gestures, which would certainly astonish the original negro performers +on a plantation. + +The view from the terrace at night is pretty--quantities of lights +twinkling about among the trees, and beyond, always on each side and in +front, the thick green walls of the forest quite shutting in the quiet +little place. We are usually the last outside. It grows cooler as the +evening gets on, and I fancy it is not wise to sit out too late after +the hot bath and fatigue of the day. + +It is a splendid automobiling country, and every afternoon there is a +goodly show of motors of all sizes and makes waiting to take their +owners on some of the many interesting excursions which abound in this +neighbourhood. We have an English friend who has brought over his +automobile, a capital one--English make--and we have been out several +times with him. The other day we went to Domfront--a lovely road, almost +all the way through woods, the forest of Audaine with its fine old trees +making splendid shade. We passed through the Etoile--well known to all +the hunting men, as it is a favourite rendezvous de chasse. It is a +lovely part of the forest, a great green space with alleys running off +into the woods in all directions. Some of them, where the ground was a +little hilly, looked like beautiful green paths going straight up to the +clouds. + +We kept in the forest almost all the way--as we got near Domfront the +road rising all the time, quite steep at the end, which, however, made +no perceptible difference in our speed. The big auto galloped up all the +hills quite smoothly and with no effort. It was a divine view as we +finally emerged from the woods--miles of beautiful green meadows and +hedges stretching away on each side and a blue line of hills in the +distance. We had been told that we could see Mont St. Michel and the sea +with our glasses, but we didn't, though the day was very clear. Domfront +is a very old walled town, with round towers and a great square donjon, +perched on the top of a mountain. A long stretch of solid wall is still +there, and some of the old towers are converted into modern dwellings. +It looked out of place to see ordinary lace curtains tied back with a +ribbon and pots of red geraniums in the high narrow windows, when one +thought of the rough grim soldiers armed to the teeth who have stood for +hours in those same windows watching anxiously for the first glimpse of +an armed band appearing at the edge of the meadows. The chateau must +have been a fine feudal fortress in its time and has sheltered many +great personages. William the Conqueror, of course--he has apparently +lived in every chateau and sailed from every harbour in this part of +Normandy--Charles IX, Catherine de Medicis, and the Montgomery who +killed Henri II in tournament. + +[Illustration: In Domfront some of the old towers are converted into +modern dwellings.] + +It was too early to go home, so we went on to the Chateau de Lassay. We +raced through pretty little clean gray villages, looking peaceful and +sleepy and deserted and evidently quite accustomed to automobiles. No +one took much notice of us. There were only a few old people and +children in the streets; all the men were working in the fields +gathering in their harvest. Lassay is quite a place, with hotels, shops, +churches, and an old Benedictine convent. We left the auto in the +square, as it couldn't get up the narrow, steep little road to the +hotel. There were swarms of beggars of all ages--old women, girls, +children--lining the road before we got to the chateau. Monsieur B. +(deputy), who was with us, remonstrated vigorously, particularly with +stout, sturdy young women who were pursuing us, but they didn't care a +bit, and we only got rid of them once we had crossed the moat and +drawbridge and got into the court-yard, where a wrinkled and red-cheeked +old woman locked the door after us. The chateau is almost entirely in +ruins, but must have been splendid. There is a sort of modern +dwelling-house in the inner court, but I fancy the proprietor rarely +lives there. It is enormous. There are eight massive round towers +connected by a courtine (little green path) that runs along the top of +the ramparts. The big door that opens on the park is modern, and makes +decidedly poor effect after the fine old pointed doorway that gives +access to the great court-yard. The park, with a little care and a +little money spent on it, would be beautiful, but it is quite wild and +uncared for. There are splendid old trees, some of them covered entirely +with ivy growing straight up into the branches and giving a most +peculiar effect to the trees; ragged green paths leading to woods; +running waters with little bridges thrown over them; a splendid +vegetation everywhere, almost a jungle in some places--all utterly +neglected. The old woman took us through the "casemates"--dark stone +galleries with little narrow slits for windows or to fire through; they +used to run all around the house, connected by a subterranean passage, +but they are now, like all the rest, half in ruins. It was most +interesting. We had not the energy, any of us, to go up into the tower +and see the view--we had seen it all the way, culminating at Domfront +on the top of the mountain, and though very beautiful, it is always the +same--great stretches of green fields, hedges, and fine trees. It is a +little too peaceful and monotonous for my taste. I like something bolder +and wilder. A high granite cliff standing out in the sea, with the great +Atlantic rollers breaking perpetually against it, appeals to me much +more than green fields and cows standing placidly in little clear +brooks, and clean, comfortable farmhouses, with pretty gray Norman +steeples rising out of the woods, but my companions were certainly not +of my opinion and were enchanted with the Norman landscape. We had a +long ride back in the soft evening light. I am afraid to say how many +kilometres we went in the three hours we were away. + +It has been warm these last days. There is a bit of road absolutely +without shade of any kind we have to pass every time we go to the +etablissement, which is very trying. I love the early morning walk, +everything is so fresh and the air singularly light and pure. It seems +wicked to go into that atmosphere of hot air and suffering humanity, +which greets one on the threshold of the bathhouse. To-day I have been +driving with the princess. She does not like the automobile when she is +making a cure--says it shakes her too much. + +We had a pretty drive, past the chateau of Couterne, which is most +picturesque. A beautiful beech avenue leads up to the house, which is +built of brick, with round towers and a large pond or lake which comes +right up to the walls. It is of the sixteenth century, and has been +inhabited ever since by the same family. One of the ancestors was +"chevalier et poete" of Queen Marguerite of Navarre. I had a nice talk +with the princess about everything and everybody. I asked her if she had +ever read "The Lightning Conductor." As her own auto is a Napier, I +thought it would interest her. I told her all the potins (little gossip) +of the hotel--that people said her youngest daughter was going to marry +the King of Spain, and the general verdict was that the princess would +make "a beautiful queen." Every one is horror-struck at the murder of +the Russian Minister of the Interior, and I suppose it is only a +beginning. + +This afternoon I have been walking in the lovely woods at the back of +the etablissement. It is rather a steep climb to get to the point de vue +and troublesome walking, as the paths are dry and slippery and the roots +of the pine-trees that spread out over the paths catch one's heels +sometimes. Some people spend all their day high up in the pines--take up +books, seats, work, and gouter, and only come down after six, when the +air gets cooler. We saw parties seated about in all directions and had +glimpses of the white dresses, which are a uniform this year, flitting +through the trees. It was very pretty, but not like the walls of +Marienbad, with the splendid black pine forest all around and every now +and then a glimpse of a green Alm (high field on the top of a mountain), +with the peasant girl in her high Tyrolean hat and clean white +chemisette standing on the edge, with her cows all behind her and the +bells tinkling in the distance. + +[Illustration: Chateau de Lassay.] + +It was so warm this evening that we sat out until ten o'clock. We had a +visit from Comte de G., son-in-law of our friend Mrs. L.S. He lives at +Deauville, and had announced himself for Monday morning for breakfast at +twelve. He _did_ come for breakfast, but on Tuesday morning, having been +en route since Monday morning at seven o'clock. He was in an automobile +and everything happened to him that can happen to an automobile except +an absolute smash. He punctured his tires, had a big hole in his +reservoir, his steering gear bent, his bougies always doing something +they oughtn't to. He dined and slept at Falaise; rather a sketchy +repast, but as he told us he could always get along with poached eggs, +could eat six in an ordinary way and twelve in an emergency, we were +reassured; for one can always get eggs and milk in Normandy. He arrived +in a perfectly good humour and made himself very pleasant. He is an old +soldier--a cavalry officer--and doesn't mind roughing it. + +The journey from Deauville to Bagnoles is usually accomplished in three +or four hours. Falaise, the birthplace of William the Conqueror, is an +interesting old town, but looks as if it had been asleep ever since that +great event. The old castle is very fine, stands high, close to the edge +of the cliff, so that the rock seems to form part of the great walls. +There is one fine round tower, and always the grass walk around the +ramparts. + +The views are beautiful. Looking down from one of the narrow, pointed +windows, still fairly preserved, we had the classic Norman landscape at +our feet--beautiful green fields, enormous trees making spots of black +shade in the bright grass, the river, sparkling in the sunshine, winding +through the meadows, a group of washerwomen, busy and chattering, +beating their clothes on the flat stones where the river narrows a +little under the castle walls, and a bright blue sky overhead. + +We walked through the Grande Place--picturesque enough. On one side the +Church of La Trinite, and in the middle of the Place the bronze +equestrian statue of William the Conqueror. It is very spirited. He is +in full armor, lance in hand, his horse plunging forward toward +imaginary enemies. They say the figure was copied from Queen Mathilde's +famous tapestries at Bayeux, but it looked more modern to me. I remember +all the men and beasts and ships of those tapestries looked most +extraordinary as to shape. Monsieur R. took over the young princesses +the other day in his auto. They were very keen to see the cradle of +their race. It was curious to see the descendants of the great rough +soldier starting in an auto, fresh, pretty English girls, dressed in the +trotteuses (little short skirts) that we all wear in the country, +carrying their Kodaks and sketching materials. + +All this part of the country teems with legends of the great warrior. +Years ago, when we were at Deauville, we drove over to Dives to +breakfast--one gets a very good breakfast at the little hotel. We +wandered about afterward down to the sea (William the Conqueror is said +to have sailed from Dives), and into the little church where the names +of all the barons who accompanied him to England are written on tablets +on the walls. We saw various relics and places associated with him and +talked naturally a great deal about the Conqueror. On the way home (we +were a large party in a brake) one of our compatriots, a nice young +fellow whose early education had evidently not been very comprehensive, +turned to me, saying; "Do tell me, what did that fellow conquer?" I +could hardly believe my own ears, but unfortunately for him, just at +that moment we were walking up a steep