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diff --git a/7044-8.txt b/7044-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2eecb36 --- /dev/null +++ b/7044-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14157 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Courts of Memory 1858-1875. +by L. de Hegermann-Lindencrone + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: In the Courts of Memory 1858-1875. + +Author: L. de Hegermann-Lindencrone + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7044] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 27, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE COURTS OF MEMORY 1858-1875. *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: MADAME CHARLES MOULTON] + + + + +IN THE COURTS OF MEMORY +1858-1875 +FROM CONTEMPORARY LETTERS + +BY +L. DE HEGERMANN-LINDENCRONE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + MADAME CHARLES MOULTON + THE FAY HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS + EMPEROR NAPOLEON III + EMPRESS EUGÉNIE + DANIEL FRANÇOIS ESPRIT AUBER + FACSIMILE OF LETTER FROM THE DUKE DE MORNY + JENNY LIND + THE MAIN FAÇADE--CHÂTEAU DE COMPIÈGNE + SALLE DES FÊTES--CHÂTEAU DE COMPIÈGNE + CHÂTEAU DE PIERREFONDS + THE MUSIC HALL--CHÂTEAU DE COMPIÈGNE + FACSIMILE OF LETTER FROM JENNY LIND + FACSIMILE OF LISZT LETTER + MÉRIMÉE'S SIGNATURE AND ANSWERS TO MADAME MOULTON'S QUESTIONS + LA SALLE DES PREUX--CHÂTEAU DE PIERREFONDS.... + PRINCE METTERNICH'S SIGNATURE AND ANSWERS TO MADAME MOULTON'S QUESTIONS + NAPOLEON'S SIGNATURE AND ANSWERS TO MADAME MOULTON'S QUESTIONS + EMPRESS EUGÉNIE'S SIGNATURE AND ANSWERS TO MADAME MOULTON'S QUESTIONS + ELIHU WASHBURN + RUE DE RIVOLI, WHERE THE HÔTEL CONTINENTAL NOW STANDS + RAOUL RIGAULT + FACSIMILE OF PASSPORT ISSUED TO MADAME MOULTON DURING THE COMMUNE + FACSIMILE OF THE GOVERNMENT PERMIT TO KEEP COWS + PLACE VENDÔME AFTER THE FALL OF THE COLUMN + FACSIMILE OF TICKET TO PLACE VENDÔME + FACSIMILE OF ENVELOPE ADDRESSED BY THE EMPRESS EUGÉNIE TO PRINCE + METTERNICH + GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI + + + + +PREFACE + + +These letters, written by me in my younger days to a dear and indulgent +mother and aunt, were returned to me after their death. In writing them I +allowed myself to go into the smallest details, even the most +insignificant ones, as I was sure that they would be welcome and +appreciated by those to whom they were addressed. They were certainly not +intended to be made public. + +If I have decided, after much hesitation, to publish these letters, it is +because many of my friends, having read them, have urged me to do so, +thinking that they might be of interest, inasmuch as they refer to some +important events of the past, and especially to people of the musical +world whose names and renown are not yet forgotten. + +LILLIE DE HEGERMANN-LINDENCRONE. BERLIN, _July, 1912._ + + + + +NOTE + + +Madame de Hegermann-Lindencrone, the writer of these letters, which give +so vivid a picture of the brilliant court of the last Napoleon, is the +wife of the present Danish Minister to Germany. She was formerly Miss +Lillie Greenough, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she lived with her +grandfather, Judge Fay, in the fine old Fay mansion, now the property of +Radcliffe College. + +As a child Miss Greenough developed the remarkable voice which later was +to make her well known, and when only fifteen years of age her mother took +her to London to study under Garcia. Two years later Miss Greenough became +the wife of Charles Moulton, the son of a well-known American banker, who +had been a resident in Paris since the days of Louis Philippe. As Madame +Charles Moulton, the charming American became an appreciated guest at the +court of Napoleon III. The Paris papers of the days of the Second Empire +are filled with the praises of her personal attractions and exquisite +singing. + +After nine years of gaiety in the gayest city in the world came the war of +1870 and the Commune. Upon the fall of the Empire, Mrs. Moulton returned +to America, where Mr. Moulton died, and a few years afterward she married +M. de Hegermann-Lindencrone, at that time Danish Minister to the United +States, and later successively his country's representative at Stockholm, +Rome, and Paris. + +Few persons of her day have known so many of those whom the world has +counted great. Among her friends have been not only the ruling monarchs of +several countries, and the most distinguished men and women of their +courts, but almost all the really important figures in the world of music +of the past half-century, among them Wagner, Liszt, Auber, Gounod, and +Rossini. And of many of these great men the letters give us glimpses of +the most fascinatingly intimate sort. + + + + +IN THE COURTS OF MEMORY + + +CAMBRIDGE, _1856._ + +DEAR M.,--You say in your last letter, "Do tell me something about your +school." If I only had the time, I could write volumes about my school, +and especially about my teachers. + +To begin with, Professor Agassiz gives us lectures on zoölogy, geology, +and all other ologies, and draws pictures on the blackboard of trilobites +and different fossils, which is very amusing. We call him "Father Nature," +and we all adore him and try to imitate his funny Swiss accent. + +Professor Pierce, who is, you know, the greatest mathematician in the +world, teaches us mathematics and has an awful time of it; we must be very +stupid, for the more he explains, the less we seem to understand, and when +he gets on the rule of three we almost faint from dizziness. If he would +only explain the rule of one! The Harvard students say that his book on +mathematics is so intricate that not one of them can solve the problems. + +We learn history and mythology from Professor Felton, who is very near- +sighted, wears broad-brimmed spectacles, and shakes his curly locks at us +when he thinks we are frivolous. He was rather nonplussed the other day, +when Louise Child read out loud in the mythology lesson something about +"Jupiter and ten." "What," cried Mr. Felton, "what are you reading? You +mean 'Jupiter and Io,' don't you?" "It says ten here," she answered. + +Young Mr. Agassiz teaches us German and French; we read Balzac's _Les +Chouans_ and Schiller's _Wallenstein_. + +Our Italian teacher, Luigi Monti, is a refugee from Italy, and has a sad +and mysterious look in his black eyes; he can hardly speak English, so we +have things pretty much our own way during the lessons, for he cannot +correct us. One of the girls, translating _capelli neri_, said "black +hats," and he never saw the mistake, though we were all dying of laughter. + +No one takes lessons in Greek from long-bearded, fierce-eyed Professor +Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles, so he is left in peace. He does not +come more than once a week anyway, and then only to say it is no use his +coming at all. + +Cousin James Lowell replaces Mr. Longfellow the days he can't come. He +reads selections of "literary treasures," as he calls them, and on which +he discourses at length. He seems very dull and solemn when he is in +school; not at all as he is at home. When he comes in of an afternoon and +reads his poems to aunty and to an admiring circle of cousins and sisters- +in-law, they all roar with laughter, particularly when he reads them with +a Yankee accent. He has such a rippling little giggle while reading, that +it is impossible not to laugh. + +The other day he said to me, "Cousin Lillie, I will take you out for a +walk in recess." I said, "Nothing I should like better, but I can't go." +"Why not?" said he. "Because I must go and be a beggar." "What do you +mean?" he asked. "I mean that there is a duet that Mrs. Agassiz favors +just now, from Meyerbeer's 'Le Prophète,' where she is beggar number one +and I am beggar number two." He laughed. "You are a lucky little beggar, +anyway. I envy you." "Envy me? I thought you would pity me," I said. "No, +I do not pity you, I envy you being a beggar with a voice!" + +I consider myself a victim. In recess, when the other girls walk in Quincy +Street and eat their apples, Mrs. Agassiz lures me into the parlor and +makes me sing duets with her and her sister, Miss Carey. I hear the girls +filing out of the door, while I am caged behind the piano, singing, "Hear +Me, Norma," wishing Norma and her twins in Jericho. + +There are about fourteen pupils now; we go every morning at nine o'clock +and stay till two o'clock. We climb up the three stories in the Agassiz +house and wait for our teachers, who never are on time. Sometimes school +does not begin for half an hour. + +Mrs. Agassiz comes in, and we all get up to say good morning to her. As +there is nothing else left for her to teach, she teaches us manners. She +looks us over, and holds up a warning finger smilingly. She is so sweet +and gentle. + +I don't wonder that you think it extraordinary that all these fine +teachers, who are the best in Harvard College, should teach us; but the +reason is, that the Agassiz's have built a new house and find it difficult +to pay for it, so their friends have promised to help them to start this +school, and by lending their names they have put it on its legs, so to +speak. + +The other day I was awfully mortified. Mr. Longfellow, who teaches us +literature, explained all about rhythm, measures, and the feet used in +poetry. The idea of poetry having feet seemed so ridiculous that I thought +out a beautiful joke, which I expected would amuse the school immensely; +so when he said to me in the lesson, "Miss Greenough, can you tell me what +blank verse is?" I answered promptly and boldly, "Blank verse is like a +blank-book; there is nothing in it, not even feet," and looked around for +admiration, but only saw disapproval written everywhere, and Mr. +Longfellow, looking very grave, passed on to the next girl. I never felt +so ashamed in my life. + +Mr. Longfellow, on passing our house, told aunty that he was coming in the +afternoon, to speak to me; aunty was worried and so was I, but when he +came I happened to be singing Schubert's "Dein ist mein Herz," one of +aunty's songs, and he said, "Go on. Please don't stop." When I had +finished he said: + +"I came to scold you for your flippancy this morning, but you have only to +sing to take the words out of my mouth, and to be forgiven." + +"And I hope you will forget," I said, penitently. + +"I have already forgotten," he answered, affectionately. "How can one be +angry with a dear little bird? But don't try again to be so witty." + +"Never again, I promise you." + +"That's the dear girl you are, and 'Dein ist mein Herz'!" He stooped down +and kissed me. + +I burst into tears, and kissed his hand. This is to show you what a dear, +kind man Mr. Longfellow is. + +[Illustration: THE FAY HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS] + + +CAMBRIDGE, _June, 1857._ + +If you were here, dear mama, I would sing, "Oh, Wake and Call Me Early, +Call Me Early, Mother Dear," for I am to dance the quadrille on the +"Green" on Class Day. To be asked by a Harvard graduate to be one of the +four girls to dance is a great compliment. All the college windows are +full of people gazing at you, and just think of the other girls, who are +filled with envy fuller than the windows! + +Aunty is "pestered" (as she calls it) to death by people wanting me to +sing for their charities. Every one has a pet charity, which it seems must +be attended to just at this time, and they clamor for help from me, and +aunty has not the courage to say "no." Therefore, about once a week I am +dressed in the white muslin and the black shoes, which is my gala get-up, +and a carriage is sent for me. Then aunty and I are driven to the Concert +Hall, where, when my turn comes, I go on the platform and sing, "Casta +Diva," "Ah, non Credea," etc., and if I am encored then I sing, "Coming +Thro' the Rye." + +I am sure every one says that it is a shame to make me sing, but they make +me sing, all the same. I enjoy the applause and the excitement--who would +not? What I do _not_ enjoy is being obliged to sing in church every +Sunday. Dr. Hoppin has persuaded aunty to let me help in the choir; that +is, to sing the Anthem and the "Te Deum," but it amounts to my doing about +all the singing. Don't you think this is cruel? However, there is one hymn +I love to sing, and that is, "Shout the Glad Tidings, Exultingly Sing." I +put my whole heart and soul in this, and soon find myself shouting the +"glad tidings" all alone, my companions having left me in the lurch. + +We laughed very much at aunty's efforts in the Anti-slavery movement (just +now at its height), when all Massachusetts has risen up with a bound in +order to prove that the blacks are as good as the whites (if not better), +and should have all their privileges. She, wishing to demonstrate this +point, introduced Joshua Green, a little colored boy (the washerwoman's +son), into the Sunday-school class. The general indignation among the +white boys did not dismay her, as she hoped that Joshua would come up to +the mark. The answer to the first question in the catechism (what is your +name?), he knew, and answered boldly, "Joshua Green." But the second +question, "Who made you?" was the stumbling-block. He sometimes answered, +"Father," and sometimes, "Mother." Aunty, being afraid that he would +answer, "Miss Fay," had him come to the house during the week, where she +could din into him that it was God who made him and all creation. "Now, +Joshua, when Dr. Hoppin says to you, 'Who made you?' you must answer, +'God, who made everything on earth and in heaven'--you understand?" "Yes, +ma'am," and repeated the phrase until aunty thought him ripe to appear at +Sunday-school, which he did on the following Sunday. You may imagine +aunty's consternation when Dr. Hoppin asked Joshua, "Who made you?" and +Joshua looked at aunty with a broad grin, showing all his teeth, and said, +"Lor', Miss Fay, I forget who you said it was." This was aunty's last +effort to teach the blacks. She repeated this episode to Mr. Phillips +Brooks, who, in return, told her an amusing story of a colored man who had +been converted to the Catholic religion, and went one day to confession +(he seems not to have been very sure about this function). The priest said +to him, "Israel, what have you to confess? Have you been perfectly honest +since the last time? No thefts?" + +"No, sir." + +"None at all? Stolen no chickens?" + +"No, sir." + +"No watermelons?" + +"No, sir." + +"No eggs?" + +"No, sir." + +"No turkeys?" + +"No, sir; not one." + +Then the priest gave absolution. Outside the church Israel found the +companions whom he had left waiting for him. + +"Well, how did you get on?" they asked. + +"Bully!" answered Israel. "But if he'd said ducks he'd have got me." + +Cousin James Lowell said: "See how a negro appreciates the advantages of +the confession." + + +DEAR L.,--A family council was held yesterday, and it is now quite decided +that mama is to take me to Europe, and that I shall study singing with the +best masters. We will first go to New York for a visit of ten days with +Mr. and Mrs. Cooley. I shall see New York and hear a little music; and +then we start for Europe on the 17th in the _Commodore Vanderbilt_. + + +NEW YORK. + +DEAR AUNT,--We have now been here a week, and I feel ashamed that I have +not written to you before, but I have been doing a great deal. The Cooleys +have a gorgeous house in Fifth Avenue, furnished with every luxury one can +imagine. The sitting-room, dining-room, library, and a conservatory next +to the billiard-room, are down-stairs; up-stairs are the drawing-rooms +(first, second, and third), which open into a marble-floored Pompeian +room, with a fountain. Then comes mama's and my bed-room, with bath-room +attached. On the third floor the family have their apartment. We have been +many times to the opera, and heard an Italian tenor, called Brignoli, whom +people are crazy over. He has a lovely voice and sings in "Trovatore." +Last night, when he sang "Di quella pira," people's enthusiasm knew no +bounds. They stood up and shouted, and ladies waved their handkerchiefs; +he had to repeat it three times, and each time people got wilder. Nina and +I clapped till our gloves were in pieces and our arms actually ached. + +A Frenchman by the name of Musard has brought over a French orchestra, and +is playing French music at the opera-house. People are wild over him also. +Madame La Grange, who they say is a fine lady in her own country, is +singing in "The Huguenots." She has rather a thin voice, but vocalizes +beautifully. Nina and I weep over the hard fate of Valentine, who has to +be present when her husband is conspiring against the Huguenots, knowing +that her lover is listening behind the curtain and can't get away. The +priests come in and bless the conspiracy, all the conspirators holding +their swords forward to be blessed. This music is really too splendid for +words, and we enjoy it intensely. + +Mr. Bancroft, the celebrated historian, invited us to dinner, and after +dinner they asked me to sing. I had to accompany myself. Every one +pretended that they were enchanted. Just for fun, at the end I sang, +"Three Little Kittens Took Off Their Mittens, to Eat a Christmas Pie," and +one lady (would you believe it?) said she wept tears of joy, and had cold +shivers down her back. When I sang, "For We Have Found Our Mittens," there +was, she said, such a jubilant ring in my voice that her heart leaped for +joy. + +Mr. Bancroft sent me the next day a volume of Bryant's poems, with the +dedication, "To Miss Lillie Greenough, in souvenir of a never-forgetable +evening." I made so many acquaintances, and received so many invitations, +that if we should stay much longer here there would be nothing left of me +to take to Europe. + +I will write as soon as we arrive on the other side. On whatever side I +am, I am always your loving niece, who thinks that there is no one in the +wide world to compare to you, that no one is as clever as you, that no one +can sing like you, and that there never was any one who can hold a candle +to you. There! + + +BREMEN, _August, 1859._ + +DEAR AUNT,--At last we have arrived at our journey's end, and we are happy +to have got out of and away from the steamer, where we have been cooped up +for the last weeks. However, we had a very gay time during those weeks, +and some very sprightly companions. Among them a runaway couple; he was a +Mr. Aulick Palmer, but I don't know who she was. One could have learned it +easily enough for the asking, as they were delighted to talk about +themselves and their elopement, and how they did it. It was their favorite +topic of conversation. I was intensely interested in them; I had never +been so near a romance in my life. They had been married one hour when +they came on board; she told her parents that she was going out shopping, +and then, after the marriage, wrote a note to them to say that she was +married and off to Europe, adding that she was not sorry for what she had +done. He is a handsome man, tall and dark; she is a jolly, buxom blonde, +with a charming smile which shows all her thirty and something teeth, and +makes her red, thick lips uncurl. I thought, for such a newly married +couple, they were not at all sentimental, which I should have supposed +natural. She became sea-sick directly, and he called attention to her as +she lay stretched out on a bench looking dreadfully green in the face: "We +are a sick couple--home-sick, love-sick, and sea-sick." + +The captain, who thought himself a wag but who forgot every morning what +he had wagged about the day before, would say for his daily greeting, "Wie +[as the Germans say] befinden sie sich?" He thought the pun on sea-sick +was awfully funny, and would laugh uproariously. He said to Mr. Palmer, +"Why are you not like a melon?" We all guessed. One person said, "Because +he was not meloncholic [Aulick]." But all the guesses were wrong. "No," +said the captain, "it is because the melon can't elope, and you can." He +thought himself very funny, and was rather put out that we did not think +him so, and went on repeating the joke to every one on the boat _ad +nauseam_. + + +LONDON, _1859._ + +DEAREST A.,--We arrived here, as we intended, on the 27th.... We easily +found Garcia's address, and drove there without delay. I was very anxious +to see the "greatest singing master in the world," and there he was +standing before me, looking very much as I had imagined him; but not like +any one I had ever seen before. He has grayish hair and a black mustache, +expressive big eyes, and such a fascinating smile! Mama said, having heard +of his great reputation, she wished that he would consent to give me a +_few_ lessons. He smiled, and answered that, if I would kindly sing +something for him, he could better judge how much teaching I required. I +replied--I was so sure of myself--that, if he would accompany "Qui la +voce," I would sing that. "Ha, ha!" he cried, with a certain sarcasm. "By +all means let us have that," and sat down before the piano while I spread +out the music before him. I sang, and thought I sang very well; but he +just looked up into my face with a very quizzical expression, and said, +"How long have you been singing, Mademoiselle?" Mama answered for me +before I could speak. "She has sung, Monsieur, since she was a very small +child." + +He was not at all impressed by this, but said, "I thought so." Then he +continued. "You say you would like to take some lessons of me?" I was +becoming very humble, and said, meekly, that I hoped he would give me +some. "Well, Mademoiselle, you have a very wonderful voice, but you have +not the remotest idea how to sing." What a come-down! I, who thought I had +only to open my mouth to be admired, and only needed a _few_ finishing +touches to make me perfect, to be told that I had "not the remotest idea +how to sing"! + +Mama and I both gasped for breath, and I could have cried for +disappointment as well as mortification. However, I felt he was right, +and, strange to say, mama felt so too. He said, "Take six months' rest and +don't sing a single note, then come back to me." When he saw the +crestfallen look on my face, he added, kindly, "Then we shall see +something wonderful." + +We leave for Dresden this evening.... Love to all. + +Your humble + +LILLIE. + + +LONDON, _May, 1860._ + +DEAR A.,--I have not written since we left the kind V. Rensselaers in +Dresden. Mama must have given you all the details of our life there.... I +hope, now that I have studied French, German, and Italian like a good +little girl for six months and not "sung a single note," that I may +venture to present myself before the great Garcia again. + +I can't imagine that I am the same person who has (it seems to me years +ago) sung before large, distinguished, and enthusiastic audiences, has +been a little belle, in a way, in Cambridge, has had serenades from the +Harvard Glee Club (poor aunty! routed out of your sleep in the middle of +the night to listen to them), inspired poetry, and danced on "the Green" +on Class Day. I felt as if I ought to put on pantalettes and wear my hair +down my back. I look now upon myself as a real _Backfisch_, as the Germans +call very young girls, and that is simply what I am; and I feel that I +ought never to have been allowed to sport about in those fascinating clear +waters which reflected no shadows, now that I must go back to the millpond +and learn to swim. + +I have been already three weeks studying hard with Garcia, who is not only +a wonderful teacher, but is a wonderful personality. I simply worship him, +though he is very severe and pulls me up directly I "slipshod," as he +calls it; and so far I have literally sung nothing but scales. He says +that a scale must be like a beautiful row of pearls: each note like a +pearl, perfect in roundness and color. + +This is so easy to say, but very difficult to accomplish. Stone-breaking +on the highroad is nothing to it. I come home tired out from my lessons, +only to begin singing scales again. I tell mama I feel like a fish with +the scales being taken off him. + +Four hours by myself and two lessons a week will soon reduce your poor +niece to _a scaleton_. Ah! please forgive this.... + +No question of a song yet. "Qui la voce" seems way back in the Middle +Ages. Garcia says, "If, when your voice is well oiled [that is what he +calls the scaling process], you are not intelligent enough to sing a song +by yourself, then you had better knit stockings for the poor." + +"Then," I answered, "I had better begin at once to learn to knit +stockings." + +"Not quite yet!" he laughed. "Wait till I have finished with you." More +than once he has said, "Your voice reminds me of my sister Marie's +[meaning Malibran]; but she had no brains to speak of, whereas you have, +and you ought to be thankful for it." + +I murmured that I was glad he thought so, and, if I really had some +brains, I should be thankful; but I was not quite sure that I had. "Trust +me to tell you if you have not," said he. + +I trusted him, indeed, for I knew very well that he would not let the +occasion slip had he anything of that sort to say. + + +LONDON, _July, 1860._ + +DEAR A.,--Still hard at work. I wonder at mama's patience and endurance. +To hear scales, cadenzas, and trills from morning till night must be +terribly wearing on the nerves. I said as much to the master, and he +consented to give me "Bel raggio," of "Semiramide." It is as good as an +exercise, anyway, because it is nothing but cadenzas. Then he allowed me +to sing "Una voce poco fa." I told him that mama had put on a pound of +flesh since I was permitted to roam in these fresh pastures. This made him +laugh. After he had seen that I had "brains enough" to sing these songs +according to his august liking, he said, "Now we will try 'Voi che +sapete,' of Mozart." + +Garcia has not the ghost of a voice; but he has the most enchanting way of +singing mezzo-voce, and occasionally says, "Sing this so," and sings the +phrase for me. It sounds delightfully when he does it; but I do not think +he would have liked me to "sing it so" and would probably swear a gentle +little Spanish swear under his garlicky breath, because (I say it, though +I hate to) the dear master eats garlic--pounds of it, I fear--and his +voice is highly scented when it cracks, which it often does. + +He once said, "You may imitate my way of singing, but don't imitate my +crack." + +"Oh," I said, "I love to hear you sing. I don't even hear the crack." + +"Ah," he sighed, "if it had not been for that crack I should be in the +opera now." + +"I am glad," I answered, "that you are not there; for then you would not +be here, teaching me." I think this pleased him. + +Sometimes he is very nervous. Once, when I was singing "Voi che sapete," +the tears rolled down his cheeks, and another time, when he was showing me +how to sing it "so," I burst into tears, and the poor man had to order his +servant to bring me some sherry to restore my nerves. There is one phrase +in this song which I never can hear sung, or never can sing myself, +without emotion. + +The season is getting so late mama thinks we ought to leave London, +especially as Garcia is taking his vacation, and we are going in a few +days to Paris. + +Garcia has given us a letter to his sister, Madame Viardot (of whom he +said she had brains but no voice). He wrote: "I send you my pupil. Do all +you can to persuade her to go on the stage. She has it in her." + +But Madame Viardot may "do all she can"; I will never go on the stage. + +If "it" is in me, it must work out some other way. + + +PARIS, _May, 1861._ + +DEAR A.,--Mother will have written to you of my engagement to Charles +Moulton. I wish you would come and see me married, and that I could +present all my future family to the most lovable of aunts. + +I think I shall have everything to make me happy. In the first place, my +fiancé is very musical, composes charming things, and plays delightfully +on the piano; my future mother-in-law is a dear old lady, musical and +universally talented; my future father-in-law is a _bona-fide_ American, a +dear quixotic old gentleman who speaks the most awful French. Although he +has lived in Paris for forty years, he has never conquered the +pronunciation of the French language, but has invented a unique dialect of +his own. Every word that can be pronounced in English he pronounces in +English, as well as all numbers. For instance, a phrase such as _La +guerre de mille huit cent quinze était une démonstration de la liberté +nationale_ would sound like this: "La gur de 1815 (in English) était +une demonstration (in English) de la liberty national." It is almost +impossible to understand him; but he will read for hours unabashed, not +only to us, the drowsy and inattentive members of his family, but to the +most fastidious and illustrious Frenchmen. There are two brothers and a +sweet little sister. I shall have a beautiful home, or rather homes, +because they have not only a handsome hotel in Paris, but an ideal country +place (Petit Val) and a villa in Dinard. + +Good-by. Greet all the united family from me, and tell them not to worry +over my future, as you wrote they were doing. I have renounced forever the +pomps and allurements of the stage, and I trust the leaves on the +genealogical tree will cease their trembling, and that the Fays, my +ancestors, will not trouble themselves to turn in their graves, as you +threatened they would if I did anything to disgrace them. + + +CHÂTEAU DE PETIT VAL, _June, 1862._ + +DEAREST A.,--I wish I could give you an idea of Petit Val and our life as +lived by me. Petit Val is about twelve miles from Paris, and was built for +the Marquis de Marigny, whose portrait still hangs in the salon--the +brother of Madame de Pompadour--by the same architect who built and laid +out the park of Petit Trianon. + +There is an avenue of tall poplar-trees leading from Petit Val straight to +Choisy-le-Roi, where Madame de Pompadour lived, a distance of ten miles. + +Like Petit Trianon, Petit Val has little lakes with shady trees bordering +them; it has grottos, waterfalls, winding paths, magnificent greenhouses, +fountains, a _rivière_, pavilions, aviaries, terraces, _charmilles_, +_berceaux_, _enfin tout!_ One feels like saying, "Mein Liebchen, was +willst du mehr?" as the poet Heine says. The park is surrounded by a _saut +de loup_ (a sunken wall about twenty feet high like "la Muette" in Paris). +There is no need of putting up sign-boards with "No trespassing here" as +no one could scale the walls of the _saut de loup_, so we feel very safe, +especially when the five iron gates are locked. Beyond the park are the +_chasse_, the farm, the vineyards, and the _potager_. We are so near Paris +that we have many visitors. The drive out here is a pleasant one, going +through Vincennes, Charenton, Alfort, etc., and one can get here in about +an hour. Duke de Morny, the Duke de Persigny and the Rothschild family, +Prince de Sagan, and different diplomats, not to speak of our numerous +American friends who are thankful for a breath of fresh air, are frequent +guests. The nearest chateau to us is Montalon, where Madame de Sévigné +used to live, and from which she wrote some of her letters. If she ever +wrote a tiresome one, it must surely have been from here, as the damp and +moldy house, covered with creeping vines and overgrown with ivy, +surrounded by melancholy cypress and poplar trees, which shut out the +view, could scarcely have inspired her with brilliant ideas. + +Petit Val's _potager_ is known far and wide for the best peaches and +pears in France, and the gardener takes all the prizes in the shows: if +the prizes are in money, he pockets them; if they are diplomas, he allows +us to keep them. He is a rare old scamp. + +When Mr. Moulton bought the place he had the right to call himself "De +Petit Val," and he could have--if he had wished to--been "Moulton de Petit +Val." But he turned up his American nose at such cheap nobility as this; +still he was obliged, much against his will, to conform to the obligations +which belonged to the estate. For instance, he had to give so many bushels +of potatoes to the curé, so many bushels of grain to the doctor, so many +bushels of vegetables to the postmaster, and to them all so many casks of +the awful wine we produce on the estate, known in the vernacular as "_le +petit bleu_." + +When this sour wine is in the golden period of effervescing, any sick +child in the village ticketed by the doctor can be brought to the wine- +presses and dipped in. If labeled "_très malade_," he is dipped in +twice. Don't you think that this is a dreadful custom? I think that it is +awful to put such an article as this on the market; but then we know that +if a person has tasted it once they never do it again. We try to grow +green corn here; but it degenerates unless the seed is brought every year +from America. This year, not having been renewed, the corn is a failure; +but the American melons ripen here in perfection, and rivalize +successfully with the big French melons. The other day an ambassador ate +so many of them that he begged us to let him stay all night. We were quite +anxious about him, as he had an audience with the Emperor the next +morning; but he managed it somehow. + +An important member of the family I must not forget! the governess, +Mademoiselle Wissembourg, who is very much of a personage. After she has +given my sister-in-law and myself our French lessons (for I still go on +studying), she gives the cook his orders, gives out the linen, writes the +letters, smooths away all annoyances, pays the bills, and keeps the +accounts, which she does in an oriental sort of way, with such fantastic +summings-up that my poor father-in-law is often on the verge of +distraction. + +Our stables are well garnished; there are eleven horses (my pair +included), fourteen carriages, three coachmen, and no end of stable-boys. +My coachman, who was one of the "anciens zouaves"--so renowned for their +bravery--generally has cramps when he is told that I am going to drive +myself to Paris. And when I drive those twelve miles I do it in double- +quick time with Medjé and Hilda, my two "limousin" horses. No wonder Louis +offers up a prayer to the saints before starting, and sits, holding with +both hands on to his little seat back of me, with an expression on his +face of "O Lord, what is going to happen?" + + +PARIS, _January, 1863._ + +DEAREST MAMA,--I have been expecting letters from you and home for a long +time, but nothing has come yet. + +The coldest day that Paris has ever known, since goodness knows when, has +suddenly burst upon us, and skating is just dawning on the Parisians. + +The ice on the little lake of Suresnes has frozen _d'emblée_, and I +was crazy to go there and skate. We had stayed late in the country, having +spent Christmas _en famille_, and only returned to Paris a few days +ago. I had just received the skates you sent me for my Christmas present, +and I was wild to try them. What beauties they are! My old ones, with +their screws and their innumerable straps, seem horribly complicated and +clumsy. As you advised, I had very tight-fitting boots with low heels made +for them. I drove out to the Bois with baby and his _nounou_, and to +gain time put on my skates in the carriage, and when I arrived, I walked +down to the lake. I never saw such splendid ice (and I have seen many +ices). No tardy layers, no treacherous holes, just one even mirror of +marble. Imagine my surprise at not seeing a person on the ice; but there +were masses of spectators gathered on the edge of the lake looking at it. +The Emperor and the Empress were there. I knew them by sight; but the only +one I knew personally was Prince Joachim Murat, our neighbor in the +country. He married Elizabeth Wagram, and they lived with her parents at +Gros-Bois, near Petit Val. + +Therefore, I stood unknown and unnoticed. I ventured one foot on the +indiscreet, reflecting surface, then the other; and while the assembled +crowd gazed at me in amazement, I made the tour of the lake on my skates. + +My experience of seven years on Fresh Pond did not fail me, and I skimmed +over the flawless ice on the outer edge, like a bird with close-fitting +wings; indeed, I felt like one. The ice was so clear that one could see +the grass and stones at the bottom. + +This was an exhilarating moment! + +When I returned to the starting-place I saw that no one had dared to +follow my example, and as an act of (I hardly dare to write it) silly +_bravoura_ I took baby out of the nurse's arms, and with him gurgling +and chuckling with delight, his little head on my shoulder, I skated +around with him. _Only once!_ Don't scold me! I felt directly what a +wicked thing I was doing, for, if there had been a stone or a branch +frozen in the ice, I might have fallen, and then--what might not have +happened! But as long as I was alone and sure of my skates I was not +afraid. I saw some of the more courageous skaters beginning to invade the +ice, and I flew back, thoroughly ashamed of myself, and delivered my rosy +burden into the arms of its nurse, who stood aghast, like a frozen Niobe, +with wide eyes, watching me, the foolish mother. I sent them back to Paris +in the coupé, begging my husband to come and fetch me. I was vain enough +to wish him to see me in my glory. + +Prince Murat came up to speak to me. As we saw the Emperor, who was on +skates, coming toward us, Prince Murat said, "Here comes the Emperor to +speak to you." I felt dreadfully frightened, for I was not sure--it being +the first time I had ever spoken to a sovereign--what was the proper +manner to address him. I knew I must say "Sire," and "votre Majesté"; but +when and how often I did not know. His Majesty held in his hand a short +stick with an iron point, such as are used in climbing the Alps, and +managed to propel himself forward by little right-legged shunts, his left +leg not daring to do anything but slide, and stopped like an engine +nearing a station, puffing and out of breath. Prince Murat moved aside, +and his Majesty looked at me, then at Prince Murat, who, in an +introductory manner, said "This is Madame Moulton, your Majesty, the +daughter-in-law of our neighbor, whom you know." "Ah!" said the Emperor, +and, turning to me, he said, "How beautifully you skate, Madame; it is +wonderful to look at you!" + +[Illustration: EMPEROR NAPOLEON III] + +I (frightened out of my wits) murmured that I had skated since I was eight +years old. "One can only skate like that when one learns young," the +Emperor said. And while I was wondering when I should say "Votre Majesté," +he said, "Oserai-je demander à une patineuse si parfaite de patiner avec +un humble patineur (Dare I ask such a perfect skater as you to skate with +so humble a skater as myself)?" + +He was a humble skater indeed! I answered that it would be a great honor +to me. He then stretched out his hands, and I took them very much as I +would have taken any one else's hands, and we ambled forth, I supporting +and upholding the tottering steps of the monarch of the French nation. I +felt that the eye of the nation was on me, and, indeed, it was, as much of +the nation as happened to be there; but, proud as I was, I wished that +some one would relieve me of this responsibility. Suppose his Majesty +should fall!... Dreadful thought! The Emperor skated on silently, intent +on balancing himself, and I, you may be sure, was intent on keeping him +intent. He stumbled at every stroke; but as I was on his left side--the +weak one--we got along very nicely, and we felt that we were being admired +--_patineusement_. His hat fell off once (he skated in a tall hat), and I +had to pick it up for him while he clung to my hand and lifted his other +hand to put the hat on his head. In our course we came upon the Empress, +and we slowed down neatly. She was being supported by two very "trembling" +chamberlains, who almost knocked us down in their efforts to keep their +balance. When we had come to anchor the Emperor said to the Empress, "This +is Madame Moulton! Does she not skate beautifully?" I ought to have made a +courtesy, but how could I--on skates? + +The Empress was dressed in a more suitable style than the other ladies, +who evidently were going on to some reception (the idea of combining +visiting and skating!), and had rather long dresses, high heels and hats. +The Empress, though crinolined and high-heeled, had a short skirt. I had a +short cloth dress bordered with fur and a little fur toque. The Empress +looked very kindly at me and said something to the Emperor which escaped +me. When--oh, when--should I say "Your Majesty"? But I forgot everything, +gazing at the Empress, who appeared as a vision of beauty, with a bright +color in her cheeks, her eyes sparkling with animation. The Emperor said +to her, "Tu devrais patiner avec Madame (You ought to skate with Madame)," +letting go my hands. With the sweetest smile she said to me, "Will +_you_ skate with _me_?" Of course I was only too enchanted. Could I uphold +the throne in which her Majesty was strapped? I took her two hands, and we +sped on our way as best we could. I had sometimes to dig my skates in the +ice to prevent too much speed, and to keep us both on our legs, one pair +of which were Imperial. "How strange!" said her Majesty, in a moment of +breath-taking, "that I should have never seen you before, and yet, as the +Emperor says, you live in Paris!" + +I replied: "Your Majesty [at last I said it], I spent last winter in the +country taking care of my health, and last summer I was in Dinard." + +"Ah, je comprends," with a lovely smile, "and now?" + +"Now, your Majesty [I was getting on nicely], I am going to be presented +to society in due form by my mother-in-law." + +"You will then come to the Tuileries?" + +"Of course, your Majesty [now I had complete court manners], I shall come +there first. My mother-in law will take the necessary steps." + +"But you will not need to go through all those steps," she said, +smilingly, "now that we know you"; and added, most kindly, "To-morrow you +must come and skate with us again." + +After this little breathing spell we went off on another tour, and as all +is well that ends better than you expect, I was thankful to bring her +Majesty back safely. We were hailed with enthusiasm. Charles, coming back +with the coupé, was duly complimented by both their Majesties on the +prowess of his spouse. And so we drove home. + +Here endeth the first chapter and my first appearance in Parisian society. + + +_January, 1863._ + +DEAR M.,--We received the invitation for the first ball at the Tuileries +before my mother-in-law had presented me to the Grande Maîtresse Duchesse +de Bassano; but her reception-day being on the same day as the ball I was +able, fortunately, to go there and to be presented to her. Mrs. M--- +preferred to make the "preliminary steps" with me in her wake. + +My wedding-dress, trimmed with the beautiful lace (which came in my +_corbeille_), seemed the proper thing to wear. The gentlemen's costumes +are "_culottes courtes blanches_, white silk stockings, and a dress-coat +with gold buttons." My mother-in-law had been under the coiffeur's tongs +for hours, and when she reappeared, frizzled and curled, she looked so +unnatural that we hardly recognized her. My father-in-law refused point +blank to go with us. When asked, "Don't you want to see Lillie's first +appearance?" he answered, "I shall see her before she goes. It is not +likely I shall see much of her when she is once there." Which would +probably have been the case. + +Mrs. Moulton, wishing to go in style, ordered the gala Cinderella coach +which served at my wedding. It used to take my parents-in-law to and from +the Tuileries in the time of Louis Philippe. One can see the like in +Versailles, all glass in front, white satin inside, with steps to let +down, and swung on eight undulating springs. Charles went in our coupé, +and I must say I envied him. + +It is a long drive from the Rue de Courcelles to the Tuileries, and it +takes a long time, especially when the _queue_ commences at the Place +de la Concorde. I was almost dizzy as we advanced step by step, pulling up +at every moment, rocking and swaying like a row-boat in a gentle swell, +and when we got a chance to go faster the carriage rocked from side to +side, all the fringe on the coachman's box waving about. The coachman was +a study in himself, with his white wig and silk stockings, ensconced like +a hen on her nest. The valet, with powdered hair, white silk stockings, +and plush breeches, stood on his little platform behind the carriage, +holding on to the two cords on the side. I felt very fine, but not fine +enough to prevent my feeling a little sea-sick, and I could not help +thinking that it was a great pity to put on such style at night, when no +one could see us. I would have liked better to have been seen in the +daytime in this pomp and glory. + +When at last we did arrive my mother-in-law's feathers were somewhat awry. +We mounted the stately staircase, lined on both sides by the superb Cent +Gardes, standing like statues on each step. + +Many chamberlains were waiting, and we were conducted to the Grand Maître +de Cérémonie, who passed us on to a less grand Maître de Cérémonie, who +showed us to the place where we were to stand in the ballroom. It was a +magnificent sight, and as long as I live I shall never forget it. + +The beautifully dressed ladies were covered with jewels, and the gentlemen +in their showy uniforms were covered with decorations. Each lady showed to +great advantage, as, on account of the width of their crinolines, they had +to stand very far apart. + +The entire ballroom was lighted with wax candles, and was really a fairy +scene. At the end of the ballroom was the platform on which stood the +throne of their Majesties, a row of red-velvet gilded fauteuils placed +behind them for the Imperial family. The hangings over the throne, which +were of heavy red velvet with the Napoleonic eagle in gold, fell in great +folds down to the floor. + +It was not long before the doors were thrown open, and every one who had +been limp and lax while waiting, chatting with his neighbor, straightened +himself up and bowed to the ground, as the Emperor and the Empress walked +in. Their Majesties stood for a moment at the door, and then went +immediately to the throne. + +A few moments later the _quadrille d'honneur_ was danced by the eight +most princely of the guests. The Emperor danced with the Princess of +Wales, who has the prettiest and sweetest face one can imagine. The +Empress danced with the King of Saxony; the Prince of Wales with the +Princess Mathilde, cousin of the Emperor; the Grand Duke of Russia with +the Princess Clothilde. + +Every one stood during the whole quadrille. After that was finished their +Majesties circulated among us, talking to different people. Later on the +Empress, when she had returned to the throne, sent a message to me by +Prince Murat, that she wished me to come to her. + +I was frightened to death to have to cross the ballroom, feeling as if all +eyes were on me, and tripped along so quickly that Prince Murat, at my +side, said, "Don't hurry so; I can't keep up with you." + +While I stood before the steps of the throne the Empress came toward me, +and with her exquisite smile, and with the peculiar charm she has when +speaking, said, "I am so glad to see you here, Madame Moulton." "And I am +so glad to be here, your Majesty; but I went through all the preliminary +steps all the same," I said, "because _ma belle-mère_ insisted upon it." + +This seemed to amuse her, and after a few gracious words she left me. + +As this was the first time I had seen her in evening dress, I was +completely dazed by her loveliness and beauty. I can't imagine a more +beautiful apparition than she was. Her delicate coloring, the pose of her +head, her hair, her expressive mouth, her beautiful shoulders, and +wonderful grace make a perfect ensemble. + +[Illustration: EMPRESS EUGÉNIE] + +She wore a white tulle dress trimmed with red velvet bows and gold +fringes; her crown of diamonds and pearls and her necklace were +magnificent. + +On her breast shone the great diamond (the Regent) which belongs to the +Crown. + +When I gazed on her in all her glory and prestige I could hardly believe +that we had been such chums a few days before, when skating, and that I +had held her hands clasped in mine, and had kept her from falling. + +Countess Castellane gave a beautiful costume ball the other evening, which +I must tell you about, because it was so original. The stables were +connected with the salons by a long, carpeted gallery, at the end of which +was a huge fresco on the walls, representing a horse-race in a very +lifelike manner. Through a large plate-glass window one could see the +whole stable, which was, as you may imagine, in spick-and-span order; and +Count Castellane's favorite horse was saddled and bridled, a groom in full +livery standing by its side. It was amusing to see ladies in their ball +dresses walking about in the stables, where the astonished horses were +blinking in the gas-light. + +In one of the quadrilles the ladies and gentlemen were dressed as +children, in short socks and frocks with enormous sashes. + +Princess Metternich was costumed as a milkmaid; she had real silver pails +hung over her shoulders. Duchesse de Persigny was a _chiffonnière_ with a +_hotte_ on her back and a gray dress very much looped up, showing far +above her wooden shoes. + + +PARIS, _1863._ + +DEAR M.,--The ice in the Bois continues very good; I am skating every day. +I have commenced to teach the little Prince Imperial. He is very sweet, +and talks very intelligently for his age. The other day, when I was +skating with the Empress, a gentleman (I think he was an American), +skating backward, knocked against us with such force that the Empress and +I both fell. I tried with all my might to keep her from falling, but it +was impossible. Her first words, when we were helped on our feet again, +were, "Don't tell the Emperor; I think he did not see us." + +That same evening there was a ball at the Tuileries, and when the Empress +came to speak to me she said: "How are you? I can hardly stand up." I +answered, "I am worse off, your Majesty; I can stand up, but I cannot sit +down." + +Yesterday, when I came home from my singing lesson with Delle Sedie, I +found the family quite excited. The Empress's chamberlain had just been +here to say that the Empress desired that we would come to the Tuileries +next Monday, and expressed the wish that I should bring some music. I +wrote to Delle Sedie and begged him to advise me what I should sing; he +answered that he would come himself and talk it over with me, and Monsieur +Planté, a young, budding pianist, who was ordered from the Tuileries to +accompany my songs, was sent for, and Delle Sedie came at the same time. + +Delle Sedie thought that I should begin with "Tre Giorni son che Nina," of +Pergolesi, and then the air from "Lucia," and if I were asked to sing +again the "Valse de Venzano." + +On these occasions gentlemen wear the _pantalon collant_, which is a +most unbecoming and trying costume, being of black cloth fitting very +tight and tapering down to the ankle, where it finishes abruptly with a +button. Any one with a protruding ankle and thin legs cannot escape +criticism. + +_Le petit lundi_ of the Empress was not so _petit_ as I expected; there +were at least four or five hundred people present. + +I was presented to the Princess Mathilde (the cousin of the Emperor), a +very handsome and distinguished-looking lady, who is married to and +separated from Prince Demidoff. Her palace is directly opposite our hotel. +I was also presented to the Princess Clothilde, and many others. I was +very nervous before singing, but after my first song I did very well. + +There was dancing, and everything was very unceremonious and easy. I think +(I will just say it to you, dear mama) that I had a success. Their +Majesties were very kind, and thanked me many times, and the Duke de Morny +said that he was very proud of his protégée, for it was he who had +suggested to the Empress that I should sing for them. It was a delightful +evening, and I enjoyed myself and my little triumph immensely. I made the +acquaintance of the Austrian ambassador and the Princess Metternich. She +seemed very pleasant, and put me directly at my ease. She is far from +being handsome, but dresses better than any woman in Paris, and has more +_chic_. In fact, she sets the fashion as much as the Empress does. + +The Emperor, at the instigation of the Duke de Morny, has given orders for +the construction of a bridge over the Marne near Petit Val, a thing we +needed greatly. When you were here, if you remember, one had to walk from +the station to the river, about a little quarter of a mile. Once there you +had to wave and shout for the ferryman, who, before allowing you to get on +the boat, would attend to what cattle or merchandise were waiting there +for transport. I do not think the bridge would have been built had not the +Duke de Morny come out by train to Petit Val to avoid the long drive of +twelve miles from Paris, and had been bored by this primitive means of +transporting his august person. He said he was astonished and mortified +that such a state of things should exist so near Paris. So was every one +else. Otherwise the "bac" would have gone on forever. + +The Carnival has never been so whirlwindy as it has been this year; and I +don't know how the purses of our lords and masters are going to hold out; +and while the poor, "whom we have always with us," are getting rich, the +rich, whom we don't always have, alas! are getting poor. For the private +fancy-dress ball at the Tuileries last Monday, to which the guests were +invited by the Empress, Worth alone made costumes to the tune of two +hundred thousand dollars, and yet there were not four hundred ladies +invited. + +To begin at the top, the Empress was dressed as the wife of a doge of +Venice of the sixteenth century. She wore all the crown jewels and many +others. She was literally _cuirassée_ in diamonds, and glittered like +a sun-goddess. Her skirt of black velvet over a robe of scarlet satin was +caught up by clusters of diamond brooches. The Prince Imperial was allowed +to be present; he was dressed in a black-velvet costume and knee breeches; +his little, thin legs black-stockinged, and a _manteau Vénitien_ over +his shoulders. He danced twice, once with Mademoiselle de Châteaubourg, +and then with his cousin, Princess Anna Murat, who, being made on +Junoesque lines, and dressed as a Dutch peasant with enormous gold +ornaments over her ears, and a flowing white lace cap, towered above her +youthful partner. He is only seven years old, and rather small for his +age, which made the contrast between him and his colossal partner very +striking. Princess Mathilde looked superb as Holbein's Anne of Clèves. She +wore her famous collection of emeralds, which are world-known. + +Princess Clothilde had also copied a picture from the Louvre; but her robe +of silver brocade, standing out in great folds about her waist, was +anything but becoming to her style of figure. Princess Augustine Bonaparte +(Gabrielli) was in a gorgeous costume of something or other; one had not +time to find out exactly what she was intended to represent; she was +covered with jewelry (some people pretended it was false, but it did not +look less brilliant, for that). A fancy ball is an occasion which allows +and excuses any extravagance in jewelry; whereas, at an ordinary ball it +is considered not in good taste to wear too much. I just mention this +casually, in case you should want to make a display when you lunch at Miss +Bryant's some Sunday. + +Countess Walewski had powdered her hair and wore a Louis XV. amazon +costume, a most unbecoming yellow satin gown with masses of gold buttons +sewed on in every direction. This was not very successful. + +Marquise de Gallifet, as the Angel Gabriel, with enormous real swan's +wings suspended from her shoulders, looked the part to perfection, and +most angelic with her lovely smile, blond hair, and graceful figure. + +Princess Metternich was dressed as Night, in dark-blue tulle covered with +diamond stars. Her husband said to me, "Don't you think that Pauline looks +well in her nightgown?" + +Countess Castiglione, the famous beauty, was dressed as Salammbô in a +costume remarkable for its lack of stuff, the idea taken from the new +Carthaginian novel of Gustave Flaubert. The whole dress was of black +satin, the waist without any sleeves, showing more than an usual amount of +bare arms and shoulders; the train was open to the waist, disclosing the +countess's noble leg as far up as it went incased in black-silk tights. + +The young Count de Choiseul, who had blackened his face to represent an +Egyptian page, not only carried her train, but held over the head of the +daughter of Hamilcar an umbrella of Robinson Crusoe dimensions. Her gold +crown fell off once while walking about, and Choiseul made every one laugh +when he picked it up and put it on his own black locks. She walked on all +unconscious, and wondered why people laughed. + +My costume was that of a Spanish dancer. Worth told me that he had put his +whole mind upon it; it did not feel much heavier for that: a banal yellow +satin skirt, with black lace over it, the traditional red rose in my hair, +red boots and a bolero embroidered in steel beads, and small steel balls +dangling all over me. Some com-pliments were paid to me, but unfortunately +not enough to pay the bill; if compliments would only do that sometimes, +how gladly we would receive them! But they are, as it is, a drug in the +market. + +The Emperor was in domino--his favorite disguise--which is no disguise at +all, for every one recognizes him. + +[Illustration: DANIEL FRANÇOIS ESPRIT AUBER] + +I met the famous Auber at the Tuileries ball. The Duke de Persigny brought +him and introduced him to me, not because Auber asked to be presented, but +because I was most anxious to make his acquaintance, and begged the duke +to bring him. He is a short, dapper little man, with such a refined and +clever face. + +Wit and repartee sparkle in his keen eyes. His music is being very much +played now--"Fra Diavolo" and "Dieu et la Bayadère," and others of his +operas. His music is like himself--fine and dainty, and full of +_esprit_; his name is Daniel François Esprit. M. de Persigny said, "Madame +Moulton desires to know you, Monsieur Auber." I said, "I hope you will not +think me indiscreet, but I did want to see you and know the most-talked- +about person in Paris." In reply he said: "You have the advantage over me, +Madame. I have never heard myself talked about." Then the Duke de Persigny +said something about my voice. Auber turned to me, and said, "May I not +also have the privilege of hearing you?" Of course I was tremendously +pleased, and we fixed a day and hour then and there for his visit. + +Prince Jérome, who is a cousin of the Emperor (people call him Plon-Plon), +is not popular; in fact, he is just the contrary. But his wife, the +Princess Clothilde, would be exceedingly popular if she gave the Parisians +a chance to see her oftener. She is so shy, so young, and the least +pretentious of princesses, hates society, and never goes out if she can +avoid it. Prince Jérome is, of all the Napoleonic family, the one who most +resembles Napoleon I. in appearance, but not in character. There is +nothing of the hero about him. Since he had the misfortune to be suddenly +indisposed the night before the battle of Solferino, and did not appear, +they call him "craint-plomb." _Sé non è vero è ben trovato._ + +The stories people tell of the Prince are awful; but one is not obliged to +believe them if one does not want to. + +There was such an amusing _soirée_ at the Duke de Morny's in honor of +the Duchess's birthday. They gave a play called "Monsieur Choufleuri +restera chez lui le.......," which the Duke wrote himself, and for which +Offenbach composed the music inspired by the Duke, who vowed that he +"really did make the most of it." But, his conscience pricking him, he +added, "At least some!" which I think was nearer the truth. + +It was a great success, whether by the Duke de Morny or by Offenbach, and +was the funniest thing I ever saw. Every one was roaring with laughter, +and when the delighted audience called for "l'auteur," the Duke came out +leading Offenbach, each waving his hand toward the other, as if success +belonged to him alone, and went off bowing their thanks together. Apropos +of the Duke de Morny, he said of himself: "I am a very complicated person. +_Je suis le fils d'une reine, frère d'un Empereur et gendre d'un Empereur, +et tous sont illégitimes_." It does sound queer! But he really is the son +of Queen Hortense (his father being Count Flahaut); he is in this way an +illegitimate brother of Napoleon III., and his wife is the daughter of the +Emperor Nicholas of Russia. There you have a complicated case. My young +sister-in-law has just married Count Hatzfeldt, of the German Embassy +(second secretary). He is very good-looking without being handsome, and +belongs to one of the most distinguished families in Germany. Countess +Mercy-Argenteau appeared, comet-like, in Paris, and although she is a very +beautiful woman, full of musical talent, and calls herself _une femme +politique_, she is not a success. The gentlemen say she lacks charm. At +any rate, none of the _élégantes_ are jealous of her, which speaks for +itself. She is not as beautiful as Madame de Gallifet, nor as _élégante_ +as Countess Pourtales, nor as clever as Princess Metternich. + +Madame Musard, a beautiful American, has a friendship (_en tout +déshonneur_) with a foreign royalty who made her a present of some-- +what he thought valueless--shares of a petroleum company in America. These +shares turned into gold in her hands. + +The royal gentleman gnashes his false teeth in vain, and has scene after +scene with the royal son, who, green with rage, reproaches him for having +parted with these treasures. But the shares are safely in the clutches of +papa in New York, far away, and furnishing the wherewithal to provide his +daughter with the most wonderful horses and equipages in Paris. She pays +as much for one horse as her husband gains by his music in a year, and as +for the poor prodigal prince, who is overrun with debts, he would be +thankful to have even a widowed papa's mite of her vast wealth. Another +lady, whose virtue is some one else's reward, has a magnificent and much- +talked-of hotel in the Champs Élysées, where there is a staircase worth a +million francs, made of real alabaster. Prosper Mérimée said: "C'est par +là qu'on monte à la vertu." + +Her salons are filled every evening with cultured men of the world, and +they say that the most refined tone reigns supreme--that is more than one +can say of every salon in Paris. + +I am taking lessons of Delle Sedie. He is a delightful teacher; he is so +intelligent and has such beautiful theories, and so many of them, that he +takes up about half the time of my lesson talking them over. + +This is one of the things he says: "Take your breath from your boots." It +sounds better said in French: _Prenez votre respiration dans vos +bottines._ I don't think he realizes what he says or what he wants me +to do. When I told him that I had sung somewhere unwillingly, having been +much teased, he said: "You must not be too amiable. You must not sing when +and what one asks. There is nothing like being begged. You are not a hand- +organ, _pardieu_, that any one can play when they like." And this sort of +talk alternates with my songs until time is up, when off I run or go, +feeling that I have learned little but talked much. However, sometimes +I do feel compensated; for when, to demonstrate a point, he will sing a +whole song, I console myself by thinking that I have been to one of his +concerts and paid for my ticket. + +Yesterday I received the inclosed letter from the Duke de Morny, inviting +us to go with him in his loge to see a new play called "Le déluge." It was +not much of a play; but it was awfully amusing to see. Noah and his three +sons and his three daughters-in-law marched into the ark dragging after +them some wiry, emaciated débris of the Jardin des Plantes, which looked +as if they had not eaten for a week. The amount of whipping and poking +with sticks which was necessary to get them up the plank was amazing; I +think they had had either too few or too many rehearsals. But they were +all finally pushed in. Then commenced the rain--a real pouring cats-and- +dogs kind of rain, with thunder and lightning and the stage pitch-dark. +The whole populace climbed up on the rocks and crawled about, drenched to +the skin, and little by little disappeared. Then, when one saw nothing but +"water, water everywhere," the ark suddenly loomed out on top of the rocks +(how could they get it up there?), and the whole Noah family stepped out +in a pink-and-yellow sunset, and a dear little dove flew up to Noah's hand +and delivered the olive branch to him. The dove was better trained than +the animals, and had learned his rôle very well. + +On coming out of the theater, we found, instead of the fine weather we had +left outside, a pouring rain which was a very good imitation of the deluge +inside. And none of us had an umbrella! + +You see what the Duke de Morny writes: "I am making a collection of +photographs of the young and elegant ladies of Paris. I think that you +ought to figure among them, and though it is not an equal exchange, I am +going to ask you to accept mine and give me yours." And he brought it to +me last night. + +An invitation for the ball at St. Cloud for the King of Spain, who is now +in Paris to inaugurate the new rail road to Madrid, and another ball at +the Tuileries will keep us busy this week. + + +PETIT VAL, _June 17th._ We have been here a week, rejoicing in the +lilacs and roses and all the spring delights. The nightingales are more +delightful than ever. There is one charmer in particular, who warbles most +enchantingly in the cedar-tree in front of my window. He has a lady-love +somewhere, and he must be desperately in love, for he sings his little +heart out on his skylarking tours to attract her attention. I try hard +(naïve that I am) to imitate his song, especially the trill and the long, +sad note. I wonder if either of them is deceived: whether she thinks that +she has two lovers (one worse than the other), or, if _he_ thinks he has a +poor rival who can't hold a candle to him. + +Auber wrote a cadenza for the "Rossignol" of Alabieff, which he thought +might be in nightingale style. But how can any one imitate a nightingale? +Auber, in one of his letters, asked me: "Chantez-vous toujours des duos +avec votre maître de... champs?" + +[Illustration: À MADAME LILLIE MOULTON] + + +PARIS, _January, 1864._ + +The Princess Beauvau is a born actress, and nothing she loves better than +arranging theatricals and acting herself. She rooted up some charity as an +excuse for giving a theatrical performance, and obtained the theater of +the Conservatoire and the promise of the Empress's presence. She chose two +plays, one of Musset and the other, "l'Esclave," of Molière--and asked me +to take part in this last one. + +"Oh," I said, "I cannot appear in a French play; I would not dare to." But +the Princess argued that, as there were only four words to say, she +thought I could do it, and in order to entice me to accept, she proposed +introducing a song; and, moreover, said that she would beg Auber to +furnish a few members of the Conservatoire orchestra to accompany me. This +was very tempting, and I fell readily into the trap she laid for me. + +I consulted Auber about my song, and we decided on Alabieff's "Rossignol," +for which he had written the cadenza. He composed a chorus for a few +amateurs and all the orchestral parts. + +I was to be a Greek slave; my dress was of white, flimsy, spangled gauze, +with a white-satin embroidered bolero, a turban of tulle, with all sorts +of dangly things hanging over my ears. I wore baggy trousers and +_babouches_. You may notice that I did not copy Power's Greek slave in the +way of dress. + +I was completely covered with a white tulle veil, and led in by my fellow- +slaves, who were also in baggy trousers and _babouches_. There could be no +doubt that we were slaves, for we were overloaded with chains on arms, +ankles, and waist. I found circulation a very difficult matter shuffling +about in _babouches_, which are the most awkward things to walk in. One +risks falling forward at every step. + +When they got me in front of the orchestra the slaves drew off my veil and +there I stood. The chorus retired, and I began my song. I had had only one +rehearsal with the orchestra, the day before; but the humming +accompaniment to my solo, that the unmusical slaves had to learn, had +taken a week to teach. + +Every one said the scene was very pretty. My song was quite a success; I +had to sing it over again. Then I sang the waltz of Chopin, to which I had +put words and transposed two tones lower. I saw Delle Sedie in the +audience, with his mouth wide open, trying to breathe for me. It has +sixteen bars which must be sung in one breath, and has a compass from D on +the upper line to A on the lower line. Applause and flowers were showered +on me, and I was rather proud of myself. I felt like Patti when I picked +up my bouquets! + +Later on in the play I had to say my "four words," which turned out to be +six words: _On ne peut être plus joli_. Though I was frightened out of my +wits, I managed not to disgrace myself; but I doubt if any one heard one +of the six words I said. The Empress sent me a little bunch of violets, +which I thought was very gracious of her, and I was immensely flattered, +for I think she took it from her corsage. I had noticed it there at the +beginning of the evening. + +One of the bouquets bore the card of Dr. Evans, the American dentist. It +was very nice of him to remember me and send me such beautiful flowers. +Dr. Evans is so clever and entertaining. Every one likes him, and every +door as well as every jaw is open to him. At the Tuileries they look on +him not only as a good dentist, but as a good friend; and, as some clever +person said, "Though reticent to others, their Majesties had to open their +mouths to him." + +The other day we had a children's party. Auber came, pretending that he +had been invited as one of the children. When he heard them all chattering +in French, English, and German, he said, "Cela me fait honte, moi qui ne +parle que le français." He was most delighted to see the children, and +seated himself at the piano and played some sweet little old-fashioned +polkas and waltzes, to which the children danced. + +I said to them: "Children, remember that to-day you have danced to the +playing of Monsieur Auber, the most celebrated composer in France. Such a +thing is an event, and you must remember it and tell it to your children." + +Miss Adelaide Philips is here singing, but, alas! without the success she +deserves. She appeared at Les Italiens twice; once as Azucena in +"Trovatore," and then as the page in "Lucrezia Borgia." If it had not been +for her clothes, I think that her efforts would have been more +appreciated. The moment she appeared as the page in "Lucrezia" there was a +general titter in the audience. Her make-up was so extraordinary, Parisian +taste rose up in arms. And as for the Borgias, they would have poisoned +her on the spot had they seen her! Her extraordinarily fat legs (whether +padded or not, I don't know) were covered with black-velvet trousers, +ending at the knee and trimmed with lace. + +She wore a short-waisted jacket with a short skirt attached and a +voluminous lace ruffle, a curly wig too long for a man and too short for a +woman, upon which sat jauntily a Faust-like hat with a long, sweeping +plume. This was her idea of a medieval Maffeo Orsini. As Azucena, the +mother of a forty-year-old troubadour, she got herself up as a damsel of +sixteen, with a much too short dress and a red bandana around her head, +from which dangled a mass of sequins which she shook coquettishly at the +prompter. The audience did not make any demonstration; they remained +indifferent and tolerant, and there was not a breath of applause. The only +criticism that appeared in the papers was: "Madame Philips, une +Américaine, a fait son apparence dans 'Trovatore.' Elle joue assez bien, +et si sa voix avait l'importance de ses jambes elle aurait eu sans doute +du succès, car elle peut presque chanter." Poor Miss Philips! I felt so +sorry for her. I thought of when I had seen her in America, where she had +such success in the same rôles. But why did she get herself up so? There +is nothing like ridicule for killing an artist in France, and any one who +knew the French could have foreseen what her success would be the moment +she came on the stage. She became ill after these two performances and +left Paris. + + +PARIS, _May 7, 1863._ + +DEAR M.,--Auber procured us tickets for Meyerbeer's funeral, which took +place to-day; it was a most splendid affair. Auber, who was one of the +pall-bearers, looked very small and much agitated. The music of the church +was magnificent. Auber himself had written an organ voluntary and Jules +Cohen played it. Auber said, on going to the cemetery: "La prochaine fois +sera pour mon propre compte." + +We went to a dinner at Mr. William Gudin's (he is the celebrated painter) +last night. There were the Prince and Princess Metternich, old Monsieur +Dupin, Duke de Bassano, Monsieur Rouher, Baron Rothschild, and many other +people. The gallery was lit up after dinner, and they smoked there (as a +great exception). Smoking is against Madame Gudin's principles, but not +against his, as the huge table covered with every kind of cigars and +cigarettes could bear witness. Collecting cigarettes is a sort of hobby of +Gudin's; he gets them from every one. The Emperor of Russia, the Chinese, +the Turkish, and Japanese sovereigns, all send him cigarettes, even the +Emperor. These last are steeped in a sort of liquid which is good for +asthma. Every one who could boast of asthma got one to try. I must say +they smelled rather uninvitingly. The Emperor loves Gudin dearly, and +orders picture after picture from him, mostly commemorative of some fine +event of which the Emperor is, of course, the principal figure, and +destined for Versailles later. Gudin has a beautiful hotel and garden near +us in the Rue Beaujon. The garden used to be square; but now it is a +triangle, as a new boulevard has taken a part of it. Gudin talked much +about his debts, as if they were feathers in his cap, and as for his law- +suits, they are jewels in his crown! + +His famous picture of the Emperor's visit to Venice, now in the +Luxembourg, is an enormous canvas, rather _à la Turner_, with intense +blue sky deepening into a green sunset, pink and purple waves lashing the +sides of the fantastic vessel in which the Emperor stands in an opalescent +coloring. Some black slaves are swimming about, their bodies half-way out +of the water, holding up their enormous black arms loaded with chains, +each link of which would sink an ordinary giant. + +Baroness Alphonse Rothschild has one desire, which, in spite of a +fathomless purse, seemed difficult at first to fulfil. What she wants is +to play a sonata with the orchestra of the Conservatoire, _rien de moins_! +She begged me to ask Auber how much it would cost. After due reflection he +answered, twelve hundred francs. She was quite surprised at this modest +sum; she had thought it would be so many thousands. Therefore she decided +to convoke the orchestra, and has been studying her sonata with all zeal +and with a Danish coach. I don't mean a carriage, but a man who can coach, +after the English school system. + +She asked me to keep her in countenance, and wished me to sing something +with the orchestra; but what should I sing? Auber could think of nothing +better than "Voi che sapete," as the orchestra would have the music for +it, and for frivolity he proposed "La Mandolinata," of Paladilhe. He said, +"Il faut avoir de tout dans sa poche;" and the dear old master transcribed +it all himself, writing it out for the different instruments. I shall +always keep these ten pages of his fine writing as one of my most precious +autographs. + +On account of his _concours_ Auber was asked to be present, as well +as the Danish coach, whose occupation was to turn the leaves, and if +necessary to help in critical moments. No one else was to be in the +audience, not even our husbands. Well! the concert came off. We were four +hours about it! It was a funny experience, when one thinks of it, and only +Baroness Rothschild could have ever imagined such a thing or carried it +through. In her enormous ballroom we two amateurs were performing with the +most celebrated orchestra in the world--eighty picked musicians, all +perfect artists--with no one to hear us. Auber professed politely to be +delighted with all he heard, and clamored for more. The orchestra looked +resignedly bored. + +The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Marquis Drouyn de l'Huys, gave a +costume ball which was even finer than the last. Worth, Laferrières, and +Félix outdid themselves. The Empress had a magnificent dress--_une +ancienne dame Bavaroise_. She looked superb, actually covered and +blazing with jewels. + +The Comtesse de Castiglione had imagined a costume as "La Vérité." She was +dressed entirely in white, looking severe and classically beautiful, cold +as a winter day. She held in her hand a fan made of white feathers which +had a mirror in the center. It must be amusing to be a professional +beauty. When she goes to a ball, which she never does before midnight, she +does not take the trouble to speak to any one; she walks into the ballroom +and just stands in the middle of it to be looked at; people all make a +circle around her and glare. A gentleman will go and speak with her, and +they stand like two trees on an island, he doing the talking, and she +gazing around her to see what effect she is producing. + +The Emperor made a bet that he would make her speak three words, and he +won it, because she answered a question of his by saying, "Pas beaucoup, +Sire." She lives at Passy, and calls herself _la recluse de Passy_; others +call her _la recluse du Passé_. I do not admire her beauty half as much as +I do the Empress's. + +Countess Walewski was dressed like a fiery Vénitienne, all yellow and +gold. She looked dazzling and like a thorough Italian, which was not +difficult for her, as she is one. + +The Duchesse de Mouchy's costume was a Louis XV. marquise, which did not +suit her at all; neither did the powdered wig nor the black patches on her +face become her. + +I must tell you about my dress. It was really one of the prettiest there. +Worth said that he had put his whole soul on it. I thought that he had put +a pretty good round price on his soul. A skirt of gold tissue, round the +bottom of which was a band of silver, with all sorts of fantastic figures, +such as dragons, owls, and so forth, embroidered in different colors under +a skirt of white tulle with silver and gold spangles. The waist was a mass +of spangles and false stones on a gold stuff; gold-embroidered bands came +from the waist and fell in points over the skirt. I had wings of spangled +silvery material, with great glass-colored beads sewed all over them. But +the _chef-d'oeuvre_ was the head-dress, which was a sort of helmet with +gauze wings and the jewels of the family (Mrs. M.'s and mine) fastened on +it. From the helmet flowed a mane of gold tinsel, which I curled in with +my hair. The effect was very original, for it looked as though my head was +on fire; in fact, I looked as if I was all on fire. Before I left home all +the servants came to see me, and their _magnifique_, and _superbe_, and +_étonnant_ quite turned my head, even with the helmet on. + +The Emperor and the Duke de Persigny went about in dominos, and flattered +themselves that no one recognized them; but every one did. Who could have +mistaken the broad back and the slow, undulating gait of the Emperor? And +though he changed his domino every little while from blue to pink, and +from white to black, there never was any doubt as to where he was in the +room, and every eye followed him. I was quite agitated when I saw his +unmistakable figure approaching me, and when he began, in a high, squeaky +voice (such as is adopted by masked people) to compliment me on my +toilette, it was all I could do not to make a courtesy. I answered him, +feeling very shy about tutoying him, as is the custom when addressing a +mask. + +"Cela te plaît, beau masque (Do I please thee, handsome mask)?" I said. + +"Beaucoup, belle dame, mais dis-moi ce que tu es (Very much, beautiful +lady, but what are you supposed to be?)