hill and everybody in the +carriage overheard his remark. It was received with such shouts of +laughter that any explanation was difficult, and one may imagine the +jokes, and the numerous and fabulous conquests that were instantly put +down to the great duke's account. The poor fellow was quite bewildered. +However, I don't know if an American is bound to know any history but +that of his own country. I am quite sure that many people in the +carriage didn't know whom Pocahontas married, nor what part she played +in the early days of America. But it was funny all the same. + +We have been out again this afternoon in Monsieur R.'s auto--a charming +turn. We started out by the Etoile, as Monsieur R. wanted to show it to +some gentlemen who were with us. The drive, if anything, was more lovely +than the first time, the slanting rays of the sun were so beautiful +shining through the rich green foliage, making patterns upon the hard, +white road. We raced all over the country, through countless little +villages, all exactly alike, sometimes flying past a stately old brick +chateau just seen at the end of a long, beech avenue, sometimes past an +old church standing high, its gray stone steeple showing well against +the bright, cloudless sky, and a little graveyard stretching along the +hillside, the roads bordered on each side with high green banks and +hedges, the orchards full of apple-trees, and the whole active +population of the village in the fields. It is a beautiful month to be +in Normandy, for one must have sun in these parts. As soon as it rains +everything is gray and cold and melancholy, the forest looks like a +great high black wall, the meadows are shrouded in mist, and the damp +strikes through one. Now it is smiling, sunny, peaceful. + +We have frightened various horses to-day; a quiet old gray steed, driven +by two old ladies in black bonnets. They were too old to get out, and +were driving their horse timidly and nervously into the ditch in their +anxiety to give us all the road. However, we slowed up and the horse +didn't look as if he could run away. Two big carthorses, too, at the end +of a long line, dragging a heavy wagon, turned short round and almost +ran into us; also a very small donkey, driven by a little brown girl, +showed symptoms of flight. I don't know the names of half the villages +we passed through. Near Bagnoles we came to La Ferte-Mace, which looks +quite imposing as one comes down upon it from the top of a long hill. +The church makes a great effect--looks almost like a cathedral. Bagnoles +looked very animated as we came back. People were loitering about +shopping--quite a number of carriages and autos before the door of the +Grand Hotel, and people sitting out under the trees in the gardens of +the different villas. It was decidedly cool at the end of our outing; I +was glad to have my coat. + +This morning after breakfast, in the big hall, where every one +congregates for coffee, we had a little political talk--not very +satisfactory. Everybody is discontented and everybody protests, but no +one seems able to stop the radical current. The rupture with the Vatican +has come at last, and I think might have been avoided if they had been a +little more patient in Rome. There will be all sorts of complications +and bitter feeling, and I don't quite see what benefit the country at +large will get from the present state of things. A general feeling of +irritation and uncertainty, higher taxes--for they must build +school-houses and pay lay-teachers and country cures. A whole generation +of children cannot be allowed to grow up without religious instruction +of any kind. I can understand how the association of certain religious +orders (men) could be mischievous--harmful even--but I am quite sure +that no one in his heart believes any harm of the women--soeurs de +charite and teachers--who occupy themselves with the old people, the +sick, and the children. In our little town they have sent away an old +sister who had taught and generally looked after three generations of +children. When she was expelled she had been fifty years in the town and +was teaching the grandchildren of her first scholars. Everybody knew +her, everybody loved her; when any one was ill or in trouble she was +always the first person sent for. Now there is at the school an +intelligent, well-educated young laique with all the necessary brevets. +I dare say she will teach the children very well, but her task ends with +the close of her class. She doesn't go to church, doesn't know the +people, doesn't interest herself in all their little affairs, and will +never have the position and the influence the old religieuse had. + +I am sorry to go away from this quiet little green corner of Normandy, +but we have taken the requisite number of baths. Every one rushes off as +soon as the last bath (twenty-first generally) is taken. Countess F. +took her twenty-first at six o'clock this morning, and left at ten. + + + + +IX + +A NORMAN TOWN + + +VALOGNES, August. + +I seem to have got into another world, almost another century, in this +old town. I had always promised the Florians I would come and stay +with them, and was curious to see their installation in one of the +fine old hotels of the place. The journey was rather long--not +particularly interesting. We passed near Caen, getting a very good +view of the two great abbayes[13] with their towers and spires quite +sharply outlined against the clear blue sky. The train was full. At +almost every station family parties got in--crowds of children all +armed with spades, pails, butterfly nets, and rackets, all the +paraphernalia of happy, healthy childhood. For miles after Caen there +were long stretches of green pasture-lands--hundreds of cows and +horses, some of them the big Norman dray-horses resting a little +before beginning again their hard work, and quantities of long-legged +colts trotting close up alongside of their mothers, none of them +apparently minding the train. We finally arrived at the quiet little +station of Valognes. Countess de Florian was waiting for me, with +their big omnibus, and we had a short drive all through the town to +their hotel, which is quite at one end, a real country road running in +front of their house. It is an old hotel standing back from the road +and shut in with high iron gates. There is a large court-yard with a +grass-plot in the middle, enormous flower-beds on each side, and a +fine sweep of carriage road to the perron. A great double stone +staircase runs straight up to the top of the house, and glass doors +opposite the entrance lead into the garden. I had an impression of +great space and height and floods of light. I went straight into the +garden, where they gave me tea, which was most refreshing after the +long hot day. They have no house party. The dowager countess, +Florian's mother, is here, and there was a cousin, a naval officer, +who went off to Cherbourg directly after dinner. The ground-floor is +charming; on one side of the hall there are three or four salons, and +a billiard-room running directly across the house from the garden to +the court-yard; on the other, a good dining-room and two or three +guests' rooms; the family all live upstairs. + + [13] Abbaye aux Hommes, Abbaye aux Dames. + +It is a delightful house. My room is on the ground-floor, opening from +the corridor, which is large and bright, paved with flagstones. My +windows look out on the entrance court, so that I see all that goes on. +As soon as my maid has opened the windows and brought in my petit +dejeuner, I hear a tap at the door and the countess's maid appears to +ask, with madame's compliments, if I have all I want, if I have had a +good night, and to bring me the morning paper. The first person to move +is the dowager countess, who goes to early mass every morning. She is a +type of the old-fashioned French Faubourg St. Germain lady; a straight, +slender figure, always dressed in black, devoted to her children and to +all her own family, with the courteous, high-bred manner one always +finds in French women of the old school. She doesn't take much interest +in the outside world, nor in anything that goes on in other countries, +but is too polite to show that when she talks to me, for instance, who +have knocked about so much. She doesn't understand the modern life, so +sans gene and agitated, and it is funny to hear her say when talking of +people she doesn't quite approve of, "Ils ne sont pas de notre monde." + +[Illustration: Entrance to hotel of the Comte de Florian.] + +Then comes the young countess, very energetic and smiling, with her +short skirt and a bag on her arm, going to market. She sees me at the +window and stops to know if I am going out. Will I join her at the +market? All the ladies of Valognes do their own marketing and some of +the well-known fishwomen and farmers' wives who come in from the +country with poultry would be quite hurt if Madame la Comtesse didn't +come herself to give her orders and have a little talk. This morning I +have been to market with Countess Florian. The women looked so nice +and clean in their short, black, heavily plaited skirts, high white +caps, and handkerchiefs pinned over their bodices. The little stalls +went all down the narrow main street and spread out on the big square +before the church. The church is large, with a square tower and fine +dome--nothing very interesting as to architecture. Some of the stalls +were very tempting and the smiling, red-cheeked old women, sitting up +behind their wares, were so civil and anxious to sell us something. +The fish-market was most inviting--quantities of flat white turbots, +shining silver mackerel, and fresh crevettes piled high on a marble +slab with water running over them. Four or five short-skirted, +bare-legged fisher girls were standing at the door with baskets of +fish on their heads. Florian joined us there and seemed on the best of +terms with these young women. He made all kinds of jokes with them, to +which they responded with giggles and a funny little half-courtesy, +half-nod. Both Florians spoke so nicely to all the market people as we +passed from stall to stall. The poultry looked very good--such fat +ducks and chickens. It was funny to see the bourgeoises of Valognes +all armed with a large basket doing their marketing; they looked at +the chickens, poked them, lifted them so as to be sure of their +weight, and evidently knew to a centime what they had to pay. I fancy +the Norman menagere is a pretty sharp customer and knows exactly what +she must pay for everything. The vegetable stalls were very well +arranged--the most enormous cabbages I ever saw. I think the old +ladies who presided there were doing a flourishing business. I did not +find much to buy--some gray knitted stockings that I thought would be +good for my Mareuil[14] boys and some blue linen blouses with white +embroidery, that all the carters wear, and which the Paris dressmakers +transform into very pretty summer costumes. I bought for myself a +paper bag full of cherries for a few sous, then left the Florians, and +wandered about the streets a little alone. They are generally narrow, +badly paved, with grass growing in the very quiet ones. There are many +large hotels standing well back, entre cour et jardin, the big doors +and gate-ways generally heavy and much ornamented--a great deal of +carving on the facades and cornices, queer heads and beasts. Valognes +has not always been the quiet, dull, little provincial town it is +to-day. It has had its brilliant moment, when all the hotels were +occupied by grands seigneurs, handsome equipages rolled through the +streets, and its society prided itself on its exclusiveness and grand +manner. It used to be said that to rouler carrosse at Valognes was a +titre de noblesse, and the inhabitants considered their town a "petit +Paris." In one of the plays of the time, a marquis, very fashionable +and a well-known courtier, was made to say: "Il faut trois mois de +Valognes pour achever un homme de cour." One can quite imagine "la +grande vie d'autrefois" in the hotel of the