." + +"Je suis une salamandre; je peux traverser le feu et les flammes sans le +moindre danger (I am a salamander; I can go through fire and flame without +the slightest danger)." + +"Oses-tu traverser le feu de mes yeux (Dost thou dare to brave the fire of +my eyes)?" + +"Je ne vois pas tes yeux à travers ton masque, mon gentilhomme (I cannot +see thy eyes through thy mask, my gallant gentleman)." + +"Oserais-tu traverser la flamme de mon coeur (Wouldst thou dare to go +through the flame of my heart)?" + +"Je suis sûre que j'oserais. Si la flamme est si dangereuse, prends garde +que ton beau domino ne brûle pas (I am sure that I would dare. If the +flame is so dangerous take care your beautiful domino does not burn)." +Such silly talk! But he seemed amused, as he probably thought that I had +no idea to whom I was talking. + +Taking a red counter out of his pocket and handing it to me he said, "Will +you take supper with me?" + +"Not alone," I answered. "You are too dangerous." + +He laughed and said, "I shall not be alone, my pretty lady." Then, giving +me another counter, he said: "This is for your husband. If you will be at +two o'clock at that door"--pointing to it--"it will be opened for you." + +At two o'clock we presented ourselves at the door of the said salon, which +was immediately opened on our showing the _jetons_, and we found +ourselves, as I thought we should, in the salon where their Majesties were +to sup. There were already many people assembled: the Metternichs, the +Persignys, the Gallifets, the Count and Countess Pourtales, etc.--I should +say, twenty-five in all. There was a magnificent display of flowers and +fruit on the table. The Emperor came in with the Empress, not looking in +the least Cæsar-like, with his hair matted down on his forehead and his +mustaches all unwaxed and drooping; but he soon twisted them up into their +usual stiffness. I noticed that people looked at me persistently, and I +fancied all sorts of awful things, and felt dreadfully embarrassed. + +After supper the Empress came up to me and said, "Where can one buy such +lovely curls as you have, _chère Madame_?" I understood the reason now for +the notice I was attracting. They had thought that the curls were false. I +answered, hoping it would sound amusing, "Au Magasin du Bon-Dieu." + +The Empress smiled and replied; "Nous voudrions toutes acheter dans ce +magasin-là; but tell me, are your curls real or false? You won't mind +telling me (and she hesitated a little). Some people have made bets about +it. How can we know," she said, "unless you tell us?" "My hair is all my +own, your Majesty, and, if you wish to make sure, I am perfectly willing +that you should see for yourself." And, removing my helmet, I took out the +comb and let my hair down. Every one crowded around me, and felt and +pulled my hair about until I had to beg for mercy. The Emperor, looking +on, cried out, "Bravo, Madame!" and, gathering some flowers off the table, +handed them to me, saying: "Votre succès tenait à un cheveu, n'est-ce +pas?" + +Supposing the curls had been false, how I should have felt! + +I put on my head-dress again with the flowing tinsel threads, and, some +one sending for a brush, I completed this exhibition by showing them how I +curled my hair around my fingers and made this coiffure. I inclose the +article about this supper which came out in the _Figaro_ (copied into +a New York paper). + + The Emperor and Empress not unfrequently take a great liking to + persons accidentally presented to them, invite them to their most + select parties, make much of them, and sometimes rousing a little + jealousy by so doing among the persons belonging to the Court. Of + the ladies officially foremost, the reigning favorites are Princess + Metternich, extremely clever and piquante, who invents the oddest + toilettes, dances the oddest dances, and says the oddest things; the + Marquise de Gallifet, whose past life is a romance, not altogether + according to the French proverb (fitting school-girl reading), but + who is very handsome, brilliant, merry, and audacious; and two others, + the handsome and dashing wives of men high in the employment of the + Emperor. These ladies spend enormous sums on their toilette, and are + perpetually inventing some merry and brilliant nonsense for the + amusement of the Empress. Among the persons from the "outside" most in + favor just now, in the inner circle of the court, is a very handsome + and accomplished American lady, the youthful wife of a millionaire, + possessing a magnificent voice, a very amiable temper, and wonderfully + splendid hair. After a very small and very merry party in the + Empress's private apartments a few nights ago, the Imperial hosts and + their guests sat down to an exquisite "little supper," this lady being + one of the party. During the supper one of the Empress's ladies began + playfully to tease Mrs. ---- about her hair, declaring that no human + head could grow such a luxuriant mass of lustrous hair, and inviting + her to confess to sporting certain skilfully contrived additions to + the locks of nature's bestowing. Mrs. ---- modestly protested that her + hair, such as it was, was really and truly her own; in right of + growth, and not of purchase. All present speedily took part in the + laughing dispute; some declaring for the opinion of the Lady of Honor, + the others for that of Mrs. ----. The Emperor and Empress, greatly + amused at the dispute, professed a strong desire to know the facts of + the case; and the Emperor, declaring that it was clearly impossible to + get at the truth in any other way, invited Mrs. M---- to settle the + controversy by letting down her hair, and giving ocular demonstration + of its being her own. The lady, whereupon, drew out the comb and the + hairpins that held up her hair, and shook its heavy and shining masses + all over her shoulders, thus giving conclusive proof of the tenure by + which she held it. As Frenchwomen seldom have good heads of hair, it + is probable that some little disappointment may have been caused to + some of the ladies by this magnificent torrent of hair, displayed by + Mrs. M----, but the gentlemen were all in raptures at the really + beautiful spectacle, the lady's husband, who worships her, being as + proud of her triumph as though his wife's luxuriant locks were his own + creation. + + +_March, 1864._ + +DEAR M.,--Auber, on hearing that the Empress had asked me to sing in the +chapel of the Tuileries, offered to compose a _Benedictus_ for me. +The orchestra of the Conservatoire was to accompany me, and Jules Cohen +was to play the organ. I had several rehearsals with Auber and one on the +preceding Saturday with the orchestra. The flute and I have a little +ramble together which is very pretty. The loft where the organ is, and +where I stood, was so high up that I could only see the people by +straining my neck over the edge of it, and even then only saw the black +veils of the ladies and the frequent bald heads of the gentlemen. The +Empress remained on her knees during the whole mass. The Emperor seemed +attentive; but stroked and pulled his mustaches all the time. + +My _Benedictus_ went off very well. The chapel was very sonorous and +I was in good voice. I was a little nervous at first, but after the first +phrase I recovered confidence and did all that was expected of me. The +Duke de Bassano came up to the loft and begged me to come down into the +gallery, as their Majesties wished me and Charles to stay for breakfast. I +was sorry Auber was not invited. We found every one assembled in the +gallery outside the chapel. The Empress came straight toward me, thanked +me, and said many gracious things, as did the Emperor. There were very, +very few people at breakfast--only the household. I sat between the +Emperor and the little Prince, who said, "I told mama I knew when you +sang, for you said '_Benedictus_'; we say _benedicteus_." + +The Princess Metternich receives after midnight every evening. If one is +in the theater or at a _soirée_ it is all right, but to sit up till +twelve o'clock to go to her is very tiresome, though when you are once +there you do not regret having gone. It is something to see her smoking +her enormous cigars. The other night Richard Wagner, who had been to the +theater with the Metternichs, was there. I was glad to see him, though he +is so dreadfully severe, solemn, and satirical. He found fault with +everything; he thought the theaters in Paris horribly dirty, _mal +soignés_, bad style, bad actors, orchestra second-rate, singers worse, +public ignorant, etc. He smiled once with such a conscious look and +scanned people's faces, as if to say, "I, Richard Wagner, have smiled!" +But he can very well put on airs, for he is a genius. At Les Italiens, +Patti, Mario, Alboni, and Delle Sedie are singing "Rigoletto." They are +all splendid. Alboni is immensely fat and round as a barrel--but what a +voice! It simply rolls out in billows of melody. The "quartette" was +magnificent, and was encored. Patti and Mario are at daggers drawn, and +hate each other like poison, so their love-making is reduced to a minimum, +and they make as little as possible. In their fondest embraces they hold +each other at arm's length and glare into each other's eyes. Mario is such +a splendid actor one would think he could conquer his dislike for her and +play the lover better. The _Barbier de Séville_ is, I think, his best +role; he acts with so much humor and sings so exquisitely and with such +refinement. Even in the tipsy scene he is the fine gentleman. Patti sings +in the singing lesson Venzano's waltz and "Il Bacio." Her execution is +wonderful, faultless, and brilliant. + +We went to a _soirée_ given by the Marquise de Boissy, better known +as Byron's Countess Guiccioli, who inspired so many of his beautiful +poems; but when you see her dyed and painted you wonder how the _blasé_ +Byron could have been all fire and flame for her. Fagnani, the painter, +who did that awful simpering portrait of me, painted her, it being +stipulated that he should make her look ten years younger than she is. He +had a hard time of it! But now, being old and married to the senator, +Marquis de Boissy, she has lost all claim to celebrity, and is reduced to +giving forlorn _soirées_ with a meager buffet. + +Beaumont is a charming painter, and a friend of Henry's. When he comes +here, as he does very often, he puts us all in a good-humor; even my +father-in-law forgets to grumble at the reduced price of stocks and the +increased rate of exchange. His picture of Circé charming the pigs is very +pretty. Helen and I are both in it; he wanted her ear and hair and my eyes +and hair. I am not Circé; I only stand in the background admiring a pig. +To reward us he painted a fan for each: mine has arrows, doves, my +initials, "Beware," and cherubim all mixed up, making a lovely fan. + +Baroness Alphonse Rothschild sent me her box for the opera, and I asked +the Metternichs and Herr Wagner, the composer, who was dining at the +Embassy, to go with me, and they accepted. The Rothschilds' box is one of +the largest in the opera-house. The Princess Metternich created a +sensation when we entered--she always does--but Herr Wagner passed +unnoticed. He sat behind and pretended to go to sleep. He thought +everything most mediocre. The opera was "Faust," which I thought was +beautifully put on the stage, with Madame Miolan Carvalho as Marguerite +and Faure as Mephistopheles. They both sang and acted to perfection; but +Wagner pooh-poohed at them and everything else. _Abscheulich_ and +_grässlich_ alternated in his condemning sentences. Nothing pleased +him. + +He fidgeted about and was very cross during the fifth act, where the +ballet is danced. + +"Why did Gounod insert that idiotic ballet? It is _banal_ and _de trop_." +(France is the only place where this fifth act is performed.) + +"You must blame Goethe for that," retorted the Princess Metternich. "Why +did he make Faust go to the Champs Élysées if he did not want him to see +any dancing?" + +"Why, indeed?" grumbled Wagner. "Goethe had much better have let +Marguerite die on her straw and not of send her up in clouds of glory like +the Madonna to heaven, and with ballet music." + +"Well," said the Princess, "I don't see any difference between a ballet in +heaven and a ballet in Venusberg." + +The Emperor has made a fine _coup de popularité_. He refused to have +the new boulevard named after his mother, and cleverly proposed it to be +called Richard Lenoir, the man who led his fellow-workmen in the +Revolution. + +We were invited to one of Rossini's Saturday evenings. There was a queer +mixture of people: some diplomats, and some well-known members of society, +but I fancy that the guests were mostly artists; at least they looked so. +The most celebrated ones were pointed out to me. There were Saint-Saëns, +Prince Poniatowski, Gounod, and others. I wondered that Richard Wagner was +not there; but I suppose that there is little sympathy between these two +geniuses. + +Prince Metternich told me that Rossini had once said to him that he wished +people would not always feel obliged to sing his music when they sang at +his house. "J'acclamerais avec délice 'Au clair de la lune,' même avec +variations," he said, in his comical way. Rossini's wife's name is Olga. +Some one called her Vulgar, she is so ordinary and pretentious, and would +make Rossini's home and salon very commonplace if it were not that the +master glorified all by his presence. I saw Rossini's writing-table, which +is a thing never to be forgotten: brushes, combs, toothpicks, nails, and +all sorts of rubbish lying about pell-mell; and promiscuous among them was +the tube that Rossini uses for his famous _macaroni à la Rossini_. Prince +Metternich said that no power on earth would induce him to touch any food +_à la Rossini_, especially the macaroni, which he said was stuffed with +hash and all sorts of remnants of last week's food and piled up on a dish +like a log cabin. "J'ai des frissons chaque fois que j'y pense." + +Not long ago Baron James Rothschild sent Rossini some splendid grapes from +his hothouse. Rossini, in thanking him, wrote, "Bien que vos raisins +soient superbes, je n'aime pas mon vin en pillules." This Baron Rothschild +read as an invitation to send him some of his celebrated Château-Lafitte, +which he proceeded to do, for "the joke of it," he remarked. "It is so +amusing to tell the story afterward." Rossini does not dye his hair, but +wears the most wiggy of wigs. When he goes to mass he puts one wig on top +of the other, and if it is very cold he puts still a third one on, curlier +than the others, for the sake of warmth. No coquetry about him! + +Rossini asked me to sing. + +"I will, with pleasure," I said. "I only wish that I knew what to sing, I +know that you do not like people to sing your music when they come to your +house." + +"Not every one," he said, beaming with a broad smile; "but I have heard +that you have an unusually beautiful voice, and I am curious to hear you." + +"But," I mischievously answered, "I do not know 'Au clair de la lune,' +even with variations." + +"Oh! the naughty Prince," said he, shaking his finger across to where +Prince Metternich was standing. "He told you that. But tell me, what do +you sing of mine?" + +Auber had told me to take "Sombre Forêt," of "William Tell," in case I +should be asked. Therefore I said that I had brought "Sombre Forêt," and +if he liked I would sing that. + +"Bene! bene!" he replied. "I will accompany you." + +I was dreadfully nervous to sing before him, but when I had finished he +stretched out both hands to me and said: + +"Merci! C'est comme cela que ça doit être chanté. Votre voix est +délicieuse, le timbre que j'aime--mezzo-soprano, avec ces notes hautes et +claires." + +Auber came up flushed with delight at my success, and said to Rossini, +"Did I say too much about Madame Moulton's voice?" + +"Not enough," replied Rossini. "She has more than voice; she has +intelligence and _le feu sacré--un rossignol doublé de velours_; and more +than all, she sings my music as I have written it. Every one likes to add +a little of their own. I said to Patti the other day: 'a chère_ Adelina, +when you sing the "Barbiere" do not make it too '_strakoschonée_' +[Strakosch is Patti's brother-in-law, and makes all her cadenzas for her]. +If I had wanted to make all those little things, don't you think that I +could have made them myself?'" + +Auber asked me, "Do you know what Rossini said about me?" + +"No," I answered, "I know what he ought to have said. What did he say?" + +"He said," Auber replied, with a merry twinkle in his eye, 'Auber est un +grand musicien qui fait de la petite musique.'" + +"That was pure envy," I said. "I should like to know what you said about +Rossini." + +"Well, I said," and he hesitated before continuing, "I said that Rossini +_est un très grand musicien et fait de la belle musique, mais une +exécrable cuisine_." + +Rossini adores Alboni, but deplores her want of confidence in herself. She +has such stage frights that she swears that she will have to leave the +stage. He has written "La Messe solennelle" for her voice. The "Agnus Dei" +is perfectly wonderful. She sang it after I had sung. If she had been +first, I never should have had the courage to open my mouth. + +Auber asked him how he had liked the representation of "Tannhäuser"? +Rossini answered, with a satirical smile, "It is a music one must hear +several times. I am not going again." + +Rossini said that neither Weber nor Wagner understood the voice. Wagner's +interminable dissonances were insupportable. That these two composers +imagine that to sing is simply to _dégoiser_ the note; but the art of +singing, or technic was considered by them to be secondary and +insignificant Phrasing or any sort of _finesse_ was superfluous. The +orchestra must be all powerful. "If Wagner gets the upper hand," Rossini +continued, "as he is sure to do, for people will run after the New, then +what will become of the art of singing? No more _bel canto_, no more +phrasing, no more enunciation! What is the use, when all that is required +of you is to _beugler_ (bellow)? Any _cornet à piston_ is just as good as +the best tenor, and better, for it can be heard over the orchestra. But +the instrumentation is magnificent. There Wagner excels. The overture of +Tannhäuser is a _chef-d'oeuvre;_ there is a swing, a sway, and a shush +that carries you off your feet.... I wish I had composed it myself." + +Auber is a true Parisian, adores his Paris, and never leaves it even +during the summer, when Paris is insufferable. He comes very often to see +me, and we play duets. He loves Bach, and we play Mendelssohn overtures +and Haydn symphonies when we are through with Bach. Auber always takes the +second piano, or, if a four-handed piece, he takes the base. Sometimes he +says, "Je vous donne rendez-vous en bas de la page. Si vous y arrivez la +première, attendez-moi, et je ferai de même." He is so clever and full of +repartees. + +I do not think I ever talked with a wittier person than he is. I always +wish I could remember what he says; but, alas! when he goes my memory goes +with him. + +Though so old (he must be over eighty) he is always beautifully dressed in +the latest fashion, trim and neat. He says that he has never heard his +operas seated in the audience; it makes him too nervous. He has his seat +every night in the parquet of all the theaters in Paris. He only has to +choose where to go. He once said: "Je suis trop vieux; on ne devrait pas +vieillir, mais que faire? c'est le seul moyen de devenir vieux. Un +vieillard m'a toujours paru un personnage terrible et inutile, mais me +voici un vieillard sans le savoir et je n'en suis pas triste." He is not +deaf, nor does he wear glasses except to "déchiffrer ma propre musique"-- +as he says. Another time he said: "I am glad that I never was married. My +wife would now have been an old, wrinkled woman. I never would have had +the courage to come home of an evening. Aussi j'aurais voulu avoir une +fille (une fille comme vous), et elle m'aurait certainement donné un +garçon." + +I quote the following from a Paris newspaper: + +_Parmi les dames qu'on admire le plus, il convient de citer Mme Moulton.-- +C'est la première fois que nous revoyons Mme Moulton au théâtre depuis son +retour d'Amérique.--Serait-elle revenue exprès pour la pièce d'Auber.--On +dit, en effet, que dans tous ses opéras, Auber offre le principal rôle à +Mme Moulton, qui possède une voix ravissante._ + +The Emperor once said to Auber: "Dites-moi, quel âge avez-vous? On dit que +vous avez quatre-vingt ans." "Sire," answered Auber, "je n'ai pas quatre- +vingt ans, mais quatre fois vingt ans." Is he not clever? Some one was +talking about the Marquise B---- and her friendship (_sic_) for Monsieur +de M----, and said, "On dit que ce n'est que l'amitié." "Oh," said Auber, +"je connais ces amitiés-là; on dit que l'amour et l'amitié sont frère et +soeur. Cela se peut, mais ils ne sont pas du même lit." + +And another time (I am remembering all his witty sayings while I can), +Prince Metternich, who smokes one cigarette after the other, said to +Auber, "Vous me permettez?" wanting to put his ashes in Auber's tea- +saucer. Auber said, "Certainement, mais j'aime mieux monter que +descendre." In other words, _J'aime mieux mon thé que des cendres_. +How can people be so quick-witted? + +Auber has given me all his operas, and I have gone through them all with +him for his music. I sing the laughing song in "Manon Lescaut" and the +bolero in "Diamants de la Couronne." These two are my favorite songs and +are very difficult. In the laughing song I either laugh too much or too +little. To start laughing in cold blood is as difficult as to stop +laughing when once started. The bolero is only a continuous display of +musical fireworks. + + +NEW YORK, _May, 1864._ + +When we arrived in New York (we went to visit my sister and my mother) we +were overwhelmed with invitations of all kinds. + +I made a most (to me) interesting acquaintance at this _soirée_, a Mrs. +Henry Fields, who I found out was the famous and much-talked-about +"Lucie," the governess in the trial of the Duc de Praslin. Every one was +convinced of her innocence (she pleaded her own case, refusing the aid of +a lawyer). Nevertheless, she was the cause of the death of the Duchess, as +the Duke killed his wife because she refused to give "Lucie" a letter of +recommendation, and he became so enraged at her refusal that he first +tried to strangle her, and then shot her. I had heard so much about this +murder (it was along ago), and knew all the details, and, what was more, I +knew all the children of the unhappy woman whose only crime was to love +her husband too much, and to resent "Lucie's" taking away the love of her +children from her! Warning to young women: Don't love your husbands too +much, or don't engage a too attractive governess. + + +PHILADELPHIA, _July, 1864._ + +DEAR AUNTY,--We came from New York a few days ago, and are staying with +mama's friend, Mrs. M----, who is a very (what shall I say?) fascinating +but a very peculiar person. She is a curious mixture of a poetess and a +society woman, very susceptible, and of such a sensitive nature that she +seems always to be in the hottest of hot water, and at war with all her +neighbors; but she routs all her enemies and manages everything with a +high hand. + +Her daughter is just engaged to a Swedish naval officer. To celebrate the +engagement they gave a big dinner, and, as the Sanitary Fair is going on +just now, President Lincoln is here, and Mrs. M---- had the courage to +invite him, and he had the courage to accept. It is the first time that I +have ever seen an American President, and I was most anxious to see him, +particularly as he has, for the last years, been such a hero in my eyes. +He might take the prize for ugliness anywhere; his face looked as if it +was cut out of wood, and roughly cut at that, with deep furrows in his +cheeks and a huge mouth; but he seemed so good and kind, and his eyes +sparkled with so much humor and fun, that he became quite fascinating, +especially when he smiled. I confess I lost my heart to him.... The +dinner, I mean the food part of it, was a failure. It came from Baltimore, +and everything was cold; the _pâté de foie gras_ never appeared at all! +When Mrs. M---- mentioned the fact to Mr. Lincoln, pointing to the menu, +he said "the _pâté_" (he pronounced it _patty_) has probably walked off by +itself. Every one laughed, because he said it in such a comical, slow way. + +After the gentlemen had smoked (I thought they were a long time at it) we +were requested to go into the gallery, where all the gas-lights were +turned up to the fullest and chairs placed in rows, and Professor Winter +began to read a lecture on the brain--of all subjects! Who but Mrs. M---- +would ever have arranged such an entertainment? + +Professor Winter told us where our 50,000 ideas were laid up in our brains +(I am sure that I have not 50,000 in mine). One might have deducted +49,999, and still, with that little one left, I was not able to understand +the half of what he said. + +Another wonderful thing he told us was, that there are five thousand +million cells in our brain, and that it takes about ten thousand cells to +furnish a well-lodged perception. How in the world can he know that? I +think he must have examined his own ten thousand cells to have discovered +all this exuberance of material. The President looked bored, and I am sure +everybody else wished Professor Winter and his theories (because they +can't be facts) in the Red Sea.... After this _séance manquée_ I was +asked to sing. Poor Mr. Lincoln! who I understood could not endure music. +I pitied him. + +"None of your foreign fireworks," said Mr. Trott, in his graceful manner, +as I passed him on my way to the piano. I answered, "Shall I sing 'Three +Little Kittens'? I think that is the least fireworky of my _répertoire_." +But I concluded that a simple little rocket like "Robin Adair" would kill +nobody; therefor I sang that, and it had a success. + +When the gaunt President shook my hand to thank me, he held it in a grip +of iron, and when, to accentuate the compliment, meaning to give a little +extra pressure, he put his left hand over his right, I felt as if my hand +was shut in a waffle-iron and I should never straighten it out again. + +"Music is not much in my line," said the President; "but when you sing you +warble yourself into a man's heart. I'd like to hear you sing some more." + +What other mild cracker could I fire off? Then I thought of that lovely +song, "Mary Was a Lassie," which you like so much, so I sang that. + +Mr. Lincoln said, "I think I might become a musician if I heard you often; +but so far I only know two tunes." + +"'Hail, Columbia'?" I asked. "You know that, I am sure!" + +"Oh yes, I know that, for I have to stand up and take off my hat." + +"And the other one?" + +"The other one! Oh, the other one is the other when I don't stand up!" I +am sorry not to have seen Mr. Lincoln again. There was something about him +that was perfectly fascinating, but I think I have said this before. + + +NIAGARA, _August, 1864._ + +DEAR AUNTY,--My last letter, written from Philadelphia, told you of my +having made Mr. Lincoln's acquaintance. A few days after we left for +Niagara, taking Rochester on our way. I had not seen Rochester since I was +eleven years old, and mama and I both wanted to go there again. + +We slept in Rochester that night. The next morning a deputation headed by +the director of the penitentiary, flanked by a committee of benevolent +ladies, called upon us to beg me to sing for the penitents at the +penitentiary the next day, it being Sunday. They all said, in chorus, that +it would be a great and noble act. + +I did not (and I do not now) see why pickpockets and burglars should be +entertained, and I could not grasp the greatness of the act, unless it was +in the asking. However, mama urged me (she can never bear me to say no), +and I accepted. + +At the appointed time the director called for us in a landau, and we drove +out to the penitentiary. As we entered the double courtyard, and drove +through the much belocked gates, I felt very depressed, and not at all +like bursting forth in song. Mama and I were led up, like lambs to the +slaughter, on to a platform, passing the guilty ones seated in the pews, +the men on one side, the women on the other, of the aisles, all dressed in +stripes of some sort; they looked sleepy and stupid. They had just sat +through the usual Sunday exhortation. + +The ladies of the committee ranged themselves so as to make a background +of solemn benevolence on the platform, in the middle of which stood a +primeval melodion with two octaves and four stops. One stop would have +been enough for me, and I needed it later, as you will see. + +Here I was! What should I sing? I was utterly at a loss. Why had I not +thought this out before coming? + +French love-songs; out of the question. + +Italian prayers and German lullabies were plentiful in the _répertoire_, +but seemed sadly out of place for this occasion. + +I thought of Lucrezia Borgia's "Brindisi"; but that instantly went out of +my mind. A drinking song urging people to drink seemed absurdly +inappropriate, as probably most of my audience had done their misdeeds +under the influence of drink. + +I knew the words of "Home, Sweet Home," and decided on that. Nothing could +have been worse. I attacked the squeaky melodion, pushed down a pedal, +pulled out the "vox humana" stop--the most harmless one of the melodion, +but which gave out a supernaturally hoarse sound--I struck the chord, and +standing up I began. These poor, homeless creatures must have thought my +one purpose was to harass them to the last limit, and I only realized what +I was singing about when I saw them with bowed heads and faces hidden in +their hands; some even sobbing. + +The director, perceiving the doleful effect I had produced, suggested, +"Perhaps something in a lighter vein." I tried to think of "something in a +lighter vein," and inquired, "How would 'Swanee River' be?" + +"First-rate," said the kind director; "just the thing--_good_" emphasizing +the word _good_ by slapping his hands together. Thus encouraged, I started +off again in the melancholy wake of the melodion. Alas! this fared no +better than "Home, Sweet Home." When I sang "Oh; darkies! how my heart +grows weary!" the word _weary_ had a disastrous effect, and there was a +regular breakdown (I don't mean in the darky sense of the word, the +penitents did _not_ get up and perform a breakdown--I wish they had!); but +there was a regular collapse of penitents. I thought that they would have +to be carried out on stretchers. + +The poor warden, now at his wits' end, but wishing to finish this +lugubrious performance with a flourish, proposed (unhappy thought) that I +should address a few words to the now miserable, broken-hearted crowd. I +will give you a thousand guesses, dear aunty, and still you will never +guess the idiotic words that issued from your niece's lips. I said, +looking at them with a triumphant smile (I have no doubt that, at that +moment, I thought I was in my own drawing-room, bidding guests good +night)--I said (I really hate to write it): "I hope the next time I come +to Rochester I shall meet you all here again." + +This was the first speech I ever made in public--I confess that it was not +a success. + + +PARIS, _1865._ + +The Princess Mathilde receives every Sunday evening. Her salons are always +crowded, and are what one might call cosmopolitan. In fact, it is the only +salon in Paris where one can meet all nationalities. There are diplomats, +royalists, imperialists, strangers of importance passing through Paris, +and especially all the celebrated artists. + +She has great taste, and has arranged her palace most charmingly. She has +converted a small portion of the park behind it into a winter garden, +which is filled with beautiful palms and flowering plants. In this +attractive place she holds her receptions, and I sang there the other +evening. + +Rossini was, as a great exception, present. I fancy that he and his wife +had dined with the Princess; therefore, when the Princess asked him to +accompany me, saying that she desired so much to hear me sing, he could +not well refuse to be amiable, and sat down to the piano with a good +enough grace. I sang "Bel Raggio," from "Semiramide," as I knew it by +heart (I had sung it often enough with Garcia). Rossini was kind enough +not to condemn the cadenzas with which Garcia had interlarded it. I was +afraid he would not like them, remembering what he had said to Patti about +hers. + +I was amused at his gala dress for royalty: a much-too-big redingote, a +white tie tied a good deal to one side, and only one wig. + +He says that he is seventy-three years old. I must say that this is +difficult to believe, for he does not look it by ten years. He never +accepts any invitations. I know I have never seen him anywhere outside his +own house, and it was a great surprise to see him now. We once ventured to +invite him and his wife to dinner one evening, when the Prince and +Princess Metternich were dining with us; and we got this answer: "Merci, +de votre invitation pour ma femme et moi. Nous regrettons de ne pouvoir +l'accepter. Ma femme ne sort que pour aller à la messe, et moi je ne sors +jamais de mes habitudes." We felt snubbed, as no doubt we deserved to be. + +Gounod played most enchantingly some selections from "Roméo et Juliette," +the opera he has just composed. I hear that he wants Christine Nilsson to +sing it. The music seems to me even more beautiful than "Faust." Rossini +talked a long time with Gounod, and Auber told me that Rossini said, +patting Gounod on the back, "Vous êtes le chevalier Bayard de la musique." + +Gounod answered, "Sans peur, non!" + +Rossini said, "Dans tous les cas, sans reproche et sans égal." + +Gounod is, I think, the gentlest, the most modest, and the kindest-hearted +man in the world. His music is like him, gentle and graceful. Princess +Mathilde asked me to sing again; but, as I had not brought any music, +Auber offered to accompany me in the "Song of the Djins," from his new +opera, which I had so often sung with him. It was not the song I should +have selected; but, as Auber desired it, I was glad to gratify him, and +was delighted when I saw Rossini compliment Auber, who (like the tenor +before the drop-curtain, who waves his hand toward the soprano as if all +the merit of the performance was due to her) waved his hand toward me, +which suggested to Rossini to make me a reflected compliment. + +This was a great occasion, seeing and hearing Rossini, Gounod, and Auber +at the same time. I shall never forget that evening. I wonder that I had +the courage to sing before them. Among the guests was an Indian Nabob +dressed in all his orientals, who in himself would have been sufficient +attraction for a whole evening, had he not been totally eclipsed by the +three great artists. The Nabob probably expected more homage than he +received; but people hardly looked at him. + +I was presented to him, and he seemed glad to speak English, which was not +of the best, but far better than his French. He told me a great deal about +his journey, the attractions of Paris, and about his country and family. + +I asked him, by way of saying something (I was not particularly interested +in him or his family), how many children he had. He answered, "Quite a +few, milady." + +"What does your Highness call a few?" I asked. + +"Well, I think about forty," he replied, nonchalantly. + +"That would be considered quite a large family here," I said. + +The Nabob, of course, did not appreciate the profundity of this remark. + +A few days after, the Princess Mathilde sent me a lovely fan which she had +painted herself, and Mr. Moulton is going to have it mounted. I am very +happy to have it as a souvenir of a memorable evening, besides being an +exquisite specimen of the Princess's talent as an artist. The Princess is +what one might call miscellaneous. She has a Corsican father, a German +mother, and a Russian husband, and as "cavaliere servente" (as they say in +Italy), a Dutchman. She was born in Austria, brought up in Italy, and +lives in France. She said once to Baron Haussmann, "If you go on making +boulevards like that, you will shut me up like a vestal." + +"I will never make another, your Highness," he answered. + +Every one is very much excited about a young Swedish girl called Christine +Nilsson, who has walked right into the star-light, for she really is a +star of the first magnitude. She has studied with Wachtel only one year, +and behold her now singing at the Théâtre Lyrique to crowded audiences in +the "Flûte Enchantée." Her voice has a wonderful charm; she sings without +the slightest effort, and naturally as a bird. She has some phenomenal +high notes, which are clear as bells. She makes that usually tedious +_grand aria_, which every singer makes a mess of, quite lovely and +musical, hovering as she does in the regions above the upper line like a +butterfly and trilling like a canary-bird. A Chinese juggler does not play +with his glass balls more dexterously than she plays with all the effects +and tricks of the voice. What luck for her to have blossomed like that +into a full-fledged prima-donna with so little effort. I have got to know +her quite well, as Miss Haggerty, who was at some school with her in +Paris, invites her often to lunch and asks me to meet her. + +Nilsson is tall, graceful, slight, and very attractive, without being +actually handsome. She acts well and naturally, and with intelligence, +without exerting herself; she has the happy faculty of understanding and +seizing things _au vol_, instead of studying them. She has a regal future +before her. A second Jenny Lind! Their careers are rather similar. Jenny +Lind was a singer in cafés, and Nilsson played the violin in cafés in +Stockholm. She is clever, too! She has surrounded herself by a wall of +propriety, in the shape of an English _dame de compagnie_, and never moves +unless followed by her. This lady (Miss Richardson) is correctness and +primness personified, and so _comme il faut_ that it is actually +oppressive to be in the same room with her. Nilsson herself is full of fun +and jokes, but at the same time dignified and serious. + +Christine Nilsson gave Mrs. Haggerty a box at the Théâtre Lyrique, where +she is now playing "Traviata" (I think it was the director's box), and I +was invited to go with her and Clem. The box was behind the curtain and +very small and very dark. But it was intensely amusing to see how things +were done, and how prosaic and matter-of-fact everything was. If ever I +thanked my stars that I was not a star myself it was then. + +Everything looked so tawdry and claptrap: the dirty boards, the grossly +painted scenery, the dingy workmen shuffling about grumbling and gruff, +ordered and scolded by a vulgar superior. Of course the stars do not see +all these things, because they only appear when the heavens are ready for +them to shine in. + +The overture, so it sounded to us, was a clash of drums, trumpets, and +trombones all jumbled together. After the three knocks of the director, +which started up the dust of ages into our faces until we were almost +suffocated, the curtain rose slowly with great noise and rumbling. + +The audience looked formidable as we saw it through the mist of cloudy +gas-light, a sea of faces, of color and vagueness. The incongruity of +costumes was a thing to weep over. If they had tried they could not have +made it worse. The lady guests, walking and chatting, in a _soi-disant_ +elegant salon, were dressed, some in Louis XV. splendor, some in dogesses' +brocades, some in modern finery, with bows and ribbons and things looped +up any way. Nilsson was dressed in quite modern style--flounces, laces, +and fringes, and so forth, while Alfredo had donned a black velvet coat _à +la_ something, with a huge jabot which fell over a frilled shirt-front. He +wore short velvet trousers, and black-silk stockings covered his thin legs +without the least attempt at padding. + +The "padre" was in a shooting-jacket, evidently just in from a riding- +tour. He held a riding-stick, and wore riding-gantlets which he flourished +about with such wide gesticulations that I thought he was going to hit +Nilsson in the face. + +We could not hear the singing so well from where we sat; but the orchestra +was overpowering, and the applause deafening, like peals of thunder. + +I laughed when the gang of workmen rushed on to the stage as soon as the +curtain came down, and began sweeping and taking down one set of furniture +and putting on another; especially in the last act, when Violetta's bed +came on and the men threw the pillows from one to the other, as if they +were playing ball. They hung up a crucifix, which I thought was +unnecessary, and brought in a candlestick. I wondered if they were going +to put a warming-pan in the bed. A mat was laid down with great precision. +Then Nilsson came in, dressed in a flounced petticoat trimmed with lace, a +"matinée," and black slippers, and got into the bed. + +After the performance was over the curtain was raised and the artists came +forward to bow; the stage was covered with flowers and wreaths. And +Nilsson, in picking up her floral tributes, was wreathed in smiles; but +they faded like mist before the sun the minute the curtain was lowered, +and she looked tired and worn out. Her maid was there, waiting with a +shawl to wrap around the shoulders of the hot prima-donna, and the prim +Miss Richardson ready to escort her to her room, while the army of shirt- +sleeved men invaded the stage like bees, with brooms which, though +anything but new, I hope swept clean. Then everything was dark and dismal, +lit only by one or two candles and a solitary lantern. All that was so +brilliant a moment before was now only a confused mass of disillusions. + +Nilsson and her duenna drove to Mrs. H----'s and had supper with us. One +would never have dreamt that she had been dying of consumption an hour +before, to see her stow away ham, salad, and pudding in great quantities. +Then she embraced us all and drove off in her coupé. The star was going to +set. I went home, glad that my life lay in other paths. + + +PARIS, _March, 1865._ + +DEAR M.,--Do not be anxious about me. When Mrs. M---- wrote, I was really +in danger of a _fluxion de poitrine_. I am sorry she worried you +unnecessarily. I am much better; in fact, I am far on the road to +recovery. If every one had such a nice time when they are ill as I had +they would not be in a hurry to get well. When I was convalescent enough +to come down-stairs, and the doctor had said his last word (the +traditional "you must be careful"), I had my _chaise-longue_ moved down +into Henry's studio, and Monsieur Gudin, who is the kindest man in the +world, offered to come there and paint a picture in order to amuse and +divert me. + +Bierstadt, the American painter, who is in Paris, also proposed to come. +Then those two artists ordered canvases of the same size, and Beaumont, +not to be outdone, ordered a larger canvas, and Henry announced his +intention of finishing an already commenced landscape. + +Behold, then, your invalid, surrounded by these celebrated artists, +reclining on a _chaise-longue_, a table with _tisanes_ and remedies near +by, and the four painters painting. Gudin is painting a seascape; +Bierstadt, a picture of California; Beaumont, of course, his graceful +ladies and cherubs. It amused me to see how differently they painted. +Gudin spread his paints on a very large table covered with glass, and used +a great many brushes; Bierstadt used a huge palette, and painted rather +finically, whereas Beaumont had quite a small palette and used few +brushes. I was very sorry when my convalescence came to an end and the +pictures were finished; but I had the delight of receiving the four +pictures, which the four artists begged me to accept as a souvenir of the +"pleasant days in the studio." + +Another pleasant thing happened during "the pleasant days in the studio," +which was the gift of a beautiful gold medal which the Emperor sent me as +a souvenir of the day I sang the _Benedictus_ in the chapel of the +Tuileries. It is a little larger than a five-franc piece, and has on one +side the head of the Emperor encircled by "Chapelle des Tuileries," and on +the other side "Madame Moulton" and the date. + +We are all dreadfully sad about the Duke de Morny's death. He was very +much appreciated, and a favorite with every one. They say that the Duchess +cut off all her hair and put it into his coffin. I never heard before that +she was such a loving wife. I only hope that she will not need her braids +to keep on her next wedding-wreath. + +We have just heard of the assassination of that good, kind President +Lincoln. How dreadful! + +I have a new teacher called Delsarte, the most unique specimen I have ever +met. My first impression was that I was in the presence of a +_concierge_ in a second-class establishment; but I soon saw that he +was the great master I had heard described so often. He is not a real +singing teacher, for he does not think the voice worth speaking of; he has +a theory that one can express more by the features and all the tricks he +teaches, and especially by the manner of enunciation, than by the voice. +We were (Aunty and I) first led into the salon, and then into the music- +room, so called because the piano is there and the stand for music, but no +other incumbrances as furniture. + +On the walls were hung some awful diagrams to illustrate the master's +method of teaching. These diagrams are crayon-drawings of life-sized faces +depicting every emotion that the human face is capable of expressing, such +as love, sorrow, murder, terror, joy, surprise, etc. + +It is Delsarte's way, when he wants you to express one of these emotions +in your voice, to point with a soiled forefinger to the picture in +question which he expects you to imitate. The result lends expression to +your voice. + +The piano is of a pre-Raphaelite construction, and stands in the middle of +the room like an island in a lake, with a footstool placed over the pedals +(he considers the pedal as useless). The lid of the piano was absent, and, +to judge from the inside, I should say that the piano was the receptacle +for everything that belonged to the Delsarte homestead. There were +inkstands, pens, pencils, knives, wire, matches, toothpicks, half-smoked +cigars, even remnants of his luncheon, which seemed to have been black +bread and cheese, and dust galore. Delsarte had on a pair of much-worn +embroidered slippers, a velvet _calotte_, the tassels of which swayed +with each of his emotions, and a dilapidated _robe de chambre_ which +opened at every movement, disclosing his soiled plaid foulard doing duty +for a collar. + +On my telling him that I desired to take some lessons of him, he asked me +to sing something for him. Seeing the music of Duprato's "Il était nuit +déjà," I proposed singing that, and he sat down at the pedal-less piano to +accompany me. When I arrived at the phrase, "Un souffle d'air léger +apportait jusqu'à nous l'odeur d'un oranger," he interrupted me. "Repeat +that!" he cried. "Il faut qu'on sente le souffle d'air et l'odeur de +l'oranger." I said to myself, "... no one could 'sentir un oranger' in +this room; one could only smell Delsarte's bad tobacco." + +He begged me to sing something else. + +"Will you accompany Gounod's 'Medje' for me?" I asked him. + +"No," he replied. "I will listen; you must accompany yourself. There are +certain songs that cannot be accompanied by any one but the singer. This +is one of them! You feel yourself, don't you, that it is absolutely +necessary for you to clutch something when singing this? A weak chord or a +too powerful one struck in a wrong place would spoil entirely the effect, +and even the best accompanist cannot foresee when that effect is going to +be produced." I think this is so clever! "'Voi che sapete' can be +accompanied by any school girl," he continued. "It is plain sailing; but +in 'Medje' the piano must be part of the singer and breathe with him." I +sat down at the piano and sang. When I came to "Prends cette lame et +plonges la dans mon coeur," he stopped me short, and pointing to a +horrible picture on the wall indicating bloody murder and terror (No. 6), +he cried, "Voilà l'expression qu'il faut avoir." I sang the phrase over +again, trying to imagine what Medje's lover must have felt; but I could +not satisfy Delsarte. He said my voice ought to tremble; and, in fact, I +ought to sing false when I say, "Ton image encore vivante dans mon coeur +qui ne bat plus." "No one," he said, "in such a moment of emotion could +keep on the right note." I tried again, in vain! If I had had a dagger in +my hand and a brigand before me, I might perhaps have been more +successful. However, he let it pass; but to show that it could be done he +sang it for me, and actually did sing it false. Curiously enough, it +sounded quite right, tremolo and all. There is no doubt that he is a +_great artist_. One can see that Faure and Coquelin (the actor) have +both profited by his unique teaching. He assured me that there is no art +like that of making people believe what you want them to. For instance, he +pretends that he can sing "Il pleut, il pleut, bergère," and make you hear +the patter of the _bergère's_ heels on the wet sod, or wherever she +was trying to _rentrer ses blancs moutons_. He sang it with the fullest +conviction, and asked me what I thought of it. I shut my eyes and tried to +conjure up the _bergère_ and her heels. My head began to whirl with all +this talk, and, on taking leave of my new master, I promised him that I +would try to sing false until the next lesson. Another thing he said was: +"Never try to accompany yourself when the accompaniment is difficult. +There is nothing so painful as to see a singer struggling with tremolos +and arpeggios." How right he is! + +He has one theory about the trembling of the chin. It certainly is very +effective. When in "Medje" I say, "Tu n'as pas vu mes larmes, tout la nuit +j'ai pleuré," Delsarte says, "Make your chin tremble; just try it once," +pointing to a diagram, "and every one will be overcome." I have tried it +and have seen the effect. But I am letting you into all Delsarte's most +innermost secrets. + + +PARIS, _July, 1865._ + +DEAR M.,--You must forgive me if I have not written lately; but we have +been on a visit to the Duke and Duchess de Persigny for the past week. I +did not have time to do more than dress for driving and drive, dress for +afternoon tea, dress for dinner, and dine. + +The estates of Chamarande are beautiful, the château itself is very +magnificent and arranged with the Duchess's taste, which is perfect though +ultra-English. + +The château has a moat around it, over which is a stone bridge which leads +to the entrance on the side opposite the broad terraces bordered by cut +trees, as in Versailles. The park is very large, filled with beautiful old +trees, and most artistically laid out. + +The Duke de Persigny is perfectly delightful, genial, kind, and certainly +the cleverest man of the day, with a temper which is temper-proof. I never +saw him out of it, and, well as I know him, I have never seen him ruffled +in any way, and sometimes there were occasions, goodness knows! + +The Duchess is still handsome and attractive; her pronounced originality +lends her a peculiar charm. She has many admiring friends who are true to +her, and I must say that when she is a friend she is a true one, and never +fails you. Her originality frequently leads her beyond conventionality; +for instance, the other day she took it into her head to dine out of +doors. If she wanted to picnic _al fresco_, why did she not choose some +pretty place in the park or in the woods? But no, she had the usual +elaborate dinner served directly outside the château, and on the gravel +walk. The servants, powdered and in short breeches as usual, served us in +their customary solemnity; but they must have wondered why we preferred to +sit on the gravel, with a draught of cold air on our backs, when we might +have been comfortably seated in a big and airy room with a carpet under +our feet. However, such was the wish of the châtelaine, and no one dared +say a word, not even the Duke, though he protested meekly. + +Later on the Duke had his revenge, for in the midst of our breezy repast +there came a downpour of rain, accompanied by lightning and peals of +thunder, which necessitated a hasty retreat. + +The Duchess, who is very timid in thunder-storms, was the first to rush +into the house, the guests following pell-mell, and our dinner was +finished indoors. + +After our return to Petit Val we had the visit of Auber's protégé, a young +man called Massenet. One day, in Paris, two months ago, Auber said to me: + +"I am very much interested in a former pupil of the Conservatoire who took +the Grand-Prix de Rome, and has just come back from his four years' +musical studies in Rome. As he is more or less a stranger in Paris, I +should be very thankful if you would interest yourself for him. He really +is a genius; but, as so often happens, geniuses don't have pocket-money." + +I answered: "Please tell him to come and see me. I have some music I wish +to have transposed. Do you think that he would be willing to do it?" + +"Certainly; he would be glad to do anything," was the answer. + +The next day a pale young man presented himself. "You are Monsieur +Massenet?" I inquired. + +"Yes, Madame," came the gentle answer. + +Thereupon I gave him the music, and I showed him to a quiet little room in +the upper part of the house, which contained a piano, writing-table, pen +and ink, etc., and left him to his fate. He came two or three times before +I heard him play, and then it was only by chance that I passed through the +corridor, and imagine my astonishment at hearing the most divine music +issuing from the room where the young man was working. I rushed in, +saying: + +"What is that?" + +"Nothing," he answered. + +"Nothing!" I exclaimed. "I never heard anything so exquisite, Do play it +again." + +"It was simply something that passed through my head," he answered. + +"Then let something else pass through your head. I must hear more." I +said. Then he played, and I sat and listened to the most bewildering and +beautiful music that I ever heard. From that moment there was no more +copying. What a genius he is! I wish you could hear him improvise! + +We have invited him frequently, and when we are at Petit Val he comes +often out to see us, and luxuriates in the repose and comfort of our life +here. He has already written some lovely songs under its influence. He +composed one called "l'Esclave," and dedicated it to me for my birthday. +He accompanies me as no one has ever done before. + +Auber, who drives out occasionally, is delighted to see that "Our +Massenet," as he generally calls him, is getting color in his pale cheeks +and his bright and eager eyes are brighter than ever, and he is actually +getting fat. + + +PARIS, _January, 1866._ + +We have just returned from Nice and Cannes, also from a very disappointing +yachting cruise in the Mediterranean, which proved to be a complete +fiasco. I must tell you about it. Lord Albert Gower had invited us to go +to Spezia on his beautiful yacht. From there we were to go to Florence, +and later make a little trip in Italy. We had all been asked to a dinner +at the Duke de Vallombrosa's villa at Cannes, and some of us to spend the +night there. + +The evening before we started there was a large dinner at the prefect's +given in honor of the Austrian Ambassador, Prince Metternich, who had come +on an official visit concerning an archduke, at which Lord Albert proposed +that we should take Cannes _en route_, spend the night there, and start +the next day for Spezia. + +I thought that I was going to have a beautiful time when we left Nice. The +sun was shining brightly, and there was every prospect of a good breeze, +and I settled down on deck with books and work, thinking how delightful it +was all going to be, and how pleasant it was to get away from the +fatiguing gaieties of Nice, where there had been a perfect avalanche of +dinners, balls, and theater-parties which even surpassed Paris. + +Well! A dead calm set in about an hour after we had started, and only a +vestige of a breeze wafted us along on our way, and we never arrived at +Cannes till seven o'clock, just in time to disembark, jump into a +carriage, and reach the Duke de Vallombrosa's villa. I thought that I was +very expeditious over my toilette, notwithstanding which I found myself +half an hour late for dinner. Fortunately, however, our hosts were lenient +and accepted my excuses. + +Lord and Lady Brougham, Duke de Croy, and many others were there. And who +else do you think? No less a personage than Jenny Lind! You may imagine my +delight at seeing her--"the Goddess of Song," the idol of my youth--about +whom still hung a halo. + +She is neither handsome nor distinguished-looking; in fact, quite the +contrary: plain features, a pert nose, sallow skin, and very yellow hair. +However, when she smiled, which was not often, her face became almost +handsome. + +After dinner the Duchess de Vallombrosa begged her to sing; but she flatly +refused, and there was no other music, thank heaven! I was presented to +her, in spite of her too evident dislike for new acquaintances; but when +she heard that I sang she seemed more amiable and interested. She even +asked me to come to see her the next day. "That is," she said, "if you can +climb my hill." I told her that I was sure I could climb her hill, and +would, even if I had to climb on all fours. + +After having been on the glaring Mediterranean all day I could hardly keep +my eyes open, and retired before the last carriage had driven away. The +next morning I looked out of my window and saw our yacht dancing on the +sparkling waves. We expected to leave for Spezia that afternoon. + +At eleven o'clock, the hour appointed, I commenced my pilgrimage to the +hill of the "Swedish nightingale," with what emotion, I can hardly tell +you! I left the carriage at the foot of the hill, and climbed and climbed, +until I reached the heaven where the angel lived. It was the reverse of +Jacob's dream. His angel climbed down to him, whereas I had to climb up to +mine. She always used a donkey for her climbings. + +She received me very cordially, saying, "I welcome you to my +_bicoque_," and led me through a few badly furnished rooms with hay- +stuffed sofas and hard, uncompromising chairs and queer-looking tables +painted in red and green out on to the veranda, which commanded a +magnificent view over the sea and the Esterel Mountains. + +I wish you could have seen her! She was dressed in a white brocade trimmed +with a piece of red silk around the bottom, a red, blousy waist covered +with gold heads sewed fantastically over it, perhaps odds and ends of old +finery, and gold shoes! + +Just fancy, at eleven o'clock in the morning! We talked music. She hated +Verdi and all he had made, she hated Rossini and all he had made; she +hated the French; she hated the Americans; she abhorred the very name of +Barnum, who, she said, "exhibited me just as he did the big giant or any +other of his monstrosities." + +"But," said I, "you must not forget how you were idolized and appreciated +in America. Even as a child I can remember how they worshiped Jenny Lind." + +"Worshiped or not," she answered, sharply, "I was nothing more than a show +in a showman's hands; I can never forget that." + +We sat on her veranda, and she told me all about her early life and her +musical career. She said she was born in 1820, and when only ten years old +she used to sing in cafes in Stockholm. At seventeen she sang "Alice" in +"Robert-le-Diable"! Then we talked of our mutual teacher, dear Garcia, of +whom she took lessons in 1841 and whom, for a wonder, she liked. + +At the _Rhein-fest_ given for Queen Victoria in 1844 she said that she +had had a great success, and that Queen Victoria had always been a friend +to her since that time. + +I asked her when she first sang in London. + +"I think it was in 1847, or thereabouts," she replied. "Then I went to +Paris; but I do not wish to speak of that horrid place." + +"Is Paris such a horrid place?" I asked. "I wish you would come while I am +there." + +[Illustration: JENNY LIND] + +"Never, never!" she cried. "They treated me so abominably I vowed that I +would never set foot in Paris again, and although they have offered me +every possible inducement I have always refused." + +"What a pity!" I exclaimed. "Would you not like to see the Exposition in +Paris next year? I think it might interest you." + +"Yes, that might interest me; but Paris! Paris!" + +"Do you know Auber?" I asked. + +"Auber. No, I have always wanted to know him, but have never had an +opportunity." + +"If you will come to Paris, I will arrange that you meet him." + +"I will! I will! And then I will sing for him!" she said, with almost +girlish glee. + +How delighted I was to think that I might be the medium to bring them +together. + +She asked me a great many questions about my singing. Suddenly she said, +"Make a trill for me." + +I looked about for a piano to give me a note to start on. But a piano was +evidently the thing where the Goldschmidts had drawn the line. I made as +good a trill as I could without one. + +"Very good!" said she, nodding her head approvingly. "I learned my trill +this way." And she made a trill for me, accentuating the upper note. + +Pointing her finger at me, she said, "You try it." + +I tried it. Unless one has learned to trill so it is very difficult to do; +but I managed it somehow. + +Then she said, in her abrupt way, "What vocalizes do you sing?" + +I replied that I had arranged Chopin's waltz in five flats as a vocalize. + +"In the original key?" she asked. "I know it well. It is one of +Goldschmidt's favorite concert pieces." + +"Not in the original key. I have transposed it two notes lower, and put +some sort of words to it. I also sing as a vocalize the first sixteen bars +of the overture of Mendelssohn's 'Midsummer Night's Dream.'" + +"I don't think that I could do that," she said. + +"I am sure you could," I answered, upon which she tried it. She sang it +slowly but perfectly, shutting her eyes as if feeling her way cautiously, +for the intonations are very difficult. + +Twelve o'clock sounded from a cuckoo-clock in the next room, and I felt +that my visit, fascinating as my angel was, must come to an end. I left +her still standing on the veranda in her white brocade, and as I walked +off she made the trill as an adieu. + +I reached the villa in time for breakfast, after which our hosts drove us +down to the pier, where the little rowboat was waiting to take us out to +the yacht. + +I said that our trip was a failure! It was more than a failure. It meant a +gale, thunder, lightning, and sudden death, and everything in the Litany, +and we finished ignominiously by taking refuge in the first port we could +reach, and going on to our destination by train. + + +PARIS, _February 12, 1866._ + +DEAR AUNTY,--There has been a regular deluge of balls in Paris this +winter. The Minister of Marine gave a gorgeous one, the _clou_ of which +was the entrance at midnight precisely of _Les Quatres Continents_, being +four long _cortèges_ representing Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. + +I was quite provoked that they did not ask me to be in the American +_cortège_. I should have loved to have been an Indian squaw, except that a +blanket is a rather warm _toilette de bal_. They wanted me to take a +costume of a Spanish lady in the _cortège_ of Europe, but I refused; if I +could not be in the American I did not want to be in any of the others. + +Taking part in the _cortège_ meant waiting till midnight before appearing, +and then, being in it, you did not see it. I had a banal and not a correct +costume of an Amazone Louis XIII., and stayed in the ballroom all the +evening, and saw the procession when it came in. It was very interesting +and really beautifully arranged. + +Africa (Mademoiselle de Sèvres) was brought in on a camel fresh from the +jungle of the Jardin des Plantes, and followed by quantities of natives of +every variety of shade, from sepia to chocolate, as near to nature as they +dared go without spoiling their beauty. Some of the costumes were very +fantastic. Ladies dressed in skirts made of feathers, and beads hanging +everywhere, copied after well-known pictures, and especially after the +costumes of "l'Africaine," of the Opera. The men wore enormous wigs made +of black wool, and black _tricots_, blacker than the most African of +negroes. + +Asia (Baronne Erlanger) was standing on a platform carried by menials +hidden from view and smothered under tiger and other skins. She was poised +with one foot on the head of a tiger, one hand was clutching a date-tree, +and the other hand clinging to the back of a stuffed leopard, it must have +been difficult for her to keep her balance; her platform seemed very +shaky, and the date-tree waved as if it had been in a tornado. The natives +who followed her were more beaded and feathery and multicolored than the +Africans, otherwise they looked much alike. + +America was represented by a pretty girl (a Miss Carter, of Boston). She +was brought in reclining in a hammock of gay colors. The American natives +were not of the kind one meets in New York and Boston; they were mostly +the type taken from the most popular books. There was the sedate Puritan +from Longfellow's "Evangeline"; the red Indians from Cooper's books; +Hiawatha and Pocahontas, of course; and the type most beloved in the +European market, that of the plantation tyrant who drags his victim to the +whipping-post with pointed stakes and cudgels, _à la Oncle Tom_, and +lastly the Mexican types with slouched hats and picturesque shirts and +leather leggings, pistols bulging from their belts. + +Europe (Madame d'Arjuson) was seated in a Roman chair, and looked very +comfortable, in comparison with the other Continents; the platform on +which she sat was loaded with flowers and dragged in on wheels. All the +national costumes of Europe were extremely pretty and varied. The German +peasants in great variety, the Italian _ciociara_, the Spanish toreador, +and the Dutch fisherwoman with her wooden shoes--all were complete. + +Worth and Bobergh had not slept for nights, thinking out the different +costumes and worrying over the details. Worth had the most-brain work, and +Bobergh was the sleepy partner. + +The cotillon was superb; it commenced at two o'clock and finished at the +break of day. The favors were of every nationality, imported from all over +the world, and tied up with every imaginable national color. I danced with +the Count Vogüé, who is by far the best dancer in Paris. He got masses of +favors and gave them all to me, and I also received a great quantity; so +that when I went to the carriage I almost needed a dray to carry them. + + +PARIS, _March, 1866._ + +DEAR M.,--I think of your sitting in your Cambridge home and reading this +account of the frivolities of your daughter. While the scene of last night +is just in my mind, I will tell you about it. + +Yesterday was Count Pourtales's birthday, and Prince Metternich thought +out a wonderful scheme for a surprise for Count Pourtales and the rest of +us. Princess Metternich and Countess Pourtales were the only ones taken +into his confidence. + +There was a dinner at the Pourtales' in honor of the occasion, and the +guests were Baron Alphonse Rothschild, Count and Countess Moltke, Prince +Sagan, the Duke de Croy, and ourselves. + +On arriving at seven o'clock we were ushered into the salon, and later +went in to dinner. All the lights were placed on the table, leaving the +rest of the room in darkness. The servants seemed to me principally +butlers with the traditional side-whiskers, or chasseurs with beards or +mustaches. I thought that they might be extra servants brought in for the +occasion. + +The first course was served. A little awkward spilling of soup on the +table-cloth was not remarked upon. The dish came on with its sauce. A +startled cry came from a lady on receiving some drops of it on her bare +neck, to which no one paid any particular attention. Then, a few moments +later, some wine was carelessly spilled on one of the gentlemen's heads. +These things can so easily happen, no one said anything. + +The filet was handed to me, and at the same time the sauce-dish was +uncomfortably near my neck, and directly under my nose. This was too +nonchalant, and my surprise was still greater when the servant, in an +unnatural and gruff voice, said, "Do you want any of this stuff?" I looked +up at the man, and recognized a twinkle in a familiar eye, and as the +twinkle was accentuated by a powerful wink I began to understand and held +my tongue. + +Things might have gone on longer if one of the waiters had not been too +bold, and on serving Countess Moltke, a very pretty American lady married +to a Dane, pushed her arm a little roughly, and in an obviously disguised +voice said, "Better take some of this, you won't get another chance." + +She called out in an indignant voice, "Did you ever hear the like?" Count +Pourtales seemed dazed, while his wife looked as unconcerned as if there +was nothing unusual. Then the insolent waiters began talking across the +table to each other. One said, "Don't you see that lady with the rose has +not got any salad?" The other answered, "Attend to your own affairs." +Count Pourtales, crimson with mortification, was about to get up and +apologize, when he was suddenly pulled back into his seat, and the absurd +waiters began throwing pellets of bread at him. + +Imagine his feelings! To be treated in this way in one's own house, by +one's own servants! Every one of them must have suddenly gone crazy, or +else they were drunk. For a moment consternation was depicted on all the +countenances; we thought the end of the world had come. + +When things had gone so far, Prince Metternich stood up and made a pretty +little speech for the host, and we all drank his health, and the waiters +all took off their wigs and false beards and waved them in the air. + +Six of the most fashionable young gentlemen of Paris had been serving us! +The Pourtales' own servants, who had kept aloof, now came in, and the +_ci-devant_ waiters drew up chairs between those at the table, and the +dinner finished amidst great hilarity. + + +PARIS, _August, 1866._ + +DEAR M.,--We were invited to go out to Fontainebleau yesterday for dinner. +We found it a very hot ride from Paris, and really suffered in the crowded +train. When we arrived at the station we found a coupé from the Imperial +stables waiting for us, and an extra carriage for the maid, the valet, and +the trunk, which contained our change of dress for dinner. I wished that +the coupé had been an open carriage. I love to drive through those lovely +avenues in the park. Princess Metternich suggested that we should take +some green corn with us, as the Empress had expressed the wish to taste +this American delicacy, and I took some from Petit Val. + +On reaching the palace we were met by the Vicomte Walsh, who led the way +to the apartment of the Baroness de Pierres, one of the _dames d'honneur_ +of the Empress (an American lady, formerly Miss Thorne, of New York), who +was expecting us. + +You may imagine my astonishment at seeing her smoking--what do you think? +Nothing less than a real common clay pipe, and you may imagine her +surprise at seeing me, followed by my servant, who carried a large basket +containing the corn. I told her about it, and that I had brought some at +the instigation of the Princess Metternich, in order that the Empress +could try it. She seemed to be delighted at the idea, and exclaimed, "We +must get hold of the chef at once and tell him how to cook it." She rang +her bell and gave the order. Promptly Monsieur Jean appeared in his fresh +white apron and immaculate jacket and white _couvre-chef_. Baroness de +Pierres and I surpassed ourselves in giving contradictory directions as +to the cooking of it. She thought it ought to be boiled a long time, while +I maintained that it required very little time. + +"You must leave the silk on," said she. + +"Has it got silk?" asked the bewildered chef. + +I was of the opinion that the husks should be taken off. "By no means!" +she declared, and explained that in America the corn was always served in +the husk. + +The chef, trying to analyze this unusual article of food, lifted one of +the ears from the basket and examined it. + +"En robe de chambre, alors, Madame!" said he, and looked dismayed at these +complications. + +"Yes," she replied, "just like a potato--_en robe de chambre_." + +We could hear him as he left the room, followed by the basket, muttering +to himself, "Soie! robe de chambre! Soie! robe de chambre!" in his most +satirical tone. I began to feel a little nervous about it myself, and +wondered if for this broth there had not been too many cooks. + +We went out before dinner to see the famous carp; I looked in vain for the +one with the ring in its nose. + +At dinner, besides the Household, were the Princess Mathilde, Monsieur +Ollivier, Monsieur Perrière, the Duke de Persigny, Baron Haussmann, and +several statesmen. + +The corn came in due time served as _légume_. + +I was mortified when I saw it appear, brought in on eight enormous silver +platters, four ears on each. It looked pitiful! Silk, _robe de chambre_ +and all, steaming like a steam-engine. Every one looked aghast, and no one +dared to touch it; and when I wanted to show them how it was eaten in its +native land they screamed with laughter. Baron Haussmann asked me if the +piece I was playing (he meant on the flute) was in _la-bémol_? + +I looked to the Baroness de Pierres for support; but, alas! her eyes +refused to meet mine and were fixed on her plate. + +I tried to make the corn less objectionable by unwrapping the cobs and +cutting off the corn. Then I added butter and salt, and it was passed +about; first, of course, to the Emperor, who liked it very much; but the +Empress pushed her plate aside with a grimace, saying, "I don't like it; +it smells like a baby's flannels." + +The Emperor, seeing the crushed look on my face, raised his glass and +said, with a kind glance at me, "Here's to the American corn!" I +reproached the Princess Metternich for having suggested my taking it +there. + + +COMPIÈGNE, _November 22, 1866._ + +DEAR A.,--You know it has always been my wish to see the life at +Compiègne, and behold, here I am! + +We received the invitation twelve days ago. It reads thus: + + MAISON DE L'EMPEREUR + + _Palais des Tuileries, le 10 Novembre 1866. + + Premier Chambellan_ + + Monsieur, + + Par ordre de l'Empereur, j'ai l'honneur de vous prévenir que vous êtes + invité, ainsi que Madame Charles Moulton, à passer huit jours au + Palais de Compiègne, du 22 au 29 Novembre. + + Des voitures de la Cour vous attendront le 22, à l'arrivée à Compiègne + du train partant de Paris à 2 heures 1/2, pour vous conduire au + Palais. + + Agréez, Monsieur, l'assurance de ma considération très distinguée. + + _Le Premier Chambellan_. + V'te de Laferrière. + Monsieur, + Madame Charles Moulton. + +This gave me plenty of time to order all my dresses, wraps, and everything +else that I needed for this visit of a week to royalty. + +[Illustration: THE MAIN FAÇADE--CHÂTEAU DE COMPIÈGNE] + +I was obliged to have about twenty dresses, eight day costumes (counting +my traveling suit), the green cloth dress for the hunt, which I was told +was absolutely necessary, seven ball dresses, five gowns for tea. Such a +quantity of boxes and bundles arrived at the house in Paris that +Mademoiselle Wissembourg was in a blue fidget, fussing about, boring me +with silly, unnecessary suggestions, and asking so many useless questions +that I wished her at the bottom of the Red Sea. + +A professional packer came to pack our trunks, of which I had seven and +C---- had two; the maid and the valet each had one, making, altogether, +quite a formidable pile of luggage. As we saw it on the wagon driven from +the house, it seemed an absurdly large amount for only a week's visit. + +We arrived at the St. Lazare Station at 2.30, as indicated on the +invitation. + +We found the Vicomte Walsh (the Chamberlain of the Emperor) waiting to +show the guests where the train was. It would have been rather difficult +not to have seen it, as it was the only one in the station, and was marked +"Extra and Imperial." + +There were several large salon carriages with large, comfortable +_fauteuils_, and some tables covered with newspapers and _journaux +illustrés_ to beguile the time. It would take too much time to tell you +the names of all the people I recognized at the station; but in the +carriage with us were the Duke and Duchess Fernan Nuñez, Madame de +Bourgogne (whose husband is Equerry of the Emperor), the two Princes +Murat, Joachim and Achille, Monsieur Davilliers, Count Golz (the German +Ambassador), Baron Haussmann and his daughter, and Mr. de Radowitz of the +German embassy, who immediately stretched himself out contentedly in a +comfortable arm-chair and fell fast asleep. + +I should say there were about fifty or sixty guests. + +We actually flew over land and dale. I never traveled so fast in all my +life; but then I had never been in an Imperial train before. We did not +stop until we reached the station of Compiègne. + +I think the whole twelve thousand inhabitants of Compiègne were gathered +there to stare at us, and they did stare persistently, until we had +mounted the many equipages waiting for us and had driven away. + +It certainly must have been very entertaining for them to see the long +procession of carriages, the hundreds of trunks, the flurrying maids, and +the self-important valets. + +There were two landaus: one for the Metternichs and one for the German +Ambassador. + +The _chars-à-bancs_, of which there must have been at least ten, were +dark green outlined with red, each with four prancing horses whose tails, +jauntily braided with red cords, were tied to the saddles. + +Each carriage had two postilions, who looked very trim in their short +velvet jackets embroidered with gold and covered with endless buttons. +They wore white breeches, long top-boots, black-velvet caps over their +white wigs, and their little pigtails, tied with a black bow, hung down +their backs, flapping up and down as they galloped. + +The Princess Metternich had fourteen trunks and two maids; the Prince had +his private secretary and valet, and a goodly number of trunks. This will +give you a vague idea of the amount of baggage which had to be transported +in the _fourgons_. + +Don't you think we must have made a very imposing spectacle, as we rattled +through the quiet town of Compiègne, over its old stone pavement, the +postilions blowing their horns, cracking their whips, the horses galloping +full speed, the _chars-à-bancs_ filled with handsomely dressed ladies, and +after this long procession came the maids and the valets and mountainous +piles of baggage? + +When we entered the _grande cour_ (inclosure), the sentinels grasped their +guns and saluted, as we passed by them, before we pulled up in front of +the grand staircase of the château, where an army of lackeys were waiting +to help us alight. + +The Grand Chamberlain received us at the head of the stairs with pleasant +cordiality and waved us toward a _huissier_, who, dressed in a black +livery with heavy chains around his neck, looked very important. He, in +his turn, passed us on to the particular valet allotted to us, who +pompously and with great dignity showed us the way to our apartments. + +Our names were on the doors, and we entered the brilliantly lighted rooms, +which, after our journey, seemed most welcome with their bright fires and +cheerful aspect. + +Tea and chocolate were on the table waiting us, and I regaled myself while +the soldiers (who seem to be the men-of-all-work here) brought in the +trunks and the maid and valet were unpacking. + +I must describe our rooms. We have a large salon, two bedrooms, two +servants' rooms, and an antechamber. In the salon there are two long +windows which reach to the floor and overlook the park. The walls are +paneled with pink and mauve brocade. The covering of the furniture and the +curtains are of the same stuff. + +My bedroom is furnished in white and green with a delightful _chaise +longue_ and large _fauteuils_, which to me are more inviting than the +stiff Empire style of the salon. + +I made my toilette in a maze of excitement; my maid was confused and +agitated, and I thought I should never be ready. I think you will be +interested to hear what I wore to-night. It was light-green tulle, +embroidered in silver, the waist trimmed with silver fringe. If one could +see the waistband, one would read WORTH in big letters. I thought it was +best to make a good impression at the start, so I put on my prettiest +gown. + +On leaving our apartment, a little before seven, we found the lackey +waiting to show us the way to the _Grande Salle des Fêtes_, and we +followed his plump white calves through the long corridors, arriving at +last at the salon where the company was to assemble. + +Here we found more white calves belonging to the gorgeous liveries and the +powdered heads of the lackeys, who stood there to open the doors for all +comers. We were not the last, but of the latest, to arrive. + +The salon seemed immense to me. On one side the windows (or rather the +doors) opened on to the terrace; on the opposite side of the walls, +between the pillars, were mirrors resting on gilded consoles. At one end +of the room was the statue of Laetitia Bonaparte (_Madame Mère_), and at +the other end was one of Napoleon I. Banquettes and tabourets of Gobelins +tapestry stood against the walls. The ceiling is a _chef-d'oeuvre_ of +Girodet--_style Empire_. + +The Vicomte de Laferrière and the Duchesse de Bassano, the _grande +maîtresse_, came forward to receive the guests. + +[Illustration: SALLE DES FÊTES--CHÂTEAU DE COMPIÈGNE] + +My first feeling, when I entered the room, was that I knew no one in this +numerous assemblage. There must have been a hundred people at least; but +gradually the faces of my acquaintances loomed one by one out of the mist, +and among them I recognized the lovely Marquise de Gallifet, who kindly +beckoned me to come and stand by her, for which I felt very grateful. + +The chamberlains--there were many of them--bustled about, constantly +referring to some papers which they had in their hands, in order to tell +each gentleman which lady he was to take in to dinner. + +The Grand Chamberlain glanced round the room with an all-comprehensive +look, and seemed intuitively to know when we were all present. He then +disappeared into his Majesty's private salon. + +There was an ominous hush, a flutter of agitation, a stiff attitude of +expectancy, the guests arranging themselves according to their own +consciousness of their rank; and presently the doors of the salon were +quietly opened and their Majesties entered. The gentlemen bowed +reverentially; the ladies courtesied very low, and the sovereigns, +responding with a gracious inclination of the head, advanced toward us. + +The Empress turned to the ladies, the Emperor to the gentlemen, speaking a +word of welcome to as many of the guests as the time allowed. Fifty or +sixty _bon soirs_ and _charmé de vous voir_'s occupy some time; but their +Majesties kept their eyes on the Grand Maréchal, and he kept his eye on +the clock. + +The Empress looked lovely. She wore a beautiful gown, a white-spangled +tulle, with a superb tiara of diamonds, and on her neck a _collier_ of +huge pearls. + +The Emperor was in white _culottes courtes_, white-silk stockings and +low shoes, as were the rest of the gentlemen. He wore the ribbon of the +_Légion d'honneur_, and on his left breast the star of the same. + +The Grand Maréchal, waiting his opportunity, approached his Majesty, who +went up to the Empress and gave her his arm. The Grand Maréchal then led +the way slowly and with due stateliness to the banqueting hall. + +The gentlemen offered their arms to their respective ladies, and we +marched in procession through the long gallery, trying to prevent +ourselves from slipping on the waxed floor, and passed between the +splendid _Cent Gardes_, who lined both sides of the entire length of this +enormous hall. Their uniforms are magnificent and dazzling; they wear +light-blue coats under their silver cuirasses, white breeches, and high, +shiny top-boots; and on their heads silver helmets, from which flow long +manes of white horsehair that hang down their backs. + +There the men stood, motionless as statues, staring stolidly before them, +without so much as a stolen side-glance at the beauty and elegance passing +before their eyes. + +This procession of ladies glittering with jewels, the officers and +diplomats in their splendid uniforms covered with decorations and gay- +colored _cordons_, made a sight never to be forgotten; at least, _I_ shall +never forget it. + +When their Majesties entered the dining-room they separated, and took +their places on opposite sides of the table, half-way down its length and +exactly facing each other. The Emperor had Princess Metternich on his +right hand, and the Duchess of Fernan Nuñez on his left. The Empress had +the Austrian Ambassador, Prince Metternich, on her right, and the German +Ambassador, Count Golz, on her left. + +The other _invités_ were placed according to their rank and position: +all the _gros bonnets_ were in their right places, you may be quite sure. +I was such a little _bonnet_ among all those great people that I was +practically nowhere, and at the tail end of everything except the members +of the Household and the ladyless gentlemen, who, of course, were below +me. + +There must have been about one hundred persons seated at the table. I +never saw such a tremendous long stretch of white linen. + +The flowers, stiffly arranged at intervals, alternated with white +_épergnes_ filled with bonbons, and larger fruit-dishes filled with the +most delicious-looking fruit. All along the whole length of the table +were placed, at regular intervals, the groups of _pâte tendre_ +representing the Hunt. These, as my cavalier (Count de Bourgogne) told me, +are made only at the Sèvres manufactory, expressly for the French +sovereigns. They were designed in the time of Louis XV. by an artist +called Urbain, and have been reproduced ever since. It would seem as if +nothing had been found worthy to replace them. + +The _service de table_ was of white Sèvres porcelain with only the letter +"N" in gold surmounted by the Imperial crown; many of the courses were +served on silver plates, in the center of which were engraved the arms of +France. + +A strip of red velvet carpet laid over the polished floor surrounded the +table. On the outer side of this carpet were the chair, to be pushed +forward as soon as people were ready to sit down. The lackeys stood in a +line all the way down the room, making a very imposing sight in their red- +and-white liveries; there must have been forty or fifty of them at least. +The Emperor's _chasseur_ always stands behind his chair and serves him, +and him alone, taking a dish of each course, as it is brought in, from the +maître d'hôtel. No one but this privileged _chasseur_ can hand anything in +the way of food to his Majesty. When the Emperor has served himself, the +_chasseur_ hands the dish back to the _maître d'hôtel_, who passes it on +to the other servants, who then serve the guests. The Empress is served in +the same way. + +I suppose this custom dates back to the time of the Borgias, when, in +order to save their own lives, they were willing to risk those of their +trusty menials by making them taste the food before it was put on the +table. + +A military band played during the dinner. It was placed in a large +circular loggia having windows opening on to a courtyard, thus serving two +purposes: to let in the air and let out the music, which, fortunately, it +did, otherwise we could not have heard ourselves speak. + +The dinner lasted about an hour. (The Emperor dislikes sitting long at +table.) It seemed almost impossible that so much eating and drinking and +changing of plates--in fact, such an elaborate repast--could be got +through within such a short time. But it was! + +When their Majesties had finished they rose, and everyone followed their +example. All the chairs were drawn from under you, _tant pis_ if you +were in the act of eating a pear and had not yet washed your fingers; but, +no matter, you had to skip across the red carpet in order to let their +Majesties pass. + +A rather amusing incident occurred at dinner. One of the foreign +ministers, who is very vain of the smallness of his feet, had donned a +pair of patent-leather shoes evidently much too tight for him. During the +dinner he relieved his sufferings by slipping his aching toes out of them. +All went well until his chair was suddenly drawn from underneath him, as +their Majesties were about to pass. In utter despair he made the most +frantic efforts to recover the wandering shoes from under the table; but, +alas! the naughty things had made their escape far beyond reach (a little +way shoes have of doing when left to themselves); consequently, he was +obliged to trip across the red carpet as best he could without them. The +Empress, who keenly appreciates a comical situation, had noticed with +great amusement his manoeuvers and embarrassment, and (was it just for a +little fun?) stopped in passing and spoke to him, much to his confusion, +for it was impossible to prevent her from seeing his little, white +shoeless feet. + +On our returning to the salon the magnificent _Cent Gardes_ stood just as +we had left them, and I wondered if they had unbent for a moment all the +time we had been at dinner. + +The _cercle_ began, and their Majesties circulated about among their +guests. When the Empress was in front of me, she gave me her hand and said +some very kind words to me. She noticed I wore the bracelet she had given +me and seemed pleased. I do not know if you ever saw this handsome +bracelet--it is composed of large rubies and diamonds set in three heavy +gold coils. The date when the Empress gave it to me and her name are +inscribed inside. The Prince Imperial spoke to every one he knew. He has a +very sweet voice, such gentle manners and winning ways. He speaks +excellent English and, of course, several other languages. + +Waldteufel, _le fabricant de valses_, put himself at the piano (an upright +one, standing at the extreme end of the immense ballroom), and played some +of his charming _entraînante_ music. But though he played as loudly as +possible, it was difficult to distinguish what sort of music it was, the +ballroom being so enormous. However it did not make much difference as +there were only a few who wanted to dance and one could see that they were +urged to do so by the chamberlains. Waldteufel has an apartment in the +town of Compiègne, where he fabricates his waltzes by day and comes here +to play them by night. + +At ten o'clock their Majesties went into the Emperor's private salon with +a selected few; then the dancing become general and livelier. Tea and +cakes were served at eleven o'clock and their Majesties reentered, +conversed a few moments, bowed to every one and withdrew, turned round on +reaching the door, and, with a sweeping inclination of the head, +disappeared. + +We bade good night to our friends about us and withdrew, as did every one +else, and I, for one, was glad to go to my Royal couch. Good night! + + +SUNDAY, _November 23, 1866._ + +DEAR M.,--When we came down this morning into the salon we found it almost +deserted, and only realized the reason why when we saw the Empress and +other ladies holding their prayer-books devoutly in their hands returning +from mass, which is celebrated in the chapel of the château. They wore +black-lace veils in place of hats, the Empress wearing hers draped in true +Spanish fashion, which was infinitely becoming to her, being, as she is, +"to the _manner_ born." + +We remembered _then_ that it was Sunday, and felt subdued, seeing so +many who were more pious than we were. In fact, I felt so much so that I +think it would have been impossible for me to have laughed during the +_déjeuner_. Perhaps it was fortunate I sat next to the Duke de Fernan +Nuñez, whose sedate and polished manners suited the occasion perfectly. He +did not encourage any attempt at gaiety. Oh dear, no! Far from it! I felt +myself gradually freezing, and our conversation was of the most +uninteresting character and dry almost to parching. + +I began talking to him about Spain. I said I thought it must be such a +lovely country, so full of romance, sentiment, and so forth. But he nipped +my enthusiasm in the bud by informing me that he was not Spanish. + +"I thought you were," I murmured. + +"No; I am Italian." This staggered me a little. He was certainly the +husband of the Duchess de Fernan Nuñez, who was Spanish; why had he not +the same name? + +He told me that he was "Dei Principi Pio-Trivulzio," one of the oldest +families in Milan, and that when he married his wife (who is a _Grande +d'Espagne_) he was obliged, according to the traditions of Spain, to +take her name and give up his own. + +The _déjeuner_ finished, we returned to the salon, and after their +Majesties had talked a little with their guests the programme for the +afternoon, which was to be an excursion to Pierrefonds, was offered to +those who wished to go. We hurried to our rooms to put on our hats, coats, +and furs, reappearing equipped for the fray. + +The _chars-à-bancs_ and the carriages of their Majesties were drawn up on +the garden side of the terrace. The Emperor took Prince Metternich in his +dog-cart; the Empress drove herself in her English phaëton, accompanied by +the Duchess de Fernan Nuñez. The rest of us were provided with big _chars- +à-bancs_, each holding six or eight people, and had four horses ridden by +two postilions. In the same carriage with me was the Duchess de Persigny, +Count Golz, and others; and although it was very cold, we did not mind, as +we were well wrapped in furs and had plenty of rugs. We enjoyed intensely +the beautiful drive through the forest of Compiègne. Monsieur Davilliers +told me that the forest contains about fifteen thousand hectares. I should +think so, judging from the endless roads and cross-roads, the interminable +avenues and wonderful vistas. There were sign-posts at every turn; those +painted red pointed toward Compiègne. + +It took us a long time to reach the forest at Pierrefonds, which joins +that of Compiègne. By an abrupt turn of the road we came suddenly in view +of the enormous castle of Pierrefonds and the little town, which is known +for its sulphur baths, and only frequented in summer. No one need inform +you what kind of baths they are, as their fumes pervade space and inform +you themselves. + +[Illustration: CHÂTEAU DE PIERREFONDS] + +The imposing castle looks entirely out of place in its surroundings; the +little hill on which it stands seems as if it had been put there in order +to accommodate the castle. + +We passed over two bridges and over a _pont-levis_ at the foot of the +castle; then through a second gateway into a court, and finally over a +drawbridge to reach the entrance. + +There we got out of the carriages, passed through a dark, vaulted chapel +and mounted to the platform, where we had a splendid view of the town and +the forest. + +Viollet-le-Duc, who was with us, is the pet architect of the Emperor; he +is working hard to restore these magnificent ruins, and has now been ten +years about it, but says that they will never be finished in his lifetime. +The Emperor is very proud of showing them as the work of his favorite +architect, and Viollet-le-Duc is just as proud of having been chosen for +this stupendous undertaking. + +We were spared no details, you may be sure, from the smallest of gargoyles +to the biggest of chimneys. There is a huge fireplace which reaches to the +ceiling in the _salle des gardes_, with funny little squirrels peering at +you with cunning eyes. I wish it had occurred to the great architect to +have utilized this fireplace, for he could very well have put a few logs +in it and prevented us poor visitors from freezing to death. + +We walked (it must have been miles), examining everything in detail. We +mounted two hundred steps to see the view, and then descended three +hundred steps to see the arched cellars. The castle was first bought one +hundred years ago as a ruin by some one, who only paid eight thousand +francs for it; then Napoleon I. bought it, and now Napoleon III. is +restoring it. It is seven thousand meters square. It has eight big towers, +etc. I could go on forever, I am so brimful of statistics, but I spare +you. + +While the hampers brought from Compiègne were being unpacked we tried to +rest our weary limbs in some prehistoric chairs, whose carvings pierced +our bones to the marrow. I suppose this is what they call _payer de sa +personne_. I consoled myself, while drinking my tea and eating my cake, +with the thought that my _personne_ was paying its little private tax +to art. + +After this interesting but fatiguing visit, and after the long drive +through the cold, misty forest, the dead and dry leaves rustling under the +horses' feet as they galloped along, I was glad to rest a moment by my +cozy fire before dressing for dinner. + +I was a little dismayed when I was told that the famous poet, Théophile +Gautier, was to be my dinner companion. I was awed at the idea of such a +neighbor, and feared I should not be able to rise to the occasion. Would +he talk poetry to me? And should I have to talk poetry to him? + +I tried to remember, during our promenade down the hall, Longfellow's +"Psalm of Life," in case he should expect anything in this line, and I +tried to remember something he himself had written; but for the life of me +I could think of nothing but a very improper book called _Mademoiselle +de Maupéon_, which I had never been allowed to read, so that would be +of no use as conversation. + +I might have spared myself this worry, for, from the time he sat down at +the table, he talked of little else than cats and dogs. He loves all +animals. I liked him for that, and one could see that he preferred them to +any other topic. + +I can't remember all the nonsense he talked. In appearance I think he must +resemble Charles Dickens. I have only seen the latter's photographs; but +had he not rather a skimpy hair brushed any which way and a stringy beard? +I fancied him so to myself. At any rate, Gautier looks like the Dickens of +the photographs. + +He said he had eight or ten cats who ate with him at the table; each had +its own place and plate, and never by any chance made a mistake and sat in +another cat's place or ate off another cat's plate. He was sure that they +had a heaven and a hell of their own, where they went after their death, +according to their deserts, and that they had souls and consciences. All +his cats had classical names, and he talked to them as if they were human +beings. He said they understood every word he said. He also quoted some of +his conversation with them, which must have sounded very funny: + +"Cleopatra, have you been in the kitchen drinking milk on the sly? + +"Cleopatra puts her tail between her legs and her ears back and looks most +guilty, and I know then what the cook told me was true." + +Then again: "Julius Caesar, you were out extremely late last night. What +were you doing?" He said that when he made these reproaches Julius Caesar +would get down from his chair and, with his tail high in the air, would +rub himself against his legs, as much as to say he would never do it +again. + +"Depend upon it," he added, "they know everything we do, and more." + +I asked, "When Julius Caesar comes from his nocturnal walks is he +_gris_ (tipsy)?" + +"Gris! Que voulez-vous dire?" + +"You once wrote a poem (how proud I was that I had recollected it), 'A +minuit tous les chats sont gris.'" + +"C'est vrai, mais je parlais des Schahs de Perse." + +"Est-ce que tous les Schahs de Perse sont gris à minuit?" + +"Madame, tous les Schahs de Perse que j'ai eu l'honneur de voir à minuit +ont été gris comme des Polonais." + +"But the 'chats' you wrote about go mewing on roofs at midnight. Do the +Schahs de Perse do that?" + +"Did I write that?" said he. "Then I must have meant cats. You are very +inquisitive, Madame." + +"I confess I am," I answered. "You see, that poem of yours has been set to +music, and I sing it; and you may imagine that I want to know what I am +singing about. One must sing with an entirely different expression if one +sings of gray cats or of tipsy Persian sovereigns." + +He laughed and asked, with an innocent look, "Do you think I could have +meant that at midnight nothing has any particular color--that everything +is gray?" + +"I don't know what you meant; but please tell me what you want me to +believe, because I believe everything I am told. I am so naïve." + +"You naïve! You are the most _blasée_ person I ever met." + +"I _blasée_! I! What an idea!" + +Such an idea could only emanate from a poet's brain with an extra-poetical +poet's license. I was very indignant, and told him so, and said, "Est-ce +que tous les poètes sont fous à cette heure de la soirée?" + +"Vous voyez," he retorted, "you are not only _blasée_; you are sarcastic." + +I enjoyed my dinner immensely in spite of being _blasée_, and Gautier's +fun and amusing talk lasted until we were back in the salon. The Emperor +approached us while we were still laughing, and began to talk to us. I +told him that Monsieur Gautier had said that I was _blasée_. The Emperor +exclaimed: "Vous blasée! Il faut y mettre beaucoup de bonne volonté pour +être blasée à votre âge!" + +I said I did not know whether to be angry or not with him. + +"Be angry with him," answered the Emperor. "He deserves it." + +Waldteufel began playing his delightful waltzes, and every one was boon +whirling about. I never heard him play with so much dash; he really seemed +inspired. Prince Metternich asked him to order a piano to be sent to his +salon in the chateau. "I cannot exist without a piano," said he. "It helps +me to write my tiresome _rapports_." + +There were only two pianos, I believe, in the château; the one (upright) +in the ballroom and the Erard in the _salle de musique_. + +At eleven o'clock we went into the Emperor's salon, where tea was served. + + +MONDAY, _November 24, 1866._ + +DEAR M.,--At breakfast this morning I sat next to Prince Metternich. He +told me that there was to be _conseil de ministres_ to-day, and therefore +there was no question of their Majesties' presence at excursions, and no +particular plans projected for this afternoon. + +Thus we were left to our own devices. Prince Metternich's fertile brain +was already at work to imagine something amusing to divert their Majesties +for the evening. He suggested charades. He is excellent at getting them +up. + +When we met in the salon he spoke to the different people who he thought +would be helping elements. + +The Marquise de Gallifet thought that tableaux would be better; Count de +Vogüé suggested games (he knew several new ones, which he proposed). All +in vain! Prince Metternich insisted on charades; therefore charades +carried the day, of course. + +The Prince had already thought of the word "Exposition," and arranged in +his mind what part each one of us was to have. The Vicomte de Laferrière, +whom he was obliged to take into his confidence, told him that he would +show us the room in which there was a stage for amateur performances. + +As soon as their Majesties had departed we proceeded to the said room, +where there was a little stage, a very little one, with red-velvet +curtains. Next to this room was a long gallery, in which there was a +quantity of chests containing every variety of costumes, wigs, pastiches, +tinsel ornaments, and all sorts of appurtenances--enough to satisfy the +most dramatic imagination. + +Each garment, as it was held up to view, suggested endless possibilities; +but the Prince stuck firmly to his first inspiration, and we were +despatched to our different apartments to think out our rôles and to +imagine how funny we were going to be. + +The Empress is always present at the _conseils de ministres_, which +to-day must have lasted an unusually long time, as no one was invited to +her tea. So we took ours with the Metternichs. The Prince had just +returned from town, and was childishly eager to display the various and +extraordinary purchases he had made, which he considered absolutely +necessary for the finishing touches to our toilettes. His requisites +consisted of an oil-can, a feather duster, a watchman's rattle, and wax +enough to have made features for the whole Comédie Française, and paint +and powder for us all. He would not tell us what he had procured for his +_own_ costume, as he said he wanted to surprise us, adding, what he +could not buy he had borrowed. + +Count Vogüé gave me his arm for dinner. Of course, we talked of little +else but the charade. + +Their Majesties were informed of the surprise which was awaiting them in +the little theater. The Empress said to Prince Metternich, after dinner, +"I hear you have prepared something to amuse us this evening. Do you not +wish to go and make your arrangements? We will be ready to join you in +half an hour." + +All of us who were to take part disappeared to dress, and returned to the +gallery connecting with the stage in due time. Peeping through the hole in +the curtain, we could see the imposing and elegant audience come in and +take their seats with much ceremony and calmness. They little thought how +impatient we were to begin and yet trembling with nervousness. Their +Majesties, the guests, and all the ministers who had stayed for dinner +more than filled the theater. It looked, indeed, uncomfortably crowded. + +At last every one was seated, and the first syllable, "Ex," was played +with great success. It represented a scene at Aix-les-Bains. + +Invalids met (glasses in hand) and discussed and compared their various +and seemingly very complicated diseases. They made very funny remarks on +the subject of getting their systems in order in view of the possible +incidents which might come up during the Exposition of the next year. + +The Marquis de Gallifet was one of the invalids, and seeing the Minister +of the Interior in the audience, looked straight at him and said, "C'est à +vous, Monsieur le Ministre, de remédier à tout cela (It is your business, +Monsieur le Ministre, to cure all that)," which made every one roar with +laughter, though Prince Metternich (our impresario) was very provoked, as +he had particularly forbidden any one to address the audience. + +The Princess Metternich looked very comical dressed as a Parisian +coachman, with a coachman's long coat of many capes; she wore top-boots, +and had a whip in her hand and a pipe in her mouth, which she actually +smoked, taking it out of her mouth every time she spoke and puffing the +smoke right into the faces of the audience. She sang a very lively song, +the words of which her husband had found time to write for her during the +afternoon. It began, "C'est à Paris, qu' ça s'est passé." She cracked her +whip and stamped her feet, and must have been very droll, to judge from +the screams of delight in the audience. The song was full of quips and +puns, and pleased so much that she had to repeat it. + +The next word was "Position," and acted only by gentlemen. An amateur, or +rather a novice, was taking lessons in fencing, in order to defend himself +against probable attacks upon him by the barbaric foreigners who next year +would invade Paris, and he wished to be prepared sufficiently to resent +all their insults. + +When the curtain came down all the sky came with it, which put the public +in great glee. + +The whole word "Exposition" was what we call "Mrs. Jarley's Wax Works." + +Count de Vogüé was the showman, and the servant assisting him was no less +a person than the Austrian Ambassador himself, Prince Metternich. As the +stage was small, it could not contain more than two couples at a time, so +they were brought on in pairs. + +First came Antony, and Cleopatra (the latter Marquise de Gallifet, +beautiful as a dream) drank mechanically (having been wound up by the +servant) an enormous pearl, and Antony (Prince Murat) looked on +wonderingly and admiringly. + +Madame de Bourgogne and Count Grammont were a Chinese chop-sticking +couple. When wound up, their chop-sticks went everywhere except into their +mouths. The Marquise de Chasselouplobat and the Marquis de Caux were +shepherd and shepherdess, with the usual rakes, baskets, ribbons, etc. + +I was a mechanical doll sent from America (the latest invention) for the +Exposition. I was dressed as a Tyrolienne with a red skirt, a black +bodice, and a hat with a ridiculous feather sticking out from the back of +it, which Prince Metternich said I _must_ have. + +While the others were on the stage Princess Metternich wrapped a lot of +silk paper around me and tied it with bows of wide ribbon, thus covering +me completely, head and all. I was carried in and placed on a turning +pedestal. + +The showman explained the wonderful mechanism of this doll, unique of its +kind, and capable of imitating the human voice to such a degree that no +one could hear any difference. + +When he had finished talking (I thought, as I stood there, motionless and +stifling under my paper covering, he never would stop) he tore off the +paper and called his assistant to wind me up. + +I had so far been very successful in keeping my countenance; but I assure +you, when I saw Prince Metternich's get-up, my efforts to keep myself from +bursting out laughing almost amounted to genius. He had said he wished his +costume to be a surprise. Well! The surprise almost made the mechanical +doll a failure, and had not Count de Vogüé quickly turned the pedestal +around I don't know how I should have saved myself from disaster. + +Prince Metternich was dressed as a servant. He had a velvetine coat, red +vest, knickerbockers, white stockings, and servant's low shoes, and he +wore a huge black beard and a black wig. He had made his eyebrows so bushy +that they looked like mustaches; but his nose had preoccupied him more +than anything else--I don't know much time he had spent in making it. +First, he made it hooked and then changed it to _retroussé_, then again +back to hooked, which he thought suited his style best. He commenced +it when the first scene was being acted, and had just got it at the right +angle when it was time for him to go on the stage. The result of his +afternoon's labors must have been most gratifying, for he was a stupendous +success. + +He wound me up and I began singing; but everything went wrong. I sang +snatches of well-known songs, cadences, trills, arpeggios, all _pêle- +mêle_, until my exhibitors were in despair. + +"Mais, c'est terrible," cried Vogüé. "Ne pouvez-vous pas l'arrêter? Est-ce +qu'il n'y a pas de vis?" + +"Il n'y a pas le moindre vice, Monsieur," shaking his head in despair. + +Then I stopped short. How could I sing when I was convulsed with laughter? + +"Il faut la remonter," the showman said, with a resigned air, and, turning +to the audience, he announced that such a thing had never happened before. +"La poupée a été probablement dérangée pendant le voyage." This caused +much merriment. "Elle a besoin de l'huile," said the Prince in a loud +stage whisper, and took the oil-can and flourished it about my shoulders. + +They made so many jokes and puns that they were continually interrupted by +the peals of laughter which followed each joke. + +"Faites-la donc chanter," implored Vogüé. "N'y a-t-il pas un clou?" + +"S'il y en avait eu un, je l'aurais trouvé, puisque c'est le clou de la +soirée." + +"Mon Dieu! Que faire? Et tout le monde qui attend. Cherchez bien. Vous +trouverez peut-être un bouton." + +The Prince answered, sadly, "Not a sign of a button, Monsieur." And he +added, in a loud voice, "We ought to have a button in _gold_, so that +one can see it." + +He said this with intention, thinking it might suggest to the Emperor to +give me the gold button which he only gives to those he wishes to make +life-members of his Hunts. Ladies do not often get them. At last, the +mortified assistant applied the rattle and wound me up again. I gave a +little nod with my head; they both struck attitudes of satisfaction, and +one said, "Now she is going to sing 'Beware!'" which called forth a burst +of applause from the audience. I sang "Beware!" and the Prince, thinking I +made the trill too long, tried to stop me by using the rattle again, which +was almost the death of me. I wore some long ribbons around my neck, and +the more the Prince turned it, the tighter the ribbons choked me. Happily +I had breath enough to go on singing; but I turned my head and fixed a +glassy eye on my tormentor, and, instead of singing "Trust her not, she's +fooling thee," I sang, "Trust him not, he's choking me, he's choking me." + +Luckily he understood, and the people who knew English understood and +appreciated the situation. + +When it was all finished the Empress came hurriedly toward me, exclaiming: +"Thank Heaven! I thought the Prince was going to strangle you. I was so +frightened." She then kissed me on both cheeks, and the Emperor gallantly +kissed my hand. + +They both said they had never laughed so much in their lives, and were +most profuse in their thanks, complimenting all those who had taken part +in the charade; certainly Robert de Vogüé and the Prince Metternich both +outdid themselves. + +It was one o'clock when tea was served in the Emperor's salon. You may +imagine if I was tired. + + +_November 25th._ + +DEAR M.,--As the programme announced this morning that there was to be a +_chasse à tir_ this afternoon, I put on my green costume brought for this +purpose. + +The Empress appeared also in a green dress, with a coquettish three- +cornered hat trimmed with gold braid, and looked bewitchingly beautiful; +the Emperor wore a shooting suit with leather gaiters, as did all the +gentlemen. Every one looked very sportsmanlike. + +M. Davilliers gave me his arm for _déjeuner_. He told me a great deal +which I did not _want_ to know about hunting-dogs. + +For instance, "Les chiens anglais," he said, "étaient très raillants, très +perçants, mais hésitants dans les fourrés." So much Greek to me, but I +pretended to understand. He continued to say that the Emperor had an +excellent trainer, who obtained the best results because he treated the +dogs with kindness. I inwardly applauded the trainer. + +He said it was better to let them have the entire use of their faculties; +whereas, if the unhappy animals are stupefied by bad treatment they lose +their _initiative_, being pursued by the thought of a beating, and they +don't know what to do, instead of following their natural instincts. + +I agreed with him entirely, and thought that our conversation was an +excellent preface to the afternoon's sport. + +As the Emperor passed me, before we started off, he said, handing me a +little package he held in his hand, "Here is the gold button which you did +not have last night; it makes you a life member of all Imperial hunts." +(So Prince Metternich's ruse had succeeded.) + +I bowed very low and thanked him, and asked if it would necessitate my +hunting. "Certainly not, if you don't want to," his Majesty answered; "but +have you ever seen a _chasse à tir_?" + +At my answer that I had never seen one, nor anything nearer to one than +people going out with a gun and coming back with nothing else, he laughed +and said, "I must tell that to the Empress." + +It is the Emperor's habit to say, when he hears anything which amuses him, +"I must tell that to her Majesty." She is always in his thoughts. + +I said, looking at the button, "Last year your Majesty gave me a gold +medal for singing a _Benedictus_; now I shall sing a hallelujah for this." + +"It is not worth so much," the Emperor said, with a kind smile. + +"Would you like to accompany me this afternoon," he asked, "and see for +yourself what a _chasse à tir_ is?" + +I answered that I should be delighted, and said, "Shall I come with a +gun?" + +"Oh dear, no! Please don't!" the Emperor exclaimed, hurriedly. "But come +with stout boots and a warm coat." + +The carriages were waiting, and we were soon packed in our rugs and +started for the shooting. + +The Emperor drove Baron Beyens in his dog-cart; the Empress drove with the +Princess Metternich in a victoria to the field, where she left her and +returned to the chateau. I fancy she was afraid of the dampness of this +bleak November day. + +We arrived at a great open place and found all the company assembled, and +I should say the whole populace of Compiègne had turned into beaters and +spectators. The gentlemen took their places in a long line, the Emperor +being in the middle; on his right the person highest in rank (Prince +Metternich), on his left Count Golz, and so forth. + +Madame de Gallifet and I were a little behind the Emperor, between him and +Prince Metternich. Behind us were the gamekeepers, loading and handing the +guns to their masters as fast as they could. The three first gentlemen had +their own _chasseurs_ and two guns each. After the gamekeepers came the +men whose duties were to pick up the dead and wounded victims and put them +in the bags. + +It was a dreadful sight! How I hate it! I am sure I shall not sleep for a +week, for I shall always see the forms and faces of those quivering, dying +creatures in my dreams. I never will go to a _chasse_ again. + +And the worst was, they had frightened the birds and animals into a sort +of circle, where they could not escape; the butchery was awful. The +victims numbered close on four thousand. Prince Metternich alone shot +twelve hundred. + +How happy I was when it all was over and I could get away from these +horrors and this miserable sport! We were invited to the tea in the +Empress's salon. I had time to change my dress and put on the high silk +gown prescribed for this function. + +Such beautiful rooms! First an antechamber, with cabinets of Italian +carving and vitrines and inlaid tables; then the Empress's salon, a very +large room filled with low arm-chairs, tables covered with knickknacks, +books with paper-cutters still in them, as if they were just being read, +screens with engravings _à la Louis Seize_, and beautiful fans on the +walls, also splendid tapestries. It had a lovely ceiling, painted by some +celebrated artist, mostly angels and smiling cherubs, who seemed to +possess more than their share of legs and arms, floating about in the +clouds. + +The Empress generally has a distinguished person, or some kind of +celebrity, either a traveler or an inventor, even a prestidigitateur (ugh, +what a word!), always some one who is _en vue_ for the moment. To-day +it was a man who had invented a machine to count the pulse. He strapped a +little band on your wrist and told you to concentrate your thought on one +subject, then a little pencil attached to the leather handcuff began +muffing up and down slowly or quickly, as your pulse indicated. + +The Empress seemed much interested, and called those in the room whose +pulse she wished to have tested. She said, "Now let us have an American +pulse." My pulse seemed to be very normal, and the exhibitor did not make +any comments, neither did any one else. + +"Shall we now have a Germanic pulse?" the Empress risked, and called Comte +Solms. "Think of something pleasant," said the inventor. "A ballet is a +nice thing to think of," said the Princess Metternich, in her shrill +voice. + +"Regarde, comme il va vite," the inventor cried, and he showed the paper +with the most extraordinary wavy lines. Every one laughed, and no one more +than Comte Solms himself. + +Six o'clock came very quickly, and the Empress, rising, gave the signal +for our departure. + +The Marquis de Caux took me in to dinner. He is the most popular and +sought-after gentleman in all Paris. No ball is complete without him, and +his presence at any dinner is sufficient to assure its success. He leads +all the cotillons worth speaking of, and is a universal favorite. He +allowed his secret to leak out (_un secret de Polichinelle_), which all +Paris is talking about. + +I swore secrecy; but I can tell you that it can be contained in one word, +and that word is SIMPATICO, which is Italian for his rendezvous with HER +at the American Doctor Sim's house, for it is there he meets her. _Devine +qui peut!_ (Guess who can!) I have not said anything. + +At nine o'clock we all adjourned to the theater in the Palace, to reach +which we passed through many rooms we had never seen before, and through a +long gallery. The theater is very handsome, and as large as most of the +theaters in Paris. There is always one theatrical performance during each +week while their Majesties are in Compiègne. The company of the Théâtre +Français had been commanded to play this evening. The piece chosen was the +latest one of Émile Augier, which has had a great success in Paris, called +"Le fils Giboyer." Émile Augier, who was invited specially, was present. + +Madeleine Brohan, Coquelin, Breton, and Madame Favard had the principal +rôles. Such distinguished artistes as those could not but give the +greatest enjoyment. The theater is very handsome; there are only boxes and +the parquet; the Imperial Loge reaches from the first tier of boxes to the +last seats of the parquet in the shape of a shell. Any one standing up +there could touch, on raising the arm, the velvet draperies of the +Imperial box. + +The theater is entirely lighted by wax candles, of which there must have +been thousands, and all the scenery belonging to the play was sent +especially from Paris. + +Their Majesties sat in the center of the Imperial Loge, and the lady +guests and the most important gentlemen, according to their rank, were +placed beside and behind them. + +The other gentlemen sat in the parquet, and circulated about between the +acts. + +In the boxes were places for the Court ladies, also the ladies invited +from the neighboring château and from Compiègne. + +The whole assemblage certainly presented the most dazzling and magnificent +sight. The ladies in their beautiful toilettes and superb jewels showed to +the greatest advantage in this brilliantly lighted theater. The Empress +was gorgeous in yellow tulle covered with lace and jewels. She wore the +famous Regent diamond, which belongs to the French Crown, in her corsage, +and a superb diamond tiara and necklace. Princess Metternich, who is known +to be the best dressed lady in Paris, had a black tulle dress embroidered +in gold; she wore a tiara of diamonds and emeralds and a necklace of the +same. + +When their Majesties entered every one rose and courtesied deeply; their +Majesties bowed graciously in response. The Master of Ceremonies gave the +signal, and the curtain rose immediately. + +The actors seemed inspired to do their best, as well they might, with such +a brilliant audience before them. + +I wondered if they did not miss the _claque_, to which actors are so +accustomed in France. You know the _claque_ is a set of men who are hired +to clap at certain points in the play indicated beforehand to them, in +order that the audience may appreciate the most salient points and join +the applause, if they wish to. + +Every one enjoyed the play immensely. There were portions of it which were +very pathetic. I noticed the Emperor was visibly affected, and the Empress +wiped from her eyes _una furtiva lagrima_, as Donizetti's song has it. + +I know _I_ cried my lace handkerchief wet. + +The representation lasted till about half-past ten, and after our return +to the salon the Emperor sent for the artists, who had by this time +changed their toilettes. Their Majesties talked long, and, I should say, +familiarly with them, and, judging from the way they laughed and chatted, +they seemed to feel quite at their ease, especially Coquelin, who +apparently put the Emperor in a very good humor. At eleven o'clock +refreshments were passed round, the carriages were announced, and making a +deferential "reverence" the artists took their leave, carrying with them +an ornament with the monograms of their Majesties as a souvenir of their +visit. + +I never saw the Empress look so beautiful as she did to-night. She +certainly is the most exquisite creature, and what is so charming about +her is her utter lack of self-consciousness. Her smile is bewitching +beyond description, her complexion perfect, her hair of the Venetian type, +and her profile classical. Her head is so beautifully put on her +shoulders, her neck and shoulders are absolutely faultless. None of the +many portraits painted of her, not even Winterhalter's, do her the least +justice; no brush can paint and no words can describe her charm. I think +the famous beauty, Countess Castiglione, cannot begin to compare with her. + +Their Majesties withdrew. The guests from the château and those from +Compiègne took their departure, and we all dispersed to our several +apartments. + +I am beginning to learn the ways of the life of Compiègne. + +At nine o'clock our tea, coffee, or chocolate (as we choose) is brought to +our rooms by a white-stockinged and powdered valet. + +If you are very energetic, you can go for a walk in the park, or (as I did +to my sorrow) a visit to the town. But you are not energetic more than +once, because you do not find it worth your while, as you must hurry back, +and change your dress and shoes before appearing in the salon a little +before eleven o'clock, the hour for breakfast. You remain in the same +dress until you change for dinner or the Empress's tea. You find every +morning in your room a programme for the day. + + _Déjeuner à onze heures. + Chasse à tir à deux heures. + Comédie Française à neuf heures._ + +So you know what to wear and what to expect; but the invitation to tea is +always made by the Empress's private _huissier_, who knocks at your door +toward five o'clock and announces, "Her Majesty the Empress desires your +presence at five o'clock." + +The _toilette de rigueur_ for this occasion is a high-necked long silk +dress, and you generally remain until six o'clock. + +If you are not summoned to her Majesty's tea, tea is served in your own +salon, where you can invite people to take tea with you, or you are +invited to take tea with other people. + +If there is a hunt, the ladies wear their green-cloth costumes and the +gentlemen wear their hunting gear (a red coat, velvet cap, and top-boots). +The gentlemen wear _culottes courtes_ the first evening they arrive, and +on such fine occasions as the _curée_, and at the Gala Theater, where +outsiders are invited; otherwise they always wear _pantalon collant_, +which is the most unbecoming thing one can imagine in the way of manly +attire. + +At six o'clock you dress for dinner, always in ball dress, and a little +before seven you meet in the Grande Salle des Fêtes. At dinner the guests +are placed according to their rank, but at _déjeuner_ there is no +ceremony, and you engage your partner after your heart's desire. Those who +are high up at dinner try to get as far down at the end of the table as +possible. + +With me it is all ups and downs; at breakfast I am 'way up to the very +top, and at dinner 'way down. + +After _déjeuner_ the Master of Ceremonies inquires what you wish to do; +that is to say, if there is nothing special mentioned on the programme, +such as a review, or manoeuvers, or a _chasse à courre_, when all are +expected to join. + +Do you wish to walk? You can tramp up and down the one-thousand-metre-long +trellis walk, sheltered from wind and rain. + +Do you wish to drive? There are carriages of all descriptions, _chars-à- +bancs_, landaus, pony-carriages, and even a donkey-cart, at your service. + +Do you care to ride? There are one hundred and fifty horses eating their +heads off in the Imperial stables waiting for you. + +Do the gentlemen wish to go shooting? There are countless gamekeepers +booted and spurred, with guns and game-bags on their shoulders, impatient +to accompany you. + +Whatever you do, you are expected to be in your rooms before four o'clock, +which is the time the Empress will send for you, if she invites you for +tea. + +The _cercle_ always follows each repast, and dancing or music always +follows the _cercle_. Tea is served at the Emperor's salon at eleven +o'clock, after which their Majesties retire, and you do the same. + + +_November 26th._ + +DEAR M.,--A very embarrassing thing happened to me this morning. + +We thought we could manage an excursion to the town. I wanted to see the +Cathedral, and it did not seem far away. + +Therefore, bright and early, at nine o'clock we started on our trip. + +We saw the Cathedral; but I had not counted on the time necessary for the +change of toilette, which I had to make before _déjeuner_. + +I found on my table an envelope containing this poetry, which I inclose, +from Théophile Gautier. I suppose he considered it as a sort of _amende +honorable_. + + À MADAME CHARLES MOULTON + + Vos prunelles ont bu la lumière et la vie; + telle une mer sans fond boit l'infini des cieux, + car rien ne peut remplir l'abîme de vos yeux, + où, comme en un lotus, dort votre âme assouvie. + + Pour vous plus de chimère ardemment poursuivie, + quel que soit l'idéal, votre rêve vaut mieux, + et vous avez surtout le biasement des Dieux, + Psyché, qu'Éros lui-même à grand'peine eût ravi. + + Votre satiété n'attend pas le banquet, + et connaissant la coupe où le monde s'enivre, + dédaigneuse à vos pieds vous le regardez vivre. + + Et vous apparaissez par un geste coquet, + rappelant Mnémosyné à son socle appuyée + comme le souvenir d'une sphère oublié. + + THÉOPHILE GAUTIER. + +Charles had gone long before, and I became absorbed in reading it, and +forgot to look at the clock, when suddenly, seeing how late it was, I +rushed down into the gallery, and what was my horror at finding myself +alone with the _Cent Gardes_, who were standing at ease! It was the +first time I had ever seen them look like mortal beings, and not like +statues, and it signified, naturally, that every one was in the _salle à +manger_, and that I was too late. However, I thought I could slip into +the room unnoticed, and a place at the table would be offered to me; but, +alas! it happened that just this morning the Emperor had desired me to sit +next to him at the table, and the valet de chambre had been and was still, +waiting for me at the door to conduct me to my place on the sovereign's +left hand. + +I cannot tell you how I felt as I was being marshaled up the whole length +of the room, stared at by every one, and criticized, probably, for this +horrible breach of etiquette. I never was so mortified in all my life. I +took my place, speechless and confused, and Prince Murat, who sat on the +other side of me, kept saying, "The Emperor is piping mad." The Prince +Murat is half American (his mother was a Miss Frazier, from New Jersey), +therefore I will forgive him for wanting to tease me. + +I suppose I must have looked very red, and I certainly was very out of +breath, for the Emperor, probably noticing my embarrassment, kindly said, +"Don't worry; you are not late." + +I told him I had been sight-seeing in Compiègne, and I hoped he would +forgive me. + +The Empress smiled and nodded to me in the most gracious manner across the +table, as if to put me at my ease. + +The Emperor told me that he had sent up to Paris for a game of croquet, +having heard from Prince Metternich that we all loved so much to play it, +adding that he would like to see the game himself. "We are going to have a +mock battle this afternoon," said he. "All these generals and officers who +are here have come from everywhere to take part I think it will amuse you +to see it, if you have never seen anything of the kind." + +I assured him I had never seen a battle, mock or otherwise, and had no +idea what it could be like. + +"Well, you shall see," he said. + +"Is there," I inquired, "as much firing as yesterday?" + +"Much more; but this time with cannons," he replied. + +"I hope the cannon-balls are also mock," I ventured to say. + +I told the Emperor of the poetry which Gautier had sent to me, and, having +it in my hand, showed it to him, saying, "Ought I to forgive him?" + +"You ought to forgive him," he said. "This is the most exquisite thing I +ever have read." + +"If your Majesty says so, I will." + +The manoeuvers were to commence at two o'clock. All the ladies wore their +hunting-dresses, and I was proud to don my gold button. + +The various equipages were waiting to take us to the field. + +The Duchess de Persigny, Princess Murat, Baron Beyens, the Marquis de +Caux, and I got in the same carriage; many of the ladies appeared on +horseback. Princess Ghika rode one of the three horses she had brought +with her to Compiègne. Madame de Vatry rode one of the Emperor's. + +All the carriages, on reaching the field where the manoeuvers were to take +place, were drawn up in line, in order that every one should have a good +view. Then the Emperor and Empress, on their beautiful horses, and the +Prince Imperial, full of youthful dignity, on his cream-colored pony, +arrived, accompanied by the staff of splendidly uniformed generals and +officers, who took up their positions behind their Majesties before the +manoeuvers commenced. + +The Empress looked radiantly beautiful, her well fitting riding-habit +showing her fine figure to the greatest advantage. + +It was, as the Emperor had said, a mock battle, but it seemed to me, not +having had much experience in battles, to be very real. + +Officers careered over the field for dear life; orderlies with enormous +flat, four-cornered things flapping across their backs, scurried to and +fro; trumpeters sounded bugles, waved flags, and made signals.... What +could look more real and less mock than this? + +It was France _versus_ an imaginary enemy. + +It seemed as if the one thing France craved and coveted was a poor, lonely +farm-house in the distance, apparently unprotected. All the stratagems of +war, all the trumpeting and capering about, were brought to bear on +conquering that little house. The artillery collided up against it; the +infantry, with drums beating, marched boldly to the very door-steps; the +cavalry pranced around it.... But for the life of me, though I was staring +as hard as I could through my opera-glasses, I could not tell whether +France had got it or not. However, there was so much smoke, it might have +capitulated without my noticing. I suppose the generals knew. + +It made me think of Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade." + + Cannon to right of them, + Cannon to left of them, + Cannon in front of them, + Volley'd and thunder'd. + +The guns and cannons kept up such a continual firing that the ground +actually shook under our feet. + +I wondered why so much powder and energy should be wasted on a helpless +farm-house, and dreaded to think what the real thing must he, if this was +only sham. + +When it was apparently finished, and every one in the neighborhood had +surrendered, they sounded a grand fanfare, and blew a mighty blast of +trumpets, the officers dashed up full tilt to the Emperor, and announced, +"Victory all along the line!" + +I can't tell you how sweet the little Prince looked when he distributed +the _médaille de mérite_ to the brave warriors, who received it with +due modesty, saluting gravely. + +The Emperor rode about among the carriages and asked us ladies how we had +liked it, and if there had been too much noise. + +The company at dinner to-night looked particularly brilliant; there must +have been a hundred and fifty people present, as the generals and the +officers were asked to remain to dinner. I had one general next to me at +table, the famous General Changarnier, who my other neighbor said had one +foot in the grave and the other _dans le plat_. He was so old and thin and +bony that if his uniform had not kept him up he would have crumbled +together before my eyes, and have become a zero instead of a hero. +However, he kept together while dinner lasted, for which I was thankful, +and I returned him safely to posterity and to the salon. + +Their Majesties devoted themselves exclusively to the Army after dinner; +but they sent word by a chamberlain that we were to commence dancing, +though they had not finished the _cercle_. + +Waldteufel was already seated at the piano, waiting. + +The officers danced vigorously. The elder ones ventured on quadrilles, and +danced them with great gusto. + +Prince Murat, noticing the old general skipping about so youthfully, +proposed a Virginia reel, with a view to giving them a little more +exercise. + +Every one entered into the spirit of it; but there were only a few who +knew how to dance it. + +Both Prince and Princess Metternich had learned it at Petit Val. Madame +Gallifet knew it as "Sir Roger de Coverley" from her English days, and +Prince Murat must have learned it from his American mother. + +The Emperor danced with me, as he said he would only dance with an +_expert_! + +The Empress had Count Golz for her partner, and stood next to me; Princess +Metternich (full of fun) chose one of the most ancient warriors. Madame de +Persigny and Prince Murat were at the end of the line; the other guests +filled the intermediate places. + +Prince Metternich, knowing the music, thought he was absolutely necessary +at the piano, consequently he took Waldteufel's place there. + +I, as "the expert," led off. The Emperor tried to imitate me, but became +confused by the constant shouting from his cousin (Prince Murat) at the +other end. However, he and I managed to finish our part; but the Emperor +refused to be swung, and we marched down the middle of the line, hand in +hand, disregarding the rules in a truly royal manner. Then, having watched +the Empress go through her part (she also marched down in a royal manner), +the Emperor seemed bored at looking at the others, and called the Marquis +de Caux to take his place. Next, Prince Metternich began improvising reels +of his own invention, which turned into all sorts of fantastic measures, +which were impossible to dance by. Madame de Persigny, in turning, fell +flat on her back; every one rushed to her rescue, which caused great +confusion, as people lost their places and could not find them again. + +This brought our famous reel, which proved to be a dead failure, to an +abrupt close; and the old generals, for whose sake we danced it, never got +a chance to show what they could do; and we were thankful when Waldteufel +returned to the piano and played a waltz, to which we could dance until it +was time for the Emperor's tea, and then, + +_Bonsoir!_ + + +_November 27th._ + +DEAR M.,--Baron Haussmann took me in to _déjeuner_ this morning. The +Baron is the Préfet de Paris. He is very tall, bulky, and has an +authoritative way of walking ahead and dragging his partner after him, +which makes one feel as if one was a small tug being swept on by a man-of- +war! I wondered if the _Cent Gardes_ noticed how I tripped along, taking +two steps to his one, until he reached his seat at the table, into which +he dropped with a sigh of relief. + +His body in profile defies any one's looking around the corner, so to +speak. I could only see at intervals Marquise Chasselouplobat's shapely +elbows and hands. Our conversation turned on the new improvements he +intends to make in Paris. He asked me how I liked the boulevard of his +name, just completed. + +"I like it," I answered, "though it has deprived us of a good part of our +garden." (It had cut off just half of it.) + +"It brings you nearer the Bois," he added. "I hope the Government paid you +well for it." + +"I suppose the Government thinks it did; but our croquet-ground is gone +forever." + +"Forever!" he repeated. "Where do you play now?" + +"Sometimes at the Austrian embassy." + +"Is its garden large enough for that?" + +I answered, "It is not large enough for a real croquet-ground; but the +ambassador is such an ardent player that he has arranged a place under the +trees where we play--sometimes at night with lamps on the ground." + +"I should think that would be very difficult; quite impossible, in fact." + +"What else can we do? We have no other place." + +After a moment's hesitation he asked, "How would you like it if I put a +piece of ground in the Bois at your disposal?" + +I could have screamed with joy! What a piece of news to tell my friends +after breakfast. I chanted a little _Gloria_ under my breath, and asked +him if he really meant it. He said, "Of course I mean it, and as soon as I +return to Paris I will have the formal papers made out and sent to you, +and you can claim the ground when you like." He added, gallantly, "I will +have the document made out in your name, Madame, in souvenir of our +breakfast to-day." + +Is he not a very generous man? But if every time he sits next to a lady he +gives her a slice of the Bois de Boulogne he will soon be out of the +government books. + +You can readily imagine the delight of my fellow-players when I told them +all this after our return to the salon. + +The weather looked unsettled; no one felt like driving or walking. +However, later, the wind veered about, the sun came out of the heavy +clouds, our spirits rose with the barometer, the elements seemed to point +to outdoor amusements. What better than a game of croquet? + +The Emperor, as I said before, had sent to Paris for the game, and Prince +Metternich felt it would be rude not to use it. We have been playing it so +much this year that we have quite got it on the brain, and we were very +excited and most eager to play, and orders were given to have the box +brought out on the terrace. + +Both their Majesties were highly interested; they examined everything with +the greatest curiosity, unwrapped the balls themselves, and were quite +anxious to begin. + +The question was, where should the game be put up, and where should the +wickets be put down? The lawn was wet, the gravel walks were too narrow. +The only place that could be found was under the _charmille_ on the +terrace, where stood a grove of old platane trees. + +Prince Metternich was, of course, the moving spirit, and undertook to +manage everything. He and d'Espeuilles got a meter measure and measured +off the distances with great care and precision before placing the +wickets. This took a long time. Then he distributed the mallets and the +corresponding balls to each person, and we stood in front of our weapons +ready to commence. Prince Metternich was so long and particular about +telling the rules that he succeeded only in confusing all the beginners. + +The Empress was to play with the Prince Metternich, the Marquis de +Gallifet with the Princess Metternich. The Emperor was to play with the +Marquise de Gallifet, Monsieur d'Espeuilles was to play with me:--eight +people in all! Nothing is so dreadful as a game of croquet with people +four of whom are beginners. + +The Empress was the first to play; her ball was placed so near the wicket +that nothing short of genius could have prevented her from going through, +which she did with great triumph; her next stroke went far beyond, and she +worried it back by a succession of several pushing knocks into its +position. No one made any remarks. Then the Emperor made a timid stroke, +which gently turned the ball over. Prince Metternich remarked that he (the +Emperor) should hit harder, at which his Majesty gave such a whack to his +ball that it flew into the next county. + +"Never mind," said Prince Metternich, and put another ball in front of the +Emperor's mallet, and somehow it got through the wicket. + +Princess Metternich played next, and she was an adept, so all went well +with her. I came after her, and managed to get his Majesty's ball on its +way a bit. Tiresome pauses and long explanations followed. + +Prince Metternich shouted, trying to rally the players. + +"Marquis, where are you?" disturbing the Marquis from a flirtation. "It is +your turn to play." + +"Really; what shall I do?" + +"Try to hit this ball." + +"_Par exemple!_ Which ball? Where is it? I do not even see it." + +"Here it is behind this tree, if you _caramboler_ against the tree you +might hit it." And in this way it went on until the Emperor, bored to +death, slowly disappeared and the Empress suddenly discovered that her +feet were cold and went away, and couples flirtatiously inclined began +wandering off, and it was nearly dark and tea-time before Prince +Metternich (who was worn out trying to make people understand or take any +interest in the game) realized that there were only a few devotees left on +the battle-field amid damaged trees and chipped balls. + +So ended our game of croquet; we felt crushed and crestfallen. + +At the Empress's tea, to which we were bidden, we were not spared +satirical gibes on the subject of our luckless game. + +The Marquis de Gallifet, _Officier d'Ordonnance de l'Empereur_, whom +I sat next to at dinner, is what one might call sarcastic--he actually +tears people to pieces; he does not leave them with a shred of reputation, +and what he does not say he implies. He thinks nothing of saying, "He! +He's an abominable scoundrel. She! She is a shameless coquette!" and so +forth. He spares no one; nevertheless, he is most amusing, very +intelligent, and an excellent talker. He told me of his awful experience +in the war of Mexico. He had been shot in the intestines and left for dead +on the field of battle. He managed, by creeping and crawling, "_toujours +tenant mes entrailles dans mon képi_" to reach a peasant's house, where +the good people took care of him until he was able to be transported to a +hospital. There he stayed through a dismal year of suffering. In order to +keep the above-mentioned _entrailles_ in their proper place, the doctors +covered them with a silver plate. "I had my name engraved on it," he said. + +He asked me, "Did you ever hear anything like that?" I tried to fancy how +any one would look placarded like that, but replied that I had never heard +of anything quite so awful; but I _had_ heard that every cloud had a +silver lining. He laughed and said, "I shall call myself a cloud in +future." + +The dinner to-night was very good. I give you the menu: + + Potage tortue clair, + Crème de volaille, + Brisotins de foie gras, + Saumon Napolitain, + Filet de boeuf à la moderne, + Suprême de perdreaux, + Homards à la Parisienne, + Gelinottes rôties, + Salade, + Petits pois à l'Anglaise, + Ananas Montmorency, + Glaces assorties, + Café--Liqueur (both served at the table). + +Dinner over, we filed before the _Cent Gardes_ in their shining uniforms +through the long gallery. + +It was earlier than usual when we began to dance; but we were (at least I +was) interrupted by receiving a message from their Majesties, asking me if +I would kindly sing something for them. Of course I did not refuse, and we +adjourned to the music-room, where the Erard piano was. + +[Illustration: THE MUSIC HALL--CHÂTEAU DE COMPIÈGNE] + +I did not exactly know what to sing; but Prince Metternich soon relieved +my mind on that score by saying, "Don't bother about singing anything +serious, and especially _don't_ sing anything classical." The Princess +Metternich could accompany anything which was not too difficult; therefore +we thought I had better sing "_Ma mère était bohémienne_," of Massé, which +I did. I saw directly that this melodramatic music, beautiful as it is, +did not suit the occasion, for though the gaily attuned audience was +visibly affected by the phrase, _Et moi j'ai l'âme triste_, they did not +show more signs of emotion than by making a little dab at their eyes with +their pocket-handkerchiefs. + +The Princess remained at the piano, ready to accompany the other songs I +had brought, which were of the same character, and I stood by her, trying +to decide what I should sing next, when the Emperor came up and asked me +for "Beware!" Charles accompanied that, and I sang it. The Empress asked +me if I would sing some Spanish songs for her. I sang "Chiquita," which I +learned with Garcia, and the "_Habañero_." She seemed very pleased, and +made me many compliments. Then the Emperor begged me for some negro songs, +and asked me if I knew "Massa's in the Cold, Cold Ground," or "Suwanee +River," or "Nelly Bly," all of which he remembered having heard in +America. + +I sat down at the piano and commenced with "Suwanee River." I fortunately +knew the words of that. + +(Oh, Delsarte! what would you have said had you seen your pupil singing +this claptrap music before your sovereigns and their most distinguished +guests?) + +Delsarte says that one can force the tears into one's eyes, one can make +one's lips tremble, one can express the most harrowing emotions in one's +voice, and not sing more than "do, re, mi, fa." I tried to profit by his +teachings, and brought them to bear upon the pathetic words of "Oh, +darkies, how my heart grows weary," and I could see that both their +Majesties were deeply moved. I sang the word "weary" with such pathos that +every one was more or less affected, and the phrase, "All the world is +dark and dreary," I rendered in the most heart-broken tones. + +I was sorry that I could not remember the words of "Massa's in the Cold, +Cold Ground," as the Emperor wanted it; but I could not. I knew the music +of "Nelly Bly," but had never known the words, so I tried to improvise +some; but it was impossible for me to think of more than two words which +rhymed with "Bly," and those were "sly" and "eye." + +With shameful _aplomb_ I sang these senseless words: + + Nelly Bly wipes her eye, + On her little frock, + Nelly Bly, Nelly Bly, + Dick a dick a dock. + +Happily the Emperor did not notice anything wrong, and was delighted to +hear those old songs again, and thanked me repeatedly. + +Once seated at the piano, I was not allowed to leave it until my +_répertoire_ of music of this character had been exhausted. + +This brought the evening to a close. + +Tea was served; their Majesties withdrew, and I fled to my apartment +feeling that metaphorically I was covered with laurels. + + +_November 28th._ + +DEAR A.,--To-day I was very high up, _'way up in the clouds_, for I sat +next to the Emperor. + +Davilliers, one of the chamberlains, gave me his arm and conducted me to +my place. The Emperor's first words were: + +"I can't thank you enough for the pleasure you gave us last evening." + +I tried to express my pleasure at these kind words. + +"Did you see how we were affected when you sang 'Suwanee River'? I thought +to laugh, instead of which I cried; how could you make it so pathetic?" + +"That is my teacher's art," I replied. + +"Who is your teacher?" + +"Monsieur Delsarte. Your Majesty has perhaps heard of him?" + +"No," answered the Emperor. "I have never heard of him. Is he a great +singer?" + +"He cannot sing at all, your Majesty; but he has wonderful theories which +go to prove that one does not need any voice at all to sing; one only +needs features to express one's emotions." + +"He must be wonderful," the Emperor remarked. + +"He is, your Majesty, and quite unique in his way. He says, for instance, +when he sings, 'J'ai du bon tabac dans ma tabatière,' and comes to 'Tu +n'en auras pas,' he can make people shed bitter tears, as though it were +too much to bear." + +"His tobacco must be very good?" laughed the Emperor. + +"It is the worst thing of its kind, your Majesty, one can imagine," I +answered. + +"Is it perhaps Caporal?" said he, with a merry twinkle in his eye. + +"I don't know anything about military grades, but, if there were anything +lower than a Caporal I should say it was the name of his tobacco." + +"Well," he said, "if he taught you to sing as you sing, _il mérite de la +patrie._" + +The Emperor was perfectly delightful, witty, amusing, and laughing +continually, with such a keen appreciation he seemed really to enjoy +himself. + +As the programme in our room this morning read, _chasse à courre_, on +went the green dress for the second time, and, of course, the button. The +Duchess de Fernan Nuñez asked me to drive with her, which I was happy to +do, as I like her very much. We sat on the front seat, so as to have the +best view of the proceedings. + +The Emperor and Empress were on horseback; all the gentlemen were in red +coats, white breeches, top-boots, and velvet caps, which made them look +very picturesque. + +The rendezvous was at the Carrefour l'Étoile, and when we arrived the +hunters and equipage, with the _piqueurs_ and the _chasseurs_ from the +neighborhood, who belonged to the Imperial Hunt, were already there. + +The Imperial _équipage de chasse_ is composed of ten _piqueurs, valets de +chien, valets à pieds, valets à cheval_, and _valets de limiers_, and one +hundred English hounds. The hounds are trained by the use of drags, which +are, as perhaps you know, bundles of something saturated in blood, which +the horses drag and the scent of which the hounds follow. The carriages +were drawn up on the side of the road to wait until their Majesties +appeared. + +The ladies dressed in rich furs and velvets, the riders in brilliant red +coats on prancing horses, the attendant grooms, the _piqueurs_ in their +gay liveries, green and gold with green-velvet jockey caps, made a +wonderful spectacle. The day was superb, the sun shone brilliantly through +the autumn foliage, the hazy distances were of a tender hue, and +everything had an exquisite tint. Never shall I forget it! + +Unfortunately our coachman neglected to follow the other carriages, and we +drove about a long time before we discovered that we were on the wrong +road, and then he became quite bewildered and seemed to lose his head +completely. + +After driving from one cross-road to another, we at last chanced upon +Monsieur de Bourgogne, who told us that he was just in advance of their +Majesties, and that they would be there presently. He said that we had +better wait where we were, as the stag would probably pass by that way. + +It seemed as if, in fact, we must be near, as we could hear the dogs +yelping and the horns sounding (they call it "hallali"). Count de Grammont +rode up to us and said we had better follow him, as we would then soon +come in sight of the hunters. Despite all these contradictory advices, our +coachman managed to arrive on the scene of action just in time for us to +see the poor stag, who had taken to the water for dear life (they call it +_bat l'eau_), and the dogs in a frenzy of excitement barking furiously and +plunging after him. + +We could not see _all_ that happened, thank heaven! as our carriage was +behind the whole assembled crowd. + +With my tenderness toward all animals, my heart ached for the poor beast, +and I hoped sincerely that he would escape his cruel pursuers. I could not +see any pleasure or excitement in watching this painful spectacle, and was +glad when the time came to turn our backs on the whole thing and return to +the château. + +At the Empress's tea no one talked of anything else but the events of the +afternoon. I pretended that I had seen it all, even to the very end. +Princess Ghika, beaming all over with joy, was given the foot, as she was +in at the death. + +Count de l'Aigle took me in to dinner. He is one of the neighbors, not one +of the guests; but, as he belongs to the Imperial Hunt, he is always +invited to this dinner. + +The Empress looked superb in a brown tulle over satin, looped up with +brooches of diamonds. She had had a diamond crescent in her hair like +Diana. The Marquise de Gallifet was lovely in light-green tulle, with an +aigret of diamonds in her blond hair. + +The table was arranged most appropriately for the occasion, decorated by +the whole _biscuit de Sèvres service de chasse_. Every one seemed gay +and stimulated by the excitement of the day. + +When the usual after-dinner ceremonies and the _cercle_ in the salon were +terminated, the Grand Chamberlain announced to his Majesty that all was +ready for the _curée_, which was awaiting his permission to begin. + +The Emperor and the Empress led the way into the long gallery, which +overlooks the _cour d'honneur_. We ladies had provided ourselves with +wraps and shawls, as we knew we should need them either on the balcony or +at the windows of the gallery, of which there are about twenty. + +The Empress braved the weather and stood out on the balcony with the +Emperor, well wrapped in furs, for the night was cold; and the gentlemen, +not finding sufficient room, went below and stood on the steps of the +"Perron," which gives on to the courtyard. + +All the lackeys, valets, grooms, in fact, all the household servants, +formed a large circle in the enormous _cour d'honneur_ opposite the +Imperial balcony, all bearing flaming torches made of tar, which lighted +up the whole place. Behind these stood the populace of Compiègne, who are +allowed to be present on these occasions. + +At the farther side of the courtyard, and directly opposite their +Majesties, the chief huntsman held up the skin of the stag, which +contained the entrails, waving it backward and forward, in order to excite +the hounds. The _piqueurs_ stood in front of the "Perron," holding the +dogs back with great difficulty, for they were struggling to get loose, +and yelping in their eagerness and greediness to rush forward. + +As the _chasseur_ waved the skin, the _piqueurs_ let the hounds loose, and +when they were half-way across the court, approaching the object of their +desire, the _piqueurs_ called them back, in order to show how well +disciplined and under what complete control they were. + +The tantalizing of the poor animals was repeated several times. At last +the fanfare was sounded, and the hounds were allowed to rush forward midst +the tooting of horns, the cracking of whips, and the cries and shouts of +the crowd. The torches were waved high in the air, giving a weird light to +the whole scene, and the entrails at last were thrown to the dogs, and +before you could say "Jack Robinson" everything was devoured. You can +picture to yourself what a unique and fantastic sight this must have been! + +It was eleven o'clock when we returned to the salon, where tea and +refreshments were served. Those returning to Paris took leave of their +Majesties and drove to the station, where the special Imperial train +provided for them was waiting. + +Later their Majesties took leave of us. + +We lingered a little, as it was our last evening. + +On returning to my apartment, I saw on my table a package, on which was +written, _De la part de l'Empereur_. You can imagine how eager I was to +open it. Those magic words brought untold visions before my eyes. What +might it not be? + +I opened the package feverishly, and what was my surprise and +_disappointment_ to find a rather ordinary-looking _tabatière_ and a +package of tobacco, written on it, _Du bon tabac pour le maître de chant +de Madame Moulton_. + +Was it not a cruel blow? + + +_November 30th._ + +Here we are again in Paris, glad to be at home after our gay week in +Compiègne, charming and delightful as it was; there is always great +fatigue and tension attending such visits. To-day I luxuriate in one +dress; no changing five times a day. I allowed my maid to go out for the +day, and we are going to dine at a restaurant.... What a contrast! It +seems as if I had been away a month! + +Before we left Compiègne yesterday, when we were taking our morning tea, +we were interrupted by the coming in of the majordomo, who handed us a +paper. We were not unprepared for this visit, as we had been told by one +of the guests, who had been here before, that every one was expected to +remain in their rooms until this important personage had made his rounds, +in order to collect the _pourboire_. I say THE _pourboire_, because what +one generally gives separately is lumped into one sum. This paper, which +he handed to us almost at the point of his _hallebarde_, proved to be a +_già scritto_ receipt for six hundred francs--our _pourboire!