Florians. Their garden is +enchanting--quantities of flowers, roses particularly. They have made +two great borders of tall pink rose-bushes, with dwarf palms from +Bordighera planted between, just giving the note of stiffness which +one would expect to find in an old-fashioned garden. On one side is a +large terrace with marble steps and balustrade, and beyond that, half +hidden by a row of fruit-trees, a very good tennis court. We just see +the church-tower at one end of the garden; and it is so quiet one +would never dream there was a town near. The country in every +direction is beautiful--real English lanes, the roads low, high banks +on each side, with hawthorn bushes on top--one drives between thick +green walls. We have made some lovely excursions. They have a big +omnibus with a banquette on top which seats four people, also a place +by the coachman, and two great Norman posters, who go along at a good +steady trot, taking a little gallop occasionally up and down the +hills. + + [14] Mareuil is the name of the village near our place in France. + +Countess de Nadaillac, Countess Florian's sister-in-law, arrived to-day +with her daughter for a short visit. We had a pleasant evening with +music, billiards, and dominoes (a favorite game in this country). The +dowager countess always plays two games, and precisely at half-past nine +her old man-servant appears and escorts her to her rooms. We all break +up early; the ten o'clock bell is usually the signal. It rings every +night, just as it has done for hundreds of years. The town lights are +put out and the inhabitants understand that the authorities are not +responsible for anything that may happen in the streets of Valognes +after such a dangerous hour of the night. + +... There are some fine places in the neighborhood. We went to-day to +Chiffevast, a large chateau which had belonged to the Darus, but has +been bought recently by a rich couple, Valognes people, who have made a +large fortune in cheese and butter. It seems their great market is +London. + +They send over quantities via Cherbourg, which is only twenty minutes +off by rail. It is a splendid place--with a fine approach by a great +avenue with beautiful old trees. The chateau is a large, square +house--looks imposing as one drives up. We didn't see the master of the +house--he was away--but madame received us in all her best clothes. She +was much better dressed than we were, evidently by one of the good Paris +houses. Countess Florian had written to ask if we might come, so she was +under arms. She was a little nervous at first, talked a great deal, very +fast, but when she got accustomed to us it went more easily, and she +showed us the house with much pride. There was some good furniture and +one beautiful coverlet of old lace and embroidery, which she had found +somewhere upstairs in an old chest of drawers. They have no +children--such a pity, as they are improving and beautifying the place +all the time. The drive home was delightful, facing the sunset. I was +amused with the Florians' old coachman. He is a curiosity--knows +everybody in the country. He was much interested in our visit and asked +if we had seen "la patronne"--said he knew her well, had often seen her +on a market day at Valognes, sitting in her little cart in the midst of +her cheeses and butter; said she was a brave femme. How strange it must +seem to people like that, just out of their hard-working peasant +life--and it _is_ hard work in France--to find themselves owners of a +splendid chateau and estate, receiving the great people of the country. +I dare say in ten or twelve years they will be like any one else, and if +there were sons or daughters the young men would get into parliament or +the diplomatic career, the daughters would marry some impoverished scion +of a noble family, and cheeses and butter would be forgotten. + +We had one delightful day at Cherbourg. The Prefet Maritime invited us +to breakfast with him at his hotel. We went by rail to Cherbourg, about +half an hour, and found the admiral's carriage waiting for us. The +prefecture is a nice, old-fashioned house, in the centre of the town, +with a big garden. We took off our coats in a large, handsome room +upstairs. The walls were covered with red damask and there were pictures +of Queen Victoria and Louis Napoleon. It seems the Queen slept in that +room one night when she came over to France to make her visit to Louis +Philippe at the Chateau d'Eu. We found quite a party assembled--all the +men in uniform and the women generally in white. We breakfasted in a +large dining-room with glass doors opening into the garden, which was +charming, a blaze of bright summer flowers. We adjourned there for +coffee after breakfast. The trees were big, made a good shade, and the +little groups, seated about in the various bosquets, looked pretty and +gay. When coffee and liqueurs were finished we drove down to the quay, +where the admiral's launch was waiting, and had a delightful afternoon +steaming about the harbour. It is enormous, long jetties and breakwaters +stretching far out, almost closing it in. There was every description of +craft--big Atlantic liners, yachts, fishing boats, ironclads, torpedoes, +and once we very nearly ran over a curious dark object floating on the +surface of the water, which they told us was a submarine. It did not +look comfortable as a means of transportation, but the young officers +told us it was delightful. + +[Illustration: Market women. Valognes.] + +We got back to Valognes to a late dinner, having invited a large party +to come over for tennis and dinner the next day. The Florians are a +godsend to Cherbourg. They are most hospitable, and with automobiles the +distance is nothing, and one is quite independent of trains. Yesterday +four of our party went off to Cherbourg to make a cruise in a +torpedo-boat. The ladies were warned that they must put on clothes which +would not mind sea-water, but I should think bathing dresses would be +the only suitable garments for such an expedition. They were remarkable +objects when they came home, Mademoiselle de Nadaillac's hat a +curiosity, also her white blouse, where the red of her hat-ribbons and +cravat had run. However, they had enjoyed themselves immensely--at least +the girl. Countess de Nadaillac was not quite so enthusiastic. They got +into dry clothes and played tennis vigorously all the afternoon. + +We had a pleasant family evening. Mademoiselle de Nadaillac has a pretty +voice and sang well. Florian and I played some duets. I joined in the +dowager's game of dominoes, which I don't seem to have mastered, as I +lose regularly, and after she left us, escorted by her faithful old +butler (a light shawl over his arm to put on her shoulders when she +passed through the corridors), we had rather an interesting conversation +about ways and manners in different countries, particularly the way +young people are brought up. I said we were a large family and that +mother would never let us read in the drawing-room after dinner. If we +were all absorbed in our books, conversation was impossible. We were all +musical, so the piano and singing helped us through. Madame de Florian, +whose father, Marquis de Nadaillac, is quite of the old school, said +they were not even allowed to work or look at pictures in the _salon_ +after dinner! Her father considered it disrespectful if any of his +children did anything but listen when he talked. They might join in the +conversation if they had anything intelligent to say. She told us, too, +of some of the quite old-fashioned chateaux that she stayed in as a +girl, and even a young married woman. There was one fire and one lamp in +the drawing-room. Any one who wanted to be warm, or to work, was obliged +to come into that room. No fires nor lamps allowed anywhere else in the +house; a cup of tea in the afternoon an unheard-of luxury. If you were +ill, a doctor was sent for and he ordered a tisane; if you were merely +tired or cold, you waited until dinner-time. + +We have also made a charming expedition to Quineville, a small seaside +place about an hour and a half's drive, always through the same green +country, our Norman posters galloping up all the hills. We passed +through various little villages, each one with a pretty little gray, +square-towered church. There was plenty of passing, as it was market +day. We met a good many peasant women carrying milk in those curious old +brass bowls one sees everywhere here. Some of them are very handsome, +polished until they shine like mirrors, with a delicate pattern lightly +traced running around the bowl. They balance them perfectly on their +heads and walk along at a good swinging pace. They all look prosperous, +their skirts (generally black), shoes, and stockings in good condition, +and their white caps and handkerchiefs as clean as possible. Quineville +is a very quiet little place, no hotel, and rows of ugly little houses +well back from the sea, but there is a beautiful stretch of firm white +sand. To-day it was dead low tide. The sea looked miles away, a long +line of dark sea-weed marking the water's edge. There were plenty of +people about; women and girls with stout bare legs, and a primitive sort +of tool, half pitchfork, half shovel, were piling the sea-weed into the +carts which were waiting on the shore. Children were paddling about in +the numerous little pools and making themselves wreaths and necklaces +out of the berries of the sea-weed--some of them quite bright-coloured, +pink and yellow. We wandered about on the beach, sitting sometimes on +the side of a boat, and walking through the little pools and streams. It +was a lonely bit of water. We didn't see a sail. The sea looked like a +great blue plain meeting the sky--nothing to break the monotony. We got +some very bad coffee at the restaurant--didn't attempt tea. They would +certainly have _said_ they had it, and would have made it probably out +of hay from the barn. The drive home was delicious, almost too cool, as +we went at a good pace, the horses knowing as well as we did that the +end of their day was coming.... We have been again to market this +morning. It was much more amusing than the first time, as it was horse +day, and men and beasts were congregated in the middle of the Cathedral +Square. There was a fair show--splendid big carthorses and good cobs and +ponies--here and there a nice saddle-horse. There were a good many women +driving themselves, and almost all had good, stout little horses. They +know just as much about it as the men and were much interested in the +sales. They told me the landlady of the hotel was the best judge of a +horse and a _man_ in Normandy. She was standing at the entrance of her +court-yard as we passed the hotel on our way home, a comely, buxom +figure, dressed like all the rest in a short black skirt and sabots. She +was exchanging smiling greetings and jokes with every one who passed and +keeping order with the crowds of farmers, drivers, and horse-dealers who +were jostling through the big open doors and clamoring for food for +themselves and their animals. She was the type of the hard-working, +capable Frenchwoman of whom there are thousands in France. + +Some years ago I was on the committee for a great sale we had in our +arrondissement in Paris for the benefit of "L'Assistance par le +Travail," an excellent work which we are all much interested in. I was +in charge of the buffet, and thought it better to apply at once to one +of the great caterers, Potel and Chabot, and see what they could do for +us. We made an appointment, and Mme. de B. and I drove down to the +place. The manager was out, but they told us that Madame was waiting for +us in the back shop. We found rather a pretty woman, very well dressed +in velvet, with diamond earrings, and I was put out at first--thought +that didn't look like business. However, we talked a few minutes; she +said her husband was obliged to go to the country, but would certainly +come and see me the next day. Then she stepped up to her desk, where +there was a big book open, said she understood we wished to