_ + +During breakfast yesterday the Emperor took up his glass, and, looking at +me across the table, drank my health. Among the guests there was a great +deal of health-drinking. + +Gustave Doré had made some very clever caricatures of some events which he +had drawn beautifully and touched off with aquarelle, as he alone could do +it. The little album was passed stealthily from hand to hand under the +shelter of the table, with the strictest injunctions not to let any one +see it except your _immediate_ neighbor! With these injunctions it managed +to travel about half-way down the table. + +He had made a lovely sketch of her Majesty driving a chariot like the +"Aurora" in the Rospigliosi Gallery, and had depicted the Emperor seated +on an enormous white horse, leading a charge of cavalry, his arm uplifted. + +The Princess Metternich was represented as the coachman in the charade, +hat on one side, pipe in her mouth, and looking very _débonnaire_. Prince +Metternich was shown standing in the middle of an arena, in full +diplomatic uniform, with masses of decorations and _cordons_. He had a +long whip, such as are used in circuses, and men and women (meaning us, +I suppose) capering around doing their tricks. + +The sketch of Madame de Persigny was very funny. A mass of tulle +petticoats, in the midst of which two little feet in the air, and a crown +rolling away in the distance. + +The picture he made of me was the mechanical doll, ribbons floating all +about, and on every turn of the ribbons was written "Beware!" + +The diplomat's shoe was not forgotten. There was a table a mile long, and +at the very end of it a little shoe seen underneath. + +We were in our traveling costumes, and on our return to the salon their +Majesties went about saying pleasant and gracious things to every one. +They hoped we would remember our visit with as much pleasure as they +would, etc. + +There was a greater animation than usual, and less ceremony; people talked +louder and with less restraint; every one bade good-by to the ladies and +gentlemen of the Household who remained. The Empress gave her hand to be +kissed by the gentlemen (some of them, not all), kissed some ladies, and +shook hands with others. + +When their Majesties were ready to dismiss us they bowed, and we all +departed to get our hats and wraps, + +I gave a lingering look at the lovely rooms I was leaving, which were now +devoid of our trunks and little personal trinkets, nodded a farewell to +our particular valet, who was probably thinking already of our successors, +descended _l'Escalier d'honneur_, and passed through the beautiful +_Galerie des Gardes_ to the colonnades, where the _chars-à-bancs_ were +ready waiting to carry us to the station. We were a rather subdued party +in the train; the conversation mostly turned on the subject of +_pourboires_. The _huissier_ decides the exact amount that each ought to +give. For instance, he knows an ambassador ought to give two thousand +francs. For a minister of state one thousand francs suffices. Unofficial +people like ourselves cannot be expected to be out of pocket more than six +hundred francs. As for the poor nobility of France, they escape with five +hundred! + +Some were of opinion that it was pleasanter to give _en masse_, in one big +sum, than to give in driblets; others thought it more satisfactory to hand +one's offering personally to the different servants; but we all, with one +voice, voted the officious beadle an imposition. + +The daily expenses of Compiègne, so the _Gouverneur de la Maison_ told us, +and he ought to know, are not less than ten thousand francs a day, and +there are more than nine hundred people living in the Palace at a time, to +be fed and warmed. + +To-day, at five o'clock, the fourth _série_ will come; it is called _la +série des oubliés_, as ours was called _la série élégante_. The first is +called _la série obligatoire_, the second _les ennuyeux_. + +We found our carriage at the station. Our simple coupé seemed a great +come-down from the beautiful carriages we had been driving in, and good +Louis and the footman, in their quiet liveries, seemed in fierce contrast +to the gorgeous creatures we had been familiar with so lately. + +The family is at Petit Val, and we remain there quietly until January. + +We found among our belongings an enormous _bourriche_, containing a +quantity of game, hares, pheasants, and so forth. + +Good night! I am tired. + + +PARIS, _1867._ + +DEAR M.,--You will have heard so much about the Exposition, that I cannot +tell you anything new. It is now in full swing, and I think it is +magnificent. Of course I cannot compare it to any other, as it is the only +one that I have ever seen. + +I have a season ticket (costing one hundred francs) containing my +photograph and my autograph; therefore no one but myself can use it. The +Exposition building is round, and the section of one thing goes through +all the countries; for instance, art, which seems to be the smallest +thing, is in the inner circle. If you only want to study one particular +industry you go round the circle; but if you want to study a country you +go down a section. The outer circle is for machinery, and outside in the +grounds, in front of the different countries, are the cafés belonging to +them. Here you can listen to the different national musics, and see the +different national types and costumes, and eat the different national +foods. We go almost every day, and it is always a delight. You can see the +whole art of cutting diamonds, from the gravel in which they are found to +their final polish. The villa of the Bey of Tunis, a Buddhist temple, a +Viennese bakery, where people flock to taste the delicious rolls hot from +the oven, and where Hungarian bands of highly colored handsome zitherists +play from morning till night, and a hundred other attractions, make the +Exposition a complete success. You pass from one lovely thing to the +other. The gardens are laid through avenues of trees and shrubs, where +fountains play, and beds of flowers and bouquets of plants are arranged +with the most artistic taste. All these wonders will in six months' time +be reduced to the level and monotony of the Champ de Mars. One can't +believe that these large horse-chestnut trees in full bloom are only +temporary visitors, like the people. + +The Prince Oscar of Sweden (he will one day be the King) came often to the +Exposition, and went about with us. He was very much interested in +everything he saw, especially in the American Steinway pianos. He sent me +several times some of the famous punch they make in Sweden, also some +silver brooches which the Swedish peasants wear. He has a _bateau mouche_, +in which he takes his friends up and down the Seine. The Princess Mathilde +and Madame de Gallifet were of the party last Monday. We _mouched_ as far +as Boulogne, where Baron James Rothschild has a charming place called +Bagatelle, which the Prince wanted very much to see. + +We got out of the boat and walked up to the entrance of the park; but the +porter refused, in spite of all pleadings, to let us in, and was almost +rude until Monsieur Dué mentioned the name of the illustrious visitor; +then the gates were thrown wide open, and we walked in and all over the +place. The porter, becoming most humble and servile, offered to escort us +over the house, and even asked us to take tea; but we did not succumb to +either of these temptations. + +There are so many kings and sovereigns here: the Emperor of Russia, who is +very handsome and stately; the King of Prussia, who is accompanied by the +colossal Count Bismarck, very noticeable in his dazzling white uniform, +and wearing a shining helmet with an enormous spread eagle on top of it, +which made him tower still more above ordinary mortals, and reminded me of +all the mythological heroes I knew of. He clanked his sword on the +pavement, quite indifferent to the stare of wondering Frenchmen, and was +followed by several other tall Germans, who regarded everything _de haut +en bas_ with Teutonic phlegm. The Prince of Italy (Umberto) looks rather +small by the side of these German giants. The Khedive of Egypt, the Shah +of Persia, the ex-Queen of Spain, and other sovereigns are flitting +about. + +The Baron James Rothschild invited us to go to Ferrière's with Prince +Oscar of Sweden. That was very amusing! We had a special train from Paris +and Rothschild's special car; when we arrived at Ferrière's we first had +refreshments, then we walked in the grounds till it was time to dress for +dinner. We met before dining in the enormous salon in the center of the +château. This salon is two stories high, with a gallery around it, and was +so large that a billiard-table in one corner seemed too small to be +noticed, and the concert-grand piano standing at the other end looked +insignificant. The dining-table was beautifully decorated with garlands of +roses and a whole collection of antique goblets, worth a fortune. There +were huge bouquets of roses for the ladies, almost too big to carry. + +Prince Oscar's brother had once written a very pretty song, called "I +Rosens duft," which some one had arranged as a duet, and the Prince wanted +me to sing it with him (he had thoughtfully brought the music). All +through dinner he was teaching me the Swedish words, so that we could sing +it afterward. He was so intent (and so was I) that every one, I am sure, +thought we were having a tremendous flirtation, as they saw our heads +almost touching when he was writing the words on the menu. He also wrote a +poem to me (which I inclose), which he said he composed on the spot. How +can he be so clever? + + PRINCE OSCAR'S POEM + + WRITTEN AT THE DINNER-TABLE AT LAFERRIÈRE'S 1867 + + Din sång, hur skön, hur underbar! + En balsamdoft på dina läppar hvila, + En välljudsström från ditt hjarta ila, + Vill mana fram ur verldens haf ett svar: + Din sång, hur skön, hur underbar! + + Din ton, hur stark, hur ljuf, hur ren! + En altareld som ingen flägt få störa, + Och dock en storm som sjalens djup kan röra, + En glod som smalta kan "de visas sten": + Så är din ton--så stark, så ren. + + Sjung mer, sjung mer, det här så godt + En stund få glämma verldens hvimmel + Och lyss till samklang ur en öppnad himmel, + Om ock för en minut i drömma blott: + Sjung mer, sjung mer, det gör mit hjärta godt. + +(Translated literally) + + Your voice, how beautiful, how wonderful! + A perfume of balsam rests on your lips, + A torrent of melody rushes from your heart, + That can only be echoed by the world's ocean: + Your voice, how beautiful, how wonderful! + + Your voice, how full of power, how enchanting and pure! + A sacred fire which no breeze can trouble, + And yet a tempest that stirs the very soul, + A glowing flame which can melt the philosopher's stone: + Such is your voice--so powerful, so pure. + + Sing more, sing more, it is so good + For one moment to forget the tumult of this world + And listen to the harmony of a heaven unveiled, + And if only for a moment to dream: + Sing more, sing more, it makes my heart rejoice. + +We sang the duet after dinner with such success that we had to repeat it. +Before our departure there was a grand display of fireworks: O's appeared +in every dimension and design, and a blaze of fire and Bengal lights in +rapid succession kept us in a continual state of admiration. + +I received a little note from Jenny Lind. She is in Paris, and wished to +know when she could come to see me. I wrote to her directly that I would +let Monsieur Auber know, and he would probably come at four o'clock (his +usual hour). Therefore, it all came about. Jenny Lind came, so did Auber. +The meeting was a pleasure to them both. They talked music, art, told many +anecdotes of celebrated acquaintances: Alboni, Nilsson, Patti, etc. He had +brought some of his music with him, and Jenny Lind and I sang the duo of +his latest opera "Le Premier Jour de Bonheur." He consulted me as to +whether he might dare to ask her to dine with him, with a few congenial +spirits. I said I was sure she would be enchanted to do so, which she was. + +As to the congenial spirits, Auber suggested the Metternichs, Gounod, Duke +de Massa, and ourselves, making ten in all. + +No one refused, and we had the most delightful dinner. The Princess +proposed to Auber to give his arm to Jenny Lind, and to put her at his +right hand, _la place d'honneur_, adding, with her most ironical smile, +"le génie avant la beauté." Auber made a charming host, telling one funny +anecdote after the other in his quiet and typical manner. Gounod, in his +low and drawly voice, said: "Vous nous donnez, mon cher Auber, des choses +par trop ennuyeuses aux concerts du Conservatoire. A la pensée des +'Quatre saisons' de Haydn je m'endors. Pourquoi ne s'est-il pas contenté +d'une saison?" Princess Metternich replied, "Que probablement en les +composant Haydn s'est mis en quatre." "La moitié m'aurait suffi," said +Auber; "pour moi, elles sont toutes _mon automne_." (monotone). + +When we returned to the salon we discreetly waited for the promised song. + +Suddenly Jenny Lind jumped up, saying, "Shall I sing something?" + +Of course, every one was wild to hear her. She went to the piano and +accompanied herself in "Qui la voce," of "I Puritani." We were all +enchanted, clapping our hands with enthusiasm. Then Gounod played and +sang, or rather hummed, a new song of his, saying to Jenny Lind, when he +took his place at the piano, "I am not worthy to succeed you." + +We thought him much too modest. + +He _hummed_ deliriously! + +They asked me to sing, and, though I really hated to sing after these +great artists, I did so to please Auber, who accompanied me in "Los +Djins," of which he is very proud, because it has the same bass all the +way through. How little it takes to please genius! + +After this Jenny Lind and I performed the duo from "Le Premier Jour de +Bonheur" we had practised at my house. She put her arm around my waist +while we were singing, as if we were two school-girls. + +Prince Metternich played one of his brilliant Austrian waltzes, which was +so bewildering that if any man had dared to put his arm round Jenny Lind's +matronly waist I am sure she would have skipped off in the dance. + +For _la bonne bouche_ she gave us a Swedish peasant song, which was simply +bewitching. Her high notes were exquisitely pure, the lower ones I thought +weak; but that might have been owing to the good dinner she had eaten--at +least she said so. + +There is a musical phenomenon here just now in the shape of an American +negro; he is blind and idiotic, but has a most extraordinary intelligence +for music. All his senses seem to have been concentrated in this one +sense. Prince and Princess Metternich, Auber, and ourselves went to his +concert. Auber said, "Cet idiot, noir et aveugle, est vraiment +merveilleux." Blind Tom had learned his _répertoire_ entirely by ear; +therefore it was very limited, as he could only remember what he had heard +played a few days before. His memory did not last long. He was wonderful. +Not only could he execute well, but he could imitate any one's mannerisms +and their way of playing. The impresario came forward, saying, "I am told +that Monsieur Auber is in the audience. May I dare to ask him to come up +and play something?" Auber said he thought he should die of fright. We all +urged him, for the curiosity of the thing, to play something of his new +opera, which no one as yet had heard, therefore no one could have known +it. + +Auber mounted the platform, amid the enthusiastic applause of the +audience, and performed his solo. Then Blind Tom sat down and played it +after him so accurately, with the same staccato, old-fashioned touch of +Auber, that no one could have told whether Auber was still at the piano. +Auber returned and bowed to the wildly excited public and to us. He said, +"This is my first appearance as a pianist, and my last." + +Prince Metternich, inspired by Auber's pluck, followed his example, and +mounting the stage rattled off one of his _own fiery_, dashing waltzes, +which Blind Tom repeated in the Prince's particular manner. After the +concert we went into the artist's room to speak with the impresario, and +found poor Tom banging his head against the wall like the idiot he was. +Auber remarked, "C'est humiliant pour nous autres." + + +PARIS, _June, 1867._ + +DEAR M.,--The famous pianist Liszt, the new Abbé, is pervading Paris just +now, and is, I think, very pleased to be a priestly lion, taking his +success as a matter of course. There are a succession of dinners in his +honor, where he does ample honor to the food, and is in no way bashful +about his appetite. + +He does a great deal of beaming, he has (as some one said) "so much +countenance." + +He dined with us the other night, the Metternichs, and twenty-five other +people, among whom were Auber and Massenet. + +In the boudoir, before dinner, he spied a manuscript which Auber had +brought that afternoon. He took it up, looked at it, and said, "C'est très +joli!" and laid it down again. When we went in to dinner, and after his +cigar in the conservatory (he is a great smoker), he went to the piano and +played the "_joli_" little thing of Auber's. Was that not wonderful, +that he could remember it all the time during the dinner? He seemed only +to have glanced at it, and yet he could play it like that off from memory. +He is so kind and good, especially to struggling artists, trying to help +them in every way. He seemed extraordinarily amiable that evening, for he +sat down at the piano without being asked and played a great many of his +compositions--quite an unusual thing for him to do! One has generally to +tease and beg him, and then he refuses. But I think, when he heard +Massenet improvising at one of the pianos he was inspired, and he put +himself at the other (we have two grand pianos), and they played divinely, +both of them improvising. He is by far the finest pianist I have ever +heard, and has a very seductive way of looking at you while playing, as if +he was only playing for you, and when he smiles you simply go to pieces. I +don't wonder he is such a lady-killer, and that no woman can resist him; +even my father-in-law stayed in the salon, being completely hypnotized by +Liszt, who ought to consider this as one of his greatest triumphs, if he +only knew. + +I sang some of Massenet's songs, accompanied, of course, by Massenet. +Liszt was most attentive and most enthusiastic. He said Massenet had a +great future, and he complimented me on my singing, especially my phrasing +and expression. + +I wonder if the story be true that he was engaged to be married to +Princess Wittgenstein, and on the day of the wedding, when the bridal- +dress was ready to be put on, she got a letter from her fiancé (can any +one imagine Liszt as a fiancé) saying that he had taken holy orders that +very morning. + +They say that she bore it very well and wrote a sweet letter to him. It +sounds rather unnatural; but one can believe anything from a person who +was under Liszt's influence. He has the most wonderful magnetism. His +appearance is certainly original as you see him in his _soutane_, his +long hair, and his numerous moles, that stand out in profile, whichever +way he turns his broad face. + +But one forgets everything when one hears him play. He is now fifty-five +years old. I invited him to go to the Conservatoire with me in the box +which Auber had given me for last Sunday's concert. I inclose his letter +of acceptance. (See page 164.) + +Auber often gives me his box, which holds six people, and I have the +pleasure of making four people happy. Auber sits in the back and generally +dozes. We are all crowded together like sardines. Auber, being the +director of the Conservatoire, has, of course, the best box, except the +Imperial one, which is always empty. + +The orchestra played Wagner's overture to "Tannhäuser." The applause was +not as enthusiastic as Liszt thought it ought to be, so he stood up in the +box, and with his great hands clapped so violently that the whole audience +turned toward him, and, recognizing him (indeed, it would have been +difficult not to recognize him, such a striking figure as he is), began +clapping their hands for him. He cried, "Bis!" And the audience in chorus +shouted, "Bis!" And the orchestra repeated the whole overture. Then the +audience turned again to Liszt and screamed, "Vive Liszt!" + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF LISZT LETTER + +Madame, + +Permettez-moi de venir vous remercier demain au Conservatoire de votre +gracieuse invitation dont je serai charmé de profiter. + +Mille respectueux hommages, + +F. Listz + +Dimanche matin.] + +Auber said such a thing had never been seen or heard before in the annals +of these severe and classical concerts. People quite lost their heads, and +Auber, being afraid that there would be a demonstration at the _sortie_, +advised us to leave before the end. + +I think Liszt was very pleased with his afternoon. + +The sovereigns are working themselves to death, and almost killing their +attendants. Prince Radzivill said, speaking of the King of Prussia: "I +would have liked him better if he had stayed at home. He has to be ready +every morning at half-past eight, and is often up till three in the +morning." Radzivill and the others not only have to go to all the balls, +but they must attend all the various civil, military, and charitable +functions, and then the Exposition takes a lot of time and energy. + +Prince Umberto is here from Italy. When Princess Metternich asked him how +long he was going to stay he answered, with a toss of his head toward +Italy, "Cela dépend des circonstances. Les affaires vont très mal là-bas." + +Aunt M---- says she wishes you had been at a matinée which Baroness +Nathaniel Rothschild gave this afternoon at her beautiful new palace in +the Faubourg St.-Honoré. At the entrance there were ten servants in +gorgeous livery, and a _huissier_ who rattled his mace down on the +pavement as each guest passed. There was, besides all the élite of Paris, +an Archduke of Austria. I sang the "Ave Maria" of Gounod, accompanied by +Madame Norman Neruda, an Austrian violiniste, the best woman violinist in +the world. Baroness Rothschild played the piano part. + + +PARIS, _May 29, 1867._ + +DEAR M.,--The Metternichs' big ball last night was a splendid affair, the +finest of the many fine balls. We were invited for ten o'clock, and about +half-past ten every one was there. + +The Emperor and Empress came at eleven o'clock. Waldteufel, with full +orchestra, was already playing in the ballroom of the embassy, which was +beautifully decorated. At twelve o'clock the doors, or rather all the +windows that had been made into doors, were opened into the new ballroom, +which the Princess Metternich, with her wonderful taste and the help of +Monsieur Alphand, had constructed in the garden, and which had transformed +the embassy into a thousand-and-one-nights' palace. + +The ballroom was a marvel; the walls were hung with lilac and pink satin, +and the immense chandelier was one mass of candles and flowers; from each +panel in the room there were suspended baskets of flowers and plants, and +between the panels were mirrors which reflected the thousands of candles. + +One would never have recognized the garden; it was transformed into a +green glade; all the paths were covered with fresh grass sod, making it +look like a vast lawn; clusters of plants and palms seemed to be growing +everywhere, as if native to the soil; flower-beds by the hundreds; +mysterious grottos loomed out of the background, and wonderful vistas with +a cleverly painted perspective. At the same moment that their Majesties +entered this wonderful ballroom, which no one had dreamed of, the famous +Johann Strauss, brought from Vienna especially for this occasion, stood +waiting with uplifted baton and struck up the "Blue Danube," heard for the +first time in Paris. + +When their Majesties approached the huge plate-glass window opening into +the garden a full-fledged cascade fell over the stucco rocks, and powerful +Bengal lights, red and green, made a most magical effect: the water looked +like a torrent of fiery lava _en miniature_. It was thrilling. + +No one thought of dancing; every one wanted to listen to the waltz. And +how Strauss played it!... With what fire and _entrain!_ We had thought +Waldteufel perfect; but when you heard Strauss you said to yourself you +had never heard a waltz before. The musicians were partly hidden by +gigantic palmettos, plants, and pots of flowers arranged in the most +attractive way. But he!--Johann Strauss!--stood well in front, looking +very handsome, very Austrian, and very pleased with himself. + +Then came the _quadrille d'honneur_. The Emperor danced with the Queen of +Belgium, the Crown Prince of Prussia with the Empress, the King of Belgium +with the Princess Mathilde, the Prince Leuchtenberg with the Princess +Metternich. + +The cotillon was led by Count Deym and Count Bergen, and they led it to +perfection; there was not a hitch anywhere. Every one was animated and +gay; certainly the music was inspiring enough to have made an Egyptian +mummy get out of his sarcophagus and caper about. I danced with a German +_Durchlaucht_, who, though far in the sear and yellow leaf, danced like a +school-boy, standing for hours with his arm around my waist before +venturing (he could only start when the tune commenced), counting one-- +two--three under his breath, which made me, his partner, feel like a +perfect fool. When at last he made up his mind to start nothing short of +an earthquake could have stopped him. He hunched up his shoulders to his +ears, arched his leg like a prancing horse, and off we went on our wild +career, lurching into every couple on the floor, and bumping into all the +outsiders. When we were not careering together, he sat glued to his chair, +refusing to dance. If any lady came up with a favor he would say, "I am a +little out of breath; I will come and fetch you later." And then he would +put the favor in his pocket and never go near her. He seized everything in +the way of favors that came his way; some he gave to me, and the rest he +took home to his small children. + +I was glad, all the same, to have him for a partner, as, being a +_Durchlaucht_, he was entitled to a seat in the front row, and I preferred +prancing about with my _hochgeboren_ high-stepper to having to take a back +seat in the third row with a minor _geboren_. After my partner and I had +bounded about and butted into every living thing on the floor I brought +him to anchor near his chair by clutching his Golden Fleece chain which +hung around his neck. I felt like singing Tennyson's "Home I brought my +warrior (half) dead." He was puffing and blowing, the perspiration glazing +his face, his yellow hair matted on his forehead, and his mustaches all +out of kilter. + +I really felt sorry for him, and wondered why he exerted himself so much, +when he could have been quietly seated watching others, or, better still, +at home in bed. + +The supper was served at one o'clock. Their Majesties the King and Queen +of Belgium, Prince Alfred, the Prince and Princess of Prussia, the Prince +of Saxe-Weimar, and all the other _gros bonnets_--too many to write about +--went up-stairs through an avenue of plants and palms to a salon arranged +especially for them where there were two large tables. The Emperor +presided at one and the Empress at the other. Besides the _salle à manger_ +and some smaller salons, two enormous tents were put up in the garden, +which contained numerous tables, holding about ten people each, and +lighted by masses of candles and festooned with bright-colored Chinese +lanterns. Prince Metternich told me later that the candles were replaced +three times during the evening. + +The favors for the cotillon were very pretty, most of them brought from +Vienna. One of the prettiest was fans of gray wood with "Ambassade +d'Autriche, 28th May, 1867," painted in blue forget-me-nots. + +We danced "till morning did appear," and it appeared only too soon. The +cotillon finished at half-past five, and the daylight poured in, making us +all look ghastly, especially my sear and yellow leaf, whose children must +have wondered why papa _kam so spät nach hause_. + + +PARIS, _1867._ + +Last week, in the beautiful palace built by Egypt for the Exposition, +there was arranged a sort of entertainment for the Viceroy, to which we +were invited with the Prince and Princess Metternich. This palace is a +large, square, white building of oriental ornamentation and architecture, +with a courtyard in the center, where we were received by the Khedive and +his suite. A fountain was playing in the middle of the courtyard of +marble, surrounded by palmettos and plants of every description. A band of +Turkish musicians were seated cross-legged in one of the corners playing +on their weird instruments, and making what they seemed to think was +music. We sat in low basket-chairs, our feet resting on the richest of +oriental rugs, and admired the graceful movements of the dancing-girls, +who had not more space than an ordinary square rug to dance upon. There +were also some jugglers, who performed the most marvelous and +incomprehensible tricks with only an apparently transparent basket, from +which they produced every imaginable object. + +Coffee _à la Turque_ was served in small cups with their silver filigree +undercup, and Turkish paste flavored with attar of roses, and nauseatingly +sweet, was passed about, with a glass of water to wash it down. Also +cigarettes of every description were lavishly strewn on all the little +tables, and hovering about us all the time were the thin-legged, turbaned +black menials with baggy silk trousers and bright silk sashes. + +Everything was so Oriental that, had I stayed there a little longer, I +should not have been surprised to see myself sitting cross-legged on a +divan smoking a _narghile_. I said as much as this to the Khedive, who +said, in his funny pigeon-French-English, "Alas! Were it so!" + +I cast my eyes down and put on my _sainte-ni-touche_ air, which at times I +can assume, and as I looked at his Highness's dusky suite, who did not +look over and above immaculate, in spite of the Mussulman's Mussulmania +for washing, I thanked my stars that it "were not so." + +The interpreter who was on duty said to Prince Metternich: "Mussulmans +drink no wine, nor does the Prophet allow them to eat off silver. +Therefore, to ease our consciences" (he said, _mettre nos consciences à +couvert_), "we tell them that the silver plates on which they eat are +_iron_ plated with silver. They think the forks are also iron, otherwise +they would eat with their fingers." + +The interpreter added that Mussulmans did not think the Parisian +newspapers very interesting, because they contained so few crimes and no +murders worth mentioning. What an insight this gives of the condition of +their country and the tenor of their papers! + +We took our leave of the amiable Khedive, who expressed the hope that we +would soon meet again. + +Before his departure from Paris there came a package with the card of one +of his gentlemen, begging me, _de la part de Monseigneur_, to accept the +"accompanying souvenir." The package contained two enameled bracelets +of the finest oriental work in red-and-green, studded with emeralds. He +sent an equally gorgeous brooch to the Princess Metternich. + + +PARIS, _June, 1867._ + +DEAR M.,--I must write you about something amusing which happened to-day. +Prince Oscar was most desirous of seeing Delsarte, having heard him so +much spoken of. I promised to try to arrange an interview, and wrote to +Delsarte to ask him to come to meet the Prince at our house. I received +this characteristic answer, "I have no time to make visits. If his +Highness will come to see me I shall be pleased," and mentioned a day and +an hour. Prince Oscar, Monsieur Dué, the Swedish secretary, Mademoiselle +W----, and I went at the appointed time, mounted Delsarte's tiresome +stairs, and waited patiently in his salon while he finished a lesson. + +Monsieur Dué was very indignant at this _sans-gêne_, and apologized for +Delsarte's want of courtesy; but the Prince did not mind, and occupied +himself with looking at Delsarte's old poetry-books and albums. + +Finally Delsarte entered and graciously received his royal visitor. The +Prince was most affable and listened to Delsarte's fantastic theories, +pretending to be interested in the explanation of the cartoons, and began +to discuss the art of teaching, which exasperated Delsarte to the verge of +impoliteness. + +Prince Oscar offered to sing a Swedish song, a very simple peasant song, +which he sang very well, I thought. The Swedish language is lovely for +singing, almost as good as Italian. We looked for some words of praise; +but Delsarte, adopting regency manners, which he can on occasions, said, +in a most insinuating voice: "Your Highness is destined to become a king, +one of these days. Is it not so?" + +"Yes," answered the Prince, wondering what was coming next. + +"You will have great responsibilities and a great deal to occupy your +mind?" + +"Without doubt." + +"You will not have time to devote yourself to art?" + +"I fear not." + +"_Eh bien!_" said Delsarte, and we expected pearls to drop from his mouth, +"_eh bien!_ If ever I am fortunate enough to visit your country, I hope +you will allow me to pay my most humble respects to you." + +"How horribly impolite," said the indignant Monsieur Dué. "He ought to +have his ears boxed!" + +Prince Oscar took it quite kindly, and, giving Delsarte a clap on his back +which I am sure made his shoulders twinge, said: "You are right; I shall +have other things to think of. There"--pointing to diagram six on the +wall, depicting horror, with open mouth and gaping eyes--"is the +expression I shall have when I think of music and music-teachers." + +Delsarte, feeling that he had overstepped the mark, said, "Perhaps, _mon +Prince_, you will sing something in French for me." + +Prince Oscar, drawing himself up his whole six feet and four, glanced down +at little Delsarte and said, "_Mon cher Monsieur_, have you ever read +the English poets?" + +Delsarte looked unutterable things; I blushed for my teacher. + +"When I come again to Paris," the Prince continued, "I will come to see +you. Adieu!" and left without further ceremony. + +We followed him down the slippery stairs in silence. + +Prince Oscar thought this little episode a great joke, and repeated it to +many people. + +That same evening there was a _soirée musicale_ given for him by the +Minister of Foreign Affairs (Marquis de Moustier) The Prince was begged to +sing, which he did three or four times. Every one was delighted to hear +the Swedish songs. Ambroise Thomas, who was there, said that he thought +they were exquisite, especially the peasant song, which he had introduced +into his new opera of "Hamlet." The Prince and I sang the duet, "I Rosens +duft." He was the lion of the evening, and I think that he was very +pleased. I hoped that he had forgotten the unpleasant incident of the +morning and Delsarte, of whom Monsieur Dué cleverly remarked, "Qui s'y +frotte s'y pique--." + + +PARIS, _July, 1867._ + +The distribution of prizes for the Exposition took place last Thursday at +the Palais de l'Industrie. It was a magnificent affair and a very hot one. +You may imagine what the heat and glare must have been at two o'clock in +the afternoon on a hot July day. I was glad that I was not old and +wrinkled, for every imperfection shone with magnified intensity. + +There was a vast platform erected in the middle of the building, which was +covered with a red carpet, and over which hung an enormous canopy of red +velvet and curtains of velvet with the eagle of Napoleon. The Emperor and +Empress sat, of course, in the center, and on each side were the foreign +sovereigns; behind them were their suites and the Imperial family. The +diplomatic corps had their places on the right of the tribune. + +The gentlemen, splendid in their gala uniforms, were covered with +decorations, and all the ladies present were _in grande toilette_ and +low-necked, and displayed every jewel they possessed. + +The building, huge as it was, was packed full, every available seat +occupied. + +The Prince Imperial distributed the prizes. He looked very dignified when +he handed the victors their different medals, accompanying each gift with +his sweet and winning smile. + +When Count Zichy, of Hungary, mounted the steps of the throne to receive +his medal (he got a prize for his Hungarian wines) there was a general +murmur of admiration, and I must say that he did look gorgeous in his +national costume, which is a most striking one. He had on all his famous +turquoises. His mantle and coat underneath, and everything except his top- +boots, were encrusted with turquoises, some of them as big as hen's eggs. +They say, when he appears on a gala occasion in his country, his horse's +trappings and saddle are covered with turquoises. + +The Sultan sat on the right of the Empress. You never saw anything half as +splendid! A shopful of jewelry could not compare to him. He had a +_collier_ of pearls which might have made a Cleopatra green with jealousy. +He had an enormous diamond which held the high aigrette in place on his +fez and the Great Mogul (I was so told) fastened on his breast. His +costume was magnificent, and his sabre--which I suppose has cut off a head +or so--was a blaze of jewels. He was the _point de mire_ of all eyes; +especially when the rays of the sun caught the rays of his diamonds he +blazed like the sun itself. The sun did all it could in the way of blazing +that day. I know that I never felt anything like the heat in that gigantic +hot-house, the sun pouring through each pane of glass and nothing to +protect one against it. I felt like an exotic flower unfolding its petals. + +It was a very pretty little scene, and I think that every one was +impressed when the Prince Imperial went toward the King of Holland to hand +him a medal (probably for Dutch cheese). The tall, stately King rose from +his seat, and on receiving it bowed deeply with great ceremony. The Prince +made a respectful and graceful bow in response, then the King stooped down +and kissed his cheek. + +I was tremendously interested when the American exhibitors came forward; +there were many of them, quite a procession. They looked very +distinguished in their simple dress-coats, without any decorations. I was +so glad. + +When it was all over it was delightful to get out into the fresh air, even +if we had to stand and wait patiently about like Mary's little lamb until +the carriage did appear, for we had either to wait or to worm our way, +risking horses' tails and hoofs through the surging crowd of bedecked men +and women, who were all clamoring for their servants and carriages. + +The coachmen were swearing and shouting as only French coachmen can do on +such occasions as this. The line of carriages reached almost the whole way +down the Champs Élysées. We finally did find ours, and I was glad to seat +myself in it. I had had the forethought to put my hat and mantle in, as we +intended to drive out to Petit Val for dinner. I put my hat over my tiara +and my mantle on my bare shoulders, and enjoyed driving through the shady +streets. + +Prince Metternich came out here the other day, I had not seen him since +the tragic death of Emperor Maximilian in Mexico. I never would have +believed that he could be so affected as he seemed to be by this. He cried +like a baby when he told us of the Emperor's last days, of his courage and +fortitude. It seems that, just as he was going to be shot, he went to each +of the men and gave them a twenty-franc gold piece, and said, "I beg you +to shoot straight at my heart." + +How dreadful it must have been! + +Prince Metternich was most indignant at Rochefort, and says he can never +forgive him because, in an article in _La Lanterne_, he called the royal +martyr "the Archdupe." Auber said: + +"You must not forget that Rochefort would rather sell his soul than lose +an occasion to make a clever remark." + +"Yes, I know," moaned the Prince. "But how can one be so cruel?" + +"C'est un mauvais drôle," Auber answered (don't think Auber meant that +Rochefort was droll; on the contrary, this is a neat way that the French +have of calling a man the _worst kind of a scamp_), and added, +"Rochefort's brains are made of _pétards_," which is the French for +firecrackers. + +Auber told many anecdotes. I fancy he wanted to cheer Prince Metternich up +a little. One of them was that, on taking leave of the Emperor, the Shah +had said: + +"Sire, your Paris is wonderful, your palaces splendid, and your horses +magnificent, but," waving his hand toward the mature but noble _dames +d'honneur_ with an expression of disapproval, "you must change all +that." Imagine what their feelings would have been had they heard him. + + +PARIS, _August, 1867._ + +DEAR M.,--I thought there would be a little rest for me after the +distribution of prizes and before going to Dinard; but repose is a thing, +it seems, that I am destined never to get. + +Monday morning I received a letter from Princess Metternich saying that +the Minister of Foreign Affairs had sent her his box for that evening, to +hear Schneider in "La Belle Hélène," adding that Cora Pearl was to appear +as Cupidon as an extra attraction, and asked if we would dine with them +first, and go afterward to the theater. + +I could not resist an invitation from these two delightful people, +therefore we drove into Paris and reached the embassy at half-past six, +the hour named for dinner. + +Prince Metternich told us that he had had a visit in the afternoon from +Monsieur Dué, the Swedish secretary, who had been on the verge of +desperation on account of his not having been able to secure a suitable +box for King Charles XIV. of Sweden, who arrived last night to spend a few +days here. He wished to see Schneider in "La Belle Hélène." Monsieur Dué +had gone to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and suggested that the +Minister offer his box; but that had already been given to the +Metternichs. When Prince Metternich was informed of this he did not +hesitate to place the box in question at the King's disposal; but, not to +disappoint the Princess and me, he had taken an ordinary box opposite. The +King was already in his _loge_ when we arrived. He is a large, handsome +man with a full, black beard, and has a very pleasant face. + +Between the first and second acts Monsieur Dué came to Prince Metternich +and told him that the King desired to see him. Of course the Prince went +directly, and returned delighted with the King's affability, and to our +great surprise brought us a message from the King, asking us all to come +to his box and join him, and proposing to send Monsieur Dué and his +gentleman-in-waiting to take our places in our box. + +We accepted with pleasure, and passed the rest of the evening in the +charming society of the most amiable of kings. He said to me that "Oscar," +as he called his brother (Prince Oscar, the hereditary Prince), had spoken +about me and our singing the duet written by his brother, Prince Gustave, +and asked how I managed about the Swedish words. I replied that Prince +Oscar had taught them to me during the dinner preceding the singing. + +"Could you understand the words?" he asked. + +"No," I replied. "I only know that it was something about London and +Emma." + +The King laughed most heartily, and said, "I shall tell that to Oscar when +I go home, and he will see how well you profited by his lessons." + +We were all immensely amused at Cora Pearl's appearance; it was her debut +as an actress. I never saw any one look so sheepish as she did, in spite +of her paint and powder and beautiful legs. She wore high-heeled slippers, +so high that she could hardly walk, which made her even more awkward than +she naturally was. She only had a few lines to sing, and this she did so +badly that people nearly hissed her. + +She was evidently engaged as a drawing-card; but the only thing she drew +was ridicule on herself. + +During the second act Lord Lyons came into the box. He had known the King +before, and, having heard from the Minister of Foreign Affairs that the +King was at the theater, went there to pay his respects. The King, +noticing that he had a decoration on, said in French: "Please take that +off; I am here incognito. To-morrow I shall be official; then you can put +it on." So Lord Lyons took off his star and put it in his pocket. He +wanted to go after the second act, but the King said: "Monsieur Dué has +arranged a supper for us at _La Maison d'Or_. You must come also." Of +course Lord Lyons did not refuse. + +Monsieur Dué left the box in advance of the rest of us, in order to +arrange everything before the King's arrival. The King called to him, as +he opened the door, "Don't forget the _écrevisses à la Bordelaise_; I +have been looking forward to them for a long time." + +After the performance, with which the King was delighted (especially with +Hortense Schneider's song, "Dis-moi, Vénus, pourquoi," etc.), we drove to +the _Maison d'Or_, where we found Monsieur Dué awaiting us. We asked at +what time the carriages should come back. He said: "Not before two +o'clock. His Majesty never retires before." We were then shown into a +salon, where the Princess Metternich and I were asked by the King to take +off our hats. "It is so much more cozy," he said. So off our hats came. We +had not been seated ten minutes when we heard some very loud talking and +much discussion in the corridor outside. Lord Lyons, who was nearest the +door, jumped up to see what the matter was, opened the door, and peeped +out. + +"Oh!" said he. "It is the Duke of Brunswick making a row; he is half-seas +over!" The King turned to Monsieur Dué (the King does not speak English) +and said, "What did Lord Lyons say?" Monsieur Dué's English did not go +very far, but he translated into Swedish what he had understood Lord Lyons +to say. + +The King seemed very puzzled and, addressing Lord Lyons, said: + +"Was not the Duke of Brunswick obliged to leave England for fear of being +arrested?" Lord Lyons coughed discreetly, and the King went on: "If I +remember rightly, the Duke, who was in the royal box, shot at and killed a +_danseuse_ who was on the stage! And did he not leave England in a +balloon? It always seemed such an extraordinary thing. Was it true?" Lord +Lyons cautiously answered that people had said all that; but it was some +time ago, and added, diplomatically, that he had forgotten all the +details. + +"And I understood," said his Majesty, "that he can never go back there +again." + +"You are right. He cannot go back to England, your Majesty." + +"Oh! don't Majesty me. To-night I am a simple bourgeois," the King +interrupted, smilingly shaking his finger. "But tell me, how can the Duke +dare return there now?" + +"He does not dare," repeated Lord Lyons. "He can _never_ go back." + +"But," insisted the King, "my good Monsieur Dué says that he is on his way +there at this moment." + +Lord Lyons replied, "I think Monsieur Dué must be mistaken, for the Duke +is out there in the corridor making all this [I am sure it was on his lips +to say "devil of a row," but he politely said] _noise_." + +Monsieur Dué then remarked, "Did I not hear you say that he was half way +across the channel?" + +"I certainly did not say _that_. What I did say was that he was 'half-seas +over' which is a slang expression we use in England instead of saying +tipsy, or _dans les vignes du Seigneur_, so prettily put by the French." + +The King laughed very much at this _quid pro quo_ and, looking at Monsieur +Dué, said, "I thought your English more up to the mark." + +The King was immediately fired with a desire to see the famous Duke who +had dared to cross the channel in a balloon rather than run the risk of +being shut up in prison, and we all waited with impatience to see whether +Lord Lyons's persuasive powers went so far as getting the Duke to show +himself. Well, they did, and both the gentlemen came into the salon. The +Duke bowed low and did not lose his balance. In fact, for a man half-seas +over, I thought he looked as if he could get to the end of his journey +without disgrace. He said, very politely, "I am afraid I have disturbed +you, but this is the salon which has always been put aside for me every +night, and I was surprised to learn that it was occupied." + +The Duke is, or rather would have been, a very handsome man if he had not +such watery eyes and such a weak mouth; and then he wore the funniest- +looking wig I ever saw. It was made out of black (the blackest) sewing- +silk and plastered down over his ears. I wonder if it was a disguise, or +if he thought any one would ever really take it for his own hair. + +The King was very nice to him, and did not seem in the least to mind his +being _dans les vignes_. I fancy, from what Monsieur Dué said, that in +Sweden people are used to see their friends _always_ in _Seigneurial_ +vineyards--they never see them anywhere else! But he exaggerates, no +doubt. + +The King said to the Duke of Brunswick, "Will you not sup with us to- +night?" + +"I thank your Majesty, but I must crave permission to return, for I have +some ladies supping with me, including the Cupidon of to-night." + +"Tell her," said the King, "if she wears such high heels she will come to +grief." + +"It will not be the first time," answered the Duke, with a laugh. "But +don't ask me to say anything like that to her; she would box my ears!" +Seeing the waiter making signs to him, the Duke then made a profound bow +and, stroking his sewing-silk locks left us. + +The universal verdict on him was _Quel crétin!_ + +We had a very pleasant supper, and a most unceremonious one, as much so as +is possible where there is royalty. + +The King said that he was going to be official all the next day, but that +he would like to go to the Exposition. Prince Metternich proposed a cup of +tea and the delicious hot rolls they turn out at the Vienna restaurant. +The King was delighted to accept, and named the hour of half past four in +the afternoon. We were also bidden, for which I was much pleased. King +Carl is the most delightful and fascinating of monarchs, and quite worthy +to be his brother's brother. To-morrow he is going to be still more +official, for he dines at the Tuileries, and there is a gala performance +at the opera; Christine Nilsson is going to sing "Faust" with Nicolini and +Faure. + +To-morrow we leave for Dinard, where there will be no majesties nor +Exposition; just plain bread and butter and Brittany cider, which is as +hard as a relentless parent. + + +COMPIÈGNE, _November 27, 1868._ + +When the inclosed invitation came my father-in-law wet-blanketed the +whole thing, and I was brokenhearted. The Duke de Persigny, who happened +to be in Petit Val at that moment, sympathized with me and tried to change +the paternal mind; but the paternal mind was obdurate, and all pleadings +were, alas! in vain. + + MAISON DE L'EMPEREUR + + _Palais des Tuileries, le 2 9'bre 1868._ + + _Premier Chambellan_ + + Monsieur, + + Par ordre de l'Empereur, j'ai l'honneur de vous prévenir que vous êtes + invité, ainsi que Madame Ch. Moulton, à passer 9 jours au Palais de + Compiègne, du 27 9'bre au 5 décembre. + + Des voitures de la Cour vous attendront le 27, à l'arrivée à Compiègne + du train partant de Paris à 2 heures 1/2 pour vous conduire au Palais. + + Agréez, Monsieur, l'assurance de ma considération très distinguée. + + _Le Premier Chambellan_, + V'te de Laferrière. + + Monsieur Ch. Moulton. + +My father-in-law thought it cost too much--my toilettes, the necessary +outlay, and especially the _pourboires_. He said that it was a lot of +money, and added, in his most choice French, "Le jeu [he pronounced it +'jew'] ne valait pas la chandelle." He was right from his point of view, +for he had none of the _jeu_ and all of the _chandelle_. I pined and +pouted the whole day, and considered myself the most down-trodden mortal +in existence. + +Imagine my delight, a few days later, to receive a second document, +informing us that our names had been re-entered on the list, and that we +were expected, all the same, on the 27th to stay nine days. At the same +time there came a note from the Duke de Persigny, in which he said, "Their +Majesties desired us particularly to come." And he added: "Tell your +father-in-law that the question of pourboires has been settled now and +forever. No more pourboires to be given nor taken at Compiègne." + +Then Mr. M---- gave his consent, and I was blissfully happy. + +It seems that the Emperor's attention had been railed to the many very +disagreeable articles in the newspapers on the subject of the extravagant +_pourboires_ exacted at Compiègne. The Emperor was very much annoyed, +and gave immediate orders to suppress this system, which had been going on +for years without his knowledge. + +Last night we stayed in Paris, to be ready at half-past two this +afternoon. To describe our departure, arrival, and reception would only be +to repeat what I have already written last year. Among the fifty or sixty +guests there were many who were here then. In addition there are Duke +d'Albe, with his daughters; Baron Beyens, the Belgian Minister; Mr. +Mallet, of the English Embassy, Mr. Dué of the Swedish Legation; the poet, +Prosper Mérimée; and many, of course, I do not know. + +Singularly enough, we were shown into the same apartment we had before, +which made us feel quite at home. We found tea, chocolate, and cakes on +the table, of which I partook with enthusiasm, and then enjoyed an hour's +rest before dressing for dinner. + +We met at seven o'clock in the _Salle des Fêtes_, the only room in this +huge chateau large enough to contain all the party here (I suppose there +must be one hundred and twenty people), for which reason it serves both as +reception and ballroom. + +The Empress looked superb in a gown of an exquisite shade of lilac; she +wore her beautiful pearls and a tiara of diamonds and pearls. When she +approached me she held out her hand, and said she was very glad to see me. +The Emperor was kind and gracious, as usual. + +The Baron Gourgaud was told to take me in to dinner, and we followed the +procession to the dining-room, passing the _Cent Gardes_, who looked like +an avenue of blue and glittering trees. The Baron Gourgaud and I are +neighbors in the country, their place, La Grange, being not far from Petit +Val. His conversation is not absorbing; but as he knows he is dull he does +not pretend to be anything else. I was thankful for this, as I felt that I +did not need to make the slightest effort to entertain him. + +I cast my eyes round the table, and if I had not known that this was _la +série amusante_ I should never have guessed it--every one seemed so +spiritless and "sans le moindre entrain," as my neighbor remarked. + +No excitement this evening but the dance. Waldteufel is suppressed! They +say that the Emperor, who has a horror of publicity in private life, was +very displeased last year by the indiscretions and personal anecdotes, and +especially the caricatures made by Gustave Doré, which appeared in the +_Figaro_. The Emperor vowed that no outsiders should be invited again; +therefore poor Waldteufel has to pay _les pots cassés_, and we must make +our own music. + +Looking for a substitute for Waldteufel, a clever chamberlain discovered +the "Debain piano" (mechanical piano). + +You remember I had one in my youth. How I loved it! How I used to love to +grind out all the beautiful music those ugly boxes contained! And how I +used to wonder that those common wooden slides could reproduce such +perfect imitations of the real thing. + +I was so glad to see one again, and envied the perspiring chamberlain, who +looked bored to extinction having to turn the crank, instead of joining +the dance and turning the heads of the ladies. It took two of them to +manage the complexities of the piano, and as neither possessed a musical +turn of the wrist, and as neither had the remotest idea of time or +measure, it was very hard for us poor dancers! + +When one of the martyrs wanted to explain to the other what to do he would +stop and forget to turn the crank. The dancers were thus obliged to pause, +one foot in the air, not knowing when to put it down, and when they did +put it down they did not fall in measure, and had to commence all over +again. This spasmodic waltzing almost made us crazy. As for me, I could +not bear it any longer. No chariot nor horses could have kept me away from +that piano; to feel again (after so many years) the delight of playing it! +And then I wanted to show how it should be played; so I went to the piano +and took the crank out of the tired hands of the chamberlain and ground +out a whole dance. + +I flatter myself that the dancers enjoyed at least this one. + +His Majesty walked up to the piano while I was playing and said, "But, +Madame, you will tire yourself; you really must stop and let some one take +your place." + +I replied: "If your Majesty only knew what a pleasure it is for me to play +this piano! I had one like it when I was a little girl, and have never +seen one since." + +"Are these pianos not something quite new?" he asked. "I was told that +they were the latest invention." + +"They may be," I answered, "the latest improvement on an old invention; +but the pianos are older than I am." + +"That," answered the Emperor, smilingly, "does not make them very old." + +He called one of the chamberlains, and I reluctantly gave up my place. The +Count d'Amelot was summoned, and as we were about to waltz off the Emperor +said, "If I danced, I should like to dance with you myself; but I do not +dance." + +"Then," I said, "I must dance without you." + +He laughed: "Vous avez toujours la réplique," and stood there watching us +with those peculiar eyes of his. + +I never received so many compliments on piano-playing as I did to-night. + +Here is the list of my dresses (the cause of so much grumbling): + + MORNING COSTUMES. + Dark-blue poplin, trimmed with plush of the same color, toque, + muff to match. + Black velvet, trimmed with braid, sable hat, sable tippet and muff. + Brown cloth, trimmed with bands of sealskin, coat, hat, muff to match. + Purple plush, trimmed with bands of pheasant feathers, coat, hat to + match. + Gray velvet, trimmed with chinchilla, chinchilla hat, muff and coat. + Green cloth (hunting costume). + Traveling suit, dark-blue cloth cloak. + + EVENING DRESSES. + Light green tulle, embroidered in silver, and for my locks, what they + call _une fantaisie_. + White tulle, embroidered with gold wheat ears. + Light-gray satin, quite plain, with only Brussels lace flounces. + Deep pink tulle, with satin ruchings and a lovely sash of lilac + ribbon. + Black lace over white tulle, with green velvet twisted bows. + Light-blue tulle with Valenciennes. + + AFTERNOON GOWNS. + Lilac faille. + Light café au lait with trimmings of the same. + Green faille faced with blue and a red Charlotte Corday sash (Worth's + last gasp). + A red faille, quite plain. + Gray faille with light-blue facings. + +Do you not think there is enough to last me as long as I live? + + +SUNDAY, _November 28th._ + +The mass is at ten o'clock on Sunday, and one meets in the grand salon +before going to the chapel. + +Madame de Gallifet and I, being Protestants, were not expected; but, as we +wanted to go, we decided to don a black lace veil and follow the others. + +The chapel is not large, but it is very richly decorated. + +The Empress sat in a tribune facing the altar with a chosen few and her +_dames d'honneur_. + +The Emperor was not present. + +It seemed to me that the mass was very hurried and curtailed. The chorus +boys swung their censers nonchalantly, as though they were fanning +themselves; probably they were impatient for their breakfast. + +The curé did not preach any sermon; he only made an exhortation against +the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and told us that we had +better be prepared for death, as it might come at any moment. This was +nothing new; any one could have said it. He advised us to have our lamps +trimmed, for, when our time came we would be cut down like grass and +gathered in the garners. Perhaps he meant we ought to make our hay while +the sun was shining. I wondered to myself, if some of those old gentlemen +sinners who had sown so liberally would not be gathered in as oats. The +curé was going on to say that we should not indulge too freely in the good +things of this world; but pulled himself up in time, remembering, no +doubt, that he was going to breakfast, as he did every Sunday, at the +Imperial board and partake of its luxuries. + +And before we knew it the mass was finished. + +When we returned to the salon it was eleven o'clock, and every one was +assembled for _déjeuner_. + +The Marquis d'Aoust happened to sit next to me at table (I say happened, +but I believe he manoeuvered so as to do so), and, taking me unawares +between two mouthfuls of _truites saumonées_, decoyed me into accepting a +stupendous proposition of his, which was to help him to get up an operetta +which he had had the courage to compose. He said the idea had just come +into his head; but I thought, for an impromptu idea, it was rather a ripe +one, as he had brought the music with him, and had already picked out +those he thought could help, and checked them off on his lean fingers. He +said the operetta had one act only, which I thought was fortunate, and +that it needed only four actors, which I thought was still more fortunate. + +The next thing to be done, he said, was to get the singers' consent. I +should have said it was the first thing to be done; but he was so bubbling +over with enthusiasm that he was sure every one would jump at the chance +of taking part. + +He seized the first moment after their Majesties had retired to pounce +upon those he had selected, and having obtained their consent he proposed +a walk in the long, so-called Treille or Berceau. Napoleon I. built this +walk, which is one thousand meters in length and reaches to the edge of +the forest, for the Queen Marie Louise. I must say I pitied her toes if +she walked there often on as cold a day as to-day; I know mine ached as we +paced to and fro while the Marquis explained the operetta. It was really +too cold to stay out-of-doors, and we turned back to the little salon, +called the _Salon Japonais_, to finish the séance there. + +"What part am I to take?" asked Prince Metternich. + +As he could not be anything else, he accepted the role of prompter, and +promised all the help he could give. When I went to the Empress's tea this +afternoon I took those questions Aunt M* sent me from America. You know +them. You have to write what your favorite virtues are, and if you were +not yourself, who you would like to be, and so forth. + +I was glad to have something new and original which might amuse people. +The Empress, seeing the papers in my hand, asked me what they were. I told +her that they were some questions: a new intellectual pastime just +invented in America. + +"Do they invent intellectual pastimes in America?" she asked, looking at +me with a smile. "I thought they only invented money-making." + +"They do that, too," I replied; "but they have also invented these +questions, which probe the mind to the marrow and unveil the soul." + +She laughed and said, "Do you wish me to unveil my soul, _comme cela, à +l'improviste_?" + +I answered, "Perhaps your Majesty will look at them at your leisure. I +hardly dare to ask the Emperor; but if he would also look at them I should +be so happy." + +"Leave them with me, and to-morrow we will see; in any case my soul is not +prepared to-day." + +So I left the papers with her. + +It is the fashion this year for ladies to wear lockets on a black-velvet +ribbon around their necks. The more lockets you can collect and wear, the +finer you are. Each locket represents an event, such as a birthday, a bet, +an anniversary of any kind, and so forth. Any excuse is good for the +sending of a locket. The Empress had seventeen beautiful ones to-day (I +counted them). They have a rather cannibalish look, I think. Is it not in +Hayti (or in which country is it?) that the black citizens wear their +rivals' teeth as trophies on their black necks? + +Who should offer me his arm for dinner to night but Prosper Mérimée, the +lion of lions, the pampered poet, who entrances all those who listen to +him whenever he opens his lips. + +He looks more like an Englishman than a Frenchman; he is quite old, and I +fancy older than he looks (he may be fifty). He is tall and _dégagé_, with +a nice smile and pleasant eyes, though sometimes he gives you a sharp and +suspicious glance. He speaks English very well. I told him (stretching +a point) that I had never heard a foreigner speak such good English as he +did. + +He replied, without a blush: "I ought to speak it well. I learned it when +I was a child." And he added, complacently, "I can even write better than +I speak." + +I asked him if he could write poetry in English. + +He answered: "I do not think I could. My English goes just so far and no +farther. I have what is strictly necessary, but not what is superfluous." +("J'ai, le stricte nécessaire, mais pas le superflu.") + +"To make rhymes," said I, "I should think one would have to know every +word in the dictionary." + +"Oh!" he said, "I don't attempt rhymes; they are far beyond me." + +When he talks French he is perfectly delightful. He creates the funniest +words, and gives such an original turn to his phrases that you are--at +least I was--on the _qui vive_ not to lose anything he said. It is like +listening to a person who, improvising on the piano, makes unexpected +and subtle modulations which you hate to have escape you. + +He told me he had been in correspondence with an English lady for over +thirty years. + +"Were you in love with her, that you wrote to her all those years?" I +inquired. + +"I was in love with her letters," he replied. "They were the cleverest +things I ever read--full of wit and humor." + +"Was she in love with you or only with your letters?" I was tactless +enough to ask. + +"How can you ask?" he said. I wondered myself how I could have asked so +indiscreet a question. + +"Did she write in English, and did you write in French?" + +"Yes, she wrote in English," he answered, and looked bored. + +"Is she dead?" I asked, getting bolder and bolder; but he would not talk +any more about this clever lady, and we drifted into other channels of +conversation. Too bad! I would have liked to have known if the lady was +still living. + +I wish I could remember all the pearls which fell from his lips; but alas! +one cannot, like Cleopatra, digest pearls. But I do remember one thing he +said, which was, "If I should define the difference between men and women, +I should say, 'Que les hommes valent plus, mais que les femmes valent +mieux.'" + +I wondered if this was one of the pearls he let drop in his letters to the +wonderful English _bas-bleu_. + +In the evening we danced to the waltzes of the Debain, and were obliged to +tread a very spasmodic measure. The Prince Imperial asked me for a polka, +and I had to clutch his shoulder with one hand and beat time with the +other on his arm to keep any kind of rhythm in his evolutions. It is nice +to see him circulating about and chatting with all the ladies. + + +_November 29th._ + +A message came to my room this morning, to the effect that I was to sit +next to the Emperor. I suppose they thought it best to let me know in +time, in case I should go wandering off sight-seeing, like last year, but +no danger! Once caught, twice warned, as the saying is. + +Therefore, when we descended to the grand salon, I knew what my fate was +to be. The Due de Sesto, who had recently married the widow of the Duc de +Morny, gave me his arm and deposited me at the side of his Majesty. + +The Emperor was in the most delightful spirits, and full of _bonhomie_ and +fun. Glancing across the table at a certain diplomat (Baron F----), he +said, "I never knew a person more impervious to a joke than that gentleman +is." And then he went on to say that once he had told the Baron the old +time-worn joke which any child can understand. + +(You have heard it many times, I am sure, dear mama.) + +One begins by saying, "Vous me permettez de vous tutoyer (You will permit +me to use the thee and thou)?" And then one says, "Pourquoi aimes-tu la +chicorée (Why dost thou like chicory)?" To which the answer is, "Parce +qu'elle est amère (ta mère) (Because it is 'bitter' or 'your mother')." + +But I had better tell the story in the Emperor's own language. + +"The Baron was making a call upon the Duchess de Bassano, one of the +ladies-in-waiting of the Empress, a severe and formal person, as you know, +and in deep mourning for her mother. He wished to make himself agreeable +and told her this story, saying that it was the most amusing thing he had +ever heard. But he forgot to ask her permission to use the thee and thou, +and said, point-blank, 'Pourquoi aimes-tu la salade?' The Duchess did not +understand, and he, bursting out laughing, continued, without waiting for +her to speak, 'Parce qu'elle est ta mère.' The Duchess arose, indignant. +'Monsieur, I beg you cease. My poor mother died three months ago. I am +still wearing mourning for her!' With which she burst into tears and left +the room. + +"The Baron, nothing daunted, tried a second time to relate this anecdote, +this time addressing Baronne Pierres, another of the _dames d'honneur_, +entirely forgetting to use the thee and thou. 'Madame, pourquoi aimez-vous +la salade?' Naturally she had not the slightest idea what he meant, and he +rejoined triumphantly, 'Parce qu'elle est Madame votre mère.' What annoys +me beyond measure," continued the Emperor, "is that he goes on telling the +anecdote, saying, 'The Emperor told it to me.'" + +The Emperor laughed heartily, and I did, too. Then he told me another +amusing thing: + +At a ball at the Tuileries he said to a young American whose father he had +met: "J'ai connu votre père en Amérique. Est-ce qu'il vit encore?" And the +young man, embarrassed and confused, answered, "Non, sire; pas encore." +"It is so good," the Emperor said, "to have a laugh, especially to-day. +All the afternoon I shall be plunged in affairs of state." + +I did not forget to tell the Emperor that Delsarte was wildly excited on +receiving the present his Majesty had sent him last year. I wandered +considerably from the truth, as, in reality, Delsarte, who is not +Napoleonic in his politics, had said when I gave it to him, "Comment! +c'est Badinguet qui m'envoit cela. Que veut-il que j'en fasse?" with a +dark frown, But I noticed he smoked _le bon tabac_, all the same; and +I am sure he said (even to his best friend), "Tu n'en auras pas." + +Of course the Emperor had quite forgotten that such a person as Delsarte +had ever existed. + +This was a perfectly delightful _déjeuner_, and I shall never forget it. + +The numerous chamberlains were busy arranging the different amusements for +the guests, putting horses, carriages, shooting, and excursions at their +disposal; but we, unlucky ones, were in duty bound to abide by the +Marquis, who had now completed his troupe to his satisfaction. He had +enticed the two young Mademoiselles Albe and two of their admirers to +undertake the chorus; he was very grateful to them, as otherwise it would +have had to be suppressed--perhaps the best thing that could have happened +to it. + +The Princess Metternich asked us to come to their salon (they have the +beautiful apartments called _les appartements d'Apollon_), in order that +we could try the music with the piano which her husband had hired, as +usual, for his stay at Compiègne, and which he had put at the disposition +of the Marquis. + +The Marquis was in ecstasy, and capered about to collect us, and at last +we found ourselves stranded with the manuscript and its master, who was +overjoyed to embark us on this shaky craft. He put himself at the piano, +played the score from beginning to end, not sparing us a single bar. My +heart sank when I heard it, it was worse than I thought, and the plot was +even worse than the music--naïf and banal beyond words. + +A lord of the manor (Vicomte Vaufreland, basso) makes love to a humble +village maiden (myself, soprano); the lady of the manor (Madame Conneau, +contralto) becomes jealous and makes a scene with her husband; the friend +and adviser (Count d'Espeuilles, tenor) steps in and takes his friend's +part and kindly says that it was he who had loved the village maiden. The +wife is satisfied, and everything ends beautifully. + +It would be very uphill work for the poor Marquis and I wondered if he +would really have the patience to go on with it, after realizing how +unmusical the men were. D'Espeuilles stood behind the Marquis's bald head +and reached over to put his finger on the note he wanted to sing, and then +banged on that, until, after singing every note in the scale, he finally +fixed it in his brain. + +Could anything be more despairing? + +Our next thought naturally was our costumes. + +The operetta was laid in the time of Louis XV. + +Would we be able to find anything in the various trunks in the gallery +next to the theater? + +When we went there we found everything we did not want--costumes, odds and +ends of all sorts, which belonged to all other periods than Louis XV. The +contents of the trunks were in a very chaotic state; each article which +once had formed one of a complete costume was without its better half; the +unprincipled things had meandered off and got mixed up in other sets. + +To be sure, there was a Louis XV. coat, with embroidered pockets and +satin-lined coat-tails, but nothing more suitable for _culottes_ could be +found than a pair of red-plush breeches, trimmed with lace (I think one +calls them "trunk hose"), of Henry II.'s time. + +When they were urged upon the Vicomte, he absolutely refused them, saying +he would not mix up epochs like that, and, after pulling over everything, +he decided to send to Paris for a complete costume. + +Count d'Espeuilles was less difficult to satisfy, and was contented with a +black-velvet Hamlet costume, with a plumed hat, which suited no epoch at +all, but suited his style of beauty. + +Madame C---- thought her maid might arrange out of a ball-dress some sort +of attire; with powdered hair, paint, and patches, she could represent the +lady of the manor very well. My Tyrolean dress of last year would do quite +nicely for me, when my maid had put the customary bows on the traditional +apron. + +We all separated, carrying our carefully written rôles under our arms, and +in the worst of tempers. + +Monsieur Dué was my neighbor at dinner. He is very musical, and was much +interested in hearing about the operetta. He does not think the Marquis +has any talent; neither do I! But I don't wish to give any opinion on the +poor little struggling operetta before it has lived its day, and then I am +sure it will die its natural death. Monsieur Dué has composed some very +pretty things for the piano, which he plays on the slightest +encouragement. + +Nothing else was talked of in the evening but the operetta, and the +Marquis was in the seventh heaven of delight. + +Their Majesties were told of the Marquis's interesting intention. I could +see, across the room, that the Empress knew that I was going to take part, +for she looked over toward me, nodding her head and smiling at me. + +There was some dancing for an hour, when one of the chamberlains came up +and said to me that the Empress would be pleased if I would sing some of +my American songs. I was delighted, and went directly into the _salle de +musique_, and when the others had come in, I sat down at the piano and +accompanied myself in the few negro songs I knew. I sang "Suwanee River," +"Shoo-fly," and "Good-by, Johnny, come back to your own chickabiddy." Then +I sang a song of Prince Metternich's, called, "Bonsoir, Marguerite," which +he accompanied. I finished, of course, with "Beware!" which Charles +accompanied. + +The Emperor came up to me and asked, "What does chickabiddy mean?" + +I answered, "'Come back soon to your own chickabiddy' means 'Reviens +bientôt à ta chérie,'" which apparently satisfied him. + +Their Majesties thanked me with effusion, and were very gracious. + +The Emperor himself brought a cup of tea to me, a very unusual thing for +him to do, and I fancy a great compliment, saying, "This is for our +chickabiddy!" + +Their Majesties bowed in leaving the room; every one made a deep +reverence, and we retired to our apartments. + + +_November 30th._ + +The old, pompous, ponderous diplomat (what am I saying?)--I should have +said, "the very distinguished diplomat"--the same one the Emperor told me +yesterday was so impervious to a joke, honored me by giving me his +baronial arm for _déjeuner_. I can't imagine why he did it, unless it +were to get a lesson in English gratis, of which he was sadly in need. He +struck me as being very masterful and weighed down with the mighty affairs +of his tiny little kingdom. I was duly impressed, and never felt so +subdued in all my life, which I suppose was the effect he wished to +produce on me. + +We sat like two gravestones, only waiting for an epitaph. Suddenly he +muttered (as if such an immense idea was too great for him to keep to +himself), "Diplomacy, Madame, is a dog's business." ("La diplomatie est un +métier de chien.") + +I ventured to ask, "Is it because one is attached to a post?" + +He gave me such a withering look that I wished I had never made this silly +remark. + +All the same, he unbent a little and, with a dismal twinkle in his eye, +his face brightening, and launching into frivolity, said: "The Emperor +told me something very funny the other day. (I knew what was coming.) +He asked me why I liked salad." Turning to me he said, "Can you guess the +answer?" + +I had many ready for him; but I refrained and only said, "No, what was +it?" + +"Parce qu'elle était ma mère!" he replied, and laughed immoderately, until +such a fit of coughing set in that I thought there would not be a button +left on him. When he had finished exploding he said, "Did you understand +the 'choke'?" + +If I had not understood the "choke," I understood the choking, and I +thought any more jokes like this would be the end of him then and there. + +I answered quite seriously, "I think I would understand better, if I knew +what sort of salad his Majesty meant." + +He shook his head and said he did not think it made any difference what +sort of salad it was. And we became tombstones again. + +I could hardly wait till we returned to the salon, I was so impatient to +tell the Emperor of the Baron's latest version. + +As his Majesty was near me, talking to some lady during the _cercle_, +I stepped forward so as to attract his attention. + +He soon moved toward me, and I, against all the rules of etiquette, was +the first to speak. + +"Your Majesty," said I, "I sat next to the Baron at breakfast and was not +spared the salad problem." + +"How did he have it this time?" asked the Emperor. + +"This time, your Majesty, he had it that you had said he liked salad +because it was his mother." + +The Emperor burst out laughing and said, "He is hopeless." + +It would seem as if Fate had chosen the Baron to be the butt of all the +_plaisanteries_ to-day. + +Later in the afternoon we drove in _chars-à-bancs_ to St. Corneille, +a lovely excursion through the woods. The carriages spun along over the +smooth roads, the postilions cracked their whips and tooted their horns, +the air was cold and deliciously invigorating, and we were the gayest +party imaginable. One would have thought that even the worst grumbler +would have been put in good spirits by these circumstances; but no! our +distinguished diplomat was silent and sullen, resenting all fun and +nonsense. No wonder that all conspired together to tease him. + +At St. Corneille there are some beautiful ruins of an old abbey and an old +Roman camp. When we came to the "Fontaine des Miracles" Mr. Mallet (of the +English embassy) pulled out of his pocket a Baedeker and read in a low +tone to those about him what was said about the miracles of the fountain. +The Marquis de Gallifet, not wishing any amusement to take place without +helping it on and adding some touches of his own, thereupon interposed in +a stage whisper (evidently intended to be heard by the Baron), "The waters +of this fountain are supposed to remove [then raising his voice] +barrenness." + +"Baroness who?" asked the diplomat, who was now all alert. + +Mr. Mallet, to our amazement (who ever could have imagined him so jocose), +said quite gravely, "Probably the wife of the barren fig-tree." + +"Ah!" said the Baron, "I don't know them," thus snubbing all the fig- +trees. + +"A very old family," said Mallet, "mentioned in the Bible." + +This seemed to stagger our friend, who evidently prided himself on knowing +every family worth knowing. The Marquis de Gallifet, seeing his chance, +hurried to tell the story of the d'Albe family, which the crestfallen +Baron drank in with open mouth and swallowed whole. As the Duke d'Albe was +there himself, listening attentively and smiling, the story must have been +true! The Marquis de Gallifet said, when Noah was ready to depart in the +ark he saw a man swimming for dear life toward the boat, waving something +in the air. Noah called out to him: + +"Don't ask to be taken in. We can't carry any more passengers, we are +already too full." + +The man answered, "I don't want to be taken in; I don't care for myself; +but, pray, save the papers of the family." + +The Baron looked very grave, and turning to the Duke asked, in an +extremely solemn tone, "Is this really true?" + +"Perfectly," answered the Duke, without moving a muscle. "The saying, +'Après moi le déluge,' originated in our family; but we say, 'Nous +d'abord, et _puis_ le déluge!'" + +"How interesting!" said the Baron. + +Then Monsieur Dué, not wishing to be outdone, said his family was as old +(if not older), having taken the name of Dué from the dove [in Swedish +"dué" means dove] which carried the olive-branch to the ark. By this time +the poor Baron, utterly staggered and bewildered in presence of such a +concourse of ancient nobility, did not know on which leg to stand. How +could he and his family ever hold up their heads again? + +We returned to Compiègne by St. Périne, where there was a most enchanting +view, and drove straight through a long avenue and entered _La cour +d'honneur_. It was almost half-past five when we reached our rooms. + +I thought I had had enough of fossils and ruins for one day, from +breakfast onward, so when old General Changarnier came to offer me his arm +for dinner I said to myself, "This is the climax!" + +But, on the contrary (the unexpected always arrives), he was so delightful +and genial that my heart was warmed through, which, indeed, it needed, +after the ice-chest I had had for _déjeuner_. He did not try to raise +me to his level, but simply let himself down to mine, and talked small +talk so youthfully that I felt we were about the same age. He was a +charming man. + +Monsieur de Laferrière arranged a sort of ball for this evening. There was +an unusual flutter, for everything was going to be extra fine, and we put +on our prettiest dresses. Programmes with dangling pencils were lavished +on us, on which regular dances were set down--quadrilles, waltzes, polkas, +and lancers. + +The usual _cercle_ was curtailed, in view of the ball. + +The chamberlains, to facilitate matters, had arranged the boxes of music +for the mechanical piano very methodically on a table, so there should be +no mistakes or fumbling with the slides. + +The ladies were so agitated, fearing they would not get any partners, that +they made very transparent efforts to attract the attention of the +gentlemen. One would have thought they had never been to a ball in all +their lives. The gentlemen, just as agitated, rushed about to secure the +ladies, whom they could have had _without_ the rushing on other evenings. +The Empress looked exquisitely beautiful. The Emperor stood in the +doorway, smiling at this whirlwind of gaiety and animation. The Prince +Imperial danced untiringly with all the ladies. + +Flowers were distributed about, and, wonder of wonders! ices were served +at intervals, as if it were a real ball. My old general was chivalry +itself. He even engaged a partner for the lancers, and skipped about +telling everybody he did not know how to dance them, which was +unnecessary, as one could see for oneself later. + +There are four kinds of people in society: + +Those who know the lancers. + +Those who don't know the lancers. + +Those who know the lancers and say they don't. + +Those who don't know the lancers and say they do. + +My old and venerable warrior belonged to class number two, and really did +not know the lancers, but tripped about pleasantly and let others guide +him. When we came to the _grande chaîne_ he was completely intoxicated +with his success. Every eye was on him. Every one was occupied with his +doings, and his alone. All the ladies were pulling him first one way and +then the other, trying to confuse him by getting him into another set, +until he found himself quite at the other end of the room, still being +pulled about and twirled in every direction, never knowing where he was or +when he was going to stop. At last, utterly exhausted and confused, he +stopped short and placed himself in the middle of the ballroom, delighted +to be the center of all eyes and to make this effective _finale._ But no +one could compare with him when he made his Louis-Quinze reverence; the +younger men had to acknowledge that he scored a point there, and he might +well be proud of himself. All this made us very gay, and almost +boisterous. Never before had the evening finished with such a burst of +merriment, and we all retired, agreeing that the ball had been a great +success, and that Monsieur de Laferrière could sleep on his laurels as +soundly as we intended to sleep on our pillows. + + +_December 1st._ + +Count Niewekerke offered me his arm for _déjeuner_ this morning. He is a +Dutchman (_Hollandais_ sounds better) by birth, but he lives in Paris. As +he is the greatest authority on art there, the Emperor has made him Count +and Director of the Galerie du Louvre. He is very handsome, tall, and +commanding, and has, besides other enviable qualities, the reputation of +being the great lady-killer _par excellence._ + +As we stood there together the Empress passed by us. She held up her +finger warningly, saying, "Take care! Beware! He is a very dangerous +person, _un vrai mangeur de coeur!"_ "I know, your Majesty," I answered, +"and I expect to be brought back on a litter." + +She laughed and passed on. + +Monsieur Niewekerke looked pleasantly conscious and flattered as we walked +to the dining-room, and I felt as if I was being led to the altar to be +sacrificed like poor little Isaac. His English is very cockney, and he got +so mixed up with "heart" and "art" that I did not know half the time +whether he was talking of the collection of the Louvre Gallery or of his +lady victims. He did not hesitate to call my attention to the presence of +some of them at the table, which I thought was very kind of him, in case I +was unaware of it. + +He is as keen about the good things of the table as he is about art; in +fact, he is a great epicure. As he thought well of the menu, I will copy +it for you: + + _Consommé en tasses._ + Oeufs au fromage à l'Italienne. + Petites truites. + Cailles au riz. + Côtelettes de veau grillées. + Viande froide, salade. + Brioches à la vanille, fruits, dessert, café.... + +"Well," said the Empress, as she stopped in front of me after _déjeuner_, +"are you alive?" + +"I am, your Majesty, and, strange to say, my heart is intact." + +"Wonderful!" she said, "you are an exception." + +We had the choice between going to a _chasse à tir_ (without the Emperor), +and a drive to Pierrefonds. + +I had enough of the _chasse à tir_ last year, and I still see in my dreams +those poor birds fluttering in their death-agony. Anything better than +that! + +I preferred Pierrefonds, with its gargoyles and its hard, carved chairs. + +I was glad Monsieur de Niewekerke went with us, for he was more +interesting and did not go into so many details as Viollet-le-Duc. + +[Illustration: LA SALLE DES PREUX--CHÂTEAU DE PIERREFONDS] + +The restoration has progressed very much since the last time we were here, +though far from being completed yet. In the huge hall Niewekerke told me +the statues about the chimney were portraits of the wives of the _preux +chevaliers_ of that time. + +I thought the frescos of this hall were very crude in color; but Monsieur +de Niewekerke said they were excellent copies of the ancient style of +decoration. + +The castle is such a magnificent ruin one almost wishes that it was not +restored. + +I would like to see it in summer, not in this season, when one perishes +with cold and longs, in spite of its beauty, to be out of it and in a +warmer place. + +There was a dense fog on the lake and a mist in the forest when we left, +and it was dreadfully damp and cold. The postilions took a shorter cut and +carried us through La Brévière and St. Jean aux Bois. + +I should think both must be charming in summer; but now--ugh! + +What was my delight at the Empress's tea this afternoon to see Auber, my +dear old Auber! He had been invited for dinner, and had come with the +artists who are to play to-night. He looked so well and young, in spite of +his eighty-three years. Every one admires him and loves him. He is the +essence of goodness, talent, and modesty. He is writing a new opera. Fancy +writing an opera at eighty-three! + +I asked what the name of it was. He answered: "'Le Rêve d'Amour.' The +title is too youthful and the composer is too old. I am making a mistake, +but what of that? It is my last!" + +I said I hoped he would live many more years and write many more operas. + +He shook his head, saying, "Non, non, c'est vraiment mon dernier!" + +Monsieur de Lareinty said to the Empress at tea that there was an unusual +amount of musical talent among her guests--a real galaxy of stars seldom +to be found in amateurs. + +The galaxy may have existed--but the stars! The Milky Way seen through the +wrong end of an opera glass was nothing to the smallness of their +magnitude. + +The Empress caught at the idea directly, and the decree went out that +there should be a concert tomorrow evening; not mere desultory singing, +but singers and songs in regular order. + +Auber said he was sorry he could not be there to applaud us. He +accompanied us when we went to our rooms, and then he had no idea how to +find his own. After having seen him handed over successively to three +different valets, we left him to his fate, hoping he would arrive at his +destination eventually. When we entered the salon for dinner Auber was +already there. If he had not brought his own servant with him, he never +would have been in time. + +The troop of the Comédie Française played "La Joie fait Peur," by Musset. +The theater was brilliantly lighted; the guests, from the environs and the +_fine fleur_ of Compiègne, filled all the boxes. The gentlemen and the +officers were in the parquet. The Court and Imperial guests sat with their +Majesties in the Imperial box. It was a magnificent sight! + +Madame Favart was most touching in her part, and everybody, I think, wept. +Coquelin was excellent; but I do not like him so much in his pathetic +rôles; his squeaky voice and nasal tones do not belong to the sentimental +style. After the play he gave a monologue, which was the funniest thing I +ever heard, "Les Obsèques de Madame X----." The whole house was laughing, +and most of all the Emperor. I could see his back shaking, and the +diplomatic and apoplectic Baron condescended to explode twice. + +The representation lasted till half-past ten. The artists did not change +their toilettes, but came into the salon as they were dressed for the +play. They were received with great cordiality by their Majesties. The +Chamberlain gave them each a little package containing, I suppose, a +valuable souvenir from the sovereigns. A special train took them back to +Paris. + +Auber bid me good-by, saying, "Au revoir until Paris, if you are not too +absorbed in these grandeurs to receive a poor, insignificant bourgeois +like me." + +"You can always try," I answered with a laugh. "Bon soir et bon voyage!" + + +_December 2d._ + +What a day this has been! A storm of rain and hail raged all night, and +when I looked out of the window this morning I saw everything deluged in +water. The park looked dismal; all the paths were full of puddles; the +trees were dripping with rain, and, to judge from the dark skies and +threatening clouds, it seemed as if worse was to follow and there might be +thunder and lightning. On the programme for to-day there stood _chasse à +courre_; but of course _cela tombait dans l'eau_, as would have been its +natural end anyway in this weather. None of the ladies donned their green +costumes, as even one was so sure that the day would be passed indoors. + +At _déjeuner_ I was fortunate enough to sit between Prince Metternich +and the Marquis de Gallifet. Certainly I could not have two more +delightful companions, each so different and yet so entertaining. The +Marquis was very aggressive and grumpy; but very amusing. + +In French one says, "On a le vin triste," or "On a le vin gai." The +Marquis has "le déjeuner grincheux (grumpy)," I think. + +He began by attacking me on the English language. He said it was utterly +absurd and illogical, and though he ought to know it, as he had an English +wife, he felt he never could learn it. + +"Apropos of to-day's weather, you say, 'It never rains but it pours'--au +fond qu'est-ce que cela veut dire? 'Il ne pleut jamais, mais il pleut à +verse'; cela n'a pas le sens commun--you might as well say, 'It never +pours but it rains.'" + +I had to confess that it did sound senseless, and tried to explain the +meaning; but he grumbled, "Why don't they say what they mean?" He told me +he was once traveling in England and put his head out of the carriage +window to see something, and some one inside cried, "Look out!" He put his +head still farther out, when the person continued to scream, "Look out!" +He answered, "I am looking out," at which a rude hand seized him by the +coat-collar and jerked him inside, saying, "Damn it, look in then!" + +"How can any one conquer a language as stupid as that?" + +I told him I felt humiliated to own such a language, and I ought to +apologize for it, though I had not invented it and did not feel +responsible for it; but he would not listen to me. + +Prince Metternich asked, "What shall we do indoors this awful day?" + +I proposed tableaux; but he objected to tableaux. + +Then I suggested that one might have a fancy-dress tea-party. At last, +after many wild propositions, he said, "Why not charades?" + +Of course he had intended charades all the time. He asked the Marquis de +Gallifet if he would help us. + +"No, I won't," answered the Marquis, "but you are welcome to my wife; she +loves dressing-up and all that nonsense;" adding, "It is the only thing +she can do with success." + +"But we want her to act. Can she?" + +"Act!" said the amiable husband. "She can act like the devil!" + +By the time we had returned to the salon the Prince had not only found a +good word for a charade, but had decided in his resourceful mind all minor +details. He thought it would amuse the Prince Imperial to join us, and he +asked permission of the Prince's _gouverneur_ to allow him to do so. The +permission was readily given. + +Prince Metternich begged Vicomte Walsh to obtain the Empress's gracious +consent to honor the performance with her presence. She was very pleased +at the idea of seeing her son's _début_ as an actor, and promised to come, +and even said she would have the tea, usually served in her salon, brought +to the little theater. + +Prince Metternich gave us a sketch of what he wanted us to do, and gave us +general instructions as to our costumes, and bade us meet again in an +hour. He would see to everything else: light, heat, scenery, powder, +paint, etc., all the accessories, would be ready for us. We ladies were to +be _pierrettes_ and dancers of Louis-Quinze period; the gentlemen were to +represent the _talons rouges_, and to have red cloth pasted on the heels +of their low shoes. We could paint our faces and powder our hair after our +own ideas. "But, ladies, above all, do not be late," were the parting +words of the Prince. + +We followed his instructions as well as we could, and reappeared in the +theater to hear the now fully matured plans of our impresario. + +The Empress was seated before we were ready, Prince Metternich was so long +painting the Prince Imperial. We could hear her saying, "Allons! Allons!" +clapping her hands in her eagerness for us to commence. + +The word was PANTALON. + +The first syllable, PAN, was represented by the Prince Imperial as a +statue of Pan. + +His body was visible to the waist above a pedestal. Over his flesh-colored +undershirt he wore a wreath of green leaves across his shoulders, and his +head was also covered with a wreath. He held the traditional flute before +his mouth. No one could have recognized the delicate features of the +Prince Imperial, as Prince Metternich had painted his lips very large and +very red, and had added a fantastic mustache. His eyebrows (black as ink) +had an upward tilt, in true Mephistophelian style. + +It was a sylvan scene. Prince Metternich had ordered from the greenhouse +some orange and other trees to be moved on to the stage, which made a very +pretty effect. + +The Princess Metternich, in a quaint costume, was the Harlequine to her +husband's Harlequin. They made a very funny love scene, because, being man +and wife, they could make all their kissing real, and so ridiculously +loud, that one could hear it all over the theater. Every one laughed till +they cried, and particularly as Pan was rolling his eyes about in a very +comical manner. + +Her other lover (Pierrot) came in unawares; but she had time to throw a +shawl over Harlequin, who put himself on all fours, thus making a bench, +on which she demurely sat down. In order to throw dust in Pierrot's eyes, +she took from her basket a hammer and some nuts and began cracking them +(to the audience's and Pan's horror) on poor Harlequin's head, eating them +with great _sang-froid_. + +Prince Metternich had prudently provided a wooden bowl, with which he +covered his head so that his ambassadorial skull should be spared. Pan +smiled a diabolical smile, and had, of course, a great success. + +TALON was the next syllable. This was a sort of pantomime. The actors were +grouped like a picture of Watteau. Count Pourtales was a dancing-master +and was really so witty, graceful, and took such artistic attitudes that +he was a revelation to every one. Prince Metternich (his bosom friend) +exclaimed: + +"Who would ever have thought it? How talent conceals itself!" + +The whole word PANTALON was a combination of Columbines, Harlequins, and +Louis-Quinze cavaliers dancing in a circle, and all talking nonsense at +once. + +The statue of Pan in knickerbockers, his wreaths still on his head and +shoulders, joined in the dance. + +The Empress led the vociferous applause, and Prince Metternich came +forward on the stage and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are deeply +flattered at your approval. There will be a second performance before his +Majesty, the Emperor of the French, and I hope you will accord us your +patronage." + +There was great laughter at this. + +Count Pourtales took me in to dinner. We were very glad to be neighbors. +He was resting on his laurels, and I wanted to rest before getting mine +(if I got any) this evening. We exchanged views on nervousness. He said he +had been dreadfully nervous in the afternoon. I told him I was always +nervous when I had to sing, and when I sang the first song I was hot and +cold all over. + +"Like Alboni," he said; "she has had to give up singing in opera, she had +such stage-frights." + +We thanked each other after finishing dinner for having been kind enough +to have let the other alone. + +The rain was still pouring in torrents when we returned to the salon. In +spite of the many voices, we could still hear it pattering against the +windows of the terrace. It was lucky there were some stars among us, as +Monsieur de Lareinty had said, otherwise we would have seen none to-night. + +At ten o'clock the "galaxy" went into the _salle de musique_, and the +planets began to shine. First came Baroness Gourgaud, who attacked the +"Mi-bémol Polonaise," of Chopin. Their Majesties settled themselves in +their chairs with a look of heavenly resignation on their faces, which was +reflected on those of most of the guests. + +However, she played beautifully, more like an artiste than an amateur. The +Empress went forward to her, holding out her hand, which the Baroness, +bowing to the ground, kissed gratefully, feeling that she had covered +herself with glory, as she really had. + +Then Monsieur de V---- (our basso) sang "O Marguerite," from Faust, +without the slightest voice, but with excellent intentions. Next, having +the music under his hand, he continued and sang "Braga's Serenade," which +he thought was more suited to his voice, though it is written, as you +know, for a soprano. He sang the girl's part in a mysterious, husky, and +sepulchral voice, and the angel's part weaker and feebler than any angel +ever dreamed of. + +I looked at the beautiful ceiling painted by Girodet, and to keep myself +from going to sleep counted the legs of the angels, and tried to calculate +how many legs belonged to each. Monsieur de V---- said his idea was to +make the contrast very strong between the girl and the angel; he certainly +succeeded! + +Monsieur Dué played some of what he calls his "Sketches." "Il est si doué +(gifted)," exclaimed Princess Metternich. + +Every one was pleased; so was he. + +I sang "Le Rossignol," of Alabieff, in which is the cadenza Auber wrote +for me. Princess Metternich played the accompaniment. + +Madame C---- (our contralto) sang "Lascia che pianga," which suited her +beautiful voice better than it did the audience's taste. Then she sang +"Ah! Mon Fils," of "Le Prophète," with great effect, accompanying herself. + +But this was not the kind of music to please our audience. + +Count E---- (our tenor) was asked to add his Milky Way tenor to the rest +of the planets, but begged to be excused on the plea of a sore throat. No +one questioned this, and he was allowed to remain unheard. + +Later I sang "Oh! that We Two were Maying," by Gounod, a much too serious +song; but the Empress said she thought it was the most beautiful one she +had ever heard. I think so, too. I also sang one of Massenet's, "Poème +d'Avril." They asked for "Beware!" which I sang. The Emperor came up to me +(each time he gets up from his chair every one gets up and stands until he +sits down again), and said, "Won't you sing the song about the shoe?" + +What did he mean? I had no idea. + +"The one you sang the other night," said the Emperor. + +What do you think he meant? + +Well, he meant "Shoo-fly!" I sang it, as he desired. I don't believe he +knows yet what its true meaning is. There is an end to all things, and our +concert came to an end at last. Their Majesties, with gracious smiles and +repeated thanks, retired, the Milky Way faded from view, and the planets +went to bed. + +I know I deserved mine, and I appreciated it when I got it. + + +_December 3d._ + +The _chasse à courre_ is generally fixed for the last day of the _série_; +but their Majesties, at the suggestion of the thoughtful Vicomte Walsh, +ordered it to be changed to this afternoon, in order that the operetta +should arrive at a riper stage of perfection. Would it ever be near +enough? We had never had a moment yet when we could rehearse all together. +Vicomte de V----'s costume had not come from Paris, and he was bordering +on brain-fever, in a state of expectancy and impatience. Neither he nor +d'Espeuilles knew their songs, and the chorus needed much drilling. The +Princess Metternich put her salon at the Marquis's disposal, and he spent +half his time teaching some of his pupils. + +The days of the _chasse à courre_ the gentlemen appear in red coats and +the ladies in green-cloth dresses. Those that had _le bouton_ put it in +their buttonhole. You may be sure I wore mine! + +All the carriages, the horses, and grooms were before the terrace at two +o'clock, and after the usual delay we drove off to the forest. Their +Majesties and the Prince Imperial were on horseback. The Duchess de Sesto +invited me to drive with her, and in the same _char-à-banc_ with us were +Baronne de la Poeze, Comtesse Pourtales, and four or five others. The +Duchess looked very dainty, wrapped in her chinchilla furs. I had had so +little time to learn the talking part of my rôle that I took it with me in +the carriage, hoping to be able to study it. They all sympathized with me, +as they knew the operetta was to be given to-morrow evening. + +The roads were full of mud; but we splashed through them regardless of +such minor details as dirt Fortunately it did not rain, and the sun made a +few spasmodic efforts to come out, but it was far from being the ideal day +of last year. + +This _chasse_ varies but little, and I described my first acquaintance +with it in a letter last year, so I will spare you the repetition of +details. I fancy the route we took was the same; but I am not quite sure, +for all the roads and avenues resemble one another. + +Once, as we halted at an _étoile_, we saw a beautiful stag bound past +us, full of life and strength, with enormous horns (they said it was a +_dix cors_). Every one in the carriage stood up in their excitement to +look after it. How I wished he would escape and live his free and happy +life in the forest. I hate this _chasse_; I hate to write about it; I +hate to be present at it. It is all so pitiful and painful to me! How can +any one find pleasure in such cruel sport? + +To kill a living creature, to take the life of an animal that has done you +no harm, seems horrible to me. But I will say no more on this subject. It +always puts me in a bad temper, and makes me disgusted with my fellow- +creatures. + +We followed the other part of the cavalcade and arrived at the _carrefour_ +in time to see the death of one stag. The others saw it, but I was +occupied with my manuscript. + +There were two stags taken, two beautiful creatures that ought to have +lived. + +It was so cold and bleak I longed to get back to warm rooms, cheerful +fire, and a hot cup of tea, which I was sure to find awaiting me, and I +was heartily glad when we turned homeward. + +Six o'clock had just struck when we drove up to the front of the Grand +Escalier, and I was able to get a little rest before dressing for dinner. + +All the ladies who owned diamond crescents, or any crescent suggestive of +Diana and her pastimes, put them on. The Empress had a gorgeous crescent +on her lovely hair. + +The worn-out Marquis took me in to dinner. It was fortunate, for there +were some vital points which we had to discuss. On my other side was the +Count de Grammont, a sportsman, who wanted to talk only of the hunt; but I +was able to turn a deaf ear to his marvelous exploits, thanks to the +Marquis's incessant explanations. + +There was a little dancing, to fill up the time before the _curée_. It is +a pity that this is our last dance. The chamberlains are beginning to show +a good deal of talent in their playing _le piano méchanique_, and they can +play almost in time. + +The _curée_ was at ten o'clock. The long gallery was soon alive with an +eager public. All the windows were occupied by the ladies. The courtyard +was filled, in spite of the cold weather, with the populace of Compiègne; +the _piqueurs_ waved their torches; the dogs howled and yelped; the +_gardes_ blew their long _cors de chasse_, and it was just like last year, +except that on this occasion there were two stags--therefore, two sets of +entrails to be devoured. + +Tea and cakes were passed about. Those who had come from the neighboring +châteaux took their leave, those who were to return to Paris drove off to +the station, and the privileged guests retired to their apartments. + + +_December 4th._ + +At ten o'clock this morning I was surprised at hearing a timid knock at my +salon door. Who should it be but the Marquis d'Aoust. He begged my pardon +for disturbing me; but he wished to consult me about something he +considered of great importance. + +He looked disheveled and careworn, even at this early hour, as if he had +not slept all night. Would I be willing to help Count d'E---- in our duet, +and sing a part of his music? Otherwise, he was sure it would never go. + +I told him it would not be easy to sing tenor; but I would see at the +rehearsal what I could do. He was in despair. I tried to tranquilize him, +my compassion triumphing over my forebodings, and assured him that all +would go well. I did not tell him that I had had a succession of +nightmares last night, where I saw myself stranded on the stage, having +forgotten both words and music. + +He said that he had been on the stage at work with the carpenters since I +don't know when this morning. They had first put up the scenery as he had +ordered; but he saw that there would not be space for the eight performers +(there are two scenes where we are all on the stage at once). Accordingly, +he had ordered the carpenters to change it. + +I ate my _déjeuner_ sandwiched between the tenor and the basso. We +rehearsed our dialogues, although we pretended to discuss other matters. + +The Empress went directly to the Marquis after _déjeuner_ and said, "We +are looking forward to your operetta to-night with real pleasure, and +we are sure that it will be a great success." The Marquis was radiant. + +When we met later in the theater for our first and only rehearsal we were +delighted to find there the grand piano from the _salle de musique_. The +curtain rose on a very pretty garden scene, with trees on either side, +green linen on the floor representing grass, a village with a church- +steeple in the background, and for stage properties a garden bench and a +vase placed just before the footlights, so that it would not interfere +with our movements, but would show us where _not_ to fall off. + +The Marquis was, of course, at the piano, and Prince Metternich, as +prompter, squeezed into a prompter's box, looking wretchedly +uncomfortable. We commenced the rehearsal, which, on the whole, went off +better than we expected. + +The basso is the first to appear. He sings a melancholy song, in which he +makes known his love for the humble village maiden. His voice gets more +dismal and lower as he becomes despondent, and higher and more buoyant as +his hopes rise. At the end, when he sings "Elle sera à moi," his voice, +though very husky, was almost musical. Then I, as the village maiden, +enter with a basket, suggestive of butter and eggs, and sing a sentimental +ditty telling of my love for the friend of the lord. The music of this is +mediocre beyond words. The Marquis tries to show, by a few high soprano +notes, how high my wildest flights of aspirations fly before I could ever +reach the subject of my love. "Mes tourments" and "le doux plaisir +d'aimer" get so mixed that I don't know myself what I am singing about. + +The lady of the manor hears my lament, and, believing me to be in love +with her husband, berates me in a dramatic duet. The friend and adviser +now appears, and we get through an incomprehensible trio. He cannot +convince her (the lady) of the innocence of her husband. She insists upon +thinking him a traitor, leaves us in a fury, and we have the floor to +ourselves when we sing the famous duet on account of which the Marquis had +qualms this morning. In it there is a minor phrase which is quite +intricate, and I saw that unless I came to d'E----'s rescue he could never +manage it. + +The lord and the lady reappear, while the friend and I retire in the +background and lean up against the village steeple and whisper. The lady +is violent and the lord is indifferent. The music sounds like an +everlasting grumble, because her voice is contralto and his is bass. The +village maiden is called to the front, and denies everything she has been +accused of. The husband makes amends in a phrase miles too high for his +voice. The friend takes all the blame on his black-velvet shoulders, and +says he has loved the maiden all along. The maiden is overcome with +emotion and faints for joy. + +The final quartette is a sad affair, musically speaking, constructed on +the Marquis's own ideas of thoroughbass. All the singers start on the same +plane, the soprano soars heavenward, the contralto and the bass grovel in +their deepest notes, while the tenor, who ought to fill up the gap, stands +counting the measures on his fingers, his eyes glued to the prompter, +until he joins me and we soar together. + +To use a metaphor, one might say that the contralto and bass were in the +lower regions, the soprano floating in heaven, the tenor groping about on +earth for his note; then we all meet on the same place we started from, +which is the signal for the chorus to unite their forces with ours. + +The Marquis was dreadfully put out with me because I refused to faint on +the stage (in the text it says _Rosette tombe évanouie_). He said nothing +was easier. I had only to put my arms out to break the fall and--fall. He +thought that with a little practice between the afternoon and the evening +I should be able to do it. + +I could see myself covered with bruises tumbling about over sofas and +chairs, and I could see the bewilderment of any one coming into my room +while I was practising this part of my rôle. + +I said, "I absolutely refuse to risk my neck." He thought it was very +selfish of me. One would have thought that the whole success of the +operetta depended on my fainting. He said he could show me how to fall +without hurting myself, and in trying to do so he tripped over the vase +and bumped his head against the garden bench. Fortunately he did not +damage himself, but the argument ended then and there. + +At half-past four my maid came to the theater to tell me that the Empress +expected me to tea. I had thought she would, as she had promised the +answers to those questions; and so it was. As soon as I appeared (I had +had time to change my dress) the Empress called me to her and said: + +"Here are the answers to your American soul-probing questions! These are +mine (giving me hers) and here are the Emperor's. He was very pleased to +write them, as it was you who asked him; besides, I think they amused him. +He spent a long time pondering over each answer. You see," she added, with +her lovely smile, "nous vous aimons bien." + +I was very glad to have the answers. I copy them for you. + + A quelle qualité donnez-vous la préférence? À la gratitude. + + Quels sont vos auteurs favoris? Tacite. + + Quelles sont vos occupations favorites? Chercher la solution de + problèmes insolubles. + + Qui voudriez-vous être? Mon petit fils. + + Quelles personnes de l'histoire détestez-vous le plus? Le Connétable + de Bourbon. + + Pour quelles fautes avez-vous le plus d'indulgence? Pour celles dont + je profite. + + NAPOLÉON LOUIS. + + + A quelle qualité donnez-vous la préférence? Au dévouement. + + Quels sont vos auteurs favoris? Calderon, Byron, Shakespeare. + + Quelles sont vos occupations favorites? Faire le bien. + + Qui voudriez-vous être? Ce que je suis. + + Quelles personnes de l'histoire détestez-vous le plus? Lopez. + + Pour quelles fautes avez-vous le plus d'indulgence? Pour celles que la + passion excuse. + + EUGÉNIE. + +I add the answers of Prosper Mérimée: + + À quelle qualité donnez-vous la préférence? La persévérance. + + Quels sont vos auteurs favoris? Pr. Mérimée. + + Quelles sont vos occupations favorites? Faire des châteaux en Espagne. + + Qui voudriez-vous être? Napoléon III. + + Quelles personnes de l'histoire détestez-vous le plus? Mazarin. + + Pour quelles fautes avez-vous le plus d'indulgence? La gourmandise. + + PROSPER MÉRIMÉE. + +I think the Emperor's are very clever. + +"And the operetta?" inquired the Empress. + +"I hope your Majesties will be indulgent," I replied. + +Monsieur de Laferrière was next to me at dinner. He was as much interested +in the operetta as other people seemed to be. I took advantage of his +being my neighbor to ask him to manage it so that we could leave the salon +before the _cercle_ commenced, as we had to dress, and if any of us were +late I dared not think what the effect would be on the nervous Marquis. + +The Emperor raised his glass during dinner, though I sat very far down the +table. I suppose he wanted to inspire me with hope and courage. + +Monsieur de Laferrière arranged everything for us most amiably. We rushed +off to our rooms to dress. I, for one, was not long over my toilette, and, +followed by my maid, hurried through the long corridors to the theater. + +We were all there except Monsieur de V----, who was no doubt still +pottering over his raiment. The artist he had ordered from Paris was +already there, brush in hand, ready to paint us. The result was very +satisfactory. When we looked at ourselves in the glass we wondered why one +should not be beautiful every day with so simple an art. + +We were rather taken back when Monsieur d'Espeuilles appeared in a wig and +a false mustache; but he hastened to say there was nothing like being +disguised to put one at one's ease. The gentlemen of the chorus, not +willing to go to any extra expense, had _culottes courtes_ and white +stockings; the ladies had tried to be more in harmony, but they thought +that with rakes, spades, and basket they had quite enough _couleur +locale_. + +The chamberlain came to ask whether their Majesties should come now. +Prince Metternich answered that we were waiting for them, A tedious delay +occurred before the audience had settled into their places in accordance +with their rank, to the great annoyance of Prince Metternich, shut up in +the small prompter's box, and the Marquis d'Aoust, fidgeting at the piano, +and driving us almost to distraction by his repeated questions and +exhortations: "Do you think you know your part? Don't forget to"--etc. + +At last! at last! No retreating now, _Coûte que coûte!_ we must take in +the plank and embark on our shaky craft. + +The Marquis attacked the overture by playing some vigorous arpeggios and +pompous chords. The curtains were drawn aside and the lord of the manor +entered. After his monologue, which he did very well, he hesitated a +moment. This agitated the Marquis to such a degree that he stood up and +waved his hand as a signal to him to commence his song, and gave him the +note on the piano. Monsieur de V---- started in all right and sang his +song with due sentiment, and very well. I even think as far back as the +sixth row of seats they were conscious that he was singing. His acting and +gestures were faultless. All Frenchmen can act. + +I thought, when I came in, the public was chilly, and I felt cold shivers +running down my back. My courage was oozing out of me, and when the lord +of the manor said to me, "Rosette, que fais-tu ici?" and I had to answer, +"Ce que je fais, Monsieur; mais vous voyez bien, je ne fais rien," I +thought I should die of fright and collapse on the spot. However, I pulled +myself together and began my silly little song. + +The moment I began to sing I felt at ease, and I flatter myself I gave a +certain glaze to the emptiness of the music. Madame Conneau sang her +dramatic aria beautifully, and created quite a _furore_. I only wish the +music had been more worthy of her. The love duet between the friend and +myself was, much to my surprise, a great success. It was encored, and we +sang it again. + +When we came to the minor passage (the stumbling-block) the Marquis, who +was perspiring at every pore in his dread that I should not hit the right +note, pounded it on the piano loud enough to be heard all over the +theater. I gave him a withering look, which he pretended not to see. +Perhaps he did not, for his attention, like mine, was startled by seeing +the false mustache of Monsieur d'Espeuilles ungluing and threatening to +drop into his mouth. The Marquis began wagging his head and making frantic +signs. Monsieur d'Espeuilles was horribly confused, and I feared for the +success of our _da capo;_ but he patted the now limp offender back on +his lip, and we continued the duet. During the applause the Marquis took +the occasion to wipe the perspiration from his bald head. + +In spite of our qualms the final quartette was not so bad after all. When +it was time for me to come down from my upward flight in order to help the +tenor, the Marquis again waved his right hand in the air to attract my +attention, while he thundered a tremolo with his left, to keep the +accompaniment going until he was sure that everything was right. The +chorus came on in due order, and flourished their rakes and spades as +though they were waving flags, in participation of the joy and gladness of +the reconciliation. There was one moment of genuine hilarity, when the +little fox-terrier belonging to the Empress's niece rushed on to the stage +to join his mistress, who, with great _sang-froid,_ picked him up and +went on singing, to the immense amusement of the audience. + +It was suffocatingly hot in the little theater, and we were glad to think +that we had arrived at the end of our perilous journey. The red on our +cheeks was getting paler; the powder was becoming paste; the black on the +eyebrowless actors began to run down their cheeks; Monsieur d'Espeuilles's +wig and mustache were all on one side. + +All these details mattered little, now that the end had come, and the +performance had concluded with great _éclat_. + +The happy Marquis (though I think he aged ten years that hour at the +piano) was radiant with his success. Every emotion had swept over him: +ambition, vanity, hope, pride, forbearance, patience, long-suffering. + +The curtain fell amid great applause, as spontaneous as it was persistent +and, I hope, genuine. + +We stayed in our costumes for the tea in the Emperor's salon. + +Both their Majesties complimented the Marquis, and thanked us all +separately for the pleasure they had had and the trouble we had given +ourselves. The Emperor said to me, "Vous vous êtes surpassée ce soir." I +courtesied and asked him what he thought of the music. + +He hesitated before answering. "I don't know much about music; but it +seems to me, as Rossini said of the music of Wagner: 'Il y a de jolis +moments, mais de mauvais quarts d'heures!' All the same, it was very +pretty." + +Every one praised the Marquis to the skies, and he was really in the +seventh heaven of delight. + +I am only afraid his head will be turned, and that he will write another +_chef-d'oeuvre_. + +I was glad when their Majesties bade us good night, for I was completely +exhausted. + + +PARIS, _December 5th_. + +It seems nice, all the same, to be at home again. We arrived in Paris at +six o'clock, and at half-past seven I was in my bed, completely worn out. +However, I must tell you how our visit ended the day before yesterday. Was +it only the day before yesterday? It seems months ago. At _déjeuner_ the +Princess Metternich sat on the right of the Emperor, and the Empress's +brother-in-law, Duke d'Albe, gave me his _avant-le-déluge_ arm, and put me +on the left of his Majesty. + +I thought the Emperor looked tired and ill, and I noticed he frequently +put his hand on his back, as if he was in pain. The Princess Metternich +engrossed the Emperor's attention. She is so witty and lively that every +one must listen when she talks. All the same, the Emperor talked with me a +good deal, and thanked me for having done so much to amuse them. Never +would they forget the pleasure they had had. + +When we went up to our rooms to put on our cloaks there was no pretentious +majordomo demanding his fee, and our particular valet looked sad, and did +not meet my eye when I tried to catch his to give a smile of adieu, and +persistently fixed his gaze on something at the other end of the corridor. +I rather liked the old way better, as one felt that in a measure one had +made some little compensation for all the delightful days spent there. + +I asked my maid how the servants felt about this change. She said that in +their _salle à manger_ almost all the maids and valets belonging to the +guests gave _pourboires_. + +After we had made our adieux, and taken our seats in the different +carriages, their Majesties came out on the balcony to see us depart. They +waved their hands in farewell as we drove off. + +The journey back to Paris was a silent one. Every one was occupied with +his own thoughts. Prince Metternich sat in a corner talking with the +impervious diplomat; I wondered if he were relating the salad's +complicated relationships. We all bade one another good-by, adding, with +assumed enthusiasm, that we hoped to meet soon again, when perhaps we were +rejoicing in the thought that we would not do so for a long time to come. + +What insincere creatures we are! + + +_May, 1870._ + +We were invited to a picnic at Grand Trianon, given by the Emperor and +Empress for the Archduke of Austria. + +The rendezvous was to be at St. Cloud, and we were asked to be there at +four o'clock. On arriving we found the Metternichs, Édouard Delesert, +Duperré, and Count Dehm, the Austrian Secretary. Their Majesties and the +Prince Imperial joined us when we were all assembled. We then mounted the +two _char-à-bancs_ which were waiting for us in front of the chateau, +with their postilions and four horses; the _piqueurs,_ in their saddles, +were all ready to precede us. The Emperor, Empress, the Prince Imperial, +Princess Metternich, and the Archduke were in the first carriage; the rest +of us were in the second--about fourteen people in all. We drove through +the lovely forest of Marly, the long, tiresome avenues of Versailles, and +through many roads known probably only to the postilions, and perhaps used +only on rare occasions such as this royal excursion, for they were in such +a bad condition, ruts and stones everywhere, that our heads and shoulders +were bumping continually against our neighbors'. Finally we reached Petit +Trianon, where we left the carriages and servants, who were ordered to +meet us at Grand Trianon later, bringing our extra wraps with them. The +air was deliciously balmy and warm, and was filled with the perfume of +lilacs and acacias. + +We wandered through the park, admiring the skill of the artist who had +laid it out so cleverly, just like Petit Val. This is not surprising, as +it was the same person who planned them both. All the surroundings recall +the charming life which Marie Antoinette must have lived in the midst of +this pastoral simplicity. + +I wondered if the same thought passed through the Empress's mind which +passed through mine. Could history ever repeat this unfortunate queen's +horrible fate? We continued our walk to Grand Trianon, and found the table +spread for our dinner under the wide _charmille,_ near the lake. The +Princess Metternich sat on the right of the Emperor, and I on his left. + +The Emperor was in excellent spirits, and bandied repartees with Monsieur +Delesert, who surpassed himself in wit, and told many and sometimes rather +risky stories, which made every one laugh. The Prince Imperial could +hardly wait till the end of the dinner, he was so impatient to get to the +rowboat which was ready waiting for him on the lake. The Empress was quite +nervous, and stood on the edge of the lake all the time he was on the +water, calling to him, "Prends garde, Louis!" "Ne te penches pas, Louis!" +and many other such counsels like any other anxious mother, and she never +took her eyes from the little boat which was zigzagging about under the +hands of the youthful prince. + +It was after nine o'clock when we started to return to St. Cloud by +another route. The _piqueur_, finding the gate locked through which we had +to pass, knocked on the door of the lodge-keeper, who, awakened from his +slumbers, appeared in a _déshabillé_ more than hasty, intending to +administer a _savon_ (scolding) to such tardy comers. But on hearing from +the _piqueur_ that the monarch of all he surveyed was waiting in the +carriage, he flew to open the gate, disclosing his scanty night-attire. +The funniest part of it was that, as soon as he realized the situation, he +thought it his duty to show his patriotism, so he stood on the steps of +his lodge and, as we passed through the gate, he chanted a hoarse and +sleepy! "Vive l'Empereur!" and waved his smoking candle. + +The Emperor was convulsed with laughter. I, who sat behind him, could see +his shoulders shaking. + +The ball of the _plébiscite_ was the most splendid thing I ever saw. +The architects and decorators had outdone themselves. The gardens of the +Tuileries beyond the fountain had been hedged in by orange-trees, and +other large trees moved there in their tubs. The whole _parterre_ of +flowers was festooned with lanterns and little colored lamps, making this +fairy scene as bright as day. The ballroom and adjoining salons, of which +the windows had been removed as well as the iron railing outside of them, +led on to a large platform which occupied the space of six such windows or +doors; these gave out into two colossal staircases which descended into +the garden. It was such a beautiful night, so warm that we ladies could +walk about in our ball-dresses without any extra wraps; there were about +six thousand people invited, they said. It seemed as if all Paris was +there. + +After the _quadrille d'honneur_ their Majesties circulated freely about. +Every one was eager to offer congratulations to the Emperor. Was it not +the greatest triumph of his reign to have the unanimous vote of all +France--this overwhelming proof of his popularity? As he stood there +smiling, with a gracious acknowledgment of the many compliments, he looked +radiantly happy to thus receive the homage of his country. As the Emperor +passed near me I added my congratulations, to which he replied, "Merci, je +suis bien heureux." + +Their Majesties stood on the dais with the members of the Imperial family, +and after watching the dance they all went in to the _Pavillon de Flore_, +where supper was served for the notabilities. + +For the others there was arranged a supper in the theater; an orchestra on +the stage played all the time; the balconies were festooned with flowers +and filled with guests; there were supper-tables in the parquet and in the +largest _loges_, and plants and shrubs placed in every available spot. + + +LONDON, _June, 1870._ + +DEAR M.,--What will you think of your dissipated daughter? Do you not +think that she is insatiable? I am sure that you will say that I ought to +be contented after the long season of gaiety and excitement in Paris, and +settle down in lovely Petit Val, where the lilacs and the violets call one +with scented voices. + +However, we decided to go to London. + +Did I write to you of our breakfast at Armenonville? After Lord Lyons's +ball, which lasted until six o'clock in the morning, Prince Metternich and +several others thought that it would be a good idea to go home, change our +ball-dresses for morning-dress, and go out to the Bois for our morning +coffee. We did it. + +I confess that it was a crazy thing to do after dancing all night; but the +beautiful May morning, the glorious sunshine, and our spirits inspired us +to carry out this wild whim, much to the disgust of our sleepy coachmen. +This excursion was not a success; we were all tired and longed for bed. +One cannot be amusing or _en train_ at seven o'clock in the morning. +And as for the family, when we returned home all the comment they made +was, "What fools!" They did not see any fun in it; neither did we, to tell +the truth. + +The Rothschilds, Lord Lyons, and Prince and Princess Metternich gave us +what must have been very powerful letters, for we had hardly been in +London more than a few days before we knew every one worth knowing, and +all doors worth opening were opened to us, and I found myself what one +calls _lancée_. + +We took rooms in Park Street; that is, we had the two stories of the +house. The landlady lived downstairs, and gave us our meals when we were +at home. As soon as we got settled we left our cards and letters of +introduction. + +Invitation followed invitation in the most bewildering manner, sometimes +several for the same day. + +I could not begin to tell you all that we have already done. Writing +letters seems to be the one thing which I have no time for. It is a +perpetual push and rush from morning till night. + +Our first dinner was at Baron and Baroness Rothschilds', where the Prince +and Princess of Wales and a great many distinguished people were invited. +I sat next to a Mr. Osbourne--everybody called him Dick. He told me that +he was the most dined-out and tired-out man in London, and that he had not +eaten at home for six months. + +I had not seen their Royal Highnesses since their visit to Paris during +the Exposition. They said that they remembered me; but I cannot think it +possible that they can have such wonderful memories. + +I never saw such a splendid collection of orchids as there was on the +table, and each lady had a bouquet of orchids and roses by her plate. + +I was asked to sing, and was delighted to do it. The Rothschilds' ballroom +was a glorious place in which to make a debut. + +Michael Costa, the well-known musician, came after dinner and accompanied +me in the "Cavatina" from "Rigoletto," and the waltz from the "Pardon de +Ploërmel." + +Lady Sherbourne, a charming lady whom I fell in love with at first sight, +sang also. She has a beautiful, rich contralto voice, and sang with a +great deal of expression an English song called, "Out on the rocks when +the tide is low." + +In your last letter you wrote, "I am afraid that you are on the way to +become conceited." I am afraid myself I am, still I cannot resist telling +you, this once, that my audience was very enthusiastic and Mr. Costa said +--well, I won't tell you what he said; it might sound conceited. The last +thing I sang was "Beware!" which was immensely appreciated. + +The Prince of Wales said: "That is a bewitching song. I never heard it +before. Who composed it?" + +I told him that it was written for me by my husband, and Longfellow had +written the words. + +The Princess, before leaving, said, "I cannot tell you how much pleasure +you have given us this evening; we hope to see you often while you are in +London." She is very beautiful, even handsomer than when I saw her last. +Baroness Rothschild kissed me, and thanked me for having sung for her. + +Call me vain and conceited if you will, my head is turned, and there is +nothing more to be said about it! + +A luncheon at "Caroline, Duchess of Montrose's," at two o'clock upset me +for the whole day. I am not accustomed to those big _déjeuners- +dinatoires_. I was sleepy and felt good for nothing the rest of the day; +and when we dined at Lady Molesworth's that evening, "to meet their +Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales," and wanted to be extra +up-to-the-mark, I felt just the contrary. However, after dinner the Prince +of Wales asked me to sing, and I did not refuse, and even sang most of the +evening. There was a charming Baron Hochschild, the Swedish Minister, who +sang delightfully. He is a thorough musician, and accompanied himself +perfectly with all the aplomb of an artist. He has a deep, rich barytone, +and his _répertoire_ consisted of all the well-known old Italian songs. +Lady Molesworth is a beautiful old lady, who must have been a great beauty +in her youth. She wears curls just like yours, dear mama, which made me +love her. I met here Arthur Sullivan; he was full of compliments. + +The next day we were invited to a _matinée musicale_ at Lady Dudley's, +preceded by a luncheon, which Mr. Osbourne called "a snare," because, he +said, I could not refuse to sing. I did not want to refuse, either. The +piano was in the beautiful picture-gallery, all full of Greuze's pictures +bought from the Vatican; it has the most wonderful acoustics, and the +voice sounded splendidly in it. Lady Dudley is a celebrated beauty. Lord +Dudley--before he succeeded to the title--was Lord Ward. The Duke and +Duchess of Sutherland asked us to dine. This was a very imposing affair; +the Duke of Cambridge was at the dinner as the _grosse pièce_, and there +were many diplomats. After dinner several artists came from Covent Garden, +and among them Madame Patti, who sang the "Cavatina" of "Lucia," with +flute accompaniment, and how beautifully! + +When I was introduced to her I said, "The first time I heard you sing was +years ago when I was a little girl and you were in short dresses." + +"In Rochester," I replied. "I shall never forget how exquisitely you sang +'Ah! non giunge' and 'Ernani.'" + +"Yes, I remember quite well. I was singing in concerts with Ole Bull; but +that was a long time ago." + +"It was indeed," I said; "but I have never forgotten your voice, nor a +lovely song you sang which I have never heard since, called 'Happy +Birdling of the Forest.' And your trill! Just like the bird itself!" + +We became quite good friends, and she made me promise to come to see her. +She is charming. Every one was most enthusiastic. Some one said she gets a +thousand pounds for an evening. The Marquis de Caux (her husband) looked +rather out of place. It seemed queer to see him again, not as the +brilliant Marquis of the Tuileries (the "beau" _par excellence_), but +simply as the husband of Patti. He did not find a chance to speak to me. + +Some days later Lady Anglesey gave a luncheon for me. On the invitations +were, "To meet Mrs. Moulton." I read between the lines: to hear Mrs. +Moulton sing. They always put on their invitations, "To meet" so and so. + +Mr. Quimby said to me, "I liked you from the first moment I saw you, but I +had no idea you were going to be such a beast." "Beast!" I echoed. "That +is not very complimentary." "A lion is a beast, isn't it?" he jokingly +replied. + +"Am I going to be a lion? I did not know it." + +"Well, you are a lioness, which is better." + +He is considered the wit of London, and this is a specimen of his wit. +What do you think? + +At the luncheon there were Jacques Blumenthal, the famous pianist and +composer, and Arthur Sullivan, who asked me to sing in his little +operetta, which some amateurs are rehearsing for a _soirée_ at Lady +Harrington's; and on my acceptance he brought the music for me to try over +with him the next morning. The _soirée_ was to be three days later. The +music is nothing remarkable; in fact, the whole thing (it is called "The +Prodigal Son") is not worthy of him. I have not met any of my fellow- +performers yet. Forgive this jerky letter; I have been interrupted a +thousand times. Charles thinks it is time to go back to Paris; but we have +just received an invitation from Baron Alfred Rothschild to spend Ascot +week--a _séjour de sept jours_--with a party at a house he has hired +for the race-week there, and I could not resist. + + +ASCOT, LONDON, _June, 1870._ + +DEAR M.,--Viscount Sydney thought that we ought to ask for an audience of +the Princess of Wales, and we did it. The audience was accorded, and we +presented ourselves at the appointed hour and were received by the lady of +honor and shown into the beautifully arranged drawing-room. The Princess +was most gracious; she certainly is the loveliest lady I have ever seen. I +told her we were going to Ascot for the week, and she said that they were +also going there and hoped they would see us. Our interview came to an +end, as such interviews do, without anything very interesting happening, +and, finally, we backed ourselves out of the royal presence. + +That evening there was a ball at Lady Waldegrave's, who lives at +Strawberry Hill, a mile or so out of London. Baron Alfred Rothschild +offered to take us out there in his coach and-four. We dined first with +the Baron Meyer Rothschild, and afterward drove out to Strawberry Hill. It +is the most beautiful place you can imagine. I never saw anything so grand +as the cedar-trees. + +The cotillon lasted very late; the Duke of Saxe-Weimar talked a long time +with me, mostly about music. He is very musical, and knows Liszt +intimately, and told me a quantity of anecdotes about him. He was +interested in what I told him about Liszt's going to the Conservatoire +with Auber and me, and about the "Tannhäuser" overture incident. It was +six o'clock when we drove back to London. We saw the milk-carts on their +morning rounds and the street-sweepers at work. One felt ashamed of +oneself at being in ball-dress and jewels at this early hour, galloping +through the streets in a fine carriage, making such a dreadful contrast to +the poor working-people. + +I had great fun at Lady Harrington's musical _soirée_, where Arthur +Sullivan's "Prodigal Son" was to be sung. + +We had been dining at Lady Londonderry's, and arrived rather late at Lady +Harrington's. The whole staircase was crowded with people, and even down +in the hall it was so full of ladies and gentlemen that there was no +question of moving about. However, I made my way as far as the stairs, +every one wondering at my audacity, and I murmured gently: + +"May I pass?" There was a chorus of "Quite impossible!" "Perfectly +useless!" and other such discouraging remarks. I said to a gentleman who +sat stolidly on his step: + +"Do you think I could send word to Mr. Sullivan that the Prodigal Son's +mother cannot get to him?" + +"What do you mean?" said he. "Are you--" + +"Yes, I am; and if you don't let me pass you won't have any music." + +You should have seen them jump up and make a pathway for me. I marched +through it like the children of Israel through the Red Sea. I was +enchanted to have my little fun. I joined the other performers, and the +mother of the Prodigal Son was received with open arms. The Prodigal Son's +father was pathos itself, and we rejoiced together over our weak tenor- +boy. The only fatted calves that were to be seen belonged to the fat +flunkeys. + +We had a beautiful time at Ascot. Alfred Rothschild was an excellent host. +Among the other guests were the Archibald Campbells, the Hochschilds, Mr. +Osbourne, the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle, Hon. and Mrs. Stoner, one of +the ladies of the Queen, Mr. Mitford, and others. Lady Campbell had only +one dress with her (they must be very poor!); it was a black velvet +(fancy, in the middle of summer!). She wore it high-necked for the races +in the daytime and low-necked in the evening. We drove to Ascot every day +at one o'clock. We had seats in the Queen's stand, and after seeing one +race we went to lunch with Mr. Delane, who had open table for one hundred +people every day. Mr. Delane belongs to the _Times_ newspaper. + +Baron Rothschild had _carte-blanche_ to bring any guest, or as many as he +liked. The Prince of Wales always lunched there, and any one that was of +importance was sure to be present. I made many new acquaintances, and you +may imagine how I enjoyed this glimpse of a world so entirely unknown to +me. The races at Longchamps, Auteuil, and Chantilly I had seen many times; +but I never saw anything like this exciting and bewildering scene. + +The Prince of Wales gave a ball at Cooper's Hill (the house they had hired +for the Ascot week), which was very charming and _sans façon_. I danced +the cotillon with Baron Rothschild and a waltz with the Prince of Wales. +The supper, which we had in the palm-garden, was an elaborate affair. We +drove home in the early morning, just as the day was breaking. + +The next day we lunched first at the barracks, and then afterward went to +Virginia Water, where the Princess of Wales had arranged a picnic. There +was boating on the pretty lake and tents on the lawn; tea was served +during the afternoon, and a military band played the whole time. The great +attraction was the echo. We all had to try our voices, and the gentlemen +made bets as to how many times the echo would be heard. Some loud, +piercing voices were repeated as many as eight times. + +Here we bid our kind host good-by and took the train for Twickenham. We +passed the night with Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman at their villa. The next day we +were invited to a croquet-party and dinner by the Count and Countess de +Paris. + +We arrived at Twickenham Court at four o'clock, and began playing our game +directly. Mrs. Hoffman had been praising me to the Countess de Paris to +such a degree that she was fired with ambition to play against a +"champion" of the first water, When we appeared on the ground I noticed +that the Countess had a small ivory mallet. "This," I said to myself, "is +a foregone conclusion; any one who plays with a fancy mallet, and that of +ivory, is sure to be beaten." And in my conceit I thought I need not give +myself much trouble about the game. Alas! I never appreciated the saying +that "pride has a fall" until that day. At first I played with utter +indifference, I was so sure of winning, and even when the Countess de +Paris walked triumphantly over the ground, carrying everything before her, +I smiled inwardly, saying to myself, "Just wait." But though I played my +very best I never scored a game, and I could not even make a decent +stroke. I felt so discouraged, and I was beaten all to pieces. The dinner +was solemn and impressive, the whole Orléans family being present. + +The Prince de Joinville, the Duke de Chartres, and the Count de Paris, +with their wives; in all, about twenty at table. I was disgusted with +myself, provoked at my silly self-assurance, and mortified that I had been +beaten _à plate couture_, which in English means that all my seams had +been turned down and ironed, and all my feathers were drooping. + +We were (at least I was) glad to escape at ten o'clock. I don't think I +ever was so tired. The week at Ascot, the picnic at Virginia Water, the +balls, and the late sitting-up at night, all told on my nerves, and +instead of resting at the Hoffmans', I passed a miserable and restless +night. + +The following day we returned to London in time to drive out, at one +o'clock, with the Lionel Rothschilds to their country-place. It is the +most magnificent estate; the cedar-trees are particularly beautiful, and +the broad lawn, which stretches out in front of the house, is the finest I +have ever seen. Baron Rothschild himself drove the coach and four horses, +and we spun along the fine road, passing Richmond and all the pretty +villas and gardens, which were full of roses. It was my birthday, and I +had many splendid presents. From Baroness Rothschild I received a superb +traveling-bag, all the fittings of silver gilt, with my initials. Baron +Alfred Rothschild gave me a smelling-bottle, with the colors of his +racing-stables in enamel. We had a delightful luncheon, and got back to +London in time for dinner at Lady Sherbourne's. On hearing it was my +birthday, she took a diamond-ring from her finger and gave it to me. + +More balls, more dinners, luncheons, and garden-parties followed one +another. + +We intend to leave London after the ball at Marlborough House. I must go +home, as I have nothing more to wear. We had accepted an invitation to the +garden-party given by the Princess of Wales at Chiswick (their charming +country-place). All the beauty and elegance of London graced the occasion. +The Princess looked exquisite in her dainty summer toilette, and had a +pleasant smile for every one. The Prince circulated among the guests, +speaking to every one in his usual genial manner. The three little +Princesses looked like three fluffy pink pin-cushions covered with white +muslin. On the extensive lawn, which was like a green-velvet carpet, the +ladies strolled about in their pretty, fresh dresses, sometimes sitting at +the little tables which were shaded by large Japanese umbrellas placed +between the terrace and the walk. It was a garden of living flowers. + +The Prince of Wales, in his peculiarly abrupt manner, said to me, "What +have you been doing since Ascot?" + +"I have been doing a great deal, sir: dining and dancing and enjoying +myself generally." + +"I am glad to know that. Been singing?" + +"Not much, sir. We dined at Twickenham Court, where I played a disastrous +game of croquet," I answered. + +"Do they play croquet at Twickenham Court?" + +"Indeed they do, sir. The Countess de Paris plays a very good game." + +"What day did you dine there?" + +"On the 17th, your Highness," I replied. + +"Are you sure it was the 17th you dined there?" + +"Yes, I am quite sure. I know it, because it was the day before my +birthday." + +"Was it a large dinner?" + +"It was rather large. The whole Orléans family was there, and some +others." + +"Did you know that they had had a _conseil de famille_ that day?" + +"No," I answered; "I heard nothing of it." + +The Prince continued: "The whole family signed a petition to the Emperor +Napoleon to be allowed to return to France and serve in the army. Can you +imagine why they want to go back to France when they can live quietly here +and be out of politics?" the Prince said. + +"Do you think, sir, that the Emperor will refuse?" + +"One never knows," said the Prince. "Qui vivra verra." + +The Marlborough ball was very magnificent. The Princess of Wales looked +exquisite. She is very lovely, and has gracious, sweet manners. I don't +wonder that her people adore her; and I think the Prince is just as good +as he can be. + + +_July, 1870._ + +On our return from London I remained quietly at delightful Petit Val. + +On the 10th of July we received an invitation to a dinner at St. Cloud, +but unfortunately we had promised Baroness Rothschild to spend some days +at Ferrières, and when the invitation came we were obliged to send a +telegram to St. Cloud expressing our regrets. There is such a talk of war, +and so many rumors afloat, that every one is more than excited. Alphonse +Rothschild says that, if there should be a war, it will be a tremendous +one, and that Germany is better prepared than France. "But," said he, "you +ought to know about that, as your brother-in-law Hatzfeldt is in the +secrets of his country." + +"That's just it," I answered; "because he is in the secrets of his country +he is the last person to learn anything from, and we (the family) would be +the last to know. But do you think that, if war were really imminent, the +Emperor would think of giving a dinner?" I asked. + +"That might be. We don't yet know what the result of Benedetti's interview +with the King of Prussia at Ems will be," the Baron answered. + +We stayed at Ferrières until the 14th, and returned to Petit Val, where we +received another invitation to St. Cloud for the 17th, which we accepted. +On the 15th we went to Chamarande, returning to Paris on the following +afternoon. The Duke de Persigny was not at Chamarande, otherwise we should +have been a little more _au courant_ of how desperate things looked in +Paris. The Duchess had a word from the Duke the night before, "and he +seemed," she said, "very despondent." But I remarked, as I did before, +"Things could not be so threatening if they were giving a dinner." "Je n'y +comprends rien," she replied, which was her invariable answer to any doubt +expressed, or when one wanted a direct response. + +We got back to town at half-past five, and I soon began dressing for the +dinner. We drove out to St. Cloud, and arrived at the door of the château +just before seven o'clock. What was our astonishment at not seeing any of +the numerous servants who generally were waiting in the vestibule. There +was only one man to be seen. + +I began taking off my mantle, still wondering, when Monsieur de Laferrière +came quickly out from one of the salons and said excitedly, "Did you not +receive my letter countermanding the dinner?" + +"Countermanding the dinner! What? Then there is no dinner?" + +"No," he rejoined; "it has been countermanded." + +As our carriage could not yet have got very far off, nothing was easier +than to call it back and return to Paris. And I put on my wrap to depart, +and stood there waiting for the coupé. Then Monsieur de Laferrière came +out again and said, "Her Majesty says that, now that you are here, you had +better stay." + +"But," I protested, "it is much better for us to go back." + +He looked puzzled and said, "But the Empress desires it; you cannot well +refuse, can you?" + +"We will do as you advise." + +"Then I advise you to stay," he answered. + +And stay we did, and I never regretted anything so much in my life. + +When we went into the drawing-room their Majesties were already there. The +Empress came toward me and said kindly, "How do you do?" The Emperor held +out his hand, but did not say a word. He looked so ill and tired. Never +had I seen him look like that! The Prince Imperial seemed preoccupied and +very serious. + +Dinner was announced; the Emperor gave his arm to the Empress, and the +Prince gave me his. There was no one beside ourselves and the Household, +perhaps twenty in all, and dinner was served in the small dining-room +looking toward Paris. On the other side of me was Count d'Arjuson, aide- +de-camp to the Emperor. + +You may imagine that I wished myself a hundred miles away. The Emperor +never uttered a word; the Empress sat with her eyes fixed on the Emperor, +and did not speak to a single person. No one spoke. The Emperor would +receive telegram upon telegram; the gentleman sitting next to him opened +the telegrams and put them before his Majesty. Every now and again the +Emperor would look across the table to the Empress with such a distressed +look it made me think that something terrible was happening, which was +true. I could not learn much from my surroundings, as dead silence +reigned. The dinner was very simple. How different from the gorgeous +repasts of Compiègne, and how sad every one looked! I was glad when the +signal for leaving the table was given and we re-entered the drawing-room. + +The Emperor was immediately surrounded by his gentlemen. The Empress moved +a little way off, but without taking her eyes from her husband. The Prince +Imperial stood by his father, watching him. Then the Empress advanced +toward his Majesty and took his arm to leave the room. Just as she neared +the door she looked at me, turned back, and coming up to where I was +standing held out her hand and said, "Bonsoir." The Emperor stood a moment +irresolutely, then, bowing his head, left the room with the Empress on his +arm, the Prince following. + +We bade the _dames d'honneur_ good night and fled, found the coupé before +the entrance, and weren't we glad to get in it and drive away? I never in +my life felt what it was to be _de trop_ and even _deux de trop_. We +reached the Rue de Courcelles at nine o'clock. It was too early to go to +bed, and so I am sitting in my dressing-gown, while Charles has gone to +his club to learn the latest news. + + +_19th July._ + +This morning war was declared for sure, and they say that the Emperor is +leaving soon with the Prince. Every one is very confident of the success +of the French Army, and people go about in the streets singing "À Berlin" +to the tune of "Les lampions." + + +PETIT VAL, _28th July_. + +The Emperor, with the Prince, left this morning for Metz, to take the +command of the army. He did not come into Paris, but in order to avoid +demonstrations, noise, etc., had a platform put up on the other side of +the station at St. Cloud, where the Empress and her ladies could say their +adieux without the crowd looking on. The last words the Empress said to +her son were, "Louis, fais ton devoir." She is made the Regent during the +absence of the Emperor. + + +_30th August_. + +It looks now as if there might be war all over France. As it is, the +Prussians are near Paris, and the French are trying to regain the ground +they have lost. The news we get is very contradictory. According to the +French official reports the French Army has been successful all the time. +The English papers probably give the untarnished truth, unfavorable as it +may be to France. Some people say that at the worst there is only a +question of unimportant skirmishes. + +We are well out of Paris and safely in Dinard, where Mr. Moulton is +building a new house (we have already two). We left Petit Val rather +precipitately, leaving everything behind us, clothes in wardrobes and +letters in commodes. We shall not be away more than a month. + +I can only say that we lead the most peaceful of lives during this time of +war. I will not tell you any news, because it won't be news when you read +it. We are and have been all the time fed on false reports, great placards +pasted up everywhere telling of the French victories, but from our English +papers we know the contrary. It is pitiful to see the poor, half-clad +peasants being drilled on the beach with sticks in their hands instead of +guns. It is the French idea of keeping up the spirits of the army. + +I sang in the cathedral last Sunday, and the _quête_ (the money taken), +they said, was a large sum. I doubt it! I know what the _quêtes_ are here. +Anything that can rattle in the bag is good. Buttons are particularly +popular, as no one can see what you put in, and it does not matter. + +There was a tremendous storm last night, and many of the slates of the new +villa were blown off. The servants who sleep there thought that the +Germans had come at last, and were frightened out of the few wits they +own. + +Madame Gignoux, our neighbor at Petit Val, who is living in her other +château in Brittany, sent a letter to me which I should send to Helen in +Berlin, to be sent to Paul, who is in Versailles, to be sent to Mr. +Washburn, in Paris, who is to give it to Henry at Petit Val. Rather +roundabout way! I can't tell you how much of that sort of thing I am +constantly doing for people who are afraid of doing anything for +themselves; they think every one is a spy or a traitor. + + +PARIS, _March 14, 1871._ + +DEAR MAMA,--You will be surprised to see that I am in Paris; but you will +understand why when I tell you that I received a letter from Mrs. Moulton +to this effect: "If you wish to go to Petit Val to look after the things +you left there when you went to Dinard last August, you had better come to +Paris without delay, as the trains are running regularly now." The trains +may have been running regularly (I left Dinard the next day), but they +were certainly not running on time, for we missed all connections, and +only arrived at Rennes after seven o'clock, too late to catch the evening +train for Paris. The fine omnibus at the station made me imagine that it +belonged to an equally fine hotel, but the hotel proved to be anything but +fine. It was dreadfully dirty and shabby, and filled to overflowing. It +was with the greatest difficulty I was able to secure a room for myself. +My grumbling maid had to content herself with the sofa. The _salle à +manger_ was thronged with officers clanking their swords on the brick +floor and all talking at once. I passed a sleepless night, being kept +awake by the loud and incessant conversations in the corridor and the +continual tramping of soldiers under my window. We started for Paris the +next morning at eight o'clock. The train was crowded with people who, like +myself, were eager to return home after so many months of anxious waiting. +In all the stations through which we passed one saw nothing but soldiers, +their ragged uniforms hanging on their emaciated forms; their feet--which +had been frozen in January (poor things!)