give an +order for a buffet for a charity sale, and was at once absorbed in +sandwiches, tea and coffee, orangeade, and all the requirements for such +an occasion. She was perfectly practical and gave us some very useful +hints--said she supposed we wanted some of their maitres d'hotel. We +thought not--our own would do. That, she said, would be a great mistake. +They weren't accustomed to that sort of thing and wouldn't know how to +do it. One thing, for instance--they would certainly fill all the +glasses of orangeade and punch much too full and would waste a great +deal. Their men never filled a glass entirely, and consequently gained +two on every dozen. She told us how much we wanted, made out the +estimate at once, and ended by asking if we would allow them to present +the tea as their contribution to the charity. It didn't take more than +twenty minutes--the whole thing. She then shut up her book, went to the +door with us, thanked us for giving them the order, and hoped we would +be satisfied. That business capability and thriftiness runs through +almost all Frenchwomen of a certain class, and when I hear, as of course +I often do, the frivolous, butterfly, pleasure-loving Frenchwoman spoken +of, that energetic, hard-working bourgeoise comes into my mind. We all +who live in France know the type well. + +The whole nation is frugal. During the Franco-German War, my husband, +who had spent all the dreary months of the invasion at his chateau in +the country, was elected a member of the Assemblee Nationale, which met +at Bordeaux. They were entirely cut off from Paris, surrounded by +Prussian troops on all sides, and he couldn't get any money. Whatever he +had had at the beginning of the war had been spent--sending off recruits +for one of the great army corps near his place. It was impossible to +communicate with his banker or any friends in Paris, and yet he couldn't +start without funds. He applied to the notary of La Ferte-Milon, the +little town nearest the chateau. He asked how much he wanted. W. said +about 10,000 francs. The notary said, "Give me two days and I will get +it for you." He appeared three days afterward, bringing the 10,000 +francs--a great deal of it in large silver five-franc pieces, very +difficult to carry. He had collected the whole sum from small farmers +and peasants in the neighbourhood--the five-franc pieces coming always +from the peasants, sometimes fifty sewed up in a mattress or in the +woman's thick, wadded Sunday skirt. He said he could get as much more if +W. wanted it. It seems impossible for the peasant to part with his money +or invest it. He must keep it well hidden, but in his possession. + +... We had a pretty drive this afternoon to one of Florian's farms, down +a little green lane, some distance from the high-road and so hidden by +the big trees that we saw nothing until we got close to the gate. It was +late--all the cows coming home, the great Norman horses drinking at the +trough, two girls with bare legs and high caps calling all the fowl to +supper, and the farmer's wife, with a baby in her arms and another +child, almost a baby, pulling at her skirts, seated on a stone bench +underneath a big apple-tree, its branches heavy with fruit. She was +superintending the work of the farm-yard and seeing that the two girls +didn't waste a minute of their time, nor a grain of the seed with which +they were feeding the chickens. A little clear, sparkling stream was +meandering through the meadows, tall poplars on each side, and quite +at the end of the stretch of green fields there was the low blue line of +the sea. The farmhouse is a large, old-fashioned building with one or +two good rooms. It had evidently been a small manor house. One of the +rooms is charming, with handsome panels of dark carved wood. It seemed a +pity to leave them there, and almost a pity, that the Florians could not +have made their home in such a lovely green spot, but they would have +been obliged to add to the house enormously, and it would have +complicated their lives, being so far away from everything. + +[Illustration: Old gate-way. Valogues.] + +... We have had a last walk and flanerie this morning. We went to the +Hospice, formerly a Benedictine convent, where there is a fine gate-way +and court-yard with most extraordinary carving over the doors and +gate--monstrous heads and beasts and emblems alongside of cherubs and +beautiful saints and angels. One wonders what ideas those old artists +had; it seems now such distorted imagination. We walked through some of +the oldest streets and past what had been fine hotels, but they are +quite uninhabited now. Sometimes a bric-a-brac shop on the ground-floor, +and some sort of society on the upper story, but they are all neglected +and half tumbling down. There is still splendid carving on some of the +old gate-ways and cornices, but bits of stone and plaster are falling +off, grass is growing between the paving stones of the court-yards, and +there is an air of poverty and neglect which is a curious contrast to +the prosperous look of the country all around--all the little farms and +villages look so thriving. The people are smiling and well fed; their +animals, too--horses, cows, donkeys--all in good condition. + +I have played my last game of dominoes in this fine old hotel and had my +last cup of tea in the stiff, stately garden, with the delicious salt +sea-breeze always coming at four o'clock, and the cathedral chimes +sounding high and clear over our heads. I leave to-morrow night for +London, via Cherbourg and Southampton. + + + + +X + +NORMAN CHATEAUX + + +We never remained all summer at our place. August was a disagreeable +month there--the woods were full of horse-flies which made riding +impossible. No nets could keep them off the horses who were almost +maddened by the sting. They were so persistent that we had to take them +off with a sharp stick. They stuck like leeches. We generally went to +the sea--almost always to the Norman Coast--establishing ourselves in a +villa--sometimes at Deauville, sometimes at Villers, and making +excursions all over the country. + +Some of the old Norman chateaux are charming, particularly those which +have remained just as they were before the Revolution, but, of course, +there are not many of these. When the young ones succeed, there is +always a tendency to modify and change, and it is not easy to mix the +elaborate luxurious furniture of our times with the stiff old-fashioned +chairs and sofas one finds in the old French houses. Merely to look at +them one understands why our grandfathers and grandmothers always sat +upright. + +One of the most interesting of the Norman chateaux is "Abondant," in the +department of the Eure-et-Loir, belonging until very recently to the +Vallambrosa family. It belonged originally to la Duchesse de Tourzel, +gouvernante des Enfants de France (children of Louis XVI and Marie +Antoinette). After the imprisonment of the Royal Family, Madame de +Tourzel retired to her chateau d'Abondant and remained there all through +the Revolution. The village people and peasants adored her and she lived +there peacefully through all those terrible days. Neither chateau nor +park was damaged in any way, although she was known to be a devoted +friend and adherent of the unfortunate Royal Family. A band of +half-drunken "patriots" tried to force their way into the park one day, +with the intention of cutting down the trees and pillaging the chateau, +but all the villagers instantly assembled, armed with pitchforks, rusty +old guns and stones, and dispersed the rabble. + +Abondant is a Louis XV chateau--very large--seventeen rooms en +facade--but simple in its architecture. The Duchess occupied a large +corner room on the ground-floor, with four windows. The ceiling (which +was very high) and walls covered with toiles de Jouy. An enormous bed a +baldaquin was trimmed with the same toile and each post had a great +bunch of white feathers on top. + +In 1886, when one of my friends was staying at Abondant, the hangings +were the same which had been there all through the Revolution. She told +me she had never been so miserable as the first time she stayed at the +chateau during the lifetime of the late Duchesse de Vallambrosa. They +gave her the Duchesse de Tourzel's room, thinking it would interest her +as a chambre historique. She was already nervous at sleeping alone on +the ground-floor, far from all the other inmates of the chateau. The +room was enormous--walls nearly five metres high--the bed looked like an +island in the midst of space; there was very little furniture, and the +white feathers on the bed-posts nodded and waved in the dim light. She +scarcely closed her eyes, could not reason with herself, and asked the +next morning to have something less magnificent and more modern. + +In all the bedrooms the dressing-tables were covered with dentelle de +Binche[15] of the epoch, and all the mirrors and various little boxes +for powder, rouge, patches, and the hundred accessories for a fine +lady's toilette in those days, were in Vernis Martin absolutely +intact. The drawing-rooms still had their old silk hangings--a white +ground covered with wreaths of flowers and birds with wonderful bright +plumage--hand-painted--framed in wood of two shades of light green. + + [15] Binche, name of a village in Belgium where the lace is made. + +The big drawing-room was entirely panelled in wood of the same light +green, most beautifully and delicately carved. These old boiseries were +all removed when the chateau was sold. After the death of the Duchesse +de Tourzel the chateau went to her niece, the Duchesse des Cars--who +left it to her niece, the Duchesse de Vallambrosa, a very rare instance, +in France, of a property descending directly through several generations +in the female line. + +It was sold by the Vallambrosas. The old wood panels are in the Paris +house of a member of that family. The park was very large and +beautifully laid out, with the fine trees one sees all over Normandy. + +Twenty years ago a salle de spectacle "en verdure" still existed in the +park--the seats were all in grass; the coulisses (side scenes) made in +the trees of the park--their boughs cut and trained into shape, to +represent green walls, a marble group of allegorical figures at the +back. It was most carefully preserved--the seats of the amphitheatre +looked like green velvet and the trees were always cut in the same +curious shapes. It seemed quite a fitting part of the fine old place, +with its memories of past fetes and splendours, before the whirlwind of +liberty and equality swept over the country. + +Many of the chateaux are changing hands. The majorat (entail) doesn't +exist in France, and as the fortunes must always be divided among the +children, it becomes more and more difficult to keep up the large +places. Life gets dearer every day--fortunes don't increase--very few +young Frenchmen of the upper classes do anything. The only way of +keeping up the big places is by making a rich marriage--the daughter of +a rich banker or industrial, or an American. + + * * * * * + +Our cousins, Comte and Comtesse d'Y----, have a pretty little old place +not very far from Villers-sur-Mer, where we went sometimes for +sea-bathing. The house is an ordinary square white stone building, a +fine terrace with a flight of steps leading down to the garden on one +side. The park is delightful--many splendid old trees. Until a few years +ago there were still some that dated since Louis XIV. The last one of +that age--a fine oak, with wide spreading branches--died about two years +ago, but they cannot make up their minds to cut it down. I advised them +to leave the trunk standing--(I think, by degrees, the branches will +fall as they are quite dead)--cover it with ivy or a vine of some kind, +and put a notice on it of the age of the tree. + +The house stands high, and they have splendid views--on one side, from +the terrace, a great expanse of green valley looking toward Falaise--on +the other, the sea--a beautiful, blue summer sea, when we were there the +other day. + +We went