--were still bandaged, and hardly +any of them possessed shoes. They did look, indeed, the picture of abject +dejection and misery. + +At Le Mans, the place where we stopped for luncheon, the soldiers were +lying about on the brick pavement of the station, too tired and worn out +to move, and presenting the saddest sight it has ever fallen to my lot to +witness. They were waiting for the cattle vans to take them away. In these +they would be obliged to stand until they reached Paris and its hospitals. +Every one of the travelers was anxious to alleviate their misery in some +way, by offering them cigars, food, and money. My heart bled for the poor +creatures, and I gave them all I had in my purse, and my luncheon also. +They represented the debris of Faidherbe's army, which of all the troops +had seen the most desperate fighting during the war. All the trains we +passed were packed tight with soldiers, herded together like cattle, +patient misery painted on their pale, tired faces. + +Hungry and penniless I arrived at last in Paris, where I was delighted to +see a healthy, normal-looking person in the shape of my brother-in-law, +Henry, who met me at the station. He had plenty to tell me of his +experiences since last September. He had been living at Petit Val +throughout the whole campaign, and was still there looking after our +interests, _faisant la navette_ between Petit Val, Paris, and Versailles +at his will. He had free passes for all these places. On my arrival at the +Rue de Courcelles I found the family well, Mrs. Moulton knitting as usual, +Mademoiselle Wissembourg napping, and Mr. Moulton reading the _Journal des +Débats_ out loud in his peculiar French. + +I thought of the "Brook," by Tennyson: "Men may come and men may go, but I +go on for ever." The family had not eaten cats and dogs during the siege +as, according to the newspapers, other people had done. + +Mr. Moulton having been in Paris at the time of the Revolution of 1848, +and knowing about revolutions, had had the forethought to lay in a stock +of provisions, such as ham, biscuit, rice, etc., and all sorts of canned +things, which he deemed would be sufficient for all their requirements. +They had even given dinner-parties limited to a very choice few, who +sometimes brought welcome additions in the shape of other canned +delicacies. + +When the family moved from Petit Val to Paris last September, the French +Government had given them permission to keep one or two cows. They also +brought a calf, a sheep, and some chickens with them. The cows and the +sheep shared the stables with the horses, while the chickens were let +loose in the conservatory, and were expected to lay enough eggs to pay for +their board. The gardener had cleverly converted the conservatory into a +sort of kitchen garden, and had planted some useful vegetables, such as +radishes, carrots, salad, etc., so you see the family took good care that +it should have enough to eat, and mice and rats only appeared on the table +after the repasts. + + +PARIS, _March 16, 1871._ + +DEAR MAMA,--This has been a very fatiguing day for me, so you will only +receive a short letter. + +Paul [Footnote: Count Hatzfeldt, my brother-in-law.] invited Mrs. Moulton +and me to come to Versailles, and offered us a cup of tea as an +inducement. You know Paul is Count Bismarck's private secretary, having +been with him and the German sovereign during the entire war. He is still +at Versailles, but expects to leave for Berlin one of these first days. He +came to fetch us at the station with the fat ponies and the basket-wagon +(the ponies had escaped the fate of other fat ponies, and they had not +furnished steaks for famished Parisians, but continued to trot +complacently about, as of old). Fortunately they were not too fat to carry +us through the park at a lively pace, and land us at Paul's palatial +residence. It seemed strange to see German officers, in their tight- +fitting uniforms, strolling leisurely about in the park, where before I +had only seen the rather slovenly _pious-pious_ on holidays, when the +fountains played by day and the fireworks by night. + +The park looked enchanting in its spring toilette, and made me think of +the last time I was here. Could it have been only last May? It seems years +ago! + +Paul had invited some of his German officer friends to take tea with us. +Paul had been with the King of Prussia and Jules Favre and Bismarck at +Ferrières, where they had met, he said, "with no other result than to see +Jules Favre weep." + +Paul had been at Versailles when the King was proclaimed Emperor in the +_salle de glaces_--the greatest emotion he had ever experienced, he said. +He had also been witness of the signing of the armistice. The pen with +which it was signed had been given him as a souvenir, and it was lying on +his table. + +Paul thought the Emperor Napoleon more to be pitied than blamed. He had +gone into this war without really knowing the true state of things. He was +made to believe that there were four hundred thousand men ready to take +the field, when in reality there were only half that number, and those +certainly not fit to be pitted against the Germans, who had been provided +with better and newer maps than the French, and knew France and its army +more thoroughly than the French themselves. We could have talked on this +subject for hours had not the fat ponies come to take us to the station, +where we bade farewell to Paul and the officers, and returned to Paris for +the modest repast which we dignified by the name of dinner. + + +_March 17th._ + +DEAR MAMA,--Such a funny thing happened to-day. + +I don't know whether I told you of some Americans, called the O----s, I +met in Dinard fresh from America (_via_ Southampton). When I bade them +good-by, I said, in an offhand way, "When you come to Paris you must come +and see me." + +"Oh! that will be nice," gushingly replied Mrs. O----. "Where do you live?" +(Every one of the O----s' phrases commenced with "Oh!") + +"I live in the Rue de Courcelles," I answered. + +"Oh! Roue de Carrousel," she repeated. "What number?" + +"Rue de Courcelles," I replied, correctingly; "twenty-seven." + +Mrs. O----'s next question was, "Oh! have you a flat?" + +"A flat!! No," I said, "we have a hotel. Every one knows our hotel in the +Rue de Courcelles." + +I then proceeded to forget the O----s and everything concerning them. This +morning, when we were at luncheon, the _concierge_ came rushing in, the +tassels on his _calotte_ bristling with agitation. + +"Madame," he gasped, "there is a fiacre full of people with a lot of +trunks asking to come in to Madame. I can't understand what they want." +His emotion choked him. + +We all said in unison: "Ask for their cards. Who can they be?" + +The _concierge_ came back with Mr. O----'s card. + +I recollected my impulsive invitation and thought it very polite of them +to be so _empressés_. I went into the salon, followed by Mademoiselle +W----, where we found Mr. O---- seated at his ease in a _fauteuil_, his +feet reposing on the white-bear rug. + +I apologized for having kept him waiting, but explained that we had been +at luncheon. + +He (complacently), "Oh, that's all right; we have just arrived in Paris +and we came straight to you." + +I felt overwhelmed at such a keen appreciation of my politeness. + +"How is Mrs. O----?" I said. + +He answered with the inevitable "Oh!" "Oh! she's all right. She's outside +in the cab." + +"Indeed!" I said, and wondered why she had not sent her card in with his, +though I supposed she was waiting to be asked to come in, if he found me +at home. + +"We thought before trying anywhere else we would see if you could take us +in." + +This staggered me considerably. I tried to take _him_ "in" as he stood +before me with traveling cap and umbrella. + +"Are you full?" he went on. Mademoiselle and I wondered if we showed signs +of a too copious luncheon. + +"Why, what a nice place you have here!" looking about. "Well," he +continued, nothing daunted, "you see, we only want one bedroom, for us, +with a room next for baby, and one not too far off for Arthur." + +What was he driving at? Mademoiselle W---- thought he was either a spy or +a burglar who had come to take a survey of the hotel. Her bracelets and +bunch of keys rattled ominously as the thought of burglars entered her +brain. + +He, familiarly settling himself down for a chat, "Do you think you could +pick up a maid for Mrs. O----?" + +Mademoiselle and I exchanged a glance of intelligent indulgence and +thought: All our friends wanted, probably, was a few addresses before +settling themselves in Paris. How stupid of us not to have thought of this +sooner! I hastened to promise all sorts of names and addresses of +tradespeople, thinking he would take his departure. + +Not he! On the contrary, he tucked his umbrella more firmly under his arm, +and turned to Mademoiselle W----: "Have you got a register?" taking her, +no doubt, for _la dame du comptoir_. + +Mademoiselle draped herself in her most Rachel-like attitude and glanced +knowingly at the hot-air flue which she had been told was a register. + +"We have," she answered curtly, wondering if this extraordinary creature +could be suffering from cold on this warm spring day. + +"I had better write my name down!" This was too much! Mademoiselle thought +now that he was not only a burglar, but a lunatic. + +"I think," I said, "I can give you the address of a very nice maid," +trying to lead him back into the paths we had trodden before. + +"Oh! that'll be all right. You have perhaps a maid in the house?" + +"Certainly we have," answered Mademoiselle with asperity, giving her +velvet bow an agitated pat. + +"Money is no object," continued he; "I'm always willing to pay what one +asks." Mademoiselle now thought he was drunk and was for sending for the +servants. + +I asked him, "How is the baby?" + +"Oh! baby's all right. The nurse has been a little upset by the journey. +You might give us the address of your doctor." + +"Yes, yes." I gave him the name instantly, hoping he would go. + +"We don't need him right off; he can come here later, and you can talk to +him yourself. Maria does not speak French." + +Mademoiselle gasped for breath, while he looked about him approvingly. + +"Real nice house you have, Madame, not very central, but we don't mind +being in a quiet part of Paris, as Maria wants to learn French"; and +seeing the conservatory, he remarked: "Arthur can play in there. That'll +do splendidly." After an awkward pause: "Well, if the rooms are ready, we +can come right in. Maria will be wondering why I have been so long." +_I_ also wondered why he had been so long! + +To cap the climax, he handed Mademoiselle a five-franc piece, saying: "I +guess this will cover the cab. The coachman can keep the change." + +A light dawned on me! He thought this was a hotel! + +I said, "When you get settled in your hotel I will come and see you." + +"What! Can't you take us in? We counted on coming to your hotel." + +I laughed outright. Mademoiselle raised what she is pleased to call her +eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders, + +I explained to my guest his mistake. Instead of saying, "Oh! that's all +right," he said, "Well, I'll be blessed," and without wasting any more +time than for a hasty good-by he marched out to join the tired Maria, the +baby, the nurse, and Arthur. We watched them as they drove off, all gazing +out of the window at the hotel which was _not_ a hotel. + +May Allah protect them! + + +_March 19th._ + +DEAR MOTHER,--The day before yesterday Henry and I decided to go to Petit +Val. I looked forward with delight to seeing my beautiful home again. Mrs. +Moulton promised to drive out and bring me back to Paris late in the +afternoon. We drove to the Gare de la Bastille and took our tickets for La +Varenne. The station was so horribly dirty, it looked as if it had not +been swept or cleaned since the commencement of the war, and as for the +first-class compartment we entered I really hesitated to sit down on the +shabby and dilapidated cushions. + +We traveled very slowly, and stopped at every station mentioned in the +time-table. Although these were devoid of travelers, the conductor opened +the doors of all the carriages, and after waiting the allotted time +shouted mechanically, "En voiture," though there was absolutely no one to +get in. + +I thought we never would arrive! + +All the little towns, once so thrifty and prosperous, are now hardly more +than ruins. It is no wonder that this part of the country (Vincennes, St. +Maur, Chenvières, etc.) is so destroyed, because it was all about here +that the French, shut up in Paris, had made the most frequent sorties. +Everything was terribly changed. + +Now my beautiful bridge is a thing of the past. There is one arch half in +water and debris of stone and mortar on the shore. + +Henry and I, having no alternative, were obliged to walk from the station +to the pontoon bridge, made, Henry said, in one night. I don't know about +that; but what I do know is that the French blew up my bridge _in one +night_. Then we made the whole distance to Petit Val on foot, passing +by the châteaux of Ormesson, Chenvières, Grand Val, and Montalon. + +All the châteaux we passed are utterly abandoned, some quite in ruins; one +can see, for instance, right through beautiful Grand Val, bereft of +windows and doors. + +But worse was awaiting me! My heart sank within me when we came in sight +of the _potager_, the glory of Petit Val, so renowned in its day for +its fruits and vegetables. Now it is frightful to see! Its walls torn +asunder; cannon put in its crenelated sides, dilapidated and destroyed; +the garden filled with rubbish of all description. But, as though nature +were protesting against all this disorder and neglect, the cherry-trees +were placidly blossoming; the almond-trees, with their delicate pink +flowers, filled the air with perfume: everything, in short, doing its part +in spite of war and bloodshed. Your heart would ache if you could see the +place as it is now. The porter's lodge is completely gutted, windowless +and doorless, open to wind and weather. + +It seems strange to see a sentry-box stationed at the entrance of the park +and a sentinel pacing to and fro. Henry gave the password, and we walked +up the avenue toward the château. I will not weary you by trying to depict +my feelings, but will leave you to imagine what they must have been. I +looked in vain for the beautiful Lebanon cedar which, you remember, stood +where my nightingale used to sing, on the broad lawn. Henry said that it +had been the first tree that the Germans had cut down, and it had been +lying there on the lawn just as it fell, where the soldiers could +conveniently cut their fuel. Henry called my attention to a white flag +flying on the chateau, which, at Paul's request, Count Bismarck had +ordered to be put there. + +Henry said it signified in military language that only staff officers were +to occupy the château, and that no unnecessary damage should be done "if +we are quiet." Did Bismarck think we were likely to be unruly and go about +shooting people? The one thing in the world we wanted was to be quiet. The +flag also signified that the château should be protected. Henry had once +complained to Bismarck of the damage done by the German soldiers at Petit +Val, and Bismarck had replied, "À la guerre comme à la guerre," adding, +"The German Government will hold itself responsible for private losses, +with the exception of those which are consequences of a state of war ... +there is always a certain amount of unavoidable destruction." + +"Unavoidable destruction!" cried Henry; "this can cover a multitude of +sins." + +"The exigencies of war, if you like that better," rejoined Bismarck. + +Paul Hatzfeldt wrote to Helen last September that the King of Prussia had +promised to put Petit Val under special protection. He even wished to go +there himself; but Paul thought Petit Val looked so spoiled that he was +glad the King did not go. If it was spoiled in September last, imagine +what it must have been six months later, with six months of soldiers to +spoil it! + +When we arrived at the château itself the officers, who had evidently just +been lunching, came out to meet us, wondering, apparently, who this +courageous lady (poor trembling me!) could possibly be. Henry knew their +names, and presented them all to me; they clanked their heels together and +made the most perfect of military salutes. + +The commanding officer in charge of Petit Val is Count Arco, a major of a +Bavarian regiment. I hastened to explain my presence among them, saying +that I wished to collect the various things I had left in the château when +I went away last August, and I had taken advantage of the first occasion +which offered itself of coming here. + +Count Arco held a short conversation with Henry, who told him I would like +to go to my apartment. "Do not trouble to have anything disarranged for +me," I said, "as I shall only be here for a short time. My mother-in-law +is driving out later in the afternoon to take me back to Paris." + +While we were talking Count Arco informed me that there were twenty six +officers in the château itself and one hundred and twenty soldiers +quartered round in the different pavilions, farm-houses, _ateliers_, and +--I think he said--about fifty in the _orangerie_. + +Presently an orderly appeared and conducted me to my rooms, which had +evidently been hurriedly evacuated, but they looked quite nice and clean. +I was agreeably surprised to find my writing-desk and commodes pretty +nearly as I remembered to have left them. At any rate, letters, trinkets, +and so forth seemed undisturbed. I wish I could say the same for my +wearing apparel, which had considerably diminished since my departure. +Waists without their skirts, and skirts without their waists, and I found +various female articles unknown to me; but never mind! _Honi soit qui mal +y pense!_ + +It was said in France that no German could resist a clock, and that the +dearth of clocks after the war is quite noticeable. To prove the contrary, +and to applaud the officers who had lived in Petit Val (and there had been +many hundreds of them), my clock was ticking away as of old on my +mantelpiece. + +Having finished packing the things to take with me, I wished to have a +look at _protected_ Petit Val. + +The "unavoidable destruction" had been interpreted in a very liberal +sense. + +The salon was a sight never to be forgotten. The mirrors which paneled the +whole of the east wall were broken, as if stones had been thrown at them; +every picture had been pierced by bayonets. The beautiful portrait of the +Marquis de Marigny (the former owner of Petit Val and brother of Madame de +Pompadour) had vanished. Instead of the Aubusson furniture we had left, +which, I suppose, has been transferred to other homes, I found two pianos, +one grand (not ours), two billiard-tables (not ours), some iron tables, +and some very hard iron chairs (certainly not ours), annexed, I should +say, from a neighboring café. + +The library, formerly containing such rare and valuable books, is now a +bedroom--the shelves half empty, the books scattered about, some of them +piled up in a corner and used as a table. Henry said that, when any one +wanted to light a fire or a pipe, they simply tore a page out of a book. +What did they care? Was it not one of the "exigencies of war"? The frames +and glasses of the engravings were broken; but, fortunately, all the +engravings were not ruined. + +You remember Mrs. Moulton's boudoir, where all was so dainty and complete? +The soldiers had converted it into a kitchen, and at the moment we were +there they were cooking some very smelly cabbage _à la tedesco_. + +My pretty pavilion! If you could have seen it! + +Evidently the all-powerful flag had not protected this, for it was without +doors, windows, and parquets. The only thing in it was a dear little calf +munching his last meal before being killed. To make it look more like a +slaughter-house, there were haunches of beef hanging on the Louis XV. +appliques, which had been left on the walls to serve as nails. Fresh blood +was dropping from them on the sacks of potatoes underneath. + +The officers had coffee served under the _charmille_. + +I was glad to get something to sustain my sinking heart. Henry and I took +a sad walk through the park. The once beautifully kept lawn is now like a +ploughed field, full of ruts and stones. + +The lake was shining in the sun, but on it there were no boats. The grotto +over which used to trickle a little waterfall was completely dry, showing +the ugly stucco false rocks. It seemed dismal and forlorn. I wondered how +I ever could have thought it beautiful! The _rivière_ was without its +pretty rustic bridge; the picturesque pavilions were filled with soldiers; +some were sitting on the porches mending their clothes. + +Five o'clock came before we realized how late it was. We expected the +carriage every moment; but there was no sign of it, though we scanned the +length of the long avenue with the Count's field-glasses. + +Why did Mrs. Moulton not come? Something must have happened! But what? +Henry and I were seriously alarmed. Noticing our looks of dismay, Count +Arco asked me if I was anxious. I replied that I naturally was anxious, +because if my mother-in-law could not come or send the carriage she +certainly would have telegraphed. He then inquired if I wished to send a +telegram. No sooner had I said "yes" than an orderly appeared on horseback +to take the telegram to the station. He returned, while we still stood in +the avenue looking for the longed-for carriage, with the astounding news +that all the telegraph wires were cut. + +To take the train was our next idea, and the wondering orderly was again +sent back to find out when the next train would start. This time he +returned with still more astounding news. + +There were no trains at all! + +Count Arco seemed to be most agitated, and I could see, by the expression +of the faces of the other officers, that they were more disturbed than +they wanted us to notice. + +What should I do? Everything was in ruins in the village. There was not +even an _auberge_ of the smallest dimensions. All the neighboring châteaux +were abandoned. Of whom could I ask hospitality? Count Arco, seeing my +embarrassment, proposed my staying the night at Petit Val. Henry's living +there made it easier for me. So I accepted his offer; besides, there was +no choice. The soldiers arranged my room according to their ideas of a +lady's requirements, which included a boot-jack, ash-trays, beer-mugs, +etc. Their intentions were of the best. + +At seven o'clock Henry and I dined with the officers. It seemed strange to +me to be presiding at my own table surrounded by German officers, Count +Arco being my _vis-à-vis_. + +Do you want to know what we had for dinner? Bean soup, brought from +Germany. Sausages and cabbage, put up in Germany. Coffee and zwiebacks, I +suppose also from Germany. + +The evening passed quickly, and I must admit very pleasantly. Any one who +had pretensions to music played or sang, Henry performed some of his +compositions; one officer did some card tricks. They all had an anecdote +of their experience from the past months, which they told with great +relish. Henry whispered to Count Arco: "My sister-in-law sings. Why don't +you ask her for a song?" I could have pinched him! + +Although I was very tired and did not feel like it, I reflected that +almost anything was preferable to being begged and teased. And, after all, +why not be as amiable as my companions, who had done their best to amuse +me? + +I seated myself at the piano and commenced with one of Schumann's songs, +and then I sang "Ma Mère était Bohémienne," of Massé, which had a great +success, and at the refrain, "Et moi! j'ai l'âme triste," there was not a +dry eye in the little circle. Graf Waldersee, one of the oldest warriors, +wept like an infant while I was singing, and coming up to me, after +blowing his nose, said, in his delightfully broken English, "You zing like +an angle [I hope he meant angel]. It is as if ze paradise vas opened to +us." Then he retired in a corner and wiped his eyes. I sang "Ein Jungling +liebt ein Mädchen," of Schumann, and when I came to the line, "Und wem das +just passieret, dem bricht das Herz entzwei," I heard a mournful sigh. It +came from the Benjamin of the flock, a very young officer, who sat with +his hands over his face sobbing audibly. What chord had I struck? Was +_his_ the heart that was breaking _entzwei_? + +I had sung to many people, but I think I never sang to a more appreciative +audience than this one. + +Henry accompanied me in "Beware!" Their enthusiasm knew no bounds. They +all gathered around me, eager to thank me for the unexpected pleasure. I +really think they meant what they said. + +When I returned to my room I looked out of my window and saw the sentinel +pacing to and fro in the moonlight. I realized _for the first time_ that +the château was protected! + +I mourned the beautiful and stately Lebanon cedar! + + +_March 18th._ + +It seemed so strange to wake up and find myself in my room. An orderly +brought me a very neatly arranged tray, with tea and buttered toast and a +note from Henry announcing the terrible news that Paris was under arms--a +revolution (_rien que ça_) had broken out, and all approaches to the +city were barricaded. This was news indeed! I understood now why no +carriage came last night, why trains were stopped, why telegraph wires +were cut, and why no mother-in-law appeared. + +Henry was waiting to communicate with me as soon as I was out of my room. +Indeed, a more stranded mortal than I was could hardly be imagined! +However, there seemed nothing for me to do but to await events. + +The officers met us in the salon, and we discussed the situation and +different possibilities, but without any practical result. + +Every one was much excited about the news. The officers pretended not to +know more than _we_ did; perhaps what they did know they did not care to +tell. We saw messengers flying in all directions, papers handed about, +more messengers galloping down the avenue, agitation written on the faces +around us. All I knew was that there was a revolution in Paris and _I +was here_. + +Going out to the stables, we found the soldiers grooming their horses +unconcernedly. From there we went to the _orangerie_, which presented +a queer sight. The soldiers, of whom there must have been sixty, had +arranged their beds all along the walls on both sides, and to separate +them one from another had placed a tub with its orange-tree. The aviary +had been converted into a drying-ground for their _lingerie_; they had +suspended ropes from side to side, and thereon hung their _week's wash_ +amid all its "unavoidable destruction." Henry told me that when the +Germans first came to Petit Val they begged old Perault (the butler) to +hand them the key of the wine-cellar, and on his refusing they had tied +the old man to a tree in the park, and left him there the whole of one +cold night to consider the situation. Needless to say, the next day the +Germans had the key. After they had taken all the best Château-Lafitte and +all the rare wines Mr. Moulton had bought during the Revolution of 1848, +they emptied the casks containing the _Petit Bleu, made on the estate!_ +The result was disastrous, and could Mr. Moulton have only seen the poor +creatures doubled up with torture he would have felt himself amply +revenged. + +We ascended the hill behind the château to the high terrace, from where +one can see Paris. We saw no smoke, therefore Paris was not burning. But +what was happening there? We returned to breakfast, where the military +band was playing on the lawn (a superfluous luxury, I thought, but I did +not realize that so trivial a thing as a revolution could not interfere +with military order). We were treated to the eternal sausage and something +they called beefsteak; it might as well have been called "_suprême de +donkey_," it was so tough. However, the others ate it with iron jaws +and without a pang. Count Arco suggested I should take a drive, _en +attendant les événements_, and see the neighborhood. I acquiesced, +thinking anything in the way of distraction would be a welcome relief. +Imagine my feelings when I saw our _calèche_, a mere ghost of its former +self, dragged by four artillery horses and postilioned by two heavy +dragoons. + +"The exigencies of war" had obliged the soldiers to remove the leather, +the carpet, the cushions, and all the cloth; only the iron and wood +remained to show that once this had been a carriage. + +This ancient relic drew up with a thump on what had been flower-beds, and +the Count opened the door for me to enter, but on observing my look of +dismay when I saw the hard, cushionless seats, despatched an officer to +try to find a cushion for me. Apparently, however, cushions were souvenirs +our friends had forgotten to bring with them from other residences. +Judging from the time we waited, the officer must have ransacked the whole +house, but had found nothing better than a couple of bed-pillows, with +which he appeared, carrying one under each arm, to the great amusement of +the beholders. I mounted this grotesque equipage, the Count and Henry +following, and sat enthroned on my pillows of state. + +We asked, before starting, if there was any news from Paris, and receiving +an answer in the negative, we drove off. Up hills, over lawns and flower- +beds, zigzagging through vineyards and gardens, never by any chance +keeping to the proper road, we made the tour of the environs. + +To give you an idea how completely the châteaux had been ransacked, I can +tell you that I picked up about a yard and a half of handsome Brussels +lace in the courtyard of the château of Sucy. We drove hastily through the +adjoining estate of Grand Val, which looked even more deplorable than +Sucy. I began to wonder if the artillery horses and the carcass of the +vehicle in which we sat would be capable of carrying me to Paris, or at +least within walking distance of it. You see, I was beginning to get +desperate. Here was I, with the day almost over, without any apparent +prospect of getting away. But, as the Psalmist puts it, "Sorrow endureth +for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." My joy came late in the +afternoon, on returning to Petit Val, where I found the landeau of the +American Legation, my mother-in-law, and (hobnobbing with the German +officers) the American Minister himself, the popular and omnipotent Mr. +Washburn. + +They were overjoyed to see me, as they had been as anxious as I had been, +having tried every means in their power to reach me. To telegraph was +impossible; to send a groom on horseback equally so. Finally, as a last +resource, they had written to Mr. Washburn to see if he could not solve +the difficult question, which he did by driving out himself with Mrs. +Moulton to fetch me. + +As soon as the horses were sufficiently rested (my hosts and I being +profuse in our mutual thanks), we started for Paris, passing through +Alfort, Charenton, and many villages, all more or less in ruins. There +were plenty of people lounging about in the streets. We reached Vincennes +without difficulty; but thenceforth our troubles commenced in earnest. + +Mr. Washburn thought it more prudent to close the carriage, cautioning the +coachman to drive slower. We were stopped at every moment by soldiers and +barricades; then Mr. Washburn would show his card and his _laissez +passer_, after which we were allowed to pass on, until we came to more +soldiers and more barricades. Omnibuses turned over, paving-stones piled +up, barrels, ladders, ropes stretched across the streets, anything to stop +the circulation. Poor Mr. Washburn was tired out popping his head first +out of one window then out of the other, with his card in his hand. + +[Illustration: ELIHU WASHBURN +United States Minister to France during the Commune] + +The men who accosted us were not discourteous, but spoke quite decidedly, +as if they did not expect to be contradicted. We did not care to +contradict them, either. + +"We know you, Monsieur, by reputation, and we know that you are well +disposed toward France. How do you feel toward _la Commune_?" Mr. +Washburn hesitating a moment, the man added, cynically, "Perhaps you would +like to add a stone to our barricades." He made as if he would open the +door of the carriage; but Mr. Washburn answered, holding back the door, "I +take it for granted, Monsieur, that I have your permission to drive on, as +I have something very important to attend to at my Legation," and gave the +man a defiant look, which rather frightened him, and we drove through the +crowd. All along the Rue de Rivoli we saw the soldiers massing together in +groups, _La Garde nationale_ (Mr. Washburn said they so called themselves +since yesterday), a miserable-looking set of men, talking very loud and +flourishing their guns as if they were walking-sticks. + +In passing the Rue Castiglione we saw it was full of soldiers, and looking +toward the Place de la Concorde we saw more barricades there. + +This was a sight to behold! The space around the Column was filled with +paving-stones and all sorts of débris (strange to say, my eyes saw more +brooms than anything else); and cannon pointing everywhere. A very +impertinent, common-looking _voyou_ said, on looking at Mr. Washburn's +card, "Vous êtes tous très chic... mais vous ne passerez pas, tout de +même." + +We shook in our shoes. + +But Mr. Washburn, equal to the occasion, said something which had the +desired effect, and we passed on. + +All along the Rue de Rivoli the yesterday-fledged soldiers were straggling +about, glad to have a day of leisure. They brandished their bayonets with +a newly acquired grace, pointing them in front of them in such a reckless +way that people made a large circle around them, frightened to death. + +As we passed the Hôtel de Ville we saw the red flag of the Communards +waving over the Palace. Barricades and cannon filled the space between +that and the Rue de Rivoli. Here we were stopped again, and tired Mr. +Washburn, annoyed to death, answered more stupid questions, showed his +card and documents, and gave a little biography of himself. I thought we +should never get on. + +I could have cried when I saw the Tuileries; it was only last August I had +had a delightful half-hour with the Empress (she asked me to take tea with +her). Then she was full of confidence in the triumph of the Emperor (who +could have doubted it?), pleased that her son should have received _le +baptême du feu_, as the Emperor telegraphed--oh, the pity of it all! and +that was only last August--seven months ago. + +As we drove by I thought of the famous ball given at the Tuileries last +May (_Le bal de Plébiscite_), the most splendid thing of its kind one +had ever seen. + +And now! The Tuileries deserted, empty, the Emperor a prisoner, the +Empress a fugitive! All France demoralized! All its prestige gone! One +wonders how such things can be. + +[Illustration: RUE DE RIVOLI, WHERE THE HÔTEL CONTINENTAL NOW STANDS] + +Mr. Washburn said he was not sorry to have remained in Paris (an +experience he would on no account have missed). He thought he had been of +service to his own country and also to France. + +Mrs. Moulton remarked, "What would those shut up in Paris have done +without you?" + +"Oh! I was only a post-office," he answered. + +"The only _poste restante_ in Paris," I said under my breath; but I did +not dare utter anything so frivolous at the moment. + +In the Faubourg St.-Honoré things were much quieter, though there were +numbers of soldiers slouching about with their muskets pointing every +which way. When we arrived at last in the Rue de Courcelles (it had taken +us four hours) all was as quiet as Sunday in Boston. + +Mr. Moulton had been almost crazy with anxiety; but the thought that we +were sailing under the American colors had calmed him somewhat, and his +past emotions did not prevent him from reading the _Journal des Débats_ to +us. I slipped off to bed tired out, but thankful not to be any longer +"under protection." + + +_March 20th._ + +Louis asked permission to go and assist at the proclamation of the +Commune, which was to be read at the Hôtel de Ville. + +There was a platform built in front of the façade, which was decorated +with many red flags and covered with a red carpet, and all the new members +of the committee wore the symbolical red sashes over their worthy +shoulders. The statue of Henry II. was duly draped with red flags and +ragged boys. Louis stood first and foremost among many of his old +comrades, the famous and plucky Zouaves. Henri d'Assy read the +proclamation out in a loud voice, and informed the public that the Commune +(this new and charming infant) was baptized in the name of _Liberté_, +_Égalité_, and _Fraternité_. There was great enthusiasm, and a salvo of +artillery underlined the big words, and there arose a mighty shout of +"Vive la Commune!" from thousands of hoarse throats which shook the very +earth. Louis's account was worth hearing; but mine is only the truth with +variations. He was most impressed, and I fancy it would not have taken +much persuasion to have made him a red-hot Communist then and there. + +Great excitement prevailed all Sunday. The Communists remained in +possession of all the public buildings. The red flag was hoisted +everywhere, even from the palace of the Princess Mathilde, who, as you +know, lives directly opposite us. The Princess had left Paris last +September. All the world knows how our clever American dentist, Dr. Evans, +helped the Empress safely out of Paris, and of her flight; and after the +catastrophe of Sedan it would have been dangerous for any member of the +Imperial family to have remained here. As I look from my window across to +the Princess's palace, and see all the windows open and the courtyard +filled with shabby soldiers, I realize that we are _en pleine Commune_, +and wonder when we shall come out of all this chaos, and how it will all +end. + +To-day there was a great demonstration in the streets. + +A young fellow named Henri de Pène thought if he could collect enough +people to follow him he would lead them to the barricades in the Place +Vendôme, in order to beg the Communards, in the name of the people, to +restore order and quiet in the city. He sent word beforehand that they +would come there _unarmed_. + +De Pène started at a very early hour from the distant Boulevards, calling +to every one and beckoning to them, in order to make them come from their +balconies and from their work, and shouting to all in the streets, managed +to assemble a large crowd to join in his courageous undertaking. + +I happened to go at one o'clock to Worth's, in the Rue de la Paix, and, +finding the street barred, I left my coupé in the Rue des Petits Champs, +telling Louis to wait for me in the Rue St.-Arnaud (just behind the Rue de +la Paix), and I walked to No. 7. + +I wondered why there were so few people in the streets. The Place Vendôme +was barricaded with paving-stones, and cannon were pointing down the Rue +de la Paix. I walked quietly along to Worth's, and hardly had I reached +his salon than we heard distant, confused sounds, and then the shouting in +the street below made us all rush to the windows. + +What a sight met our eyes! + +This handsome young fellow, De Pène, his hat in his outstretched hand, +followed by a crowd of men, women, and children, looked the picture of +life, health, and enthusiasm. + +De Pène, seeing people on Worth's balcony, beckoned to them to join him; +but Mr. Worth wisely withdrew inside, and, shaking his Anglo-Saxon head, +said, "Not I." _He_, indeed! + +The crowd bore banners on which were written: "_Les Amis du Peuple_," +"_Amis de l'Ordre_" "_Pour la Paix_" and one with "_Nous ne sommes pas +armés._" This mass of humanity walked down the Rue de la Paix, filling the +whole breadth of it. + +One can't imagine the horror we felt when we heard the roar of a cannon, +and looking down saw the street filled with smoke, and frightened screams +and terrified groans reached our ears. Some one dragged me inside the +window, and shut it to drown the horrible noises outside. De Pène was the +first who was killed. The street was filled with dead and wounded. Mr. +Hottingeur (the banker) was shot in the arm. The living members of _Les +Amis_ scampered off as fast as their legs could carry them, while the +wounded were left to the care of the shopkeepers, and the dead were +abandoned where they fell until further aid should come. + +It was all too horrible! + +I felt terribly agitated, and, moreover, deadly sick. My one thought was +to reach my carriage and get home as quickly as possible. But how was I to +accomplish it? The Rue de la Paix was, of course, impossible. Worth had a +courtyard, but no outlet into the Rue St.-Arnaud. He suggested that I +should go through his _ateliers_, which he had at the top of the house, +and reach an adjoining apartment, from which I might descend to the Rue +St.-Arnaud, where I would find my carriage. He told one of his women to +lead the way, and I followed. We toiled up many flights of wearisome steps +until we arrived at the above-mentioned ateliers. These communicated with +another apartment, of which Worth's woman had the key. On her opening the +door we found ourselves in a small bedroom (not in the tidiest condition), +which appeared to have just been occupied. + +We passed through this room and came out to a staircase, where the +demoiselle said, "You have only to go down here." I therefore proceeded to +descend the five flights of waxed steps, holding on to the wobbly iron +railing, my legs trembling, my head swimming, and my heart sick. My only +hope was to reach the carriage and home! + +When at last I came to the _porte-cochère_ I found it closed and locked, +and the frightened _concierge_ would not open for me. Fortunately, I had a +gold piece to make her yield to my demand. She reluctantly unfastened the +door and I went out. The street was filled with a terrified mob howling +and flying in every direction. I caught a glimpse of the carriage away up +the street, and I saw a hand gesticulating above the heads of the crowd, +which I recognized as Louis's. It was the only one with a glove on! + +I pushed my way through the mass of people, saying, very politely, +"Pardon," as I pushed, and very politely, "Merci," after I had passed. + +My horse had been unharnessed, and a man was trying to lead him away in +spite of Louis's remonstrances. The man had hold of one side of the +bridle, while Louis, with a pluck unknown before, kept a firm grip on the +other, the horse being tugged at on both sides; and had he not been the +angel he was, there would have been trouble in that little street. + +The man holding the bridle opposite to Louis seemed a most formidable +person to me. Still, I tried to smile with placid calmness, and though I +was shaking all over said, "Pardon, Monsieur, will you permit me to have +my horse harnessed?" I think he was completely taken off his guard, for, +with the intuitive gallantry of a Frenchman, he answered me amiably, +throwing back his coat, and showing me his badge, said, "I am the agent of +the Committee of Public Safety, and it is for the Government that I take +the horse." + +I made him observe that it would be very difficult for me to walk to my +home in the Rue de Courcelles, and if his government wanted the horse it +could come there and fetch it. He looked doubtfully at me, as if weighing +the situation, then said, very courteously, "I understand, Madame, and I +give you back your horse." And he even helped Louis to reharness the +horse, who seemed happy to return to his shafts. + +When I arrived home I had to go to bed, I was so exhausted. Mademoiselle +W---- administered the infallible camomile tea, her remedy for every ill. +Her mind cannot conceive of any disease which is not cured by camomile +tea, unless _in extremis_, when _fleurs d'oranger_ takes its place. + + +_24th of March._ + +The American secretary, Mr. Hoffman, and his wife, who are living in +Versailles, invited Mrs. Moulton and me to luncheon to-day, saying that +Mr. Washburn was also of the party; therefore we need have no fear of +being molested or inconvenienced on our way. + +There were only two trains to Versailles now. We took the one at midday +from Paris, and arrived slowly but surely at the dirty, smoky station, +where we found Mr. Hoffman waiting for us with a landau, in which we drove +to his house. + +We had an excellent luncheon, to which we all did justice; after which Mr. +Hoffman proposed our going to the _Assemblée_, which has its sittings +in the Palace, and we readily consented. I was particularly glad to have +an opportunity to see the notabilities whose names and actions had been +our daily food these last months. + +We sat in Mr. Hoffman's box, who, in his position as secretary of the +American Legation, had been obliged to attend all these _séances_ from the +first. He knew all the celebrities, and most amiably pointed them out to +me. Thiers was in the president's chair; Louis Blanc, Jules Favre, Jules +Grévy, and others were on the platform. + +I confess I was rather disappointed; I thought that this pleiades of +brilliant minds would surely overcome me to such a degree that I should +not sleep for weeks. But, strangely enough, they had just the opposite +effect. I think Mr. Washburn must be writing a book on modern history, and +Mr. Hoffman must be writing one on ancient history. I sat between them--a +drowsy victim--feeling as if my brain was making spiral efforts to come +out of the top of my head. + +While I was trying with all my might to listen to Thiers's speech, who, I +was sure, was saying something most interesting, Mr. Hoffman, on one side +of me, would say, in a low tone, "Just think of it! Here, in these very +same boxes, the pampered and powdered [or something like that] Court of +Louis XIV. sat and listened to Rameau's operas." I tried to seem +impressed. Then, on the other side, I would hear, "Do you know, Mrs. +Moulton, that the Communists have just taken seven millions of francs from +the Bank of France?" The distant, squeaky voice of Thiers trying to +penetrate space, said, "La force ne fonde rien, parce qu'elle ne résout +rien." And when I was hoping to comprehend why "La force" did not "fonder" +anything I would hear Mr. Hoffman whisper, "When you think that Louis XVI. +and Marie Antoinette passed the last evening they ever spent in Versailles +in this theater!" "Really," I replied vaguely. My other neighbor remarked, +"You know the 'Reds' are concentrating for a sortie to Versailles." "You +don't say so!" I answered, dreadfully confused. There would be a moment's +pause, and I caught the sound of General Billet's deep basso proposing +that the French nation should adopt the family of General Lecomte, who had +been so mercilessly butchered by the mob. Mr. Hoffman, continuing +_his_ train of thought, remembered that Napoleon III. gave that +"magnificent dinner" to Queen Victoria in this theater. Jules Grévy talked +at great length about something I did not hear, and when I asked Mr. +Hoffman what it was, he answered me, something I did not understand. Jules +Favre next spoke about the future glories of _notre glorieux pays_ and the +destiny of France. These remarks were received with tremendous applause. +People stood up, and ladies waved their handkerchiefs, every one seeming +very excited; but my American friends were not greatly impressed. "How +typical!" says Mr. Hoffman. "What rubbish!" says Mr. Washburn. + +When we returned to Paris we found Mr. Moulton in a flutter of agitation. +Beaumont (the renowned and popular painter) had been at the house in the +afternoon, and had asked Mr. Moulton's permission to bring Courbet (the +celebrated artist, _now_ a Communard) to see us. Mr. Moulton had no sooner +said yes than he regretted his impulsiveness, but he forgot to call +Beaumont back to tell him so. The result was that we had the visit of +Courbet last evening. + +Mr. Moulton put on a bold face and broke the news to us on our arrival; +but, contrary to his fears, Mrs. Moulton and I were enchanted. +Mademoiselle Wissembourg was not so enthusiastic. A live Communard at such +near focus had no attraction for her. + +Beaumont's politics are sadly wanting in color, making him supremely +indifferent to other people's politics; and, as he has a great admiration +for Courbet as an artist, he does not care whether he is a Communard or +not. + +We waited with impatience for the appointed hour, and lo! Courbet stood +before us. Mademoiselle Wissembourg had once remarked that she had great +sympathy for the people, who must feel themselves oppressed and degraded +by the rich and powerful, and so forth. But I noticed, all the same, that +she retired into a corner, probably thinking Courbet was bristling all +over with pistols, as behoves a Communard. + +Courbet is not handsome; he is fat and flabby (of the Falstaff type), with +a long beard, short hair, and small eyes; but he is very clever, as clever +as Beaumont, which is saying a good deal. + +Of course they talked of "the situation." Who could help it? Courbet +belongs more to the fraternity part of the motto than he does to the +equality part of the Commune! He is not bloodthirsty, nor does he go about +shooting people in the back. He is not that kind! He really believes (so +he says) in a Commune based on principles of equality and liberty of the +masses. Mr. Moulton pointed out that unlimited liberty in the hands of a +mob might become dangerous; but he admitted that fraternity absolves many +sins. + +They talked on till quite late. Beaumont showed him his last picture, +which he (Beaumont) thinks very fine, but all Courbet said was, "What a +pretty frame!" I don't know if Mrs. Moulton and I felt much admiration for +the great artist, but he left us convinced that we were all in love with +him. We told Mr. Moulton we thought it might get us into trouble if +Courbet vibrated between us and the hotbed of Communism. But Mr. Moulton +answered, "What does it matter now?" as if the end of the world had come. + +Perhaps it has. + + +_March 24th._ + +Since I have been in Paris I have wished every day to go and see my former +singing-master, Delsarte; but something has always prevented me. + +To-day, however, having nothing else to do, I decided to make the long- +projected visit; that is, if I could persuade Mademoiselle to accompany +me. After my experience in the Rue St.-Arnaud the other day I did not +venture to drive, so we started off to walk (with Mademoiselle's reluctant +consent) to the Boulevard de Courcelles, where Delsarte moves and has his +being. + +Poor Mademoiselle was frightened almost to death, shaking with terror at +every sound, and imagining that the Communards were directly behind us, +dodging our footsteps and spying upon our actions. At the sight of every +ragged soldier we met she expected to be dragged off to prison, and when +they passed us without so much as glancing at us I think she felt rather +disappointed, as if they had not taken advantage of their opportunities. + +Finally we reached the house, and mounted the six stories, the stairs of +which are steep, slippery, and tiring. On our upward flight I remarked to +Mademoiselle that I wished Delsarte lived in other climes; but she was far +too much out of breath to notice any such little joke as this. I saw no +change either in him or in any of his surroundings. + +He told us that he had suffered many privations and deprivations while the +siege was going on. Probably this is true; but I do not see how he could +have needed very much when he had the piano to fall back on, with all its +resources. How vividly the scenes of my former lessons loomed up before +me when I stood shivering with cold in the never-heated room, my voice +almost frozen in my throat, and was obliged to sing with those awful +diagrams staring me in the face! + +Delsarte asked me many questions about my music: whether I had had the +heart to sing _pendant ce débâcle_. I said, "_Débâcle_ or no _débâcle_, I +could never help singing." + +My dear old friend Auber came to see me this afternoon. He had not had +much difficulty in driving through the streets, as he had avoided those +that were barricaded. We had a great deal to talk about. He had been in +Paris all through the war and had suffered intensely, both physically and +mentally; he looked wretched, and for the first time since I had known him +seemed depressed and unhappy. He is old and now he looks his age. He is a +true Parisian, adores his Paris, and never leaves it, even during the +summer, when Paris is insufferable. One can easily imagine his grief at +seeing his beloved city as it is now. He was full of uneasy forebodings +and distress. He gave me the most harrowing description of the killing of +General Lecomte! It seems that the mob had seized him in his home and +carried him to the garden of some house, where they told him he was to be +judged by a _conseil de guerre_, and left him to wait an hour in the +most pitiable frame of mind. + +The murder of General Clément Thomas was even more dreadful. Auber knew +him well; described him as kind and gentle, and "honest to the tips of his +fingers." They hustled him into the same garden where poor General Lecomte +already was, pushed him against the wall, and shot him, killing him +instantly. Then they rushed upon their other victim, saying, "Now is your +turn." In vain did Lecomte beg to be judged by his equals, and spoke of +his wife and children. But his tormentors would have none of that, and +shot him then and there. Lecomte fell on his knees; they dragged him to +his feet, and continued firing into his still warm body. When the populace +was allowed to come in they danced a saturnalia over his corpse. Auber +said: "My heart bleeds when I gaze on all that is going on about me. Alas! +I have lived too long." + +I tried to make him talk of other things, to divert him from his dark +thoughts. We played some duets of Bach, and he accompanied me in some of +his songs. I sang them to please him, though my heart was not "attuned to +music," as the poets say. + + +_March 25, 1871._ + +I have not had the time to write for some days, but I am sure you will +forgive me. Mrs. Moulton and I have been going to the ambulances every day +this week. + +There are many of these temporary hospitals established all over Paris, +supplied with army surgeons and nurses. + +Mrs. Moulton, like many other ladies, had volunteered her services during +the war, and had interested herself in this worthy cause; and as she is +about to leave for Dinard one of these days, she wanted me to take up her +work in the hospital of the Boulevard la Tour-Maubourg. She knows all the +directors and nurses and introduced me to them. + +The director asked me if I would like to help in the _section des +étrangers_. I replied that I would do anything they wished, hoping +inwardly that I might develop a talent for nursing, which, until now, had +lain dormant. + +It was not with a light heart I entered the ward to which I was aligned, +and saw the long rows of beds filled with sick and wounded. + +My first patient was a very young German (he did not look more than +twenty). He had been shot through the eyes, and was so bandaged that I +could hardly see anything but his mouth. Poor little fellow! He was very +blond, with a nicely shaped head and a fine, delicate mouth. + +His lips trembled when I laid my hand on his white and thin hand, lying +listlessly on the coverlid. I asked him if I could do anything for him. + +He answered me by asking if I could speak German. On my saying that I +could, he said he would like to have me write to his mother. + +I asked the director if it was allowed for me to communicate with his +family. He answered that there would be no objection if the contents of +the letter were understood by me. + +Therefore, armed with pencil and paper, I returned to my invalid's +bedside, who, on hearing me, whispered: "I thought you had gone and would +not come back." + +"You don't think I would be so unkind as that?" I answered. + +I felt that we were already friends. I sat down, saying that I was ready +to write if he would dictate. + +His lips moved; but I could not hear, and was obliged to put my ear quite +close to his poor bandaged face to hear the words, _Meine liebe Mutter_. +He went on dictating, and I writing as well as I could, until there came a +pause. I waited, and then said, "Und?" He stammered something which I made +out to be, "It hurts me to cry," whereupon I cried, the tears rolling fast +down my cheeks. Fortunately he did not see me! + +This is my first trial, and I have already broken down! + +I told him I would finish the letter and send it to his mother, "Frau +Wanda Schultz, Biebrich am Rhein," which I did, adding a little postscript +that I was looking after her son, and would take the best care of him. I +hope she got the letter. + +The doctor advised the patient to sleep, so I left him and went to another +bed, which they indicated. + +This was an American, a newspaper reporter from Camden, New Jersey. He had +joined Faidherbe's army in February, and had been wounded in the leg. He +was glad to talk English. "They do things mighty well over here", said he; +"but I guess I'll have to have my leg cut off, all the same." + +When I put the question to him, "What can I do for you?" he replied, "If +you have any papers or illustrated news or pictures, I should like to see +them." I said I would bring some to-morrow. + +He was very cheerful and very pleasant to talk with. + +On reaching the Rue de Courcelles we found Mr. Washburn. + +He was utterly disgusted with the Communards. He even became violent when +he spoke of their treatment of Generals Lecomte and Clément Thomas. He +rather took their defense during the first days of the Commune, saying +they were acting in good faith; but now I think he has other ideas about +them. + +Auber also came at five o'clock; he gets more and more despondent, and is +very depressed. He had heard that the Communards had commenced pillaging +in the Quartier de l'Odéon, also that the Place Vendôme was being +plundered. + +To what are we coming? + +The next day I found my little German soldier decidedly worse. He had +received a letter from the _Mutter_, which he asked me to read to him. I +tried my best to overcome the difficulties of the writing and spelling, +and made many mistakes, causing the poor little fellow to smile. He +corrected me every time very conscientiously. + +I did feel so sorry for him; he seemed so gentle and never complained of +his sufferings, which must have been intense. The nurse, feeling his +pulse, announced an increase of fever, and thought he had better rest, +When I said, in as cheerful a voice as I could assume; "Well, good-by for +to-day," he said, "To-morrow you will come?" Alas! there was to be no to- +morrow for him. + +My other patient, Mr. Parker, appeared very comfortable, and immensely +pleased to see that I had not forgotten to bring the newspapers and +pictures. I also took a chess-board, thinking to amuse him. The doctor +looked dismayed when he saw me carrying a chessboard under my arm. +"Madame," he said, "I think that chess is too fatiguing for an invalid; +perhaps something milder would be better. I have always understood," he +smilingly added, "that chess is a game for people in the most robust +health, and with all their mental faculties." + +I felt utterly crushed. This was the way my attempts to divert the sick +and the wounded were received! I thought how little I understood the +character of hospital work. Mr. Parker, evidently feeling sorry for my +discomfiture, told the doctor it would amuse him to play checkers if he +would allow it. The doctor consented to this, and I sent Louis off to buy +a box of checkers. Mr. Parker and I played two games, and he beat me each +game, which put him in splendid spirits, and I think did him no harm. + +Mrs. Moulton and I drove out to the Bois after the ambulance visit. I had +not been there since last August. How changed it was! The broad Avenue de +l'Impératrice, where the lovely Empress drove every day in her _calèche +à la Daumont_, surrounded by the magnificent _Cent Gardes_, is now almost +impossible to drive in. The trees are cut down, and the roads full of +ditches and stones. + +Rochefort, who was in power while the siege was in progress, suggested +some medieval methods too childish for belief--to annihilate the whole +German army if they should enter Paris. He had ordered pitfalls in the +Avenue de l'Impératrice--holes about three feet deep--in which he +intended the German cavalry to tumble headlong. He thought, probably, the +army would come in the night and not see them. Rochefort had also built +towers, as in the time of the Crusaders, from which hot oil and stones +were to be poured on the enemy. Did you ever hear of anything so idiotic? +He little dreamt that the German army would take possession of Paris, +bivouac in the Champs-Élysées, and quietly march out again. + +We visited the Pré Catalan, where last year fashionable society met every +day to flirt and drink milk. That is, as you may imagine, minus cows. +These had, like all the other animals, been eaten and digested long ago. +Thick hides not being at a premium, the hippopotamus and rhinoceros had +been kindly spared to posterity. + + +_March 29th._ + +To-day I went to the ambulances as usual. The doctor greeted me with his +usual kindness; he said there was an invalid for whom I was needed, and +conducted me to his bedside. + +My new patient was a German officer about thirty-five years old. He said +he came from Munich. I told him about Count Arco (also from Munich), whom +he knew, and about Petit Val, in which he seemed interested. We talked +music, and he became quite excited when he spoke of Wagner, to whom, +according to him, no one could compare. I did not want to discuss this +wide subject; I merely remarked that Mendelssohn and Weber had their good +points, which he allowed, but replied that they were utterly out of +fashion. I did not agree with him, and, to show that Weber was a genius, I +hummed the prayer from "Der Freischütz." + +There was a visible movement among the white-covered beds, and the nurses +frowned, while the doctor came hurriedly toward me, holding up his finger +warningly. + +I really have no talent for nursing. It seems that everything I do is +wrong. + +The German officer said, when I went away, "I will convince you to-morrow, +when you come, that Wagner is the greatest genius living." I answered that +undoubtedly he would, and bade him good-by. + +When I reached the carriage I found a small crowd collected around it, and +I hurried to get in, and hardly had time to shut the door when Louis +whipped the horse, and we were galloping away toward home. Once there, +Louis told me that he would respectfully advise me not to go in the +carriage with a coachman in livery again. Anything, he said, in the form +of luxury or wealth excited the mob, and no one could tell what it might +do when excited. + +Therefore we decided to abolish the liveries for the future. When we +reached home we found that we were one horse less, the Communards having +taken it out of the stables without further ado than a mild protest from +the frightened _concierge_. The Comité de Transport promised to return the +horse when no longer needed. + +[Illustration: RAOUL RIGAULT] + + +_March 31st._ + +DEAR MAMA,--Mr. Moulton thought it better that I should leave Paris. But +to leave Paris one must have a passport from the Prefect of Police. He +consulted Mr. Washburn about it, who not only consented to give me a card +of introduction to Raoul Rigault (whom he knew personally), but offered to +send me to the prefecture in his own carriage. + +This morning at eleven the carriage was at the door, and with it the +promised card of introduction. I noticed that the coachman had no livery, +nor did he wear the cockade of the Legation; neither was there any +servant. I suppose Mr. Washburn thought it safer for us to drive through +the streets without creating any unnecessary notice or running the risk of +being insulted. + +Mademoiselle W---- accompanied me, and with her the omnipresent bag filled +with chocolates, bonbons, etc., for any unforeseen event. + +On our way she discoursed on the manner one ought to treat _ces gens- +là_. One should (she said) not _brusquer_ them, nor provoke them in any +way, but smile kindly at them and _en générale_ be very polite. + +I don't know how many times I had to pull out my _billet de circulation_ +before we reached the prefecture. + +It was a long time since I had been down the Rue de Rivoli, and I was +disgusted when I saw the half-clad half-starved soldiers, in their dirty +boots and down-trodden shoes, slouching about with their torn uniforms and +carrying their rusty guns any which way. + +At last we arrived, and we were about to descend from the carriage, when a +ragamuffin of a Communist, shouldering his gun and looking all-important, +sprang forward to prevent us; but on showing my "billet," he nodded his +head, saying, "C'est bien." + +At the mere sight of him Mademoiselle W---- said, "Don't you think, _chère +Madame_, that it is better to return home?" I answered: "Nonsense! Now +that we are here, let us go through with it." + +A few steps farther an awkward soldier happened to drop his gun on the +pavement. At the sound of this, poor Mademoiselle W---- almost sank on her +knees with fright. + +The small gate next to the large iron one was opened, and we entered the +courtyard. This was filled with soldiers. A sentinel stood before the door +of the large corridor which led to the Prefect's office. Inside this room +stood a guard, better dressed and seemingly a person of more importance. +On showing Mr. Washburn's card, I said to him that I had come here for the +purpose of getting a passport, and would like to speak to Monsieur Rigault +himself. + +We went toward the door, which he opened, but on seeing Mademoiselle W---- +he stopped us and asked: "Who is that lady? Has she a card also?" + +We had never thought of this! I was obliged to say that she had not, but +she had come to accompany me. + +He said, rather bluntly, "If she has no card, I cannot allow her to +enter." + +Here was a pretty plight. I told him, in the suave manner which +Mademoiselle W---- had recommended to me, that Mr. Washburn would have +included this lady's name on my card had he foreseen that there would be +any difficulty in allowing her to follow me as my companion. + +"Madame, I have strict orders; I cannot disobey them." + +I did not wish him to disobey them; but, nevertheless, I whispered to +Mademoiselle W----, "Don't leave me, stay close by me," thinking the man +would not, at the last moment, refuse to allow her to remain with me. + +Alas! the door opened. I entered; the door closed behind me; I looked back +and saw I was alone. No Mademoiselle in sight! My heart sank. + +I was escorted from room to room, each door guarded by an uncouth soldier, +and shut promptly as I passed. + +I must have gone through at least seven rooms before I reached the +sanctuary in which Monsieur Raoul Rigault held his _audience_. + +This autocrat, whom the republicans (to their eternal shame be it said) +had placed in power after the 4th of September, is (and was _then_) the +most successful specimen of a scamp that the human race has ever produced. +At this moment Rigault has more power than any one else in Paris. + +When the guard opened the door he pointed to the table where Raoul Rigault +was seated writing (seemingly very absorbed). He appeared to me to be a +man of about thirty-five or forty years old, short, thick-set, with a +full, round face, a bushy black beard, a sensuous mouth, and a cynical +smile. He wore tortoise-shell eyeglasses; but these could not hide the +wicked expression of his cunning eyes. + +I looked about me and noticed that the room had very little furniture; +there was only the table at which the Prefect sat and two or three plain +chairs. Just such a chamber as Robespierre might have occupied during +_his République_. There were two gendarmes standing behind Rigault's +chair waiting for orders, and a man (of whom I did not take particular +notice) leaning against the mantelpiece at the other end of the room. + +I approached the table, waiting like a culprit for the all-powerful +Rigault to look up and notice me. + +But he did not; he continued to be occupied with what he was doing. So I +ventured to break the ice by saying, "Monsieur, I have come to procure a +passport, and here is Mr. Washburn's card (the American Minister) to tell +you who I am." + +He took the card without condescending to look at it, and went on writing. + +Getting impatient at his impertinence, I ventured again to attract his +attention, and I said, as politely as possible (and as Mademoiselle could +have wished), "Will you not kindly give me this passport, as I wish to +leave Paris as soon as possible?" + +Thereupon he took up the card, and, affecting the "Marat" style, said, +"Does the _citoyenne_ wish to leave Paris? _Pourquoi?_" + +I answered that I was obliged to leave Paris for different reasons. + +He replied, with what he thought a seductive smile, "I should think Paris +would be a very attractive place for a pretty woman like yourself." + +How could I make him understand that I had come for a passport and not for +conversation? + +At this moment I confess I began to feel dreadfully nervous, seeing the +powerless situation in which I was placed, and I saw in imagination +visions of prison-cells, handcuffs, and all the horrors which belong to +revolutions. I heard the sonorous clock in the tower strike the hour, and +realized that only minutes, not hours, had passed since I had been waiting +in this dreadful place. + +"Monsieur," I began once more, "I am rather in haste, and would thank you +if you would give me my passport." + +Upon which he took Mr. Washburn's so-much-looked-at card, scrutinized it, +and then scrutinized me. + +"Are you La Citoyenne Moulton?" + +I answered, "Yes." + +"American?" + +I replied I was, and _in petto_--mighty glad I was to be so. + +"Does the American Minister know you personally?" + +"Yes, very well." + +"Why do you wish to deprive us of your presence in Paris?" + +I repeated that my affairs required my presence elsewhere. + +I saw he was taking no steps toward making out my passport, and I became +more agitated and unnerved and said, "If it is impossible for you, +Monsieur, to give me the passport, I will inform Mr. Washburn of the fact, +and he will no doubt come to you himself for it." + +This seemed to arouse him, for he opened a drawer and took out a blank to +be filled for a passport, with an impatient shrug of his shoulders, as it +he was bored to death. + +Now followed the most hateful and trying _quart d'heure_ I ever passed in +my life. I fancy Raoul Rigault had never been in the society of a lady +(perhaps he had never seen one), and his innate coarseness seemed to make +him gloat over the present situation, and as a true republican, whose +motto is _Égalité, Fraternité, Liberté_, he flattered himself he was on an +equality with me, therefore he could take any amount of liberty. He took +advantage of the unavoidable questions that belong to the making out of a +passport, and showed a diabolical pleasure in tormenting _la citoyenne_ +who stood helplessly before him. + +When it came to the description and the enumerating of my features, he was +more obnoxious than I can express. Peering across the table to see whether +my eyes were brown or black, or my hair black or brown, he never lost an +opportunity to make a fawning remark before writing it down. He described +my _teint_ as _pâle_; I felt pale, and think I must have looked very pale, +for he said: "Vous êtes bien pâle, Madame. Voudriez-vous quelque chose à +boire?" Possibly he may have meant to be kind; but I saw BORGIA written +all over him. I refused his offer with effusion. + +When he asked me my age, he said, _insinuatingly_, "Vous êtes bien jeune, +Madame, pour circuler seule ainsi dans Paris." + +I answered, "Je ne suis pas seule, Monsieur. Mon mari [I thought it best +to tell this lie] m'attend dans la voiture de Monsieur Washburn et il doit +être bien étonné de ma longue absence." + +I considered this extremely diplomatic. + +Turning to the man at the mantelpiece, he said, "Grousset, do you think we +ought to allow the _citoyenne_ to leave Paris?" + +Grousset (the man addressed) stepped forward and looked at Mr. Washburn's +card, saying something in an undertone to Rigault, which caused him +instantly to change his manner toward me (I don't know which was worse, +his overbearing or his fawning manner). + +"You must forgive me," he said, "if I linger over your visit here. We +don't often have such luck, do we, Grousset?" + +I thought I should faint! + +Probably the man Grousset noticed my emotion, for he came to my rescue and +said, politely, "Madame Moulton, j'ai eu l'honneur de vous voir à un bal à +l'Hôtel de Ville l'année dernière." + +I looked up with surprise. He was a very handsome fellow, and I remembered +quite well having seen him somewhere; but did not remember where. I was +happy indeed to find any one who knew me and could vouch for me, and told +him so. He smiled. "I venture to present myself to you, Madame. I am +Pascal Grousset. Can I be of any service to you?" + +"Indeed you can," I answered, eagerly. "Please tell Monsieur Rigault to +give me my passport; it seems to have been a colossal undertaking to get +it." I preferred the _Pascal_ G. to the _Rascal_ R. + +Grousset and Rigault had a little conversation together, and presto! my +longed-for passport lay before me to sign. No Elsa ever welcomed her +Lohengrin coming out of the clouds as I did my Lohengrin coming from the +mantelpiece. + +I signed my name quickly enough; Rigault put the official seal on it, and, +rising from his chair, politely handed it to me. + +Before taking my leave of the now over-polite Prefect, I asked him how +much there was to pay. + +He courteously replied, "Rien, absolument rien," and added he was glad to +be of any service to me; and if there was anything more he could do, I had +only to command. + +I did not say that I thought he had done enough for one day, but I bowed +him good-by and turned to go out. + +Mr. Pascal Grousset offered me his arm, begging to take me to my carriage. +The gendarmes threw open doors, and we retraced our steps through all the +different rooms until we reached the one where I had left Mademoiselle +W----, whom I expected to find waiting for me in agonizing anxiety. + +But what did I see? + +Mademoiselle sound asleep on the bench, bag, smile, and all, gazed at and +guarded by the dreaded soldiers. + +"I am afraid," said Pascal Grousset, "that you have been greatly annoyed +this morning. Your interview with the Prefect must have been most painful +to you!" + +"I confess," I said, "it has never been my fate to have been placed in +just such a situation, and I thank you, _de tout mon coeur_, for your +assistance. You certainly saved my life, for I doubt if I could have lived +another moment in that room." + +"Perhaps more than your life, Madame; more than you imagine, at any rate." + +As he put us in the carriage, he looked puzzled when he saw _le mari_ I +had said was waiting for me; but a smile of comprehension swept over his +face as he met my guilty glance. He apparently understood my reasons. + +On reaching home, tired, exhausted, and oh! so hungry, we found Mr. +Washburn. He and Mr. Moulton had been very anxious about me, picturing to +themselves all sorts of horrors, and when I told them what really had +happened they felt that their anxieties had not been far from the truth. +Mr. Washburn laughed at the subterfuges I had used and the lie I had told. +They examined my passport as a great curiosity, and noticed it had +_Valable pour un an_. + +Mr. Washburn said, "Evidently they intend this sort of thing to go on +forever." + + +_23d of April._ + +Mrs. Moulton has decided to leave for Dinard, and starts the day after to- +morrow. + +We have been assured that the train would make connections as far at least +as Rennes; beyond that no one could tell whether they went regularly or +not. + +Mrs. Moulton had procured a red _billet de circulation_ with a date, a +white one without a date, Mr. Washburn's card, and different passes. She +was certainly well prepared for any emergency. As there was only one day +train, she was obliged to take that (it left al seven o'clock A.M.). + +A desire to see some of her friends before her departure spurred Mrs. +Moulton to invite them to dinner. Our friends are now so few and far +between that it is not difficult to know whom to choose or where to find +them. + +The result was a miscellaneous company, as you will see: Mr. Washburn, +Auber, Massenet, Beaumont, and Delsarte. Our family consisted of Mr. and +Mrs. Moulton, Henry, Mademoiselle Wissembourg, and myself. + +Mrs. Moulton asked Henry to bring with him some green peas from Petit Val +to eke out the chef's meager menu. + +With the aid of a friendly officer, Henry managed to pick a "whole bushel" +(he always exaggerates), which, with his toilet articles, completely +filled his large _sac de voyage_. Besides this, he had a portmanteau +with his evening attire, and a package which Count Arco wished to send to +Paris. + +Count Arco ordered out the "ancient and honorable relic" of our landau +(the same I had used on the famous 18th of March) and the artillery +horses, with their heavy dragoons, in order to deposit Henry and his bags +at the pontoon bridge, where a man was found to take them as far as the +station. + +To divert himself while tramping along with his _sac de voyage_, Henry +shelled the peas, casting the pods behind him, after the manner of Tom +Thumb, never dreaming that the peas thus left to chum familiarly with +his toilet things might suffer from the contact and get a new flavor. He +was surprised to see how the "bushel" had diminished in volume since it +started. + +Mrs. Moulton had promised to send the carriage to meet _l'envoi +extraordinaire_; but Henry, finding none, started to walk toward home, +followed by a porter carrying his extra baggage. + +What was Henry's astonishment at seeing Louis drive out of the Hôtel de +Ville with two strange men in the coupé. Henry hailed Louis, who, though +scared out of his wits, pulled up obediently, disregarding the angry +voices from inside. Henry opened the door and addressed the strangers +politely, "Messieurs, this is my carriage; I beg you to alight." + +"Par exemple!" cried the two, in chorus. "Who are you?" + +"I happen to be the proprietor of the carriage," replied Henry, assuming +an important air, "and if you decline to leave it I shall call the Sergent +de Ville." Then turning to the porter, he told him to put the bags in the +coupé, which he did. + +"Ha, ha!" laughed the two men. "_Faites ça, mon bon!_ that would be +amusing. Do you know who we are?" + +Henry did not, and said he was not particularly anxious to know. + +"This is Monsieur Félix Pyat, and I am his secretary. Here is a _bon_ for +your carriage," handing Henry the card. + +"Well," said Henry, pulling out his card, "here is my card, here are my +passes, and here [pointing to Louis] is my coachman!" + +Félix Pyat said, "How do we know that this is your carriage?" + +Henry acknowledged that at the moment he looked so little like the owner +of anything except the bag, in which the peas were rattling like bullets, +that he forgave the doubt. + +Louis was called from the box and the question was put to him. In ordinary +moments Louis would have mumbled and stuttered hopelessly; but he seemed +to have been given overwhelming strength on this occasion, and surprised +Henry by confirming his words with an unction worthy of the great Solomon +himself. He waved his whip aloft, pointed to Henry, and putting his hand +on his heart (which I am sure was going at a tremendous pace) said, "I +swear that this is my master!" + +No one but a Communard could have doubted him; but Félix Pyat no more +believed Louis's oath than he did Henry's documents. + +"_Bien_," said Pyat; "if it is true that you live in the Rue de +Courcelles, we will leave you there and continue on our way." + +Now followed the most spirited altercation, all talking at once, Henry +trying to get in the coupé, and the others refusing to get out. + +"À la maison!" shouted Henry. + +"À la Place Beauvais!" shouted the Communards. They continued giving these +contradictory orders to poor, bewildered Louis until a crowd had +collected, and they thought it better to stop quarreling. Henry entered +the carriage, meekly taking his seat on the _strapontin_ opposite the +intruders, and thinking of the peas, which ought to have been in the pot +by this time, assented to be left at home, and ordered Louis to drive the +triumphant Communards to the Ministry of the Interior, Place Beauvais. + +It would be difficult for one who did not know Louis to guess what his +state of mind must have been. He was not of the kind they make heroes of; +he was good, kind, and timid, though he was an _ancien Zouave_ and had +fought in several battles (so he said). I always doubted these tales, +and I still think Louis's loose, bulging trousers and the tassel of his +red cap were only seen from behind. + +It was as good as a play to hear Louis's tragic account of yesterday, and +it made your hair stand on end when he recounted how he had been stopped +in the Rue de Castiglione, how two fiery Communards had entered the coupé +and ordered him to drive to the Hôtel de Ville, where Félix Pyat had +mounted the carriage. What must his account have been in the kitchen? + +However, the principal thing was that the harassed peas were safe in the +kitchen and in time to be cooked and figure on the menu as _légumes_ +(_les petits pois_). + +Our guests' faces beamed with satisfaction at the idea of these +_primeurs_, and evidently anticipated great joy in eating them; but +after they had tasted them they laid down their forks and ... meditated! +The servant removed the plates with their _primeurs_, wondering how +such wanton capriciousness could exist in this _primeur_-less Paris. +Only Mr. Moulton ate them to the last pea. We--the initiated--knew where +the peculiar taste of soap, tooth-wash, perfume, etc., came from! The peas +descended to the kitchen, and ascended again untouched to the hothouse, +where they finished their wild and varied career. If they could have +spoken, what tales they could have told! They had displaced the German +Army, they had aided and abetted the cause of the Commune, and they had +cost their bringer untold sums in _pourboires_, in order to furnish a +few forkfuls for Mr. Moulton and a gala supper for the hens. + +We had an excellent dinner: a _potage printanier_ (from cans), canned +lobster, corned beef (canned), and some chickens who had known many sad +months in the conservatory. An ice concocted from different things, and +named on the menu _glace aux fruits_, completed this _festin de +Balthazar_. + +Mr. Moulton was obliged to don the obnoxious dress-coat, laid away during +the siege in camphor, and smelling greatly of the same. He held in his +hand _La Gazette Officielle_. The same shudder ran through us all. It +was to be read to us after dinner! Coffee was served in the ballroom, +which was dimly lighted. + +Would it not be too trying for an old gentleman's eyes to read the fine +print of the _Gazette_? Alas! no. Mr Moulton's eyes were not the kind +that recoiled from anything so trivial as light or darkness; and hardly +had we finished our coffee than out came the _Gazette_. We all listened, +apparently; some dozed, some kept awake out of politeness or stupefaction; +Mademoiselle Wissembourg, without any compunction, resigned herself to +slumber, as she had done for the last twenty-five years. + +Delsarte squirmed with agony as he heard the French language, and murmured +to himself that he had lived in vain. What had served all his art, his +profound diagnosis of voice-inflections, his diagrams on the wall, the art +of enunciation, and so forth? He realized, for the first time, what his +graceful language could become _del bocca Americana_! + +Delsarte's idea of evening-dress was worthy of notice. He wore trousers of +the workman type, made in the reign of Louis Philippe, very large about +the hips, tapering down to the ankles; a flowing redingote, dating from +the same reign, shaped in order to fit over the voluminous trousers; a +fancy velvet waistcoat and a huge tie bulging over his shirt-front (if he +had a shirt-front, which I doubt). He asked permission to keep on his +_calotte_, which I fancy had not left his skull since the Revolution +of 1848. + +Massenet, who had come in from the country for the day to confer with his +editor, received our invitation just in time to dress and join us. After +the _Gazette_ we awoke to life, and Massenet played some of the "Poème de +Souvenir," which he has dedicated to me (I hope I can do it justice). What +a genius he is! Massenet always calls Auber _le Maître_, and Auber calls +him _le cher enfant_. + +Auber also played some of his melodies with his dear, wiry old fingers, +and while he was at one piano Massenet put himself at the other (we have +two in the ballroom), and improvised an enchanting accompaniment. I wished +they could have gone on forever. + +Who would have believed that, in the enjoyment of this beautiful music, we +could have forgotten we were in the heart of poor, mutilated Paris--in the +hands of a set of ruffians dressed up like soldiers? Bombs, bloodshed, +Commune, and war were phantoms we did not think of. + +Delsarte, in the presence of genius, refused to sing "Il pleut, il pleut, +Bergère," but condescended to declaim "La Cigalle ayant chanté tout +l'été," and did it as he alone can do it. When he came to the end of the +fable, "Eh bien, dansez maintenant," he gave such a tragic shake to his +head that the voluminous folds of his cravat became loosened and hung +limply over his bosom. + +I sang the "Caro Nome" of "Rigoletto," with Massenet's accompaniment. +Every one seemed pleased; even Delsarte went as far as to compliment me on +the expression of joy and love depicted on my face and thrown into my +voice, which was probably correct, according to diagram ten on his walls. + +He now felt he had not lived in vain. + +It being almost midnight, our guests took their departure. + +There were only two carriages before the door, Mr. Washburn's and Auber's. +Mr. Washburn took charge of the now very sleepy Delsarte, who declaimed a +sepulchral _bonsoir_ and disappeared, his redingote waving in the air. + +The _maître_ took the _cher enfant_, or rather the _cher enfant_ led the +_maître_ out of the salon. The family retired to rest. The _Gazette +Officielle_ had long since vanished with its master, and was no doubt +being perused in the privacy of the boudoir above, the odious dress-coat +and pumps replaced by _robe de chambre_ and slippers. Henry said the next +morning he had had a bad night;... he had dreamt that the whole German +army was waiting outside of Paris, shelling the town with peas. + + +_April 1, 1871._ + +Beaumont wished to accompany us to the ambulance to-day, thinking that he +might get an idea for a sketch; but, though he had his album and pencils +with him, he did not accomplish much. + +We sat by the bedside of the German officer, and Beaumont made a drawing +of him. The officer said in a low tone to me, "Is that the famous artist +Beaumont?" + +I replied that it was. + +"I am so glad to have an opportunity to see him, as I have heard so much +of him, and have seen a great many of his pictures in Germany." + +This I repeated to Beaumont, and it seemed to please him very much. + +When we left, Beaumont said to him, showing him the sketch, "Would you +like this?" + +The officer answered in the most perfect French, "I shall always keep it +as a precious souvenir"; and added, "May I not have a sketch of my nurse?" +(meaning me). + +Beaumont thought that it was rather presuming on the part of the officer +to ask for it, and seemed annoyed. However, he made a hasty drawing and +gave it to him, saying in his blunt way, "I hope this will please you." +The officer thanked him profusely, and we left. Turning to me he said: "I +have not profited much by this visit. I have given, but not taken anything +away." + +"But the experience," I ventured to say. + +"Oh yes, the experience; but that I did not need." + +In the evening we had one of our drowsy games of whist, made up of +Countess B----, our neighbor opposite, brought across the street in her +sedan-chair (she never walks), Mr. Moulton, myself, and Beaumont making +the sleepy fourth. Neither of our guests speaks English with anything like +facility, but they make frantic efforts to carry on the game in English, +as Mr. Moulton has never learned the game in French and only uses English +terms. + +Mr. Moulton always plays with Countess B----, and I always play with +Beaumont; we never change partners. + +This is the kind of game we play: + +It takes Beaumont a very long time to arrange his cards, which he does in +a unique way, being goaded on by Mr. Moulton's impatient "Well!" He picks +out all the cards of one suit and he lays them downward on the table in a +pile; then he gathers them up and puts them between the third and fourth +fingers of his left hand. With the next suit he does likewise, placing +them between the second and third fingers, and so on, until the grand +_finale,_ when the fingers loosen and the cards amalgamate. During this +process his cards fall every few minutes on the floor, occasioning much +delay, as they have all to be arranged again. + +It is my deal; I turn up a heart. The Countess is on my left. We wait with +impatience for her to play, but she seems only to be contemplating her +cards. + +"Well!" says Mr. Moulton, impatiently. + +We all say in unison, "Your play, Countess!" + +The Countess: "Oh, what dreadful cards! I can never play. Oh," with a +sigh, "how dreadful!" + +We are all very sorry for her. She has evidently wretched cards. + +Long pause. "Your turn, Countess!" we all cry. + +"What are trumps?" she asks. + +We show her the trump card on the table and say together, "Hearts." + +Another long pause. + +She arranges her cards deliberately and then shuts them up like a fan. + +"Your play, partner," says Mr. Moulton, tired out with waiting. + +With a dismal wail, and looking about for sympathy, she plays the ace of +clubs. + +Mr. Moulton gathers up the trick. + +She has no idea that she has taken anything, but is quietly adjusting her +cards again. + +"Your turn, Countess!" + +"What, my turn again?" She expresses the greatest surprise. + +She: "What dreadful cards! Indeed, I cannot play." + +Poor thing! That was probably her only good card, and we expected her next +would be the two of spades. But no. She pulls out, with the air of a +martyr, the ace of spades. + +Mr. Moulton: "Well! that's not so bad." + +Great astonishment on her part. She can't believe that she has actually +taken a trick. She had hoped some one else would have played. + +A long, fidgety silence follows. + +All: "Your play, Countess!" She plays the queen of hearts. + +This has no success, as I take it with my king. + +Mr. Moulton: "Why did you play trumps?" + +She: "Oh! was that trumps? I must take it back. Pray, let me take it +back." + +We all recover our cards. (My partner takes this occasion to drop some of +his on the floor. He picks them up and arranges them again in order.) + +"Your turn, Countess!" we cry, exhausted. + +She: "What, again! Why does some one else not play?" + +Then out comes the ace of diamonds. + +Some one said, "You have all the aces." + +She: "Oh! not all; I have not the ace of hearts." + +Her partner, aghast, begs her not to tell us what her other cards are, and +so the game proceeds to the bitter end. + +There were other moments funny beyond words especially when Mr. Beaumont's +English fails to cope with the situation and he will try to discuss the +points where the Countess has failed. He says, "Did you not see he put his +king on your spade ace-spot?" and, "Madame, you played the third of +spades." And when we count honors, Beaumont will cover the table with his +great elbows and enumerate his: "I had the ass, the knight, and the dame." + +I heard a suppressed chuckle from my father-in-law, and seemed to see a +vision of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza pass before me. + + +_24th of April._ + +DEAR MAMA,--Auber sent a note early this morning by his coachman to ask me +to lunch with him at ten-thirty o'clock (of course accompanied by +Mademoiselle, my aunt, as he calls her). The coachman says that his master +is not feeling well and longs to see a friend. + +I am proud to be the friend he longs to see, and was only too happy to +accept. Mademoiselle W---- was equally happy, ready, as always, for any +excursion where a good repast was in view, and of that we were sure, as +Auber's chef is renowned, and is so clever that, though the market is +limited, he can make something delicious out of nothing. + +Louis appeared in a short jacket and a straw hat, looking rather waggish +and very embarrassed to present himself in such a costume. + +Driving through the Boulevard Clichy and endless out-of-the-way streets, +we finally reached Auber's hotel, which is in the Rue St. Georges. + +Louis was glad to find safety under the _porte-cochère_, and to see his +bosom companion, Auber's butler, into whose arms he fell with joy. + +Auber came to the door to welcome us, seeming most grateful that we had +come, and led us into the salon. There is only one way to get into the +salon, and that is either through the dining-room or the bedroom; we went +through the bedroom, as the other was decked for the feast. + +I have never seen Auber look so wretched and sad as he did to-day; I could +hardly believe it was the same Auber I have always seen so gay and full of +life and spirits. + +I brought a tiny bunch of lilies of the valley, which Louis had gathered +in the all-producing hothouse. + +"Merci, merci," he said. "Les fleurs! C'est la vie parfumée." Waiting for +the breakfast to be served, he showed us about in his apartment. In the +salon, rather primly furnished, stood the grand piano. The bookshelves +contained Cherubini's (his master) and his own operas, and his beloved +Bach. A table in the middle of the room, covered with photographs and +engravings, completed son _salon de garçon_. + +The bedroom was also very primitive: his wooden bed, with its traditional +covering of _bourre_; a chiffonier containing his curios, royal presents, +and costly souvenirs; his writing-table; and his old piano, born in 1792, +on which he composed all his operas. + +The piano certainly looked very old; its keys were yellow as amber, and +Auber touched them with tenderness, his thin, nervous fingers, with their +well-kept nails, rattling on them like dice in a box. + +He said: "Le piano est presqu'aussi vieux que moi. Que de tracas nous +avons eu ensemble!" + +Breakfast was announced, and we three took our places at the beautifully +arranged table. I wondered where the butler had found flowers and fruit +and _écrevisses_. Mademoiselle and I ate with an astounding appetite; +but Auber, who had not eaten a _déjeuner_ for thirty years, contented +himself with talking. + +And talk he did, like a person hungry and thirsty to talk. He told us +about Scribe, for whom he had an unlimited admiration. "I wish you had +known him," he said; "he was the greatest librettist who ever existed. I +only had to put the words on the piano, put on my hat, and go out. When I +came back the music was all written--the words had done it alone." ("Je +n'avais qu'à mettre les paroles sur le pupitre, prendre mon chapeau et +sortir. Quand je revenais la musique était toute écrite, les paroles +l'avaient faite toutes seules.") + +He related incidents connected with his youth. His father was a banker +very well off, rich even, and had destined Auber to be a banker, like +himself; but when Auber went to London to commence his clerkship he found +he had no vocation for finance, and began to devote himself to music and +composition. He was thirty-six years old when he wrote his first opera. He +told us that his first ones were so bad that he had given them to the +Conservatoire _pour encourager les commençants_. + +Breakfast had long since finished; but dear old Auber rambled on, and +Mademoiselle and I sat listening. + +He said he was going to leave all his music to me in his will. I thanked +him, and replied nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have +something which had belonged to him. + +"Je ne regarde jamais mes partitions sans être gagné par la tristesse et +sans penser que de morceaux à retoucher! En composant, je n'ai jamais +connu d'autre muse que l'ennui." + +"On ne le dirait pas," said Mademoiselle, wanting to join the +conversation. "Votre musique est si gaie, si pleine d'entrain." + +"Vous trouvez! Vous êtes bien bonne. Je ne sais comment cela arrive. Il +n'y a pas de motifs parmi ceux qu'on trouve heureux, que je n'ai pas écrit +entre deux baîllements. Je pourrais," he went on, "vous montrer tel +passage où ma plume a fait un long zigzag parce que mes yeux se sont +fermés et ma tête tombait sur la partition. On dirait, n'est ce pas? qu'il +y a des somnambules lucides." + +We thought Auber seemed very fatigued, and we soon left him, driving back +the same way we came, and reached home without any adventures. + + +_7th of May._ + +I received this morning, by a mysterious messenger, a curious document; it +looks like a series of carriage-wheels, but it is a cipher from Prince +Metternich, who is in Bordeaux, and is dated the 1st of May. It took me a +long time to puzzle it out: "Vous conseille de partir; pire viendra. +Pauline à Vienne; moi triste et tourmenté." + +Very good advice, but rather difficult to follow now. + +Never has Paris led such a sober life; there is no noise in the almost +empty and dimly lighted streets; there are no drunkards, and, strange to +say, one hears of no thefts. There are, I believe, one or two small +theaters open, most of the small cafés, and a great many wine-shops. The +soldiers slink about, looking ashamed of their shabby uniforms and ragged +appearance. + +Thiers has done all in his power to conciliate the different parties, but +has now concluded that Paris must be conquered by the troops of +Versailles. Every day there comes more disturbing news. How will it all +end? When shall we get out of this muddle? _En attendant,_ we live in +a continual fright. + +A note came yesterday from Mr. Washburn (I don't know if he is in Paris or +not). He writes: "Nothing could be worse than the present state of +affairs. I wish you were out of Paris; hope you are well," etc. + +If we could get a message to him, we would tell him that we are well +enough, and have enough to eat; that Mademoiselle Wissembourg and I +tremble all day; but that Mr. Moulton has not enjoyed himself so much +since the last revolution. + +Slippers all day if he likes. + + +_May 8th._ + +Though I have so much time on my hands (I never have had so much), I +really have not the heart to write of all the horrors we hear of and the +anxieties of our daily life. Besides, you will probably have heard, +through unprejudiced newspapers, all that is happening here, and know the +true facts before this dismal letter reaches you. And who knows if letters +leave Paris regularly in the chaotic state of disorder and danger we are +now in? + +I cannot write history, because I am living in it. I can only tell you the +news which Louis gathers when he does his errands, coming home with the +wildest tales, of which we can only believe the half. + +I have read somewhere that some one lived "in a dead white dawn of +thought." I have not the slightest idea what "a dead white dawn of +thought" can be (I have so little imagination); but whatever it is, I feel +as if I was living in it now. I don't remember in all my life to have +stagnated like this. + +We are glad Mrs. Moulton left Paris when she did, and is now in a bourne +of safety at Dinard, taking my place with the children while I take hers +in the Rue de Courcelles. + +This is no sacrifice on my part; the existence we are leading now +interests me intensely, being so utterly different from anything I have +ever known, and I do not regret having this little glimpse into the +unknown. + +I cannot go to the ambulances, as we (Mademoiselle and I) do not dare to +walk, and driving is out of the question. + +I have not seen Auber for many days; Beaumont has not been here either, +and we do not know where he is. + +They still go on issuing some official newspapers, though whether what +they contain is true, or how far the imaginations of the editors have +lured them into the paths of fiction, we cannot tell. If we live through +this _débâcle_ I count on history to tell us what we really have been +living through. However, truth or fiction, I am thankful that we have the +newspapers, for how would I ever have a moment's sleep if I did not listen +to Mr. Moulton's intoning the _Moniteur_ and the _Journal des Débats_ (the +_Figaro_ has been suppressed) to us, and we did not have our three-handed +drowsy whist to doze over. + + +_May 9th._ + +While we were at breakfast this morning the servant came rushing in, pale +and trembling, and announced to us that pillage had commenced in the +Boulevard Haussmann, just around the corner, and that the mob was coming +toward our house. We flew to the window, and, sure enough, there we saw a +mass of soldiers collected on the other side of the street, in front of +the Princess Mathilde's palace, gesticulating and pointing over at us. + +We thought our last day had come; certainly it did look like a crisis of +some kind. We gazed blankly at one another. Mademoiselle disappeared, to +seek refuge, I fancy, between the mattresses of her bed, and the smile and +the urbane language with which she was prepared to face this emergency (so +often predicted by her) disappeared with her. + +The mob crossed the street, howling and screaming, and on finding the gate +locked began to shake it. The frightened _concierge,_ already barricaded +in his lodge, took care not to show himself, which infuriated the riotous +crowd to such an extent that they yelled at the top of their lungs to have +the gate opened. + +Mr. Moulton sent a scared servant to order the still invisible _concierge_ +to open not only one gate, but all three. He obeyed, trembling and quaking +with fear. The Communists rushed into the courtyard, and were about to +seize the unhappy _concierge,_ when Mr. Moulton, seeing that no one else +had the courage to come forward, went himself, like the true American he +is,... out on to the _perron_, and I went with him. His first words (in +pure Angle-Saxon), "Qu'est-ce que vous voolly?" made the assembled crowd +giggle. + +The leader pushed forward, and, presenting a paper with the official seal +of the _Comité de Transport_, demanded, in the name of the Commune +(_requisitioned_, they call it), everything we had in the way of animals. + +Mr. Moulton took the paper, deliberately adjusted his spectacles, and, +having read it very leisurely (I wondered how those fiery creatures had +the forbearance to stay quiet, but they did; I think they were hypnotized +by my father-in-law's coolness), he said, in his weird French, "Vous +voolly nos animaux!" which sounded like _nos animose_. The crowd grinned +with delight. His French saved the situation. I felt that they would not +do us any great harm now. + +Mr. Moulton fumbled in his pocket, and, judging from the time he took and +the depths into which he dived, one would have thought he was going to +bring out corruption enough to bribe the whole French nation. But he only +produced a gold piece, which he flourished in front of the spokesman, and +asked if money would be any inducement to leave us _les animose_. But the +not-to-be-bribed Communard put his hand on his heart, and said, in a tone +worthy of Delsarte, "Nous sommes des honnêtes gens, Monsieur," at which my +father-in-law permitted himself to smile. I thought him very brave. + +Raising his voice to an unusually high pitch, he cried, "Je ne peux pas +vous refiuser _le_ cheval, mais [the pitch became higher] je refiuse _le_ +vache (I cannot refuse to give you the horse; but I refuse the cow)." + +The men before us were convulsed with laughter. Then Mr. Moulton gave the +order to bring out the horse, but _not_ the cow. The official turned to +me. "Madame," he said, "you have a cow, and my orders are to take all your +animals. Please send for the cow." + +"It is true, Monsieur," I answered, with a gentle smile (like the one +reposing under the mattress), "that we have a cow; but we have the +permission from your Government to keep it." + +"Which government?" he asked. + +"The French Government. Is that not yours?" + +The man could not find anything to answer, and turned away mumbling, +"Comme vous voulez," which applied to nothing at all, and addressed Mr. +Moulton again, "Nous avons des ordres, Monsieur!" But Mr. Moulton +interrupted him, "Ça m'est égal, je refiuse _le_ vache." + +Some one in the crowd called out, "Gardez _le_ vache!" This was received +with a burst of applause. I think that these men, rough as they were, +could not but admire the plucky old gentleman who stood there so calmly +looking at them over his spectacles. The servants were all huddled +together behind the glass windows in the _antichambre_, scared out of +their wits, while the terrible Communards were choking with laughter. + +It was heart-rending to see poor Louis's grief when he led out the dear, +gentle horse we loved so fondly; the tears rolled down his cheeks, as they +did down mine, and I think a great many of the ruffians around us had a +tear of sympathy for our sorrow, for the merriment of the few moments +before faded suddenly from their pale and haggard faces. + +When Louis leaned his kind old face against the nose of his companion of +the stable he sobbed aloud, and when he gave the bridle over to the man +who was to take the horse away he moaned an adieu, saying, "Be good to +her!" + +I went down the steps of the _perron_ (the men politely making way for me) +and kissed my poor darling Medjé, and passed my hand over her soft neck +before she left us for her unknown fate. She seemed to understand our +sorrow, for, as she was being led out of the courtyard, she turned her +head toward us with a patient, inquiring look, as if to say, "What does it +all mean?" + +I hope she will be returned when "no longer needed," as they promise, and +Louis will have the joy of seeing her again. + +The now-subdued mob left us, filing out quietly through the gates; they +had come in like roaring lions, but went out like the meekest of lambs. + +We returned sorrowfully to the salon. I was so unstrung that Mademoiselle, +who in the meantime had returned, administered a cup of camomile tea to +restore my nerves. + +After the fright caused by this last _réquisitionnement_, two of the +servants thought it expedient to find safer quarters in the center of +Paris, and to live in seclusion, rather than run the risk of being +requisitioned themselves. + +The forts Mont Valérien, Montrouge, Vanves, and Issy keep up an incessant +firing. We would not be surprised if at any moment a bomb reached us, but +so far we have escaped this calamity. The "Reds" are fighting all around +Paris with more or less success. If one could believe what is written in +the _Le Journal de la Commune_, one would say they were triumphant all +along the line. We have just heard that General Bergeret has been +arrested, no one knows why, except that he did not succeed in his last +sortie, and had then by displeased his colleagues generally. It does not +take more than that to arrest people in these days. + +The good Archbishop of Paris (Darboy), the curé of La Madeleine +(Monseigneur Duguerry), also President Bonjean, and the others who were +arrested on the 10th of May, have been kept in Mazas Prison ever since. I +saw a letter of marvelous forbearance and resignation, written by the +Archbishop to the Sisters of the St. Augustine Convent; and the beloved +curé of the Madeleine beseeches people to pray for order to be restored. +Poor martyrs! I hope that their prison will not prove to be the +antechamber of the scaffold; as Rochefort says, "Mazas est l'antichambre +de l'échafaud." + +It appears that Félix Pyat really did give his demission as a member of +the Commune, but his colleagues would not accept it. + + +_10th May_.--While Mr. Moulton was reading this morning's news to us +we were startled by a terrible crash. We were paralyzed with terror, and +for a moment speechless, fearing that all we had dreaded was about to be +realized. After somewhat recovering our equilibrium, we sent for Louis to +find out what dreadful thing had happened. + +Louis appeared with the _concierge_, both trembling from head to foot, and +announced that a portion of a bomb which had fallen and exploded near us +had come through the roof, shattering many windows and causing great +havoc. On further examination of the disaster we were greatly relieved to +hear that it was only a question of a damaged roof, windows, and masonry. +No one was killed or even wounded; but all were so completely frightened +that no one dares to sleep on the upper floor. Consequently we have moved +down on the drawing-room floor, and have abandoned the upper stories to +future bombs. Mr. Moulton is located in the salon; Mademoiselle has taken +the _salon jaune_, and I the boudoir. Louis has improvised a bedroom in +the small dining-room, that he may be near us at night if we should need +him. The other servants sleep in the basement. + +Our family is now reduced to Mr. Moulton, Mademoiselle, Louis, my maid, +and the cook. Louis has proved himself invaluable. He is the man of all +work. After milking the cow and doing his farming (in the conservatory) in +the early morning, he waits at table, does errands, and gathers whatever +news there is in the neighborhood, helps in the kitchen, and aids Mr. +Moulton in his toilet and into his slippers. He is never tired; is always +ready, early in the morning and late at night, to do anything required of +him. He fills all gaps. + +The untiring hens have made their nests in obscure corners in the hothouse +and dream serenely of future posterity, while the one cock scratches for +tired worms to provide for their repasts. I go every morning after +breakfast with a little offering of scraps to add to their meager meals. + +It is one of my few occupations. + +Louis has succeeded in some of his agricultural schemes, and has raided +mushrooms, radishes, and watercresses, which appear quite a luxury in +contrast to our usual canned things, and almost make us forget other +privations. + +This farming of Louis's in the hothouse goes to prove how an unnecessary +palm-garden in time of peace can be transformed into a useful kitchen +garden in time of war. Louis expends the same energy and water that he +used in washing his carriages, much to the detriment of the once fine +greenhouse. + +The days are very monotonous. I never imagined a day could have so many +hours. I, who have always been over-busy, and have never found the days +long enough to do all I wanted to do, pass the most forlorn hours +listening and waiting and wondering what will happen next. I wait and wait +all through the sleepless nights. I am so nervous I cannot sleep. I do not +even take off my clothes. + +I have my writing-table put in the ball-room, and here I sit and write +these sad letters to you. I play the piano; but I have not the heart to +sing, as you may imagine. + +We know that there are many tragedies going on about us, and we hear, +through Louis, awful things; but we only believe the half of what he tells +us. + + +_May 11th._ + +The Minister of Finance has spent in a month twenty-six millions for the +war expenses alone. + +My two friends, Pascal Grousset and (Rascal) Rigault, spent for their +_menus plaisirs_ nearly half a million, whereas Jourde, who is Minister of +Finance, and could take all the money he liked from the banks, lives in +the same modest apartment, and his wife still continues to take in washing +as of old, showing that he, at least, is honest among thieves. + +Grousset's appeal to the large cities of France is very theatrical. He +reproaches them with their lukewarmness and their platonic sympathy, and +calls them _aux armes_, as in the "Marseillaise." + +We had a very sad experience yesterday. At seven o'clock the _concierge_ +was awakened from his slumbers, which (if one can judge from the repeated +efforts at his bell of persons who come before breakfast) must be of the +sweetest and most profound nature. + +On cautiously peeping out, he saw a poor fellow leaning against the gate +in a seemingly exhausted condition; he had been wounded, and begged to be +allowed to come inside our courtyard. The _concierge_, who thinks it +wise to be prudent, consulted with Louis; but neither dared do anything +until Mr. Moulton had given the necessary orders. Louis ran about to wake +up the family, and Mr. Moulton told the porter to take the man directly to +the stables and to go for a doctor. The wounded man begged to see a +priest, and Louis was despatched to bring one. Securing a doctor seemed to +be a great undertaking. The _concierge_ had had cramps in the night +(so he said), which would necessitate his remaining at home, and made so +many excuses that Mr. Moulton lost patience and declared he would go +himself; but this I would not hear of his doing alone, and insisted upon +going with him. Mademoiselle, issuing from her room, appeared in her lilac +dressing-gown, holding a pocket-handkerchief in one hand and a smelling- +bottle to her nose with the other. She was told to keep watch over the +invalid while we were absent. Mr. Moulton and I walked to the Faubourg St. +Honoré, to our apothecary, who gave us the name of the nearest doctor. It +was not pleasant, to say the least, to be in the streets. We were in the +habit of hearing bombs and shells, so that was no novelty; but to see them +whizzing over our heads was a new sensation, and not an agreeable one. We +found a doctor, a most amiable gentleman, who, although he had been up all +night, was quite ready to follow us, and we hurried back to the Rue de +Courcelles, where we found Mademoiselle seated on a water-pail outside the +stables and looking the picture of woe. Her idea of keeping vigil! + +The doctor made a hasty examination, and was preparing the bandages when +Louis arrived with the priest. I left them and went into the house to make +some tea, which I thought might be needed; but my father-in-law came in +and said that the man had gone to sleep. + +Later, about two o'clock, Louis told us that all was over; the poor fellow +had received the last sacraments, had turned over on his side, and had +breathed his last. We sent for the ambulance; but it was five o'clock +before they took him away. + +It made us very sad all day to think that death had entered our gates. + + +_15th May._--Thiers's house in the Rue St. Georges was pillaged to-day by +the mob, who howled like madmen and hurled all sorts of curses and +maledictions on luckless Thiers, who has done nothing wrong, and certainly +tried to do good. + +Auber, who lives in the same street, must have seen and heard all that was +going on. How he must have suffered! + +[Illustration: PLACE VENDÔME AFTER THE FALL OF THE COLUMN] + + +_16th May._--The Column Vendôme fell to-day; they have been working +some days to undermine it at the base of the socle. Every one thought it +would make a tremendous crash, but it did not; it fell just where they +intended it to fall, toward the Rue de la Paix, on some fagots placed to +receive it. They were a long time pulling at it; three or four pulleys, +and as many ropes, and twenty men tugging with all their might--_et +voilà_. The figure that replaced the Little Corporal (which is safe +somewhere in Neuilly) came to earth in a cloud of dust, and the famous +column lay broken in three huge pieces. + +I inclose a ticket which Mr. Lemaire obtained somehow, and which, as you +see, permitted him to circulate _librement_ in the Place Vendôme: + +[Illustration] + +I think it is strange that Auber does not let us hear from him. I fear his +heart is broken, like the column. + +The weather is heavenly. The two chestnut-trees in our front courtyard are +in full flower; the few plants in the greenhouse are all putting out buds. +Where shall we be when the buds become flowers? + +Last year at this time it was the height of the giddiest of giddy seasons. +One can hardly believe it is the same Paris. + +My father-in-law feels very bad that I did not leave when I still had the +chance. So do I,... but now it is too late. I must stay till the bitter +end, and no doubt the end will be bitter: battle, murder, and sudden +death, and all the things we pray against in the Litany. + +Dombrowski has failed in his sortie to St. Cloud. + + +_18th May._--It seems that the Communards wish all France to adopt their +gentle methods, and they believe and hope that Communism will reign +supreme over the country. + +Rigault, to prove what an admirable government France has, yesterday +issued the decree to arrest a mass of people. No one knows exactly why, +except that he wishes to show how great his power is. He wants the Commune +to finish in fire and flame as a funeral pile. I hope he will be on the +top of it, like Sardanapalus, and suffer the most. Horrible man! + +I received a letter from Mr. Mallet this morning, inclosing an invitation +to assist at a concert given by all the _musiques militaires à Paris_ +on the Place de la Concorde, and offering a ticket for two places on the +terrace of the Tuileries. The idea of these creatures on the brink of +annihilation, death, and destruction giving a concert! If it were not so +tragic it would really be laughable. + + DEAR LADY,--I wish I could bring you this extraordinary document _de + viva persona_; but I do not like to leave the embassy, even for a + short time. Lascelles and I are well, but very anxious. You will + notice that this invitation is for the 21st. Our friends evidently + think we will be pleasantly attuned to music on that day. They are as + mad as March hares; they will be asking us to dance at Mazas next.... + Hoping you are not as depressed as we are, Yours, E. MALLET. + +Just as I had finished reading the above we heard a tremendous explosion. +Louis said it was _l'École Militaire_, which was to be blown up to-day. +What are we coming to? + +Louis and I ventured to go up to the third story, and we put our heads out +of one of the small windows. We saw the bombs flying over our heads like +sea-gulls. All the sky was dimmed with black smoke, but we could not see +if anything was burning, though we hear that the Tuileries is on fire and +all the public buildings are being set fire to. + +An organized mob of _pétroleurs_ and _pétroleuses_ receive two francs a +day for pouring petroleum about and then setting fire. How awful! + +Louis assures us that they will not come near us, as their only idea is to +destroy public property. My father-in-law says the fever of destruction +may seize them, and they might pillage the fine houses and set fire to +them. He is having everything of value, like jewels, silver, and his +precious bric-à-brac, carried down to the cellar, where there is an iron +vault, and has showed us all how to open it in case of a disaster. + +_May 21st._ (Sunday evening)--The Versaillais entered Paris by the Point +du Jour, led by gallant Gallifet. + +_May 22d._--Rigault gave the order that all the hostages (_otages_) were +to be shot. Rigault wrote the order himself. It does not bear any of the +fantastic seals they are so fond of, and of which they have an incredible +quantity. It has been written on a paper (_une déclaration d'expédition du +chemin de fer d'Orléans_). Probably he was trying to get away. It was the +last order he gave, and the last fuse to be used to set fire to the +funeral pile. + +This proclamation, of which I give an exact copy, will give you a little +idea of what this horrible brute is capable of: + + Floréal, an 79 [the way they date things in republics]. Fusillez + l'Archevêque et les otages; incendiez les Tuileries et le Palais + Royal, et repliez-vous sur la rue Germain-des-Prés. + + Procureur de la Commune, + + Ici tout va bien. RAOUL RIGAULT. + +In the evening of the 22d the victims--forty of them--the good Darboy, +Duguerry, Bonjean, and others--were piled into a transport-wagon with only +a board placed across, where they could sit, and were taken to the place +of execution. + +The Archbishop seemed suffering; probably the privations he had endured +had weakened him. Bonjean said to him, "Lean on my arm, it is that of a +good friend and a Christian," and added, "La religion d'abord, la justice +ensuite." As soon as one name was called a door opened and a prisoner +passed out--the Archbishop went first; they descended the dark and narrow +steps one by one. When they were placed against the wall Bonjean said, +"Let us show them how a priest and a magistrate can die." + +Rigault ordered their execution two hours after they were taken; and when +some one ventured a remonstrance he curtly replied, "Nous ne faisons pas +de la légalité, nous faisons de la révolution." Some ruffian in the mob +cried out the word "liberté," which reached Darboy's ears, and he said, +"Do not profane the word of liberty; it belongs to us alone, because we +die for it and for our faith." This sainted man was the first to be shot. +He died instantly; but President Bonjean crossed his arms and, standing +erect, stared full in the faces of his assassins with his brave eyes +fastened on theirs. This seemed to have troubled them, for of the nineteen +balls they fired not one touched his head--they fired too low--but all his +bones were broken. The defiant look stayed on his face until the _coup +de grâce_ (a bullet behind his ear) ended this brave man's life. These +details are too dreadful. I will spare you, though I know many more and +worse. + +Dombrowski had a slight advantage over l'Amiraut the other day, which +puffed them all up with hope; but how foolish to think that anything can +help now! + + +_May 23d._--Now they have all lost their heads, and are at their wits' +end. There are thirty thousand artillery and more cannon than they know +what to do with. + +Everything is in a muddle; you can imagine in what a fearful state of +anxiety we live. The only thing we ask ourselves now is, When will the +volcano begin to pour out its flames? + +If the troops should come in by the Arc de Triomphe and fight their way +through Paris by the Champs-Élysées and the Boulevard there would not be +much hope for us, as we would be just between the two fires. + + +_May 25th._--The Arc de Triomphe and the Champ de Mars were captured +to-day, and the fighting in the streets has commenced. They are fighting +like mad in the Faubourg St. Honoré. When I open the door of the vestibule +I can hear the yelling and screaming of the rushing mob; it is dreadful, +the spluttering of the fusillades and the guns overpower all other noises. +We hope deliverance is near at hand; but who knows how long before we have +peace and quiet again? + + +_May 28th._--MacMahon has stormed the barricades and has entered Paris, +taking fifty thousand prisoners. Gallifet has ordered thousands to be +shot. + +We are rescued from more horrors. Thank God! these days of trembling and +fear are over. + +Pascal Grousset was killed on the barricades. I am thankful to say that +Raoul Rigault has also departed this world. Courbet, Regnaud, a promising +young painter, and how many shall we know of afterward, have been shot. + +We hear that Auber became quite crazy and wandered out on the ramparts, +and was killed with the soldiers. He deserved a better fate, my dear old +friend! I am sure his heart was broken, and that that day we breakfasted +with him was not his first but his last _jour de bonheur_. + +Seventy-two days of Communism has cost France 850,000,000 francs. + + +DINARD, _June 18, 1871._ + +DEAR MOTHER,--Our peaceful life here is a great contrast to the bombs of +poor dilapidated Paris. I have still the screams and bursting shells of +the Faubourg St. Honoré in my ears. + +When I wrote of Strakosch's persisting in his idea of my singing in +concerts, I did not dream that I should be telling you that I have +succumbed to his tempting and stupendous proposition. It is true that I +have said _yes_, and _vogue la galère!_ + +And the most curious thing is that the whole family sitting in council +have urged me to do it. + +"Why not?" said Mr. Moulton, making mental calculations. "I would, if I +were you," said Mrs. Moulton, overflowing with enthusiasm. + +"I agree," said Charles, only seeing the fun of a new experience. + +"But," I urged, "I doubt if I can stand on my own merits. Singing in +public as an amateur is one thing, and singing as an artist is another." +This wise saying was scorned by the council. + +I have ordered some fine dresses from Worth, and if my public don't like +me they can console themselves with the thought that a look at my clothes +is worth a ticket. + +Well, the fatal word has gone forth; I shall probably regret it, but it is +too late now. + +Therefore, dear mother, please break the news gently to the family and the +genealogical tree, whose bark, I hope, is worse than its bite. + +We leave for America in September. Strakosch goes before, "to work it up," +he says. + + +NEW YORK, _October._ + +MY DEAR MOTHER-IN-LAW,--Don't send any more letters to the Barlows'. We +thought that it was better not to stay with them (pleasant as it was) any +longer. There was such a commotion in that quiet house, such ringing of +bells and running about. The servants were worn out attending to me and my +visitors. + +I don't know where to begin to tell you about this wonderful escapade of +ours. I call it my "bravura act." It is too exciting! I copy a letter just +received from Strakosch, in answer to a letter of mine, to show you what +the process of "working up" is. He writes: "You wonder at your big +audiences. The reason is very simple. In the first place, people know that +you are thought to be the best amateur singer in Paris--'La Diva du +Monde'--besides being a favorite in Parisian society, and that you have +not only a beautiful voice, but also that you have beautiful toilettes. +This is a great _attraction_. In the second place, I allow (_as a great +privilege_) the tickets to be subscribed for; the remaining ones are +bought at auction. You see, in this way the bids go _'way up_.... I am +glad I secured Sarasate to supplement," etc. + +We have taken a suite of rooms in the Clarendon Hotel, so as to be near +the opera-house, where I go to practise with the orchestra. You cannot +imagine how intense the whole thing is. + +To feel that I can hold a great audience, like the one that greeted me the +first night, in my hand, and to know that I can make them laugh or cry +whenever I please--to see the mass of upturned faces--is an inspiring +sensation. The applause bewildered me at first, and I was fearfully +excited; but one gets used to all things in the end. My songs, "Bel +raggio" (Rossini), "Voi che sapete" (Mozart), and "La Valse de Pardon de +Ploërmel" (Meyerbeer), were all encored and re-encored. + +I said to Strakosch, "I can't go on forever, tripping on and off the stage +like that!" He answered, laconically, "Well, you see people have paid +much for their tickets, and they want their money's worth." + +I said, "I wish the tickets cost less." + +The flowers (you should have seen them!) were mostly what they call here +"floral tributes" (what you would call _des pièces montées_), and were +brought in by a procession of ushers and placed on the stage. I do not +mention the quantities of bouquets handed up to me! + +One "floral tribute" received an ovation as it was borne up the aisle by +four men, and hauled up on to the stage by a man who came from the side +scenes. It was a harp made entirely of flowers, about six feet high. It +made quite a screen for me as I went in and out. The card of the harp was +brought to me, and I read, "H. P. Stalton, 'Asleep in Jesus,' North +Conway." I had no idea what it meant, but mama remembered that some years +ago, when she and I were traveling in the White Mountains, we stopped +overnight at the little town of North Conway. At the hotel we heard that a +lady had died, and her son was terribly grieved. There was to be a funeral +service the next morning in the parlor of the inn. I asked, "Do you think +that I might sing something?" "Of course, _any_ music would be welcome," +was the answer. So I chose the hymn, "Asleep in Jesus," which I sang when +the time came. As there was nothing but an old piano, I preferred to sing +without accompaniment. I was very much affected, and I suppose my voice +showed my emotion, because other people were equally affected. As for the +young man, he knelt on the floor and put his hands over his face and +sobbed out loud. Poor fellow, my heart bled for him! + +I sang the hymn through with difficulty. The last verse I sang +_pianissimo_ and very slowly. The silence was painful; you could have +heard a pin drop. The whole scene was very emotional, and I remember +feeling that I never wanted to go through such a thing again. The young +man had not forgotten, after all these years, either the song or the +singer. Hence the beautiful harp of flowers to thank me. I should have +liked to have seen him, to thank _him_. + +There is a very sad, pathetic, and patriotic song called "Tender and True" +by a composer, Alfred Pease, which I sing. Strakosch said, "You must have +in your _répertoire_ something American." This song is about a young +soldier who takes "a knot of ribbon blue" from his ladylove, and who dies +on the battle-field with the knot of ribbon on his breast. When I sing +"the flag draped over the coffin lid" the whole audience is dissolved in +tears. The women weep openly; the men hide behind their opera-glasses and +try to blow their noses noiselessly between the verses. + +I always finish with "Beware!" and Charles always accompanies me, which +pleases him very much. He thinks that American audiences are very +appreciative, because they stand up and clap and the women wave their +handkerchiefs. + +I tell him they stand up because the next thing they are going to do is to +go out. + + +WORCESTER, _December, 1871._ + +DEAR MOTHER,--Thanks for your letter. I had hoped to have received better +news of Charles. + +When he left Thursday he did not look well, but I thought it was owing to +the excitement and late hours and the irregular life we have been leading. +He wanted to go to Cambridge, where he thought that he could take better +care of himself. I would have gone with him, but I felt that I could not +leave Strakosch and Worcester in the lurch. + +If I don't receive a reassuring telegram from you, I shall start off +without delay. + +I was dreadfully nervous and unstrung, as you will see, when I tell you +how I blundered. I do not like singing in oratorio. Getting up and sitting +down all the time, holding and singing from a book, losing my place and +having to find it in a hurry, is not what I like. However, I got on very +well at first, but there is a place in the score where three angels come +forward and sing a trio without accompaniment. Then the soprano (me) steps +in front and sings, without a helping note: "Hail, Hail, O Lord God of +Hosts!" The orchestra and chorus take up the same phrase after me. + +I sang boldly enough, "Hail, Hail, O Lord God of Hosts!" but suddenly felt +cold shivers down my back when Zerrahn tapped his baton on his stand, +thereby stopping all further proceedings, and turning to me said, in a low +whisper, "A half-tone lower." + +Good gracious, how could I find the right note! First I had to remember +the last tone I had sung, then I had to transpose it in my head, all in an +instant. It was a critical moment. + +Suppose I did not hit the right note! The whole orchestra and the two- +hundred-man-strong chorus would come thundering after me--the _orchestra +on the right key_ and _the chorus following in my footsteps_. + +I turned cold and hot, and my knees trembled under me. You may imagine +what a relief it was when I heard things going on as if nothing had +happened. _I had struck the right note!_ And I finished the oratorio +without further disaster. I do not think that any one in the audience +remarked anything wrong. + +I said to Zerrahn, after: "Could you not have helped me? Could you not +have given me the note?" + +"No," he answered. "Impossible! I could not ask the nearest violinist to +play the note, and I could not trust myself to find it. I was as nervous +as you were." + +[Mrs. Moulton was called to Cambridge the next day. Mr. Moulton had died +suddenly.] + + +CUBA, HAVANA, _January, 1873._ + +DEAR MAMA,--We left New York in a fearful blizzard. It was snowing, +hailing, blowing, and sleeting; in fact, everything that the elements +could do they did on that particular day. We were muffled up to our ears +in sealskin coats, furs, boas, and so forth, and were piloted over the wet +and slippery deck to our stateroom on the upper deck, which we wished had +been on the under deck, as it was continually washed by the "wild waves." + +We knew pretty well "what the wild waves were saying"; at least Laura did, +and they kept on saying it until well into the next day. + +I being an old sailor (not in years but in experience), as I had crossed +the Atlantic several times, felt very superior on this occasion, and +looked down without sympathy on the maiden efforts of my suffering sister; +and, having dressed, goaded her almost to distraction to get up and do +likewise, which she obstinately refused to do. + +After ordering breakfast I ventured out on deck, to find myself alone, +among deserted camp-stools. I realized then that the others preferred +"rocking in the cradle of the deep" in their berths and in the privacy of +their cabins. I myself felt very shaky as I stumbled about on the deck +holding on to the rails, and I, hurrying back to the haven of my +stateroom, happened to meet the struggling steward endeavoring to balance +the tray containing the breakfast I had ordered, and to make his way +through my door. + +The steward, the tray, and I all collided. The result was disastrous: the +food made a bee-line for the ceiling, the drinkables flooded the already +wet floor and our shoes, while cups, saucers, plates, and dishes were +scattered to fragments. + +All that day we and every one were dreadfully sick; but what a contrast +the next day was! A hot, tropical sun blazed down on us, the awnings were +put up, the ladies appeared in lighter costumes, the men in straw hats and +thin jackets. How odious our warm wraps and rugs seemed! And how +completely our discomforts of the day before had disappeared! Laura had +forgotten her miseries, and was already planning another sea-trip, and +eagerly scanning the menu for dinner, to which she did ample justice. + +The third day was still hotter; parasols, summer dresses, and fans made +their appearance, and at four o'clock we saw Morro Castle and the +lighthouse; and we steamed (literally, for we were so hot) up the +exquisite harbor, where white Havana lay like a jewel on the breast of the +water. + +Hot! It must have been one hundred and ninety in the shade--if there had +been any; but there was none. The glare of the whiteness of the city and +the reflection on the water, the air thick with perfumes, gave us a +tropical tinge, and made us shudder to think what we should have to endure +before we could rest in the hotel, which we hoped would be cool. + +Young Isnaga, who has just come from Harvard College, where I knew him, +and who was now returning to his native land to help his father on the +plantation, served us as a guide; in fact, he was our Baedeker. He told us +that all those hundreds of little boats with coverings like hen-coops +stretched over them, which swarmed like bees about our steamer, did not +contain native ruffians demanding our money or our lives, as they seemed +to be doing, but were simply peaceable citizens hoping to earn an honest +penny. + +We dreaded going through the custom-house in this excessive heat; but +Isnaga recognized one of his servants, in a small boat coming toward us, +gesticulating wildly and waving a paper; this paper meant, it seemed, +authority with the officials, so we had no delay, as Isnaga took us under +his wing. I almost wished that the custom-house had confiscated my thick +clothes and the fur-lined coat; and as for the boa, it looked like a +vicious constrictor of its own name, and I wished it at the bottom of the +sea. + +Isnaga took us in his boat and landed us on the tropical "Plaza," where we +found his _volante_ waiting. He insisted on our getting into this unique +vehicle, which I will describe later when I have more time. + +Our one thought was to reach the hotel, which we did finally, sending the +_volante_ back to its owner by a sweeping wave of the hand in the +direction of the quay, which the black Jehu seemed to comprehend. + +Fortunately the proprietor spoke what he thought was English, and we were +able to secure very good rooms overlooking the harbor. How delicious the +cool, marble-floored room appeared to us! How we luxuriated in the fresh, +cold water, the juiciest of oranges, the iced pineapples, and all the +delicious fruits they brought us, and, above all, in the balmy air and the +feeling of repose and rest! We reappeared in the thinnest of gauzes for +the repast called dinner. + +Adieu, cold and ice! _Vive le soleil!_ + +This hotel (San Carlos) is situated right on the bay. The quay in front of +us is garnished with a row of dwarfy trees and dirty benches, these last +being decorated, in their turn, by slumbering Cubans. There were +colonnades underneath the hotel, where there were small shops, from which +the odor of garlic and tobacco, combined with the shrieks and the snapping +of the drivers' whips, reached us, as we sat above them on our balcony. + +The hotel is square, with an open courtyard in the middle, and all the +rooms open on to the marble gallery which surrounds the courtyard. This +gallery is used as a general dining-room; each person eats at his own +little iron table placed before the door of his bedroom. + +Our large room contains two iron beds (minus mattresses), with only a +canvas screwed on the iron sides, but covered with the finest of linen +sheets. An iron frame holds the mosquito-net in place. + +Evidently a wash-stand is a thing to be ashamed of, for they are concealed +in the most ingenious way. Mine in the daytime is rather an attractive +commode; Laura's is a writing-table, which at night opens up and discloses +the wash-basin. Otherwise there is little furniture: two cane-bottomed +chairs, two bamboo tables (twins); one has a blue ribbon tied on its leg +to tell it from its brother. Two ingeniously braided mats of linen cord do +duty for the _descente de lit_. Oh yes! there is a mirror for each of +us, which in my hurry to finish my letter I forgot to mention; but they +are so small and wavy that the less we look in them the better we are +satisfied with ourselves. + +We have a large balcony, which has a beautiful view of the harbor and the +opposite shore, two huge wooden so-called windows, which are not windows, +opening on to the balcony. There is a panel in the middle which you can +open if you want some fresh air. Glass is never used for windows, so that +when you shut your window you are in utter darkness. Opposite is the door +which is not a door, but a sort of a gate with lattice shutters, giving +the room the look of a bar-room. There is space above the shutters which +is open to the ceiling. + +Any one in the gallery who wanted to could stand on a chair and peer over. +Everything that goes on in the gallery, every noise, every conversation, +can be clearly overheard, and if one only understood the language it might +be very interesting. + +The bars and locks on our doors and windows date from the fifteenth +century, I should say, and it is with the most herculean efforts that we +manage to shut ourselves in for the night; and we only know that the day +has broken when we hear the nasal and strident Cuban voices, and the +clattering of plates on the other side of the gate. Then we work like +galley-slaves unbarring, and the blazing sun floods our room. + +I don't know if bells are popular in Havana; but in this hotel we have +none. If you want a chambermaid, which you do about every half-hour, you +must open your gate and clap your hands, and if she does not come you go +on clapping until some one else comes. + +For our early breakfast we begin clapping at an early hour, and finally +our coffee and a huge plate filled with the most delicious oranges, cut +and sugared, are brought to us. We tried to obtain some simple toast; but +this seemed unknown to the Cuban cuisine, and we had to content ourselves +with some national mixture called rolls. + + +CUBA, _January 24, 1873._ + +The letters of introduction which kind Admiral Polo (Spanish Minister in +Washington) gave me must be very powerful and far reaching, for we are +received as if we were Princesses of the blood. The Governor-General came +directly to put himself, his house, his family, his Generalship--in fact, +all Cuba--_á la disposición de usted_. The Captain of the Port appeared in +full gala uniform, and deposited the whole of the Spanish fleet, his +person, and the universe in general at my feet, and said, "That no stone +should be left unturned to make our stay in Havana illustrious in +history." + +What could the most admirable of Polos have written to have created such +an effect? Then came the General Lliano, a very handsome man, but who I +thought was rather stingy, as he only put the Spanish Army at my +disposition, and himself (_cela va sans dire_). + +Next came Señor Herreras, dressed all in white, with the most perfect +patent-leather boots, much too tight for him, and which must have caused +him agonies while he was offering to put himself (of course), his bank, +and all his worldly possessions in my hands. + +I accepted all with a benign smile, and answered that I only had America +and my fur-lined coat and boa to offer in return. + +We had so many instructions given to us as to what to do and what not to +do in this perfidious climate that we were quite bewildered. + +Never to go out in the sun. Result--Malaria and sudden death. + +Never put your feet on the bare floors. Result--Centipedes. + +Never drink the water. Result--Yellow fever. + +Never eat fruit at night. Result--Typhoid fever. + +If you sleep too much; if you sit in the draught; if you let the moon +shine on you. Result--Lockjaw and speedy annihilation. + +These admonitions were very confusing, and we lay awake at night thinking +how we could manage to live under these circumstances. + +What a delight to look at the view from our balcony! I never imagined +anything so beautiful: the distant hills are so blue, the water so +sparkling, the sun gilds the hundreds of sails in the harbor. At night the +water is brilliant with phosphorescence, and when the boats glide through +it they throw out a thousand colors; even the reflection of the stars is +multicolored. And then, pervading all, the delicious fragrance of fruit +and flowers and tropicality! + +When I am not poetical, as above, I notice the oxcarts with their cruel +drivers yelling at their poor beasts and goading them with iron-pointed +sticks. When they were not striking them, they struck picturesque +attitudes themselves, leaning on their carts and smoking endless +cigarettes. The cabmen are also picturesque in their way. After their +return from a "course," tired out from whipping their forlorn horses into +the sideling trot which is all they are equal to, and after flicking their +ears until they are too lazy to continue, they hang their hats and +stockingless feet over the carriage lamps and chew sugar-cane, looking the +picture of contentment. + +Cabs are cheap; twenty-five cents will take you anywhere _à la course_. +But if you go from one shop to another, or linger at a visit, fancy knows +no bounds, for there is no tariff and the coachman's imagination is apt to +be vivid; and as you can't trust anything else, you must trust to your +conversational power to get you out of the scrape. + +_Volantes_ are capricious and too exotic a vehicle to trifle with; +moreover, they turn corners with difficulty, and corners in Havana are the +things you meet the most of. + +The streets are narrow; so that if you wish to avoid adventures you must +be careful to give your coachman the correct address before starting off. +The porter of the hotel did this for us to-day, as our Spanish has not +reached _perfection_ yet. + +All the streets are labeled _subida_, which means, "go up this street," or +_bajado_, "down this street." If, by chance, you want to go to _27 subida_ +and you amble on to 29, it takes you hours to go _bajado_ and get back to +_subida_ again, going round in a _cercle vicieux_. We spent a whole +broiling afternoon buying two spools of thread, my parasol being mightier +than my tongue, as the poor coachman's back can vouch for. When everything +else failed we shouted in unison, "Hotel San Carlos," and the black +coachman grinned with delight. Seeing _bajado_ so often at different +points, Laura thought it was the sign of an assurance company; when I saw +it on the same house as Maria Jesus Street I thought it was some kind of +charitable institution. + +A _volante_, as I have said, is a unique and delightful vehicle, which one +requires to know to appreciate. There are two huge wheels behind and none +in front; the animal, secured between the shafts, supports the weight of +the carriage. The seat is very low, so that you recline, more than sit; +your feet are unpleasantly near the horse's tail; a small seat can be +pulled out between you and your companion if there is a child in the +party. A dusky postilion decked out in high top-boots, with enormous +spurs of real silver, sits astride the horse between the shafts, and a +huge sombrero covers his woolly head. + +The harness, spurs, buckles, and a good deal of the carriage trimmings are +silver; the horse's tail is braided once a week and tied to the saddle. No +frisky frightening off the flies from his perspiring and appetizing body! +Sometimes (in fact, usually) there is an extra horse outside of the +traces, so that labor is thus divided. The _volante_ drags the people; the +horse in the shafts drags the _volante_, and the extra horse drags +everything; the coachman does the spurring, whipping, and shouting, and +the inmates do the lolling. + +I forgot to say that my friend, Lola Maddon, whom I used to know in Paris, +is here, married to Marquis San Carlos, who was a fascinating widower with +several children, whom Lola, like the dear creature she is, had taken +under her youthful wing. She rushed to see me the moment she heard that I +had come, and has already begun to "turn the stones" which are to be +turned for me to make my "visit illustrious" here. She has invited us to +the opera to-morrow, and gives a _soirée_ for me on the following evening. +I confess I am rather curious to see a _soirée_ in Havana. I hope they +have ice-chests to sit on and cool conversation. I shall not talk +politics; in the first place I can't, and in the second place because +it is heating to the blood. + +Lola says her husband is a rabid Spaniard. "A rabid Spaniard!" Could +anything be more alarming? No; I will not be the innocent means to bring +about discussions, and precipitate a conflict between the Cubans and the +Spaniards! I have pinned upon the bed-curtains, next to the precautions +for preserving health and the washing-list, the words, "Never talk +politics, nor be led into listening to them," I can always, if pushed into +a corner, assume an air of profundity and say, "Is the crisis--" and then +stop and look for a word. The politician, if he is anything of a +politician, will finish the phrase for me, with the conviction that I know +all about it but am diplomatic. + +To see the cows in Havana is enough to break your heart. I weep over them +in a sort of milky way. I have always seen cows in comfortable stables, +with nice, clean straw under their feet and pails full of succulent food +placed within easy reach, while at certain intervals a tidy, tender- +hearted young milkmaid appears with a three-legged stool and a roomy pail, +and extracts what the cow chooses to give her. But here the wiry creatures +roam from door to door, and drop a pint or so at each call. It is pitiful +to see the poor, degraded things, with their offspring following behind. +The latter are graciously allowed to accompany them; but no calls on +Nature are permitted, the poor little things are even muzzled! + +Whenever I wish to go into the public parlor, where there is a piano, I +meet the Countess C----, who has evidently just been singing to her son +and her husband. + +The first day I met her I approached her with the intention to talk music; +but she swept by with a look which withered me up to an autumn leaf and +left the room, followed by her music, son, and husband; but afterward, +when she saw the Captain of the Port in full gala offering me "_Cuba et +ses dépendences_," she changed her manner, and _then it was my turn!_ When +she asked me if I also knew Count Ceballos, the Governor General, I +answered, with a sweet smile, "Of course I do." "And many other people +here?" she asked, "All I think that are worth knowing," I replied, getting +up and leaving the room as abruptly as she had done. It was great fun, +though L---- thought I was rude. + +We went to the theater with Marquise San Carlos. "All the world is here," +said she. Certainly it looked as if all Havana filled the Tacon, which is +a very large theater. Every box was full, and the parquet, as Lola told +me, contained the _haute volée_ of the town; the open balconies were +sacred to the middle-class, while in the upper gallery were the nobodies, +with their children, poor things! decked out with flowers and trying to +keep awake through the very tiresome and _démodé_ performance of +"Macbeth." Tamberlik sang. What a glorious voice he has! And when he took +the high C (which, if I dare make the joke, did not at all resemble the +one Laura and I encountered coming out of New York Harbor) it was all I +could do to sit quiet. I wanted to wave something. The prima-donna was +_assoluta_, and must have been pickled in some academy in Italy years +ago, for she was not preserved. She acted as stupidly as she sang. + +Each box has six seats and are all open, with the eternal lattice-door at +the back, and separated from its neighbor by a small partition. It was +very cozy, I thought; one could talk right and left, and when the +gentlemen circulated about in the _entr'actes_ smoking the inevitable +cigarette, which never leaves a Cuban's lips except to light a fresh one, +all the lattice-doors are eagerly opened to them. Lola presented all the +_haute volée_ to us, the unpresented just stared. I never realized +how much staring a man can do till I saw the Cuban. I mentioned this to +Lola, to which she responded, "It is but natural, you are a stranger." + +"Dear friend," said I, "I have been a stranger in other lands, but I have +never seen the like of this. If I was an orang outang there might be some +reason, but to a simple mortal, or two simple mortals, like my sister and +myself, their stares seem either too flattering or the reverse." + +"Why, my dear," she replied, "they mean it as the greatest compliment, you +may believe me." And she appealed to her husband, who confirmed what she +said. All the gentlemen carry fans and use them with vigor; the ladies are +so covered with powder (_cascarilla_) that you can't tell a pretty one +from an ugly one. If one of them happens to sneeze, there is an avalanche +of powder. + +Lola showed us her establishment and explained the architecture of a Cuban +house. If chance has put a chimney somewhere, they place the kitchen near +it. Light and size are of no account, neither is cooking of any +importance. + + +CUBA, _February, 1873._ + +We make such crowds of acquaintances it would be useless to tell you the +names. The Marquise San Carlos sent her carriage for us the evening of her +_soirée_. All the company was assembled when we arrived: the Marquis, +the Dean of Havana, and two abbés were playing _tresillo_, a Spanish +game of cards. + +A group of men stood in the corner and seemed to be talking politics, as +far as I could judge from then gesticulations. A few ladies in sweeping +trains, and very _décolletées_, sat looking on listlessly. The daughter of +the house was nearing the piano. The Dean said to me, with a sly smile, +"Now is the _coup de grâce!_"--his little joke. She sang, "Robert, toi que +j'aime. Grâce! Grâce!" etc. Also she sang the waltz of "Pardon de +Ploërmel," a familiar _cheval de bataille_ of my own, which I was glad to +see cantering on the war-path again. In the mean time conversation was at +low ebb for poor Laura. She told me some fragments which certainly were +peculiar. For instance, she understood the gentle man who had last been +talking to her to say that he had been married five times, had twenty- +eight children, and had married his eldest son's daughter as his fifth +wife. I afterward ascertained that what he had intended to convey was that +he was twenty-eight when he married and had fifteen children. That was bad +enough, I thought. + +I sang two or three times. The gaiety was brought to rather an abrupt +close, as the Marquis received a telegram of his brother's death. The Abbé +went on playing his game, not at all disturbed (such is the force of +habit); but we folded our tents and departed. + +The hours are sung out in the streets at night, with a little flourish at +the end of each verse. I fancy the watchman trusts a good deal to +inspiration about this, as my clock--an excellent one--did not at all +chime in with his hours. Perhaps he composes his little verse, in which +case a margin ought to be allowed him.... + +The bells in the churches are old and cracked and decrepit. + +All the fleet, and any other boat that wants to join in fire off salute, +to wake you up in the morning. + +I bought to-day the eighth part of a lottery-ticket. + +The Captain of the Port thinks his English is better than his French, but +sometimes it is very funny. He says: "Don't take care," instead of "Never +mind"--"The _volante_ is to the door"--"Look to me, I am all proudness"-- +"You are all my anxiousness." + +The houses are generally not more than one story high, built around an +open court, on which all rooms open. In the middle of this is a fountain; +no home is complete without a fountain, and no fountain is complete +without its surroundings of palms, plants, and flowers. In one of the +rooms you can see where the _volante_ reposes for the night. You only +see these glories at night. When the heavy bolts are drawn back you and +everybody can look in from the street on the family gathering, basking in +rocking-chairs around the fountain, and in oriental, somnolent +conversation. + + +CUBA, _February._ + +The annual _soirée_ of the Governor and his wife took place last night. +The Captain of the Port came to fetch us. The palace is, like all +other official buildings, magnificent on the outside, but simple and +severe within. There was a fine staircase, and all the rooms were +brilliantly lighted, but very scantily furnished, according to our ideas. +We must have gone through at least six rooms before we reached the host +and hostess. Every room was exactly alike: in each was a red strip of +carpet, half a dozen rocking-chairs placed opposite one another, a cane- +bottomed sofa, a table with nothing on it, and walls ditto. There are +never any curtains, and nothing is upholstered. This is the typical Cuban +salon. + +There was an upright piano and a pianist at it when we entered, but the +resonance was so overpowering that I could not hear what he was playing. +Laura and I (after having been presented to a great many people) were +invited to sit in the rocking-chairs. The gentlemen either stood out in +the corridor or else behind the chair of a lady and fanned her. _Dulces_ +and ices were passed round, and every one partook of them, delighted to +have the opportunity to do something else than talk. + +When the pianist had finished his Chopin a lady sang, accompanied by her +son, who had brought a whole pile of music. She courageously attacked the +_Cavatina_ of "Ernani." The son filled up the places in her vocalization +which were weak by playing a dashing chord. She was a stout lady and very +warm from her exertions, and the more she exerted herself the more +frequently the vacancies occurred; and the son, perspiring at every pore, +had difficulty to fill them up with the chords, which became louder and +more dashing. + +Countess Ceballos, with much hemming and hawing, begged me to sing. I felt +all eyes fixed on me; but my eyes were riveted to the little, low piano- +stool on which I should have to sit. It seemed miles below the piano-keys. +"How could I play on it?" Evidently none but long-bodied performers had +been before me, for when I asked for a cushion, in order to raise myself a +little, nothing could be found but a very bulgy bed-pillow, which was +brought, I think, from the mother country. There was a sort of Andalusian +swagger about it. + +The dream "that I dwelt in marble halls" was no longer a dream. Here I was +singing in one. I sang "_Ma Mère était Bohémienne_," and another song +which had an easy accompaniment. It took me a little moment to temper my +voice to these shorn rooms. + +The charge of musketry which followed was deafening, though only gentlemen +clapped their hands; ladies don't rise to such exertion in Cuba. I sang +"Beware!" as a parting salute. The Captain of the Port came up, flushed +with pride, and said, in his best English, "I am all proudness!" + +_Panelas_ (large pieces of frosted sugar, to be melted in water) and +other sweets were passed about at intervals. + +Shaking hands is a great institution here. No one wears gloves except at +the opera, so that one's hands are in a perpetual state of fermentation, +especially after one of these functions, when making acquaintances, +expressing thanks, and everything else are done through the medium of the +hands. One can literally say that one wrings one's hands. + +We, as the distinguished guests, were led into the supper-room very +ceremoniously, and put among the higher strata of society. The buffet was +overflowing with Cuban delicacies and _dulces_. I reveled in the fruit and +left the viands severely alone. + +After supper we went into the ball-room, and saw for the first time the +Cuban waltz, otherwise called _Habanera_, a curious dance something +between a shuffle and a languid glide. The dancers hardly move from the +same spot, or at most keep in a very small circle, probably on account of +the heat and exertion; and then the dispersing of so much powder, with +which every lady covers herself and gets rid of when she moves, has to be +considered. + +The music has a peculiar measure; I have never heard anything like it +before. The instruments seemed mostly to be violins, flutes, clarinets, +and a small drum. The bass is very rhythmical and deep, whereas the thin +tones of the other instruments are on the very highest notes, which leaves +a gap between the upper and lower tones, making such a peculiar effect +that the music pursues and haunts you even in your dreams. + +We bade our host and hostess good night and, followed by the Captain of +the Port, who now was not only "all proudness," but full of +"responsibilitiveness," left the palace. In passing the music-room I took +a farewell look at the bulgy bed-pillow, which was still reposing on the +music-stool. + + +CUBA, _February._ + +DEAR MAMA,--You have no idea of the heat here. I never felt anything so +scorching as it was to-day. Let me tell you what happened. + +General Lliano came in the morning to ask what Havana could show me. I +answered that above all things I wanted to see Morro Castle. He replied +that Morro Castle was mine, and that I had only to fix the time and he +would take us there. + +I did fix it, and fixed it at two o'clock, as a fit hour to visit the +_Cabaña_. I noticed the look of blank despair on our friend's face, +but, not knowing that all Cuba slept between the hours of two and five, I +did not realize the piteousness of it. General Lliano begged the Captain +of the Port, Señor Català, to accompany us, and both of these gentlemen +came in full uniform, as well as their aides-de-camp. + +The Captain's trim little boat was at the wharf near our hotel, and we +were rowed over by the governmental crew to the opposite shore, and were +met by the Governor of Morro Castle at the landing in the most sweltering +heat. I had not forgotten to take the precaution, which anywhere else +would have been appropriate, to carry extra wraps, as I told Laura that +they were necessary for every water excursion. You may imagine the _de- +trop_-ness of these articles when the thermometer was up at one hundred +and twenty in the shade. + +We were taken about conscientiously and shown all that there was to be +seen: all the dungeon-cells and subterranean passages, and up the hill to +see the view, which was very extended and very beautiful. From there we +went to the Governor's house, where we were greeted by his wife and +daughter, the wife stiff in black moiré (I mean the moiré was stiff, not +she). He placed himself, his wife and daughter, and his mansion at my +disposal. I would not have minded taking the old gentleman; but I +absolutely refused the lady and the moiré dress. + +_Dulces_ were served and some unappetizing-looking ices, which tasted +better than they looked. Cakes also were offered us, of which I picked out +those which had the least mauve and yellow coatings. When we were +presented with some stiff little bouquets we thought it was a signal for +departure, and bade adieu to the black moiré and the fast-melting ices. + +From the _Cabaña_ we walked along the macadamized road to the Morro +Castle, a long distance it seemed to me in the heat; but we left the hard +and glaring road and walked over the grass, following the line of the +subterranean passage, which made a sort of mound, and finally reached +Morro Castle. Here there were more officials, more presentations and more +ceremonies, and more _dulces_ and more bouquets. + +The view from the ramparts, on which stood the lighthouse, was sublime: +the blue sea underneath us, Havana on the left, and the purple mountains +in the far distance. + +One of the officials asked us whether we wanted to go to the top of the +lighthouse. I declined, much to the relief of the assembled company. They +say that fish have been thrown up by the spray over the lighthouse; but +this seems almost as incredible as the majority of fishy stories. The +castle is very high, the ramparts are higher, and the lighthouse crowns +everything. The water dashes up through narrow crevices in the rocks, +which gives it great force, and possibly might account for the fish story, +but I doubt it. + +By this time (six o'clock) we were utterly exhausted. Even at this hour +the heat was intolerable. We had hoped for a little breeze on the water; +but, alas! there was none. Poor Señor Herreras held his foot incased in +tight patent-leather boots in his lap, moaning, "Comme je souffre!" + +How they all must have blessed me for this idea of mine! I felt ashamed to +look them in the face. + + +CUBA, _1873._ + +I could not tell you all the things we were taken to see. We visited the +German and Spanish men-of-war As we were in the company of the Governor- +General, the Commander, and the Captain-General, we were not spared the +proper salutes. The tour of the war-ships had to be made, and in place of +the eternal _dulces_ international refreshments were offered us. We +departed in the Captain of the Port's steam-launch, and drove to the +Carreo, where the pretty villas are. + +The Governor-General drove us out to his _quinta_ in great style: +English horses and carriage and an American coachman. The roads were +pretty bad, and we were considerably jostled going through the _Paseo._ +The coachman careered from side to side to avoid ruts and tracks, and the +dust was overpowering. No conversation was possible, as our throats were +filled with dust and our lives hanging on a thread. I waved my hand in the +direction of anything I thought pretty, and silence followed. + +At the _quinta_ all was ready and waiting for us. Fountains were playing, +servants in red and yellow gorgeous liveries, with white stockings, were +flitting about; various Cuban delicacies were offered to us, and we +admired everything that was to be admired. The return drive was +delightful, through the long avenues of stately palms and graceful date- +trees. + +The carnival is a great event and very amusing. I am not spoiled in the +way of carnivals, only having seen that of Paris (the _Boeuf gras_) +and the Battle of Flowers at Nice. The populace turn out in great force, +every one is gay and happy, and the Cubans high and low join in the sport. + +We were invited to drive in a four-in-hand. In this way we had a kind of +bird's-eye view of the whole. No lady thinks herself too fine to join in +the carnival. The procession, which defiles up and down the _Paseo_ during +the fray, begins at four in the hot, broiling afternoon, and ladies, +decked out as Diana, Minerva, or other celebrities, powdered _à +l'outrance_, smiling and proud of their success, recline in their +_volantes_. Their own servants, with false noses or otherwise disguised, +have their fun, too. I never saw such an orderly crowd; no pushing, no +quarreling, no drunkenness, and yet every one was enjoying himself. There +were two rows of carriages, one going up, one going down, with a place in +the middle for the four-in-hands and the _chars_, some of which were very +ingenious. There was a steamship with sailors, who kept firing off the +whistle every time they saw a skittish horse. On another car were men +dressed as skeletons with death's-heads instead of masks, and Shylock- +looking Jews riding with their backs to the horses' heads, holding on to +their tails. + +A Punch and Judy were acting on a little stage during the procession, +surrounded by children of all sizes and ages decked out in costumes, their +tinselly