over from Villers to breakfast. It was late in the season, the +end of September--one of those bright days one sometimes has in +September, when summer still lingers and the sun gives beautiful mellow +tints to everything without being strong enough to make one feel the +heat. The road was lovely all the way, particularly after we turned off +the high road at the top of the Houlgate Hill. We went through countless +little Norman lanes, quite narrow, sometimes--between high green banks +with a hedge on top, and the trees meeting over our heads--so narrow +that I wondered what would happen if we met another auto. We left the +sea behind us, and plunged into the lovely green valley that runs along +back of the coast line. We came suddenly on the gates of the chateau, +rather a sharp turn. There was a broad avenue with fine trees leading up +to the house--on one side, meadows fenced off with white wooden palings +where horses and cows were grazing--a pretty lawn before the house with +beds of begonias, and all along the front, high raised borders of red +geranium which looked very well against the grey stone. + +We found a family party, Comte and Comtesse d'Y----, their daughter and +a governess. We went upstairs (a nice wooden staircase with broad +shallow steps) to an end room, with a beautiful view over the park, +where we got out of all the wraps, veils, and glasses that one must have +in an open auto if one wishes to look respectable when one arrives, and +went down at once to the hall where the family was waiting. + +The dining-room was large and light, high, wide windows and beautiful +trees wherever one looked. The decoration of the room was rather +curious. The d'Y----s descend--like many Norman families--from William +the Conqueror, and there are English coats-of-arms on some of the +shields on the walls. A band which looks like fresco, but is really +painted on linen--very cleverly arranged with some composition which +makes it look like the wall--runs straight around the room with all +sorts of curious figures: soldiers, horses, and boats, copied exactly +from the famous Bayeux tapestries, the most striking episodes--the +departure of the Conqueror from Dives--the embarkation of his army (the +cavalry--most extraordinary long queerly shaped horses with faces like +people)--the death of Harold--the fighting Bishop Odo--brother of the +Conqueror, who couldn't carry a lance, but had a good stout stick which +apparently did good service as various Saxons were flying horizontally +through the air as he and his steed advanced; one wonders at the +imagination which could have produced such extraordinary figures, as +certainly no men or beasts, at any period of time, could have looked +like those. The ships were less striking--had rather more the semblance +of boats. + +However, the effect, with all the bright colouring, is very good and +quite in harmony with this part of the country, where everything teems +with legends and traditions of the great Duke. They see Falaise, where +he was born, from their terrace, sometimes. We didn't, for though the +day was beautiful, there was a slight haze which made the far-off +landscapes only a blue line. + +After breakfast we went for a walk in the park. They have arranged it +very well, with rustic bridges and seats wherever the view was +particularly fine. We saw a nice, old, red brick house, near the farm, +which was the manoir where the Dowager Countess lives now. She made over +the chateau to her son, in her life time, on condition that he would +keep it up and arrange it, which he has done very well. We made the +tour of the park--passing a pretty lodge with roses and creepers all +over it and "Mairie" put upon a sign; d'Y----is mayor of his little +village and finds it convenient to have the Mairie at his own gate. We +rested a little in the drawing-room before going back, and he showed us +various portraits and miniatures of his family which were most +interesting. Some of the miniatures are exactly like one we have of +father, of that period with the high stock and tight-buttoned coat. The +light was lovely--so soft and warm--in the drawing-room, and as there +were no lace curtains or vitrages, and the silk curtains were drawn back +from the high plate glass windows, we seemed to be sitting in the park +under the trees. They gave us tea and the good little cakes, "St. +Pierre," a sort of "sable," for which all the coast is famous. + +The drive home was enchanting, with a lovely view from the top of the +hill; a beautiful blue sea at our feet and the turrets and pointed roofs +of the Villers houses taking every possible colour from the sunset +clouds. + +We went back once more to a the dansant given for her seventeen-year-old +daughter. It was a lovely afternoon and the place looked charming--the +gates open--carriages and autos arriving in every direction--people came +from a great distance as with the autos no one hesitates to undertake a +drive of a hundred kilometres. The young people danced in the +drawing-room--Madame d'Y---- had taken out all the furniture, and the +parents and older people sat about on the terrace where there were +plenty of seats and little tea-tables. The dining-room--with an abundant +buffet--was always full; one arrives with a fine appetite after whirling +for two or three hours through the keen salt air. The girls all looked +charming--the white dresses, bright sashes, and big picture hats are so +becoming. They were dancing hard when we left, about half past six, and +it was a pretty sight as we looked back from the gates--long lines of +sunlight wavering over the grass, figures in white flitting through the +trees, distant strains of music, and what was less agreeable, the +strident sound of a sirene on some of the autos. They are detestable +things. + +We were very comfortable at Villers in a nice, clean house looking on +the sea, with broad balconies at every story, where we put sofas and +tables and green blinds, using them as extra salons. We were never in +the house except to eat and sleep. Nothing is more characteristic of the +French (particularly in the bourgeoise) than the thorough way in which +they _do_ their month at the sea-shore. They generally come for the month +of August. Holidays have begun and business, of all kinds, is slack. +Our plage was really a curiosity. There is a splendid stretch of sand +beach--at low tide one can walk, by the shore, to Trouville or Houlgate +on perfectly firm, dry sand. There are hundreds of cabins and tents, +striped red and white, and umbrellas on the beach, and all day long +whole families sit there. They all bathe, and a curious fashion at +Villers is that you put on your bathing dress in your own house--over +that a peignoir, generally of red and white striped cotton, and walk +quite calmly through the streets to the etablissement. Some of the +ladies and gentlemen of mature years are not to their advantage. When +they can, if they have houses with a terrace or garden, they take their +meals outside, and as soon as they have breakfasted, start again for the +beach. When it is low tide they go shrimp-fishing or walk about in the +shallow water looking for shells and sea-weed. When it is high tide, all +sit at the door of their tents sewing, reading, or talking--I mean, of +course, the petite bourgeoisie. + +At other places on the coast, Deauville or Houlgate, the life is like +Newport or Dinard, or any other fashionable seaside place, with +automobiles, dinners, dressing, etc. They get all the sea air and +out-of-door life that they can crowd into one month. One lady said to me +one day, "I can't bathe, but I take a 'bain d'air' every day--I sit on +the rocks as far out in the water as I can--take off my hat and my shoes +and stockings." + +There is a great clearing out always by the first of September and then +the place was enchanting--bright, beautiful September days, one could +still bathe, the sun was so strong; and the afternoons, with just a +little chill in the air, were delightful for walking and driving. There +was a pretty Norman farm--just over the plage--at the top of the falaise +where we went sometimes for tea. They gave us very good tea, milk, and +cider, and excellent bread and butter and cheese. We sat out of doors in +an apple orchard at little tables--all the beasts of the establishment +in the same field. The chickens and sheep surrounded us, were evidently +accustomed to being fed, but the horses, cows, and calves kept quite to +the other end. We saw the girls milking the cows which, of course, +interested the children immensely. + +We made some charming excursions in the auto--went one Saturday to +Caen--such a pretty road through little smiling villages--every house +with a garden, or if too close together to allow that, there were pots +of geraniums, the falling kind, in the windows, which made a red curtain +dropping down over the walls. We stopped at Lisieux--a quaint old Norman +town, with a fine cathedral and curious houses with gables and +towers--one street most picturesque, very narrow, with wooden houses, +their projecting roofs coming so far over the street one could hardly +see the sky in some places. There were all kinds of balconies and +cornices most elaborately carved--the wood so dark one could scarcely +distinguish the original figures and devices, but some of them were +extraordinary, dragons, and enormous winged animals. We did not linger +very long as we were in our new auto--a Martini hill-climber--built in +Switzerland and, of course (like all automobilists), were anxious to +make as fast a run as possible between Villers and Caen. + +The approach to Caen is not particularly interesting--the country is +flat, the road running through poplar-bordered fields--one does not see +it at all until one gets quite near, and then suddenly beautiful towers +and steeples seem to rise out of the green meadows. It was +Saturday--market day--and the town was crowded--every description of +vehicle in the main street and before the hotel, two enormous red +60-horse-power Mercedes--farmers' gigs and donkey carts with cheeses and +butter--a couple generally inside--the man with his blue smock and +broad-brimmed hat, the woman with a high, clean, stiff-starched muslin +cap, a knit shawl over her shoulders. They were not in the least +discomposed by the bustle and the automobiles, never thought of getting +out of the way--jogged comfortably on keeping to their side of the road. + +We left the auto at the hotel and found many others in the court-yard, +and various friends. The d'Y----s had come over from Grangues (their +place). He is Conseiller General of Calvados, and market day, in a +provincial town, is an excellent occasion for seeing one's electors. +There were also some friends from Trouville-Deauville, most of them in +autos--some in light carriages. We tried to make a rendezvous for tea at +the famous patissier's (who sends his cakes and bonbons over half the +department), but that was not very practical, as they had all finished +what they had to do and we had not even begun our sightseeing. However, +d'Y---- told us he would leave our names at the tea-room, a sort of club +they have established over the patissier's, where we would be quieter +and better served than in the shop which would certainly be crowded on +Saturday afternoon. We walked about till we were dead tired. + +St. Pierre is a fine old Norman church with beautiful tower and steeple. +It stands fairly well in the Place St. Pierre, but the houses are much +too near. It should have more space around it. There was a market going +on, on the other side of the square--fruit, big apples and pears, +flowers and fish being heaped up together. The apples looked tempting, +such bright red ones. + +We went to the two abbayes--both of them quite beautiful--St. +Etienne--Abbaye aux Hommes was built by William the Conqueror, who was +originally buried there. It is very grand--quite simple, but splendid +proportions--a fitting resting-place for the great soldier, who, +however, was not allowed to sleep his last sleep, undisturbed, in the +city he loved so well. His tomb was desecrated several times and his +remains lost in the work of destruction. + +We went on to the Abbaye aux Dames which is very different; smaller--not +nearly so simple. The facade is very fine with two square towers most +elaborately carved, the steeples have long since disappeared; and there +are richly ornamented galleries and balustrades in the interior of the +church, not at all the high solemn vaulted aisles of the Abbaye aux +Hommes. It was founded by Queen Mathilde, wife of William the Conqueror, +and she is buried there--a perfectly simple tomb with an inscription in +Latin. There was at one time a very handsome monument, but it was +destroyed, like so many others, during the Revolution, and the remains +placed, some years after, in the stone coffin where they now rest. We +hadn't time to see the many interesting things in the churches and in +the town, as it was getting late and we wanted some tea before we +started back. We found our way to the patissier's quite easily, but +certainly couldn't have had any tea if d'Y---- had not told us to use +his name and ask for the club-room. The little shop was crowded--people +standing and making frantic dashes into the kitchen for chocolate and +muffins. The club-room upstairs was quite nice--painted white, a good +glass so that we could arrange our hair a little, one or two tables--and +we were attended to at once. They brought us the specialite of the +place--light, hot brioches with grated ham inside--very good and very +indigestible. + +We went home by a different road, but it looked just like the +other--fewer little hamlets, perhaps, and great pasture fields, filled +with fine specimens of Norman dray horses and mares with long-legged +colts running alongside of them. It was late when we got home. The +lighthouses of Honfleur and Havre made a long golden streak stretching +far out to sea, and the great turning flashlight of St. Adresse was +quite dazzling. + +We went back over the same ground two or three days later on our way to +Bayeux. The town is not particularly interesting, but the cathedral is +beautiful and in wonderful preservation--the columns are very +grand--every capital exquisitely carved and no two alike. Our guide, a +very talkative person--unlike the generality of Norman peasants, who are +usually taciturn--was very anxious to show us each column in detail and +explain all the really beautiful carving, but we were rather hurried as +some of the party were going to lunch at Barbieville--Comte Foy's +chateau. + +On the same place as the cathedral is the Hotel de Ville, with the +wonderful tapestries worked by the Queen Mathilde, wife of William the +Conqueror. They are really most extraordinary and so well preserved. The +colours look as if they had been painted yesterday. I hadn't seen them +for years and had forgotten the curious shapes and vivid colouring. We +went to one of the lace shops. The Bayeux lace is very pretty, made with +the "fuseau", very fine--a mixture of Valenciennes and Mechlin. It is +very strong, though it looks delicate. The dentellieres still do a very +good business. The little girls begin to work as soon as they can thread +their needle, and follow a simple pattern. + + * * * * * + +The F.'s enjoyed their day at Barbieville, Comte Foy's chateau, very +much. They said the house was nothing remarkable--a large square +building, but the park was original. Comte Foy is a racing man, breeds +horses, and has his "haras" on his place. The park is all cut up into +paddocks, each one separated from the other by a hedge and all +connected by green paths. F. said the effect from the terrace was quite +charming; one saw nothing but grass and hedges and young horses and +colts running about. Comtesse Foy and her daughters were making lace. +The girls went in to Bayeux three or four times a week and took lessons +from one of the dentellieres. + + + + +XI + +BOULOGNE-SUR-MER + + +One year we were at Boulogne for the summer in a funny little house, in +a narrow street just behind the port and close to the Casino and beach. +There were a great many people--all the hotels full and quantities of +automobiles passing all day. The upper part of the town is just like any +other seaside place--rows of hotels and villas facing the sea--some of +the houses built into the high green cliff which rises steep and almost +menacing behind. Already parts of the cliff have crumbled away in some +place and the proprietors of the villas find some difficulty in letting +them. The front rooms on the sea are charming, but the back +ones--directly under the cliff--with no air or sun, are not very +tempting. There is a fine digue and raised broad walk all along the sea +front, with flowers, seats, and music stand. + +It is a perfectly safe beach for children, for though the channel is +very near and the big English boats pass close to the shore, there are +several sand banks which make the beach quite safe, and from seven in +the morning till seven at night there are two boats au large and two men +on the beach, with ropes, life-preservers, and horns which they blow +whenever they think the bathers are too far out. There is an "Inspecteur +de la Plage," a regular French official with a gold band on his cap, who +is a most important and amiable gentleman and sees that no one is +annoyed in any way. We made friends with him at once, moyennant une +piece de dix francs, and he looked after us, saw that our tents were put +up close to the water, no others near, and warned off stray children and +dogs who were attracted by our children's toys and cakes. + +The plage is a pretty sight on a bright day. There are hundreds of +tents--all bright-coloured. When one approaches Boulogne from the sea +the beach looks like a parterre of flowers. Near the Casino there are a +quantity of old-fashioned ramshackly bathing cabins on wheels, with very +small boys cracking their whips and galloping up and down, from the +digue to the edge of the water, on staid old horses who know their work +perfectly--put themselves at once into the shafts of the +carriages--never go beyond a certain limit in the sea. + +All the bathers are prudent. It is rare to see any one swimming out or +diving from a boat. A policeman presides at the public bathing place +and there are three or four baigneurs and baigneuses who take charge of +the timid bathers; one wonderful old woman, bare-legged, of course, a +handkerchief on her head, a flannel blouse and a very short skirt made +of some water-proof material that stood out stiff all around her and +shed the water--she was the premiere baigneuse--seventy years old and +had been baigneuse at Boulogne for fifty-one years. She had bathed C. as +a child, and was delighted to see her again and wildly interested in her +two children. + +There were donkeys, of course, and goats. The children knew the goat man +well and all ran to him with their mugs as soon as they heard his +peculiar whistle. They held their mugs close under the goat so that they +got their milk warm and foaming, as it was milked directly into their +mugs. The goats were quite tame--one came always straight to our tents +and lay down there till his master came. Every one wanted to feed them +with cakes and bits of sugar, but he would never let them have anything +for fear it should spoil their milk. + +Another friend was the cake man, dressed all in white, with his basket +of brioches and madeleines on his head--then there were the inevitable +Africans with fezes on their heads and bundles of silks--crepes-de-chine +and ostrich feathers, that one sees at every plage. I don't think they +did much business. + +The public was not all distinguished. We often wondered where the people +were who lived in the hotels (all very expensive) and villas, for, with +very rare exceptions, it was the most ordinary petite bourgeoisie that +one saw on the beach--a few Americans, a great many fourth-rate English. +They were a funny contrast to the people who came for the Concours +Hippique, and the Race Week. One saw then a great influx of +automobiles--there were balls at the Casino and many pretty, +well-dressed women, of both worlds, much en evidence. The chatelains +from the neighbouring chateaux appeared and brought their guests. + +For that one week Boulogne was quite fashionable. The last Sunday of the +races was a terrible day. There was an excursion train from Paris and +two excursion steamers from England. We were on the quay when the +English boats came in and it was amusing to see the people. Some of them +had left London at six in the morning. There were all sorts and kinds, +wonderful sportsmen with large checked suits, caps and field glasses +slung over their shoulders--a great many pretty girls--generally in +white. All had bags and baskets with bathing suits and luncheon, and in +an instant they were swarming over the plage--already crowded with the +Paris excursionists. They didn't interfere with us much as we never went +to the beach on Sunday. + +F. was fishing all day with some of his friends in a pilot boat. (They +brought back three hundred mackerel), had a beautiful day--the sea quite +calm and the fish rising in quantities. C. and I, with the children, +went off to the Hardelot woods in the auto. We established ourselves on +a hillside, pines all around us, the sea at our feet, a beautiful blue +sky overhead, and not a sound to break the stillness except sometimes, +in the distance, the sirene of a passing auto. We had our tea-basket, +found a nice clear space to make a fire, which we did very prudently, +scooping out a great hole in the ground and making a sort of oven. It +was very difficult to keep the children from tumbling into the hole as +they were rolling about on the soft ground, but we got home without any +serious detriment to life or limb. + + * * * * * + +The life in our quarter on the quais is very different, an extraordinary +animation and movement. There are hundreds of vessels of every +description in the port. All day and all night boats are coming in and +going out: The English steamers with their peculiar, dull, penetrating +whistle that one hears at a great distance--steam tugs that take +passengers and luggage out to the Atlantic liners, lying just outside +the digue--yachts, pilot boats, easily distinguished by a broad white +line around their hulls, and a number very conspicuously printed in +large black letters on their white sails, "baliseurs," smart-looking +little craft that take buoys out to the various points where they must +be laid. One came in the other day with two large, red, bell-shaped +buoys on her deck which made a great effect from a distance; we were +standing on the pier, and couldn't imagine what they were; "avisos" +(dispatch-boats), with their long, narrow flamme, which marks them as +war vessels, streaming out in the wind. Their sailors looked very +picturesque in white jerseys and blue berets with red pompons. Small +steamers that run along the coast from Calais to Dunkirk--others, cargo +boats, broad and deep in the water, that take fruit and eggs over to +England. The baskets of peaches, plums, and apricots look most +appetizing when they are taken on board. The steamers look funny when +they come back with empty baskets, quantities of them, piled up on the +decks, tied to the masts. Many little pleasure boats--flat, broad rowing +boats that take one across the harbour to the Gare Maritime (which is a +long way around by the bridge), a most uncomfortable performance at low +tide, as you go down long, steep, slippery steps with no railing, and +have to scramble into the boat as well as you can. + +Of course, there are fishing-boats of every description, from the modest +little sloop with one mast and small sail to the big steam trawlers +which are increasing every year and gradually replacing the +old-fashioned sailing-boat. One always knows when the fishing-boats are +arriving by the crowd that assembles on the quay; that peculiar +population that seems natural to all ports, young, able-bodied sailors, +full of interest about the run and the cargo--old men in blue jerseys +who sit on the wall, in the sun, all day, and recount their +experiences--various officials with gold bands on their caps, men with +hand carts waiting to carry off the fish and fishwives--their baskets +strapped on their backs--hoping for a haul of crabs and shrimps or fish +from some of the small boats. + +_All_ the cargo of the trawlers is sold before they arrive to the +marieurs (men who deal exclusively in fish), and who have a contract +with the big boats. There is no possibility of having a good fish except +at the Halles, where one can sometimes get some from one of the smaller +boats, which fish on their own account and have no contract; but even +those are generally sold at once to small dealers, who send them off to +the neighbouring inland towns. In fact, the proprietor of one of the +big hotels told me he had to get his fish from Paris and paid Paris +prices. + +The fishwives, the young ones particularly, are a fine-looking +lot--tall, straight, with feet and legs bare, a little white cap or +woollen fichu on their heads--they carry off their heavy baskets as +lightly as possible, taking them to the Halles where all the fish must +go. They are quite a feature of Boulogne, the young fishwives. One sees +them often at low tide--fishing for shrimps, carrying their heavy nets +on their shoulders and flat baskets strapped on their backs into which +they tip the fish very cleverly. They are quite distinct from the +Boulonaises matelottes, who are a step higher in the social scale. +_They_ always wear a wonderful white cap with a high starched frill +which stands out around their faces like an aureole. They, too, wear +short full skirts, but have long stockings and very good stout +_shoes_--not sabots--which are also disappearing. They turn out very +well on Sundays. I saw a lot of them the other day coming out of +church--all with their caps scrupulously clean--short, full, black or +brown skirts; aprons ironed in a curious way--_across_ the apron--making +little waves (our maids couldn't think what had happened to their white +aprons the first time they came back from the wash--thought there had +been some mistake and they had some one's else clothes--they had to +explain to the washerwoman that they liked their aprons ironed +straight); long gold earrings and gold chains. They are handsome women, +dark with straight features, a serious look in their eyes. Certainly +people who live by the sea have a different expression--there is +something grave, almost sad in their faces, which one doesn't see in +dwellers in sunny meadows and woodlands. + +We went this morning with the Baron de G., who is at the head of one of +the fishing companies here, to see one of their boats come in and +unload. It was a steam trawler, with enormous nets, that had been +fishing off the English coast near Land's End. There were quite a number +of people assembled on the quay--a policeman, a garde du port, an agent +of the company, and the usual lot of people who are always about when a +fishing-boat comes in. Her cargo seemed to be almost entirely of fish +they call here saumon blanc. They were sending up great baskets of them +from the hold where they were very well packed in ice; half-way up they +were thrown into a big tub which cleaned them--took off the salt and +gave them a silvery look. They are put by hundreds into hand-carts which +were waiting and carried off at once to the Halles. They had brought in +3,500 fish, but didn't seem to think they had made a very good haul. The +whole cargo had been sold to a marieur and was sent off at once, by +him, all over the country. + +Other boats were also sending their cargo to the Halles. They had all +kinds of fish--soles, mackerel, and a big red fish I didn't know at all. +I wouldn't have believed, if I had not seen it with my own eyes, that +such a bright-coloured fish could exist. However, a very sharp little +boy, who was standing near and who answered all my questions, told me +they were rougets. We went on to the Halles--a large gray stone building +facing the sea--rather imposing with a square tower on top, from which +one can see a long way out to sea and signal incoming fishing-boats. It +was very clean--water running over the white marble slabs, and women, +with pails and brushes, washing and wiping the floor. It is evidently a +place that attracts strangers; many tourists were walking about--one +couple, American, I think, passing through in an automobile and laying +in a stock of lobsters and crabs (the big deep-sea crabs) and rougets. +The man rather hesitated about leaving his auto in the streets; they had +no chauffeur with them, tried to find a boy who would watch it. For a +wonder none was forthcoming, but two young fishwives, who were standing +near, said they would; when the man came back with his purchases he gave +each of them a five-franc piece, which munificence so astounded them +that they could hardly find words to thank him. + +Quantities of fish of all kinds had arrived--some being sold a la criee, +but it was impossible to understand the prices or the names of the +fish--at least for us. The buying public seemed to know all about it. +The fishwives were very busy standing behind the marble slabs with short +thick knives, with which they cut off pieces of the large fish when the +customer didn't want a whole one, and laughing and joking with every +one. Here and there we saw a modern young person in a fancy blouse, her +hair dressed and waved, with little combs, but there were not many. We +bought some soles and shrimps. M. de G. tried to bargain a little for +us, but the women were so smiling and so sure we didn't know anything +about it, or what the current price of the fish was, that we had not +much success. + +The trawlers are gradually taking away all the trade from the +old-fashioned fishing-boats. They go faster, carry more and larger nets, +and are, of course, stronger sea-boats. They are not much more +expensive. They burn coal of an inferior quality and their machinery is +of the simplest description. There is not the loss of life with them +that there must be always with the smaller sailing-boats. + +Newfoundland is the most dangerous fishing ground, as the men have so +much to contend with--the passing of transatlantic liners and the cold, +thick fogs which come up off the banks--all of them prefer the Iceland +fishing. The cold is greater, but there is much less fog and very few +big boats to be met en route. Few of the Boulogne boats go to +Newfoundland. It is generally the boats from Fecamp and some of the +Breton ports that monopolize the fishing off the Banks. It seems that +men often die from the cold and exposure in these waters. From the +old-fashioned sailing-boats they usually send them off--two by two in a +dory (they don't fish from the big boats); they start early, fish all +day; if no fog comes up, they are all right and get back to their boats +at dark, but if a sudden fog comes on they often can't find their boats +and remain out all night, half frozen. _One_ night they can stand, but +_two_ nights' cold and exposure are always fatal. When the fog lifts the +little boat is sometimes quite close to the big one, but the men are +dead--frozen. M. de G. tells us all sorts of terrible experiences that +he has heard from his men, and yet they all like the life--wouldn't lead +any other, and have the greatest contempt for a landsman. + + * * * * * +There is a fruit stall at the corner of our street, where we stop every +morning and buy fruit on our way down to the beach. We have become most +intimate with the two women who are there. One, a young one with small +children about the age of ours (to whom she often gives grapes or +cherries when they pass), and the other a little, old, wrinkled, +brown-faced grandmother, who sits all day, in all weathers, under an +awning made of an old sail and helps her daughter. She has very bright +eyes and looks as keen and businesslike as the young woman. She told us +the other day she had _forty_ grandchildren--all the males, men and +boys, sailors and fishermen and "mousses"--many of the girls fishwives +and the mothers married to fishermen or sailors. I asked her why some of +them hadn't tried to do something else--there were so many things people +could do in these days to earn their living without leading such a rough +life. She was quite astonished at my suggestion--replied that they had +lived on the sea all their lives and never thought of doing anything +else. Her own husband had been a fisherman--belonged to one of the +Iceland boats--went three or four times a year regularly--didn't come +back one year--no tidings ever came of ship or crew--it was God's will, +and when his time came he had to go, whether in his bed or on his boat. +And she brought up all her sons to be sailors or fishermen, and when two +were lost at sea, accepted that, too, as part of her lot, only said it +was hard, sometimes, for the poor women when the winter storms came and +the wind was howling and the waves thundering on the beach, and they +thought of their men ("mon homme" she always called her husband when +speaking of him), wet and cold, battling for their lives. I talked to +her often and the words of the old song, + + "But men must work and women must weep, + Though storms be sudden, and waters deep, + And the harbour bar be moaning," + +came back to me more than once, for the floating buoy at the end of the +jetty makes a continuous dull melancholy sound when the sea is at all +rough, and when it is foggy (the channel fogs come up very quickly) we +hear fog horns all around us and quite distinctly the big sirene of Cap +Gris Nez, which sends out its long wailing note over the sea. It is very +powerful and is heard at a long distance. + +The shops on the quay are an unfailing source of interest to me. I make +a tour there every morning before I go down to the beach. They have such +a wonderful variety of things. Shells of all sizes--enormous pink ones +like those I always remember standing on the mantelpiece in the nursery +at home--brought back by a sailor brother who used to tell us to put +them to our ears and we would hear the noise of the sea--and beautiful +delicate little mother-of-pearl shells that are almost jewels--wonderful +frames, boxes, and pincushions, made of shells; big spoons, too, with +a figure or a ship painted on them--knives, penholders, paper-cutters +and brooches, made out of the bones of big fish--tassels of +bright-coloured sea-weed, corals, vanilla beans--curiously worked +leather belts--some roughly carved ivory crosses, umbrella handles, +canes of every description, pipes, long gold earrings, parrots, little +birds with bright-coloured feathers, monkeys--an extraordinary +collection. + +I am sure one would find many curious specimens if one could penetrate +into the back of the old shops and pull the things about--evidently +sailors from all parts of the world have passed at Boulogne. Still I +don't hear many foreign languages spoken--almost always French and +English; occasionally a dark face, with bright black eyes, strikes one. +We saw two Italians the other day, talking and gesticulating hard, +shivering, too, with woollen comforters tied over their caps. There was +a cold fog and we were all wrapped up. It must be awful weather for +Southerners who only live when the sun shines and go to bed when it is +cold and gray. There are all sorts of itinerants, petits marchands, on +the other side of the quay, looking on the water--old women with fruit +and cakes--children with crabs and shrimps--dolls in Boulonaise +costume--fishwives and matelottes, stalls with every description of +food, tea, coffee, chocolate, sandwiches, and fried potatoes. The +children bought some potatoes the other day wrapped up in brown +paper--quite a big portion for two sous--and said they were very good. + +The quais are very broad, happily, for everything is put there. One +morning there were quantities of barrels. I asked what was in them. +Salt, they told me, for the herring-boats which are starting these days. +Nets, coils of ropes, big sails, baskets, boxes, odd bits of iron, some +anchors--one has rather to pick one's way. An automobile has been +standing there for three or four days. I asked if that was going to +Iceland on a trawler, but the man answered quite simply, "Oh, no, +Madame, what should we do with an automobile in a fishing-boat. It +belongs to the owner of one of the ships, and has been here en panne +waiting till he can have it repaired." + +We went one evening to the Casino to see a "bal des matelottes." It was +a curious sight--a band playing on a raised stand--a broad space cleared +all round it and lots of people dancing. The great feature, of course, +was the matelottes. Their costumes were very effective--they all wore +short, very full skirts, different coloured jackets, short, with a belt, +very good stout shoes and stockings, and their white frilled caps. They +always danced together (very rarely with a man--it is not etiquette for +them to dance with any man when their husbands or lovers are at sea), +their hands on each other's shoulders. They dance perfectly well and +keep excellent time and, I suppose, enjoy themselves, but they look very +solemn going round and round until the music stops. Their feet and +ankles are usually small. I heard an explanation the other day of their +dark skins, clean cut features, and small feet. They are of Portuguese +origin. The first foreign sailors who came to France were Portuguese. +Many of them remained, married French girls, and that accounts for that +peculiar type in their descendants which is very different from the look +of the Frenchwoman in general. There are one or two villages in Brittany +where the women have the same colouring and features, and there also +Portuguese sailors had remained and married, and one still hears some +Portuguese names--Jose, Manuel--and among the women some Annunziatas, +Carmelas, etc. We had a house in Brittany one summer and our kitchen +maid was called Dolores. + + +CAP GRIS NEZ. + +We made a lovely excursion one day to Cap Gris Nez--just at the end of a +wild bit of coast about twenty-five kilometres from Boulogne. The road +was enchanting on the top of the cliff all along the sea. We passed +through Vimereux, a small bathing-place four or five miles from +Boulogne, and one or two other villages, then went through a wild +desolate tract of sand-hills and plains and came upon the lighthouse, +one of the most important of the coast--a very powerful light that all +inward-bound boats are delighted to see. There are one or two villas +near on the top of the cliff, then the road turns sharply down to the +beach--a beautiful broad expanse of yellow sand, reaching very far out +that day as it was dead low tide. + +In the distance we saw figures; couldn't distinguish what they were +doing, but supposed they were fishing for shrimps, which was what our +party meant to do. The auto was filled with nets, baskets, and clothes, +as well as luncheon baskets. The hotel--a very good, simple one--with a +broad piazza going all around it, was half-way down the cliff, and the +woman was very "complaisante" and helpful--said there were plenty of +shrimps, crabs, and lobsters and no one to fish. She and her husband had +been out at four o'clock that morning and had brought back "quatre +pintes" of shrimps. No one knew what she meant, but it was evidently a +measure of some kind. I suppose an English pint. She gave us a cabin +where the two young matrons dressed, or rather undressed, as they +reappeared in their bathing trousers--which stopped some little distance +above the knee--very short skirts, bare legs, "espadrilles" on their +feet, and large Panama hats to protect them from the sun. The men had +merely rolled up their trousers. They went out very far--I could just +make them out--they seemed a part of the sea and sky, moving objects +standing out against the horizon. + +I made myself very comfortable with rugs and cushions under the cliff--I +had my book as I knew it would be a long operation. It was +enchanting--sitting there, such a beautiful afternoon. We saw the +English coast quite distinctly. There was not a sound--no bathing cabins +or tents, nobody on the shore, but a few fishermen were spreading nets +on poles to catch the fish as the tide came up. The sea was quite blue, +and as the afternoon lengthened there were lovely soft lights over +everything; such warm tints it might almost have been the Mediterranean +and the Riviera. A few fishing-boats passed in the distance, but there +was nothing to break the great stillness--not even the ripple of the +waves, as the sea was too far out. It was a curious sensation to be +sitting there quite alone--the blue sea at my feet and the cliff rising +straight up behind me. + +The bay is small--two points jutting out on each side, completely +shutting it in. There are a good many rocks--the water dashes over them +finely when the tide is high and the sea rough. I got rather stiff +sitting still and walked about a little on the hard beach and talked to +the fishermen. They were looking on amused and indulgently at our +amateurs, and said there were plenty of fish of all kinds _if_ one knew +how to take them. They said they made very good hauls with their nets in +certain seasons--that lots of fish came in with the tide and got +stranded, couldn't get back through the nets. One of them had two +enormous crabs in his baskets, which I bought at once, and we brought +them home in the bottom of the auto wrapped up in _very thick_ paper, as +they were still alive and could give a nasty pinch, the man said. + +About five, I thought I made out my party more distinctly; their faces +were turned homeward, so I went to meet them as far as the dry sand +lasted. I had a very long walk as the tide was at its lowest. They came +back very slowly, stopping at all the little pools and poking their nets +under the rocks to get what they could. They had made a very fair basket +of really big shrimps, were very wet, very hungry, and very pleased with +their performance. + +We had very good tea and excellent bread and butter at the hotel. They +gave us a table on the piazza in the sun which finished drying the +garments of the party. I fancy they had gone in deeper than they +thought. However, salt water never gives cold and nobody was any the +worse for the wetting. The woman of the hotel said we ought to go to see +a fisherman's hut, on the top of the cliff near the lighthouse, before +we went back. The same family of fishermen had lived there for +generations, and it was a marvel how any one _could_ live in such a +place. We could find our way very easily as the path was marked by white +stones. So we climbed up the cliff and a few minutes' walk brought us to +one of the most wretched habitations I have ever seen: a little low +stone hut, built so close to the edge of the cliff one would think a +violent storm must blow it over--no windows--a primitive chimney, hardly +more than a hole in the roof--a little low door that one had to stoop to +pass through, one room, dark and cold--the floor of beaten earth, damp +and uneven, almost in ruts. There were two beds, a table, two chairs, +and a stove--nondescript garments hanging on the walls--a woman with a +baby was sitting at the table--another child on the floor--both +miserable little, puny, weak-eyed, pale children. The woman told me she +had six--all lived there--one man was sitting on the bed mending a net, +another on the floor drinking some black stuff out of a cup--I think +the baby was drinking the same--two or three children were stretching +big nets on the top of the cliff--they, too, looked miserable little +specimens of humanity, bare-legged, unkempt, trousers and jackets in +holes; however, the woman was quite cheerful--didn't complain nor ask +for money. The men accepted two francs to drink our health. One wonders +how children ever grow up in such an atmosphere without light or air or +decent food. + +The drive home was beautiful--not nearly so lonely. Peasants and +fishermen were coming back from their work--women and children driving +the cows home. We noticed, too, a few little, low, whitewashed cottages +in the fields, almost hidden by the sand-hills, which we hadn't seen +coming out. + + +HARDELOT. + +Hardelot was a great resource to us. It is a fine domain, beautiful pine +woods running down to the sea--a great stretch of green meadow and a +most picturesque old castle quite the type of the chateau-fort. The +castle has now been transformed into a country club with golf-links, +tennis, and well-kept lawns under big trees which give a splendid shade +and are most resting to the eye after the glare of the beach. There is +no view of the sea from the castle, but from the top of the towers on a +fine day one just sees a quiver of light beneath the sky-line which +might be the sea. + +The chateau has had its history like all the old feudal castles on the +sea-board and has changed hands very often, being sometimes French and +sometimes English. It was strongly fortified and resisted many attacks +from the English before it actually came into their possession. Part of +the wall and a curious old gate-way are all that remain of the feudal +days. The castle is said to have been built by Charlemagne. Henry VIII +of England lived in it for some time, and the preliminaries of a treaty +of peace between that monarch and Francois I were signed there--the +French and English ambassadors arriving in great state--with an endless +army of retainers. One wonders where they all were lodged, as the castle +could never have been large--one sees that from the foundations; but I +fancy habits were very simple in those days, and the suites probably +slept on the floor in one of the halls with all their clothes on, the +troopers keeping on their jack-boots so long that they had to be cut off +sometimes--the feet and legs so swollen. + +The drive from the club to the plage is charming. Sometimes through +pretty narrow roads with high banks on each side, with hedges on top, +quite like parts of Devonshire, and nice, little, low, whitewashed +cottages with green shutters and red doors, much more like England than +France. + +We stopped at a cottage called the Dickens House, where Charles Dickens +lived for some time. It is only one story high--white with green +shutters--stands at the end of an old-fashioned garden filled with all +sorts of ordinary garden-flowers--roses, hollyhocks, larkspurs, pinks, +all growing most luxuriantly and making patches of colour in the green +surroundings. We saw Dickens' study, his table still in the window +(where he always wrote), looking over the garden to an endless stretch +of green fields. + +The plage is very _new_. There is a nice clean hotel, with broad piazzas +and balconies directly on the sea and a few chalets are already built, +but there is an absolute dearth of trees and shade. There was quite a +strong sea-breeze the day we were there, and the fine white sand was +blown high into the air in circles, getting into our eyes and hair. +There is a splendid beach--miles of sand--not a rock or cliff--absolutely +level. The domain of Hardelot belongs to a company of which Mr. John +Whitley was the president. He had concessions for a tramway from +Boulogne to Hardelot which will certainly bring people to the plage +and club. Now there is only an auto-bus, which goes very slowly and is +constantly out of order; once the club is organized, I think it cannot +fail to be a charming resort. There is plenty of game in the forest +(they have a good piece of it), perfect golf and tennis grounds--as +much deep-sea fishing as one wants. We went often to tea at the +chateau. F. played golf, and we walked about and sat under the trees, +and the children were quite happy playing on the lawns where they were +as safe as in their nurseries. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATEAU AND COUNTRY LIFE IN FRANCE*** + + +******* This file should be named 14029.txt or 14029.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/2/14029 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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