flowers showing off their thin and sallow faces. There was a +tremendous tooting of horns, and, with the music in the square and the +music on the _chars_, made a perfect Bedlam. People nudged one another as +we hove in sight in our four-in-hand. + +The G----s did not relish the carnival as much as we did, and thought it a +dismal affair. They captured a victoria by force, the coachman refusing to +take them until they said "Paseo" upon which he started off on a trot. He +had a dilapidated old horse, who had to be beaten all the way there, and +when there, what do you think the coachman did? Simply pulled out a false +nose and put it on and lighted a cigarette, stuck his hat on the lamp, and +jeered at all the other vehicles, being on jeering terms with all the +other cabmen; and as the _Paseo_ is a mile long, it meant a mile of +mortification. They came home disgusted and voted the carnival a +"disgraceful affair." + + +MATANZAS, CUBA. + +DEAR M.,--In my last letter I told you of our invitation to the _bal +poudré_ and _masqué_ here. Count Ceballos, thinking it would amuse us to +see it, arranged that we should stay at the palace, where the ball was to +take place. + +The Captain of the Port, with his aide-de-camp, accompanied us on our +trip, and as he was going there in some official capacity, we shared his +honors. + +We had no adventures except that of traveling in company with a rather +rough-looking set of men, who were on their way to a cock-fight. The cocks +were tied up in bags; but as I wanted to see one the man opened the bag +and took it out, and also showed me the spurs they strap on them when they +fight. + +We arrived in Matanzas about six o'clock, to find the Mayor's carriage +waiting for us. We drove to the palace, and after dinner dressed for the +ball. We did not attempt anything in the way of mask or costume, as being +unknown and _unpowdered_ was a sufficient disguise. + +The Captain of the Port knew every one there, and presented many of his +friends. We went out and stood on the balcony, looking at the sea of +upturned heads. It seemed as if every Matanzois who was not inside was +outside gazing at the windows, and listening to the band which was playing +in the square. The night was glorious with a full moon. + +I think that I have described in a former letter the Cuban dance, the +languid tropical shuffle they call the _Habanera_. The music is so +monotonous, always the same over and over again, and only ceases when it +is convenient to the musicians. + +The ladies had _cascarilla_ (a powder made of eggshells) an inch thick on +their faces. I doubt if the officers ever saw so much powder as they did +at this _bal poudré_. + +There was a sit-down supper, consisting of sandwiches smelling strong of +bad butter, ham and chicken salads, _dulces_ of all sorts, but, alas! +no fruit. The dancing continued long after we had retired for the night. + +The Marquis Aldamar invited us to a _déjeuner_ for the following day; +the _volantes_ were again "to the door," and we started off in grand +style and great spirits and drove to the top of the mountain, from which +we enjoyed a perfectly glorious view of the Yumiri Valley. The winding +river looked like a silver thread as it wound in and out through the +grassy meadows. + +Our _déjeuner_ was of a more European character than any that we had +yet had in Cuba; the menu was in French--evidently the cook was also +French--and the servants looked imported. In fact, everything was in +very good style. The hostess was charming and musical, she sang some very +pretty Cuban songs, and after a while asked me if I were musical, and if I +would play something. + +The Captain, in an undertone and in all "proudness," said, "Ask Madame to +sing." And she did so in a rather condescending manner. + +I accepted and went timidly to the piano, and as I hesitated as to what I +should sing, she said, "Oh! just sing any little thing." With an amused +glance at Laura I sang Chopin's waltz, which is the most difficult thing I +sing, and the astonishment depicted on the countenance of my patronizing +hostess was highly diverting. + +"I wonder if you are any relation of a Mrs. Moulton whom my cousin knew in +Paris," she said. "He was very intimate with a family of your name, and +often talked to me about a Mrs. Moulton who sang so beautifully." + +"Can it be that I am the same person? I have lived in Paris. What was your +cousin's name?" I inquired. + +"Jules Alphonso." + +"What!" I cried. "Jules Alphonso your cousin? I have not seen him for +years. I used to know him so well. Where is he?" + +"He lives here in Cuba," she answered. + +"Where in Cuba?" I interrupted. "How extraordinary! How much I should like +to see him again!" + +"And he, I am sure, would like to see you, he has so often talked about +you to me. I felt directly last night that I knew you; it must have been +intuition." + +I think, Mama, you must remember Jules. He was like a second son in our +house, and was an intimate friend of my brother-in-law, and would have +liked to have been a brother-in-law himself if he had been accepted. We +all loved him. How strange to find him here! The last place in the world I +should have dreamed of! I am not sure that I ever knew that he was a +Cuban. + +My new friend was wild with joy. "You are the one person that I have +wanted to know all my life, and, fancy, here you are!" + +Was it not a curious coincidence to meet _here_, in this out-of-the-way +place, some one who knew all about me? + +I repeated, "I must see Jules, and if he is anywhere near I shall +certainly try to find him." "Let us go together," she said. "I will drive +you there, and we will take him by surprise." Two _volantes_ were +immediately before the door, and the Marquise Aldamar, the Captain of the +Port, Laura, and I started for La Rosa, Jules's plantation. It was an +enchanting drive, though a long one, leading, as it did, through avenues +of royal palms, and it was quite six o'clock before we reached Jules's +house. I said to the Marquise Aldamar, "As Jules has no idea that I am in +this part of the world, let me go in alone and surprise him." + +We drove up to the entrance of his pretty villa, and the others +accompanied me to the door of the salon with a finger on their lips, so +that the servant should not announce us. We saw Jules sitting at a table +reading. I entered softly and went behind him, and laying my hand on his +shoulder said, "Jules!" + +He turned quickly about, and when he saw me he thought I was an apparition +or a dream. "What! What!" he cried, trembling with astonishment. + +"It is I--Lillie Moulton," I said, quietly. + +"You! you! No, it can't be possible!" And he took hold of my hands as if +to see if they were flesh and blood. "Where did you come from? How did you +get here? What brought you here?" followed in quick succession. The others +pushed aside the curtain and came in. Then followed explanations. I was +obliged to answer thousands of questions, and go into thousands of +details, concerning the family, Paris, the war, and so forth. He ordered +champagne, improvised a little supper for us, and did not seem to be able +to do enough to show his delight at seeing me. But the Captain of the Port +soon reminded us that it was time to be on our way back to Matanzas, as it +was a long drive, and I bade a tearful farewell to lonely Jules. Our +comet-like visit must have seemed to him like a vision, and he watched us, +with eyes full of tears, drive away out of his life. Poor Jules! + + +MATANZAS, CUBA. + +We spent the following morning in driving about the city. At half-past two +crossed the ferry to Yuanana-bocca, where we found the amiable director +and the rest of the party. The cars, with their cane-bottomed seats, were +cool. The scenery was exquisite. On both sides of the road were real +jungles of tropical growth, with the purple mountains as a background. We +passed many _ingenios_ (plantations), with their tall, smoking chimneys, +all in full blast. + +On reaching our destination we were met by _volantes_ and saddle-horses. +The former were for the ladies, the latter for the gentlemen of the party, +and we made our way through the narrow, dirty streets, passed the walls of +the city, and came out on to the beautiful road, where a gang of chained +prisoners were breaking stones. + +We passed many villas and well-kept gardens, and arrived at the bottom of +the hill, where we were obliged to get out and walk, for the roads became +impassable. It was a stiff climb; but when we reached the summit we were +rewarded by a most magnificent view. We descended and reached the +_volantes,_ the drivers whipped up their horses, and away we went over +rocks and ruts, but feeling nothing of them. That is the charm of a +_volante;_ only the wheels, which are behind you, get the jerks and jolts. + +After a half-hour's drive we reached the famous cave, Laura and I were +supplied with garments looking like mackintoshes, and, provided with +torches, we began to descend. We first came to a large, vaulted hall, +where miles of stalactites in every form and shape twinkled in the light +of the torches. + +We had to crawl through a small opening to get into another vaulted room +which boasted of an echo. The guide struck a note and I sang a cadenza, +which resounded like a thousand voices. + +There never could have been a thermometer made that could register such +heat as we felt here; the air was frightfully oppressive and almost +intolerable. + +They pointed out the Pope's Miter, the Virgin's Veil, the Altar, the Boat +--all looking about as much like their names as an apple looks like a pack +of cards. After being shown the lake I begged for fresh air, and we +mounted the steep wooden stairs. The hot air outside seemed like a wintry +breeze when we came into it, and we were told that we must cool off before +venturing into the hot sun. Then we _volanted_ back to Matanzas. + +Our next visit was to the well-known _ingenio_ (sugar-plantation) +belonging to the cousin of the Marquis San Carlos. The sugar-mill stood in +front of the master's house, so that the master could watch from his broad +balcony the bringing in of the sugar-cane, which was hauled by huge cart- +loads drawn by oxen. The sugar-cane, on its arrival, was put between great +crushing wheels before it was thrown into the vats. The sturdy negresses, +up to their elbows, stirred the foaming syrup after it had boiled. Then it +was skimmed and boiled again to purify it. It went through a centrifugal +process to crystallize it, and afterward was packed in boxes and stamped +in less time than it takes to relate this. I liked to breathe the hot +vapors coming from the huge tanks. What remains of the sugar is used as +fuel; so nothing is wasted. + +All the slaves seemed gay and well-fed. The Chinese, I believe, are liked +better than the natives, they are so clean and adroit. We visited the +houses of the slaves and found them all well kept. The master threw silver +pieces (ten cents) to the children, who seemed content in their bare +nakedness and clamored for more pennies. We drank _querap_ (molasses) +from the tanks mixed with whiskey. It was very good; but a little went +very far. Two small children fanned us with palmettos during dinner. We +passed the night there in the _ingenio_; but we saw no tarantulas, as +was predicted. The next morning, when our coffee was brought, there was an +assortment of delicious fruits--pineapples, guavas, bananas, cocoanuts, +mangos, etc., which we enjoyed immensely. There was a little excitement +before we started: the gardener, a bridegroom of eighty-five summers, was +married to a blooming young person of eighty, both slaves and black as +ink. We arrived at Havana that evening. + +You can't tell how grieved I was to hear of the kind and good Emperor +Napoleon's death. He was only sixty-five years old. I thought he was +older. What an eventful life he had--tragical would be the right word. +What did he not endure? When he was a child he was an exile, and since +then, until he became first President and then Emperor, he was knocking +about the world, sometimes hidden and sometimes pursued. However, he had +fifteen years of glory, for there was not in all Europe a man more +considered than he was, and he had until the last four years of his reign +more prestige than any other sovereign. I think after the tragedy of +Mexico his star began to pale. + +The Emperor Napoleon was certainly the kindest-hearted and best- +intentioned man in the world, so full of life, fun, and appreciation. I +can see him now shaking with laughter when anything amused him, as was +often the case at Compiègne. + +The papers say that he had once been a policeman in London. I do not +believe this is true, though the Emperor told me himself that he had lived +very humbly at times; still, that is very different from being a +policeman. I wonder if the Prince will try to get back the throne. He does +not look as if he had a strong character, nor does he look as if he had +the energy of the Emperor, which enabled him to go through so many +hardships to gain his ends. + +How sad it is! I am sure the Empress's only consolation is the thought +that her son can recover the position the father lost. + +We returned to Havana quite tired out with our little journey, and glad to +rest in the quiet of our cool rooms, and I looked across the water, +crowded with boats of every description, and gazed with delight at the +distant mountains, with their clouds dragging themselves from one summit +to the other. + +How hot it is! I never thought that the sun, which is so high up, could +pour down so; but it does pour down. I think it is hotter here than in +Matanzas. + +We shall be leaving here in a few days, and I suppose we shall find ice +and snow in New York, and return to india-rubbers and umbrellas--things +unknown here. During our absence some German men-of-war have arrived here, +and stationed themselves right in front of our windows. + +It must be their wash-day, for all the sailors' clothes are hanging out to +dry. + +Lola San Carlos is in light gray--the mourning one wears for a brother-in- +law is not heavy in this warm country. She has invited us to a card-party +for tomorrow; card-parties are evidently not gay enough to interfere with +tears. + + +CUBA, _February._ + +DEAR MAMA,--Well, we are really going to return! As usual, I have no more +clothes, and I certainly will not be bothered to have anything made here. +My black tulle dress has become brown and gray in its efforts to keep up +to the mark; and as for Laura's white lace, it has become gray and brown, +so you see we must go home. + +We went to Lola's card-party. There was the bereaved brother, looking very +chirpy, and the Dean, and the Abbé. They kindly proposed to teach me their +favorite game of _tresillo_. They took a lively interest in my ignorance. +They told me the rules and the names of the extraordinary cards; for +instance, hearts were represented by coins, for clubs there were clubs, +while trees and swords served for diamonds and spades. Every card is +something else than what you have called it before. The value of each is +changed according to the trump. What you have considered always as a low +card, such as the two of spades, suddenly becomes the best card in the +pack. + +All the cards have Spanish names--Spadilla, Manilla, Basta, Ponto, and +Matadores--which sound very romantic. A simple seven of hearts becomes +suddenly top card and is called Manilla, which is the second best when +hearts are trumps, and then the two of clubs, which was miles high the +last hand, is at the tail of all the other cards now. It is a dreadful +game. I thought that I should have brain fever while learning it. They +went on playing it for hours; there never seemed any end to it; they +counted in the weirdest way, making ciphers and tit-tat-toes on the green +baize table with chalk, and wiped out with a little brush. Every trick of +the adversary was deducted, and all the heads met over the chalk-marks to +find out mistakes. + + +CUBA. + +DEAR M.,--A dance was given at the Captain-General's, where all the +officers of the German and Spanish men of war were present. It was a very +brilliant sight, and we made many delightful acquaintances. Commodore +Werner of the German _Friedrich Wilhelm,_ Commodore Livonius of the +_Elizabeth,_ besides many other charming officers, as well as many +Spanish officers from the _Gerona._ The Germans danced with more energy +than the Cubans are accustomed to, and they stared at the unusual vigor +displayed, and accounted for it, saying it was because they were new- +comers. In fact, the officers, in their trim uniforms, looked very hot +and wilted at the end of the evening. Commodore Werner was a most gallant +gentleman, and as we did not dance, he had the leisure to tell me all +about his family, his literary tastes, and his admiration for pretty +ladies; and he finished by asking if we would do him the honor to lunch on +his ship the next day. A handsome young lieutenant (Tirpitz) came to ask +me to dance, but Commodore Werner gave him what in other less tropical +countries might be called a freezing look, remarking that no one ought to +dance in such heat as this. The young lieutenant left us quite subdued; +but the heat did not prevent his dancing with many ladies, if not with me. + +The next day we went to lunch on the _Friedrich Wilhelm,_ and it was +with delight that we sat on the awning-covered deck. The Commodore asked +me to give him an idea for some occupation for the sailors, who had so +much time on their hands, and, as I happened to know how to plait straw, I +proposed showing them how to do it. + +The Commodore sent a launch to Havana to get the straw, and we passed the +afternoon dividing the time between listening to the music of the ship's +band and tasting different beverages and eating German pretzels and +teaching the sailors how to plait. + +At five o'clock we were rowed ashore, and welcomed a little fresh breeze +which had sprung up. + +The following morning the inmates of the hotel were awakened at an early +hour by the solemn hymn which belongs to a German serenade. The kind +Commodore had sent his band to play for me, and it filled the whole hall. + +The early breakfasters were dreadfully put out about it; the brass +instruments sounded like a double orchestra, and resounded in these marble +halls like volleys of musketry; and as for the hotel-keeper, he has not +got over his surprise yet. + +We had many pleasant days after this. Each one, we said, would be the +last; still we stayed on. One of the German men-of-war gave a ball, the +Spanish gave another; each vied with the other to give the finest +entertainment. It was a pleasure to go on board the German boats, +everything was so spick and span, the sailors so neat and trim, the deck +so beautifully kept, and the brasses glistened red-hot in the sun. + +I cannot tell you all we did these last days. I was glad to hear that the +German sailors had profited by my lessons, and had in a short time plaited +straw enough to make some hats for themselves. I shall always feel proud +when I see a German sailor with a straw hat, for I shall feel that I laid +the foundation of this industry. + +One of the afternoons we spent on the Commodore's boat. I sang for the +officers in the cabin, and then, when I was on deck, I sang some of the +songs from "Pinafore" for the sailors, whom the Commodore called together +to hear me. They grinned from ear to ear when I sang "What, never?" +"Hardly ever," and "Never used a big, big D," in the captain's song in +"Pinafore." This was the last time we visited our amiable German host. + +I shall post this letter in New York. It will probably reach you before we +do. + +Our departure was a triumphal procession. The Captain of the Port, devoted +to the last, took us in his official steam-launch to our steamer. Flowers, +fruit, and souvenirs of all kinds filled our cabin to overflowing, and +when we passed the German boats, hats and handkerchiefs were waved aloft, +and the bands on the decks played with all their Teutonic might until we +were out of hearing distance. + +We noticed our tall, handsome lieutenant standing alone on the fore part +of the deck. He made a fine naval salute, while the good Commodore waved +his handkerchief frantically. + +The Captain of the Port accompanied us down the harbor as far as Morro +Castle in his steam-launch. + +Adieu, dear Havana! + + +WASHINGTON, _April, 1873._ + +DEAR LAURA,--The weather was atrociously bad when we returned to New York, +and as for Boston--it was simply impossible. I began coughing and sneezing +as soon as I reached home. So I decided to go to Washington on a visit to +Mrs. Robeson, wife of the Secretary of the Navy. She had often asked me; +this was an excellent opportunity to accept. + +Mrs. Robeson is a fine woman, built on ministerial, lines, and looks like +a war-ship in review rig. They have an amusing house. Their Sunday +evenings are the rendezvous of clever people; the men are particularly +entertaining--Mr. Blaine, Mr. Bayard, and other shining lights. + +She is musical, and sings with pleasure. She has a luscious mezzo-soprano. +She sang "Robin Adair" on one of these occasions with so much conviction +that it seemed as though she was routing Robin from his first sleep. Then +she sang a French song in a childish voice (she thought it was a +_backfisch_ song); but I think it was anything but that, for I noticed +some Scandi-knavish glances between the Danish and Swedish Ministers, +which made me suspicious. + +There is a delightful German Minister (Mr. Schlözer) here, who is very +musical; though he does not know a note of music, he can improvise for +hours. + + +SOMMERBERG, _July, 1874._ + +DEAR MAMA,--My last letter was from Dinard, where I was nestling in the +bosom of my family and enjoying the repose and the rest that family bosoms +alone can give. I told you of my intention to visit Helen at her place on +the Rhine, and here I am enjoying another kind of rest: the rest of my +income. + +Paul is at present Minister in Madrid; Helen and I lead a very quiet life. +Driving to Wiesbaden to see the Nassaus and other friends is our favorite +occupation. We linger in the shady walks of the park, look in at the +gambling-rooms, sometimes we go to the races, and always come home tired. +And then, how we enjoy the garden and the beautiful view over the Rhine! +Some days we go out riding in the lovely forest, which leads to the most +prettily situated little "bad" place in the world--Schlangenbad. + +Helen has in her stables three horses, two of which are the "fat ponies" +and the third is the war-horse that Paul used in the French-German +campaign. We take the war horse in turn, as he has to be exercised. When +it is my day I shudder at the thought of it. Riding is not my strong +point; in fact, it is my weakest point, and I feel that I am not at all in +my element; and when I see the tall beast being led up to the door, and I +know that at a given moment I am to be fired up on to his back, my heart +sinks. He has a gentle way with him which makes the process of getting on +him extremely difficult. Just as my foot is in the groom's hand, and I say +one--two--three, and am in midair, the horse moves gently to one side, and +I either land on the hard pommel or, more often, I fill an empty space +between the horse and the groom, which is awkward. However, when, after +repeated efforts, I _do_ manage to hit the saddle on the right place +I stick there. + +He is full of fancies--this horse--and reminiscences, and sometimes gets +the idea into his head that he hears the bugle-call to arms. Then off he +goes to join his imaginary companions, and charges the trees or anything +that occurs to him, and nothing on earth can stop him, certainly nothing +on his back can. My hair comes down and my hat flies off, and I feel I am +not doing the _haute école_ in proper style. Fortunately Helen and I +are alone, and as the war-horse is miles in front of the "fat pony," she +does not see the _école_ I am doing, and I rather enjoy the wild way we +career over space. I do not attempt to guide his martial steps, but let +him come into camp when he feels inclined. + +The groom is never surprised if I come an hour too late. I fancy he knows +what I have gone through: brambles, branches, and--agony. + + +SOMMERBERG, _July, 1874._ + +I have just returned from a delightful visit to the Prince and Princess +Metternich. It was very hot the day I left here, and the sun poured down +on the broad, white roads which lead from Sommerberg to the station. On my +arrival at Johannisberg Prince Metternich was waiting for me with a +_calèche à la Daumont_. + +Our jaunty postilion blew his little horn incessantly as we galloped +through the village and up the long, steep hill which leads to the +château. The walls on both sides of the badly paved, narrow road were high +and unpicturesque--not a tree to be seen; vineyards, vineyards everywhere +--nothing but vineyards. + +The château is a very ugly building, of no particular kind of +architecture, looking more like a barn than a castle. It is shaped like an +enormous E, without towers or ornamentation of any kind. + +The Princess was at the door, and welcomed me most affectionately, and +with her were the other guests: the handsome Duchess d'Ossuna, Count +Zichy, Count Kevenhüller, Count Fitz-James, and Commandant Duperré. The +immense hall, which occupies the entire center of the house, has five +windows giving out on the courtyard and five on the terrace, and is +comfortably furnished with all kinds of arm-chairs, rugs, and so forth. A +grand piano stood in one corner near the window, and over this window was +an awning (an original idea of the Princess, to put an awning inside, +instead of outside of the window). An unusually large table, covered with +quaint books, periodicals, and the latest novels, stood in the middle of +the room, and there were plants, palms, and flowers everywhere. + +The Princess showed me the different rooms. Her boudoir was hung with +embroidered satin. One room I liked particularly; the walls were covered +with the coarsest kind of écru linen, on which were sewed pink pigeons cut +out of cretonne; even the ceiling had its pigeons flying away in the +distance. Another room was entirely furnished in cashmere shawls--a +present from the Shah himself. There must have been a great many, to have +covered the walls and all the divans. + +Nowhere could the Princess have had such a chance to show what she could +do as here, in the transforming of this barrack into a livable place. I +admired everything immensely. She told me that she thought she was very +practical, because, when they leave here, all the hangings can be taken +down and folded and put away, so that the next year they are just as good +as new. + +They only stay here two months every year (July and August); the enormous +display of flowers on the long terrace before the château is also +temporary. There are at least four to five hundred pots of flowers, mostly +geraniums, which make a brilliant effect for the time being, as long as +the family are here; then they go back to the greenhouse. + +Tea was served in the hall; every one was in the gayest of spirits, and +crowded around the piano to hear Prince Metternich's last waltz, which was +very inspiring. After the music was finished and the tea-table removed, I +was shown to my rooms; I reached them by a tiny winding staircase, the +walls of which were hung with Adrianople (turkey red), and covered with +miniatures and fine engravings. + +Dinner was served very sumptuously; the servants were in plush breeches +and had powdered hair. I sat on the left of Prince Metternich and next to +Count Kevenhüller, who is a Knight of Malta. I said to the Prince, "A +Knight of Malta always suggests to my mind romance and the Middle Ages." + +"It shows," the Prince replied, "how naïve you are. It is true that he is +middle-aged, but he has not a ray of romance in him. Don't trust him! +Maltese Knights and Maltese cats do their killing on the sly." + +During the dinner delicious Johannisberg was served alternately with +ordinary beer. Conversation alternated with laughter, and after dinner +albums and music alternated with flirtations. The Prince played some of +his charming new songs. On the piano was a beautifully bound book +containing them. He pointed to it, saying, "I have had this made for you," +and showed me the title-page, where he had written, "À l'Inspiratrice!" I +was tremendously pleased and sang all the songs, one after the other. The +Prince has had leisure to compose a great deal since he retired into +private life. He is wonderfully talented--not only for music, but for +painting. Everything he does he does better than any one else. + +He said that during the war, when he was obliged to stay in Bordeaux, he +would have died of ennui if he had not had his music and drawing to occupy +him, especially as the Princess and the children were not with him, and he +was dreadfully lonely. + +It was a lovely night, and we walked till very late on the terrace and +gazed at the view across the Rhine, over the miles of vineyards and little +villages sparkling with lights. + +The Prince told me all about the Empress's flight from the Tuileries after +the catastrophe of Sedan. He said that when the news came to the Embassy +that the mob was about to enter the Tuileries he communicated with Count +Nigra (the Italian Ambassador), and they decided to go there instantly, to +offer their services to the Empress. + +When they arrived there they saw the mob already before the gates. They +left their carriages on the quay, and entered by a door into the gallery +of the Louvre, and hurried to the apartment of the Empress. There they +found her with Madame Le Breton. She was very calm and collected, already +dressed in a black-silk gown, and evidently prepared for flight. She had +in her hand a small traveling-bag, which contained some papers and a few +jewels. + +Seeing them, she exclaimed, "Tell me, what shall I do?" + +The Prince said, "What does General Trochu advise, your Majesty?" + +"Trochu!" she repeated. "I have sent for him twice, but he does not +trouble himself to answer or to come to me." + +Then the Prince said, "Count Nigra and I are here to put ourselves +entirely at your Majesty's service." + +The Empress thanked them and said: "What do you think best for me to do? +You see how helpless I am." + +The Prince answered that, according to their judgment, the wisest thing +for her Majesty to do would be to leave Paris at once, and added that his +carriage was there and she could make use of it. + +She then put on her hat and cloak and said, "I am ready to follow you." + +They went through the Pavilion de Flore and through the Galerie du Louvre +until they reached a small door leading out on to the quay, where the two +coupes were waiting. The Prince had already thought of one or two friends +to whom the Empress could go and remain until they joined her, to help her +to devise some means for leaving Paris. He said that during the long walk +through the gallery the Empress remained calm and self-possessed, though +one could see that she was suffering intensely. + +They reached the quay without hindrance and found the carriages. The +Prince opened the door of his and gave his orders to his coachman; but the +Empress suddenly refused, saying that she preferred to go in a cab, and +begged them not to follow her. + +There was a cab-stand directly opposite where they stood. They hailed one, +and she and Madame Le Breton were about to get in when a little boy cried +out, "Voilà l'Impératrice!" Count Nigra, quick as thought, turned on the +boy and said in a loud voice, "Comment! tu cries 'Vive la Prusse!" and +boxed his ears, so that attention should be diverted from the Empress. + +The Prince gave the names of the streets and the numbers of the houses to +the cabman where he had proposed to the Empress to go, and the ladies +drove away. + +"Did you not follow her?" I asked. + +"Yes" he answered. "In spite of the Empress's wishes, after allowing +enough time for her to get well on her way, we drove to the two addresses +given, but did not find her at either of them. We could not imagine what +had happened to her." + +"What _had_ happened to her?" I asked. + +"It was only after hours of the greatest anxiety that we ourselves knew. +About six o'clock I received a note from the Empress saying that she had +gone to the two houses we had named, but that no one was there, and then, +not knowing what to do, had in despair thought of Dr. Evans, the dentist, +and had driven to his house, where she was in safety for the moment." + +"What a dreadful moment for the Empress! How did she dare to send the note +to you?" + +"It was imprudent," said the Prince; "but she intrusted it to Dr. Crane, +who happened to be dining with Dr. Evans. He brought it to me and gave it +into my own hands." + +"Did you go to see her?" + +"Yes, I went to see her; but strict orders had been given not to let any +one enter, not even me." + +The Prince showed me this letter, which he kept locked up in a desk. +Seeing the tears in my eyes, he said, giving me the envelope, "I know you +will value this, and I beg you will keep it." + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF LETTER: + +À Son Altesse Le Prince de Metternich + +L. Napoléon.] + +I told him that I would value it more than any one possibly could, and did +not know how to thank him enough. + +He told me a great deal more about the Empress, her hardships and trials, +and how brave she had been through them all. She never uttered a word of +reproach against any one, except against Trochu, whom she called an arch- +traitor. He told me also of the last time he had seen her Majesty at +Chiselhurst, and how sad this interview had been. The beautiful and adored +Empress of France now a widow and an exile! I was sorry that our +conversation was interrupted--I could have listened for hours; but tea was +announced, and we were obliged to leave the library. + +The next day the Prince and his friends were deeply engaged in making a +kite; they tried everything imaginable to coax it to fly, but it refused. +The Prince even mounted a ladder, hoping to catch the wind by holding it +higher; but all in vain. The moment he let go, down flapped the kite with +almost human spitefulness. + +After the Prince had said _saperlotte!_ twenty times, they gave up the +kite and played tennis, a new game, over which he is as enthusiastic +as he used to be over croquet, until the blast of a horn announced the +arrival of the archducal four-in-hand, which they were expecting. + +Then there was a hurried putting on of coats and wiping of perspiring +brows, and they all went forward to receive the Archduke Louis, who had +driven over from Wiesbaden to spend the day, bringing with him some +younger gentlemen. + +Prince Metternich immediately proposed their playing tennis. Some of them +were eager to do so, but the Archduke, being fatigued by his long drive, +begged to go to his room until luncheon. + +Then, while the gentlemen were playing tennis, the Princess took me to the +kitchen-garden to show me the American green-corn, planted from seeds +which we had given to her at Petit Val four years ago. She told me, with +great joy, that we were to have some for dinner. + +After luncheon we were invited to visit the famous wine-vaults. The +intendant appeared with the keys, and, accompanied by a subordinate, we +followed him down the stairs to the heavily bolted oak door, which he +opened with a flourish. The first thing we saw, on entering, was +_Willkommen_ in transparencies in front of the entrance. + +These cellars had the same dimensions as the castle, one hundred feet each +way. Rows and rows of large casks placed close together lined the walls, +and each cask had a lighted candle upon it embedded in plaster. Lamps hung +at intervals from the vaulted ceiling, giving a weird look to the long +alleys, which seemed to stretch out for miles through the dim vista. + +We walked on. Every little while we came to what the Prince called a +_cabaret_, and what the Princess called more poetically a _bosquet_, but +which literally was a table and chairs surrounded by plants. The smell of +the wine was overpowering. When we reached _bosquet_ No. 1 the intendant +handed each of us a full glass of Johannisberg, the same that was served +at the table; at _bosquet_ No. 2 we received only half a glass of a finer +quality. At _bosquet_ No. 3, on the walls of which were the initials of +the Duchess d'Ossuna (E. O., formed by candles), we only got a liqueur +glassful. + +The farther we went the older, and therefore the more valuable, the wine +was, and the less we were given. When we reached _bosquet_ No. 6, the +last stop, we were allowed a discreet sip from a sherry glass, which was +passed on from one to the other like a loving-cup. + +We were told that the wines from the years 1862 and 1863 are considered to +be the best. It is strange that they are entirely different from each +other; the first is very sweet and the second is very dry. + +What was my surprise to see here, "I know a Lillie fair to see," against +the walls designed in candles. The Princess told me that the Prince had +been a long time making this, and I hope I showed due appreciation of the +compliment. I was immensely flattered. + +The wine is the color of amber, or pale yellow, according to the year, and +tastes delicious; the aroma reminds one of sandalwood. + +The wines of the best years are only sold in bottles bearing the cachet of +the Prince's arms, and the autograph of the intendant; the color of the +seal denotes the quality. _Cabinet bleu_ is the best that can be bought; +the less fine qualities are sold in barrels. + +You will be interested to hear how they gather the grapes. It is very +carefully done: each bunch is picked like a flower, and each grape is +selected with the greatest care; any grape with the slightest imperfection +is discarded. They remain longer on the vines here than anywhere else, so +that the sweetness of the grape is doubly concentrated. + +A good year will produce from sixty to eighty thousand bottles, and bring +in an income of one hundred and fifty thousand marks. + +The company which built the railroad through the grounds had to pay an +enormous sum for the land, every inch of which is worth its weight in +gold. + +You may imagine the despair of the intendant when he sees so much of this +valuable land taken for the croquet and tennis games; but the last straw +is--the corn! + +One of the guests here, Duchess d'Ossuna, is a very striking and handsome +lady who has been a great beauty and is still, though now about forty +years old. Her husband is one of the richest men in Spain, but is in such +wretched health that she has expected hourly to be a widow for many years. + +Coming away from the insidious fumes of the wine into the hot air, and +leaving the dark cellars for the glaring broad daylight, made us all feel +a little lightheaded. I noticed that the Archduke had to be gently and +with due discretion aided up the steps. + +He dropped into the first available bench and said, solemnly and with +conviction: "To see this wine makes one want to taste it; to taste it +makes one want to drink it; to drink it makes one want to dream." + +I hope that you appreciate this profound saying; it ought not to be lost +to posterity. + +We left him, thinking he would prefer the society of his adjutant to ours. +I knew that I preferred mine to any one else's, and went to my room, +mounting its winding staircase, which I thought wound more than was +necessary. Taking guests into wine-cellars is the great joke here, and it +never fails. + +Every one was in exuberant spirits at dinner. I wish I could remember half +of the clever things that were said. The corn came on amid screams of +delight. Our hostess ate thirteen ears, which, if reduced to kernels, +would have made about one ordinary ear, there was so much cob and so +little corn. The Princess enjoyed them hugely. + +Coffee was served on the terrace. Later we had music in the hall, and +before the departure of the Archduke there was a fine display of fireworks +sent off from the terrace, which must have looked splendid from a +distance. + + +SOMMERBERG, _August, 1874._ + +DEAR M.,--Prince Emil Wittgenstein and his wife have a pretty villa at +Walhuf, directly on the Rhine, and they invited Helen and me to dine and +spend the night there. Prince Wittgenstein promised to show us some +wonderful manifestations from spiritland. Helen is not a believer, neither +am I, but the Prince thinks I am, and, as Helen could not leave her +guests, I went alone. + +The Prince wrote that he had induced, with great difficulty (and probably +with a great deal of expense), the much-talked-of Miss Cook to come with +her sister to pay them a visit at their villa. Miss Cook is the medium +through whom the Empress Josephine and Katie King (a lady unknown to the +world, except as being the daughter of a certain old sea-captain, called +John King, who roamed the seas a hundred years ago and pirated) manifest +themselves. + +I was delighted to have this chance of seeing Miss Cook, because I had +read in the English papers that she had lately been shown up as a gigantic +fraud. At one of her séances in London, just as she was in the act of +materializing in conjunction with the Empress Josephine, a gentleman, +disregarding all rules of etiquette, sprang from the audience and seized +her in his arms; but instead of melting, as a proper spirit would have +done, the incensed Empress screamed and scratched and tore herself away, +actually leaving bits of her raiment in his hands. This rude gentleman +swears that the imperial nails seemed wholly of earthly texture, and that +the scratches were as thorough and lasted as well as if made by any common +mortal. + +Since this incident Miss Cook had thought it wiser to retire into private +life, and has secured a husband calling himself Corner. Prince +Wittgenstein found her, and, wishing to convert his wife, could think of +no better way than to let her see Miss Cook materialize. The wife and her +friend, Princess Croy, are avowed disbelievers. + +Our dinner was dull beyond words. There were the Prince Nicholas-Nassau +and his wife; the Duke Esslingen, who is nearly blind, without a wife but +with convictions; Count and Countess de Vay, and the two English ladies +already mentioned. Miss Cook, _alias_ Mrs. Corner, is a washed-out blond, +rather barmaidish-looking English girl of medium (oh dear! I really did +not mean to) height and apparently very anemic. + +After dinner we were led into the room in which the séance was to take +place, and were seated round a large table, and told to hold our tongues +and one another's hands; the gas was turned down to the lowest point, the +lamps screwed down, and there we sat and waited and waited. + +The poor host was chagrined beyond utterance; something was the matter +with the magnetic current. Sometimes he would tap on the table to attract +the attention of the spirit underneath, but nothing helped; the spirits +were obstinate and remained silent. + +I ventured to ask the Duke, by the side of whom I sat and held on to, in +what manner the spirits made known their answers. He said that one knock +meant "yes," no knock meant "no," and two knocks meant "doubtful." At last +we heard a timid knock in the direction of Mrs. Corner. Then every one was +alert. Prince Wittgenstein addressed the spot and whispered in his most +seductive tones, "Dear spirit, will you not manifest yourself?" Two knocks +(doubtful). + +"Is the company seated right?" (Silence, meaning "no.") + +"Is the company congenial?" (Silence.) + +To find out who the uncongenial person was, every one asked, in turn, "Is +it I?" until Princess Wittgenstein put the question, upon which came a +vigorous single knock. + +"My dear," said the Prince, "I am sorry to say it, but you must go." + +So she left, nothing loath. We all thought for sure something would happen +now, but nothing did. + +Prince Wittgenstein commenced the same inquiries, whether the company was +now congenial; but it seemed that Princess de Croy was _de trop_, and +she was also obliged to leave the room. (You see, the spirits did not like +to single out the hostess alone.) Now we were reduced to nine believers +with moist hands. + +Would the Empress not now appear? We waited long enough for her to make up +her mind; but it seemed that neither her mind nor anything else was ready +to be made up. The spirits were perhaps willing, but the flesh was too +weak. Then Mrs. Corner remembered that at the last sitting the Empress had +declared that she would never appear on German soil (her feelings having +been wounded during the Franco-German War). + +There still remained Katie King. We had not heard from her yet. Prince +Wittgenstein addressed the table under his fingers: "Oh, dear spirits, do +do something! Anything would be acceptable!" How could he or she resist +such humble pleadings? + +Then some one felt a cold wind pass over his face. Surely something was +happening now! + +"It must be Katie King about to materialize," said the hopeful Prince. + +Then we saw a dim light. We strained our eyes to the utmost to discover +what it was. I should have said, if I had been truthful, that to me it +looked like a carefully shaded candle; but I held my tongue. The hand of +my neighbor was fast becoming jelly in mine, and I would have given worlds +to have got my hand out of the current; but I did not dare to interfere +with it, and I continued to hold on to the jelly. Whoever was being +materialized was doing it so slowly, and without any kind of system, that +we hardly had the patience to sit it out. Then a tambourine walked up some +one's arm, Prince Nassau's spectacles were pulled off his august nose by +invisible hands (of course, who else would have dared?), thus making him +more near-sighted than ever. His wife's necklace of turquoises was +unclasped from her neck and hooked on to the neck of the acolyte sister; +but on anxious and repeated demands to have it returned, it was replaced, +much to the owner's relief. Prince Wittgenstein thought it silly of her to +have so little confidence. Suddenly, while necklaces were changing necks, +we saw what looked like a cloud of gauze. We held our breaths, the raps +under the table redoubled, and there were all sorts of by-play, such as +hair-pulling and arm-pinching, but no Katie. The gauze which was going to +be her gave up trying and disappeared altogether. "Never mind," said the +Prince. "It does not matter [I thought so, too.] She will come to-morrow +night." + +This was very depressing; even Prince Wittgenstein was utterly discouraged +and decided to break up the séance, and, groping his way to the nearest +lamp, turned it up. We went into the other salon, where we found the two +discarded ladies sitting peacefully before a samovar and playing a game of +two-handed poker. + +Miss Cook told Prince Wittgenstein that Katie King would probably +materialize if she had the promise of getting a sapphire ring which he +wore (a beautiful sapphire). Miss Cook suggested that if this ring could +be hung up on a certain tree in the garden Katie King would come and get +it, and would certainly materialize the next evening. Prince Wittgenstein +was credulous enough to pander to this modest wish, and hung up the +desired ring, hoping Katie King would return it when she was in the flesh. +But Miss Cook had a succession of fainting fits which necessitated her +sudden departure for England, so we never saw Katie King, neither did +Prince Wittgenstein ever get his ring back, as far as I know. + + +_September, 1874._ + +Last Tuesday we three--Count and Countess Westphal and I--left Wiesbaden, +slept at Frankfort, and starting the next morning at eleven o'clock, we +arrived at our destination at 5.00 P.M. We found three carriages; one for +us and two for the maids and luggage. Halfway to the castle we met, +driving the lightest and prettiest of basket-wagons, our host and hostess, +Count and Countess W--; the latter got into the carriage with us and one +of us took her place by the side of the host. We passed through the +village, which had but one street, irregular and narrow, and we were in +constant danger of running over the shoals of little children who stood +stupidly in the middle of it, gazing at us with open eyes and mouth. + +The Schloss is a very large, square building, with rounded towers in the +four corners. It has been remodeled, added to, and adorned so many times +that it is difficult to tell to which style of architecture it belongs. +The chapel is in an angle and opens on to the paved courtyard. + +Our first evening was spent quietly making acquaintance with the other +guests. The next morning we lunched at eleven o'clock, the gentlemen in +knickerbockers and shooting attire, the ladies in sensible gowns of light +material over silk petticoats. Simplicity is the order of the day. Our +lunch consists of many courses, and we might have lingered for hours if +the sight of the postman coming up the avenue had not given us the excuse +to leave the table and devote ourselves to our correspondence, which had +to be done in double-quick time, as the postman only waited a short +fifteen minutes, long enough to imbibe the welcome cup of coffee or the +glass of beer which he found waiting him in the kitchen. The Countess, +although the mother of a young man twenty-four years of age, has a pink- +and-white complexion and a fine, statuesque figure. She is a Russian lady +by birth, and does a lot of kissing, as seems to be the custom in Russia. +She told me that when a gentleman of a certain position kisses your hand +you must kiss his forehead. + +"Isn't this rather cruel toward the ladies?" I said. + +"Why," she asked, "do you think it is cruel?" + +"Ladies sometimes have on gloves when they give their hands to be kissed, +whereas there are some foreheads which ought to have gloves on before they +are kissed." + +The young Count, when he returned from the races at Wiesbaden, brought +with him a young American who had been presented to him by a friend of +his, who said that Mr. Brent, of Colorado (that was his name), was very +"original" and _ausserordenlich charmant_. And he was both charming and +(especially) original; but not the type one meets in society. + +He was a big, tall, splendidly built fellow with the sweetest face and the +liquidest blue eyes one can imagine. He had a soft, melodious voice and +the most fascinating manner, in spite of his far-Western language. Every +one liked him; my American heart warmed to him instantly, and even the +austere _grande dame_, our hostess, was visibly captivated, and the prim +German governess drank in every word he said, intending, no doubt, to +improve her English, which otherwise she never got a chance to speak. + +The two young men arrived yesterday just in time for tea. When the +Countess asked him, in her most velvety tones, "Do you take sugar, Mr. +Brent?" "Yes, ma'am, I do--three lumps, and if it's beety I take four." (I +trembled! What would he say next?) "I've got a real sweet tooth," he said, +with an alluring smile, to which we all succumbed. The governess, +remembering what hers had been before acquiring her expensive false set, +probably wondered how teeth could ever be sweet. + +While dressing for dinner I shuddered at the thought of what his dinner +toilet might be; but I cannot say how relieved I was when I saw him appear +(he was the last to appear) dressed in perfect evening dress, in the +latest fashion, except his tie, which was of white satin and very badly +tied. The salon in which we met before dinner is a real museum of rare +pictures, old furniture, and curiosities. The walls are hung with old +Italian faïences and porcelains. A huge buffet, reaching to the ceiling, +is filled with Venetian goblets and majolica vases. + +A vast chimneypiece, under which one can stand with ease, is ornamented +with a fine iron bas-relief of the family arms, and a ponderous pair of +andirons which support a heavy iron bar big enough to roast a wild boar +on. Count G---- called Mr. Brent's attention to it, and Mr. Brent said, +pleasantly, "I suppose this is where the ancestors toasted their +patriarchal toes." + +At dinner he sat next to the governess, and I could see her trying to +digest his "original" language; and I was near enough to overhear some of +their conversation. For instance, she asked him what his occupation was in +his native land. "Oh," he said, "I do a little of everything, mostly +farming. I've paddled my own canoe since I was a small kid." + +"Is there much water in your country-place?" she inquired. + +"Don't you mean country? Well, yes, we have quite a few pailfuls over +there, and we don't have to pull a string to let our waterfalls down." + +My neighbor must have thought me very inattentive; but I felt that I could +not lose a word of Mr. Brent's conversation. The vestibule (or "Halle," as +they called it), where we went after dinner, used to be occupied by the +_Corps du Garde._ It had vaulted ceilings and great oak beams, and was +filled with hunting implements of all ages arranged in groups on the +walls very artistically; there were cross-bows, fencing-swords, masks, +guns (old and new), pistols, etc. Mr. Brent was very much impressed by +this collection, gazed at the specimens with sparkling admiration, and +remarked to the governess, who was always at his elbow, "I never saw such +a lot of things [meaning the weapons] outside of a shindy." + +"What is a shindy?" inquired the governess, always anxious to improve her +knowledge of the language. + +"Why, don't you know what a shindy is? No? Well, it's a free fight, where +you kill promiscuous." + +"Gott im Himmel!" almost screamed the terrified damsel. "Do you mean to +say that you have killed any one otherwise than in a duel?" + +"I can't deny that I have killed a few," Mr. Brent said, cordially, "but +never in cold blood." + +"How dreadful!" his listener cried. + +"But you see, over there," pointing with his cigar into the vague (toward +Colorado), "if a man insults you, you must kill him then and there, and +you must always be heeled." + +"Heeled!" she repeated, puzzled. "Do they always get well?" + +Neither understood. + +Probably she thinks to this day that a shindy is an exceptionally good +hospital. + +The Count said, "This room is a very good specimen of Renaissance style." + +Mr. Brent replied, "I don't know what 'renny-saunce' means, but this room +is the style I like"; and added, "It's bully; and to-morrow I'd like to +take a snap-shot of it and of all the company to show mother, if [with his +charming smile] you will let me." + +"You shall take that and any other thing you like," said the Count. "How +long do you intend staying in Europe?" + +"That depends," answered Mr. Brent. "I came across the pond because the +doctor said I needed rest and change." + +"I hope that you have had them both," the Count said, kindly. + +"I got the change, all right; but the hotel-keepers got the rest, as the +story goes." + +Every one laughed and voted the young and clever American perfectly +delightful. + +The Countess extended her jeweled hand when she bade him good night, the +hand that always had been held with reverence and pressed gently to lips, +and felt it seized in a grip which made her wince. + +"Madame, you are just as sweet as you can be. I cottoned to you right off +the minute I saw you, just as I did to 'sonny,' over there," pointing to +the noble scion of the house. The governess made a note of the word +"cotton." The Countess was dumfounded; but our young friend seeming so +unconscious of having said or done anything out of the way, she simply, +instead of resenting what in another would have been most offensive, +looked at him with a lovely, motherly smile, and I am sure she wanted to +imprint a kiss on his forehead _à la Russe_. + +The next morning the Countess mentioned that she had a quantity of old +tapestries somewhere about in the house. "Where are they?" we all +exclaimed. "Can we not see them?" + +"Certainly, but I do not know where they are," answered the Countess. +"They may be in the stables." + +We went there, and sure enough we found, after rummaging about in the +large attic, a quantity of old tapestries: three complete subjects +(biblical and pastoral), all of them more or less spoiled by rats and +indiscriminate cutting. + +It amused me to see in the servants' dining-room some good old pictures, +while in ours the walls were covered with modern engravings. + +We were about thirty at table, and in the servants' hall there were nearly +sixty persons. Lenchen, my old-maid maid, puts on her best and only black- +silk dress every day and spends hours over her toilette for dinner. + +Mr. Tweed, the English trainer, says that the stables here are among the +finest in Germany, and that the Count owns the best race-horses in the +land, and is a connoisseur of everything connected with horses. + +Our Colorado friend did not seem at all overwhelmed with the splendor of +the stables, but with a knowing eye, examining the horses (feet, fetlocks, +and all), and without further preliminaries, said, "This one is not worth +much, and that one I would not give two cents for, but this fellow," +pointing to the Count's best racer, "is a beauty." + +Mr. Tweed's amazement at this amateur (as he supposed him to be) was +turned into admiration when Mr. Brent walked into the paddock, asked for a +rope, and proceeded to show us how they lasso horses in America. Every one +was delighted at this exhibition. + +Then Mr. Tweed brought out the most unruly horse he had, which none of the +English or German grooms could mount. Mr. Brent advanced cautiously, and +with a few coaxing words got the horse to stand quiet long enough for him +to pass his hand caressingly over his neck. But putting the saddle on him +was another matter; the horse absolutely refused to be saddled. So what +did our American friend do but give one mighty spring and land on the +horse's bare back. He dug his strong legs into the sides of the horse, and +though the horse kicked and plunged for a while, it succumbed finally and +was brought in tame and meek. + +Nothing could have pleased the Count more than this, and the rest of us +were lost in admiration. + +Mr. Brent invited all the stable-boys _en bloc_ to come over to America to +see him; he guessed he "and the boys could teach them a trick or two." + +After luncheon Mr. Brent wanted us all to come out on the lawn to be +photographed, particularly the Countess, and said to the young Count, "You +tackle the missis [meaning the Countess], and I'll get the others." + +Of course no one refused. How could we resist such a charmer? Who could +ever have believed that this simple, unaffected youth could have so +completely won all hearts? + +He said to the Countess while "fixing" her for the group, "I wanted you, +because you remind me so of my dear old mother." The Countess actually +purred with ecstasy; but I don't think she would have liked to be compared +to any "old" thing (mother or not) by anybody else. In this case she +merely looked up at him and smiled sweetly, and as for the _blasé_, +stately Count, he simply would not let him out of his sight. + +At last the group was arranged according to Mr. Brent's ideas; the host +and hostess in the center, while the others clustered around them. + +"Now, ladies and gentlemen, please look pleasant," said Mr. Brent, and we +all took the attitude we remembered to have looked well in on some former +occasion, and hoped we looked "pleasant," and that "mother," when +contemplating us, would approve of us. + +The Count's birthday happened to be on one of these days. Mr. Brent, who +had intended to leave, was urged by both him and the Countess to stay. The +young Count said, "Papa would be really unhappy if you went away." "That's +real nice of him; you bet I'll stay, then." On the day itself he was all- +pervading. It was he who hung the heavy garlands and wreaths on the +highest poles, agile as a cat, and draped the flags about the escutcheons +placed everywhere. He helped the ladies arrange the flowers in the +innumerable vases in the salons. He it was who led the applause when the +deputation of young people from the village made their speech, and when +the Count responded, in his most dignified and courtly manner, Mr. Brent +cried out, in a most enthusiastic voice, "Good for you!" + +In the evening there were visits from all the surrounding neighborhood; +the ladies wore tiaras and all their jewels, and the gentlemen all their +decorations; there was a grand supper in the state dining-room. Although I +suppose it was the first time Mr. Brent had ever seen such a sight, he did +not seem in the least astonished. He circulated about the distinguished +company and made himself most agreeable indiscriminately to young and old. +He was in full glory, and certainly was the life of the evening, which +finished brilliantly with a grand display of fireworks set off from the +tower, so that they could be seen from far and near. + +The next day Mr. Brent left. When he bade me good-by he said: "Good-by, +ma'am. If I have had a good time here, I owe it all to you." "Oh no, you +don't!" I said. "You owe it all to yourself, and you may say to your +mother, from me, that you won all hearts." + +He sighed and turned away his head, giving my hand an extra squeeze. "If +you ever come to Colorado, just ask any one for Johnny Brent, and if I +don't stand on my head for you it'll be because I've lost it." + +His leave-taking of the Countess was almost pathetic. He held her hand +long and tenderly, and said, "I can't find any word, ma'am--I mean, +Countess--but--thank you, thank you, that's all I can say." + +And the Countess (we thought she would faint) put her hand on his +shoulder. He bent his head, and she kissed him on his forehead; and he +(were the heavens going to fall?) stooped down and kissed her cheek. + +The Count said: "Good-by, my boy. Come again to see us"--and going to the +walls where his collection of pistols hung, took one of them and handed it +to him "This will remind you of us, but don't kill any one with it." + +"Never," said Mr. Brent. "I will hang it round my neck." + +Thus departed our American hero, for who but a hero could have stormed +such a fortress and broken down all the traditional barriers? + +A day or two later we received a visit from royalty, in the person of +Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia. + +In the evening we played a wonderful game called _taroc_, which was very +intricate and almost impossible to learn. Old Baron Kessler, who undertook +to teach it to me, got so sleepy that he actually yawned in my face. + +This Baron Kessler is quite a character--very clever, very artistic, very +musical, and, strange to say, very superstitious. For instance, he wears +an old waistcoat which has certain magical grease-spots on Fridays; on +Mondays his purse must be in the left pocket of his coat, on Thursdays in +his right pocket. He drinks nine times before twelve o'clock on special +days, and has a cigar-case for each different day of the week. He hates +losing at cards, and when he does it is quite an affair; and I am not sure +that prayers are not offered up for him by his family in the chapel on his +baronial estates. + +The last thing I saw was a vision of Herr Lenning (the head butler), who +is sometimes a little shaky himself, helping the Baron up the stairs. +Possibly it was the evening of the nine-drink morning. + +Next day we all left, except the old Baron, who for reasons of his own +remained. + + +WEIMAR, _September, 1874._ + +DEAR M.,--I thought it would be a good idea to go to Weimar, the place +_par excellence_ to study German, the Germans, and their literature; +and, moreover, my boy might go to school there. Mrs. Kingsland had given +me a letter to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and recommended the place, +not because she knew the town, but because she knew the Grand Duke. +Besides, had I not a dear cousin who had written a most attractive book +about Weimar, combined with Liszt and his enchantments? + +I was all enthusiasm. + +I decided to go to the hotel which Liszt honored. The proprietor put me +into Liszt's very room, where a framed letter of his hung on the wall.... +This did not in the least overcome me, as I had several of Liszt's letters +at home. But what did overcome me was that I was charged four times the +price of any other hotel, on Liszt's account! + +Weimar may be very pleasant in the season when the little Court sheds its +mild light about; but out of the season, especially at this time of the +year, when there is nothing but dried and fluttering leaves, students, and +dogs in the streets, I found it woeful. It was reeking of Schiller and +Goethe. For two marks you can have a pretty good idea of how these great +men lived and had their being. Everywhere we turned, and we turned +everywhere, there were statues, busts, autographs, writing-desks, beds, +and wash-stands which had belonged to them. I admired everything until my +vocabulary of exclamations was exhausted and my head whirled. + +I told Howard, as young as he was, I would not have him Goethed and +Schillered, as he certainly would be if he stayed here; so I changed my +plans and made up my mind to accept the invitation of my friend the +Countess Westphal to make her a visit at her château in Westphalia. We +took a train which dropped us at her station, where she met us and drove +us to Fürstenberg. + +Westphalia is renowned for its hams. Perhaps you don't know this, +therefore I tell you. It is also renowned for the independent spirit of +the Westphalians. + + +FÜRSTENBERG, _1874._ + +DEAR M.,--This château is a fine old castle, with rounded towers and +mysterious passages, and has a village tucked on to it. The family +consists of the Countess, the Count, and three children, a tutor, a +governess, and everything which belongs to the old families and their +traditions. The mysterious passages possessed no ghosts, for which I was +sorry, though my maid (a timid and naïve old German maiden) thought that +she heard "things" at night when she came up the dark, winding stone +staircase which led to my room. + +Life passed quietly at Fürstenberg. Countess Westphal and I amused +ourselves with music and embroidery and listening to the Count's report of +his hunting expeditions. + +One day, in a spasm of energy, she proposed to take me to see a friend of +hers, Countess B----, who, she said, lived quite near. We would spend the +night, returning the next day. She thought it would be a very pleasant and +entertaining little excursion for us. + +She telegraphed to Countess B---- that we were coming without maids, and +with only necessary baggage; and my maid immediately went to work to pack +what she considered necessary for this visit. She put a dinner-dress, with +high and low waists, as the occasion might require, an extra day-dress, +and all kinds of accessories, filling a good-sized trunk. + +We started early the next morning. Countess Westphal was full of happy +expectations; so was I. We were four hours on the way before we reached +our destination; but Countess Westphal cheerfully remarked that time was +of no consequence. + +On our arrival at the forlorn little station I looked in vain for the +lordly chariot I thought would be waiting for us. Countess Westphal seemed +astonished also, but with her usual good-nature accounted for the absence +of the chariot by saying that her friend could not possibly have received +the telegram. We lingered about, hoping that some vehicle would appear; +but as none did so, Countess Westphal started off to find one, and she +finally succeeded in tempting a man, for the vast sum of four marks, to +drive us to the _schloss_. + +After the coachman had gathered the reins off the back of the old, rickety +horse, I leaned back in my seat and pictured to myself what this beautiful +_schloss_ we were going to would be like. + +Of course, it would have a moat around it (all old castles do); it would +have all the modern comforts combined with the traditions of past glories; +it would have avenues of grand old trees and marble statues, and terraces +leading into Italian gardens, and so forth. In fact, my imagination got so +riotous that I forgot to look at the treeless, muddy roads, and I never +noticed the wrenching of the ancient landau in which we were. + +As we were jolted over the desolate landscape, Countess Westphal tried to +tell me the family history of the B----s, but I only gathered bits of it +here and there; such as that he was the fourth son of a very distinguished +father and mother, and had no prospect worth speaking of, except the +prospect of the dreary place we were careering over; that they never left +their native heath and had no children, and that they lived on their +estate (being the only thing they had to live on), and so forth and so +forth, all of which went in at the ear next the Countess and went out at +the ear next the road. + +Finally we spied the _schloss._ It had been a convent in some former +century, and still had iron bars on the windows. We drove through a muddy +lane, passing a sort of barn with grated loopholes, and stopped before a +courtyard filled with chickens and geese; on the left was a pigsty, +smelling not at all like Westphalian hams, and on the other side a cow- +stable. In front was the _schloss_ and the lady of the manor, the +honorable Countess herself, on the steps, quite by chance, so it seemed. +She led us proudly into the salon. A large bunch of keys hung at her +girdle. I wondered why she needed so many! After the coal-bin, wine-vault, +and sugar-bowl, and linen-closet had been locked up, what more did she +need to lock up? There was no mention that the telegram had been received. +Strange! + +Count B---- was not there, "but would be coming soon." I felt that I could +wait. The salon was of the kind that one often sees in houses where the +mistress, having no children and plenty of time, embroiders things. Every +possible object had a coat of arms and huge crowns embroidered on it, so +that you could never forget that you were in the house of ancient +nobility, which had the right to impose its crowns on you. All the chairs, +tables, sideboards, and things on the walls were made out of the horns of +stags and other animals the Count had shot. Sometimes the chairs were +covered with the skin of the same, minus the hair, which was missing and +moth-eaten in spots. + +I was taken up-stairs to my bedroom, and I was thankful to see that the +horns and crowns had nearly given out before they finished furnishing the +first story, and that I had an ordinary middle-class chair to sit on. +There were many pictures of Madonnas and saints, from which I inferred +that our hosts were Catholics, and a _prie-dieu_, which, strange to say, +was made of horns; and the mat in front of my bed was a blaze of the +united coats of arms and _two_ crowns! So she was a Countess born, which +accounted for the doubleness. + +We were obliged to make _le tour du propriétaire_, and, of course, as +there was no other place to take us to, we went to the stables. There we +admired the two cows (Stella and Bella) with horns. They had their names +painted in blue and white over their respective heads, but they had no +crowns. + +Then the Count appeared in very nice clothes. I fancy, while we had been +admiring Stella and Bella, he had been changing his boots. Owing to these +fresh boots we were spared the pigsties. On our return to the house +Countess B---- said, "You know, we don't dress for dinner." I thought with +dismay of my trunk laden with all its superfluous contents, and what a +bore the bringing of it had been, and the opinion my maid would pass on +our noble hosts, who "don't dress for dinner," when she unpacked the +undisturbed finery which she had thought indispensable. + +After dinner the conversation was chiefly pastoral, of the kind I do not +join in because I hate it. How many chickens had died, how Bella and +Stella had borne last winter's cold, how many sacks of potatoes had been +spoiled, etc. My Countess enjoyed it immensely, and sat on a horny chair +and sympathized. Our host took pity on me and taught me a patience. I had +known it all my life as "the idiot's delight," but I pretended I had never +heard of it before, and he had the satisfaction of thinking he was +entertaining me--which he wasn't! On the contrary, Job's patience never +could have equaled this one; the Count talked French fluently. The dinner +was not good, nor was it frugal. + +The Count said, "Nous n'avons que le stricte nécessaire, rien de plus." + +The Countess said, in English, "One can't have in the country all that one +wants." + +I could not help feeling that one could not have even the half of what one +wanted, and more than once I caught myself thinking, "None but the brave +deserve this fare." They noticed if you took a second helping, and you +felt that they made a mental note if your glass was filled more than once +with wine. However, it was all very nice, and they were very kind, good +people. It was not the Count's fault if the stags he killed had too many +horns, neither was it the Countess's fault that time hung heavy on her +hands and embroidery occupied them. + +Fortunately we would go away next day, so what did it matter? But getting +away was a very different thing from coming. When the Countess Westphal +suggested it, and said that we intended to take a certain train, the faces +of our hosts presented a blank look of apprehension! Their horses were +plowing! What should we do? The doctor, they said, who lived in the +village, had a carriage, but the horse was sick; there was, however, the +_schimmel_ of the baker, which, fortunately, was in good health, and +perhaps, in conjunction with the wagon of the doctor, one could manage. It +sounded like a gigantic exercise of Ollendorff: + +"Avez-vous le cheval du boulanger?" + +"Non, mais j'ai le soulier du boucher," etc. + +After what seemed an eternity, the wagon of the doctor appeared, so did +the _schimmel_. The wagon of the doctor, usually dragged by two animals, +had a pole in the middle, to which the _schimmel_ was attached, giving him +a very sidelong gait. The question now was, who was to drive the +_schimmel_ attached to the pole? + +The young man who milked the cows, killed the pigs, dressed the Count, +picked the fruit, drove the Countess, waited at table, served everybody, +did everything, and smelled _awfully_ of the stables--could he be spared? + +Well, he was spared, and off we started majestically, but sideways, waving +a courtly adieu. We reached home in a drenching rain, wondering what on +earth ever possessed us to want to go to visit the noble B----s. I don't +think I ever want to see that establishment again, and I don't think I +ever shall. + + +FÜRSTENBERG, _December._ + +DEAR M.,--The Duke of Nassau had promised to come here to shoot wild +boars, for which this forest is celebrated. Count Westphal sent +invitations far and wide to call his hunting friends together. Before the +arrival of the Duke, carriage after carriage entered the courtyard; oceans +of fur-coats, gun-cases, valises, bags, and fur-lined rugs were thrown +about in the hall, to be sorted out afterward. Then the Duke drove up in a +sleigh with four horses, his aide-de-camp, two postilions, and a friend, +both of them so wrapped up in _pelisses_ and immense fur-caps that +you could only see the tips of their red noses, like danger signals on +railroads. No wonder! They had had three hours of this cold sleigh-ride! + +The quiet old _schloss_ was transformed. Each guest had his own servant +and _chasseur._ The servants helped to wait at dinner. The _chasseurs_ +cleaned the guns, lounged about smoking their pipes, and looking most +picturesque in their Tyrolean hats, with their leather gaiters, short +green jackets, and leather belts, in which they carried their hunting- +knives and cartridges. + +His Highness (who is very short and what one calls thick-set) was +accompanied by a secretary, a _chasseur,_ a valet, two postilions, two +grooms, and four horses. He had six guns, six trunks, and endless coats of +different warmth. In the twinkling of an eye cigar-cases, pipes, +photographs, writing-paper (of his own monogram), and masses of +_etceteras_ were spread about in his salon, as if he could not even look +in his mirror without having these familiar objects before his eyes. + +At twelve o'clock, high--very high--lunch was served. The servants brought +in the eatables in monstrous quantities, and disappeared; the guests +helped themselves and one another, and when without occupation fed the +fire, where logs smoldered all day. + +At a reasonable hour, after cigars and cigarettes had been smoked, the +sleighs were ordered to be in readiness in the courtyard. Thirty or forty +_treibers_ (beaters) had been out since early morn. The Count has fourteen +thousand acres to be beaten, therefore an early start was necessary. + +The hunters swallowed a bitter pill when they asked us ladies to accompany +them; but they knew their hostess would not let them go without her at +least, so why not take the tame bores while shooting the wild ones? + +They portioned off one lady and one gentleman to each sleigh. These +sleighs are very small, and contrived for the confusion of mankind. You +sit in a bag of sheep's skin, or perhaps the bag is simply two whole +skinned sheep sewed together. You must stretch your legs, thus pinioned on +the sides, out as far as they reach; then the driver puts a board over +them, on which he perches himself, nearly over the horse's tail, and off +you go. I cannot imagine what a man does with his legs if he has very long +ones. + +The poor horses are so dressed up that, if they could see themselves, they +would not know if they were toy rabbits or Chinese pagodas. Over the horse +is a huge net, which not only covers him from head to tail, but protects +those in the sleigh from the snow flying in their faces. I should think +that this net would be excellent in summer to keep the flies off; it does +certainly suggest mosquito-netted beds and summer heat. Over the net is an +arrangement which looks like a brass lyre, adorned with innumerable brass +bells, which jingle and tinkle as we trot along, and make noise enough to +awake all the echoes in the forest. On each side of the horse's head hang +long, white, horse-hair tails. + +What did we look like as we proceeded on our way? A procession of eight +sleighs, combining a _ranz des vaches_, a summer bed, and an antiquary +shop! + +Arrived at the rendezvous, Count Westphal placed his guests by different +trees. The best place, of course, fell to the Duke, and I had the honor to +stand behind him and his gun. I hoped that neither would go off! The Duke +is very near-sighted and wears double-barreled spectacles, which have +windows on the sides, so that he can look around the corner without +turning his head. + +Every one was requested to be perfectly quiet, otherwise there would be +disaster all along the line. I could keep quiet very well, _for a time_, +but the back view of a man crowned with a Tyrolean hat, and terminating in +a monstrous pair of overshoes lined with straw, lost its interest after a +while, and I began to look at the scenery. It must be lovely here in the +summer. The valley, where a little brook meandered gracefully through the +meadow (now ice and snow), bordered on both sides by high pine woods, must +then be covered with flowers and fresh green grass, and full of light and +shadow. + +His Highness and I were under a splendid oak, and there we stood waiting +for something to happen. The Duke, the oak, and I were silence +personified. A dead branch would crack, or the trunks of smaller and +ignorant pines would knock together, and the Duke would look around the +corner and say "Chut!" in a low voice, thinking I was playing a tattoo on +the tree. + +"Now the beaters are on the scent!" he said. After this I hardly dared to +breathe. + +"They have to drive the boar with the wind," he whispered. + +"I thought they did it with sticks," I answered in a low tone. + +To this remark he did not pay the slightest attention. Between a sneeze +and a cough--we were rapidly catching our deaths--he said, under his +breath, "If they smell us they go away." + +The _treibers_ work in couples, Count Westphal leading them. It is +not etiquette for the host to shoot; he must leave all the chances of +glory to his guests. Among the _treibers_ were various servants and +_chasseurs_ carrying extra guns and short daggers for the final despatch +(_le coup de grâce_). We heard them coming nearer and nearer, but we saw +no boar. Many other animals came wonderingly forward: some foxes, trailing +their long tails gracefully over the snow, looked about them and trotted +off; a furtive deer cautiously peered around with ears erect and trotted +off also; but it is not for such as these we stand ankle-deep in the snow, +shivering with cold and half frozen. A shot now would spoil all the sport. +One has a longing to talk when one is told to be quiet. I can't remember +ever having thought of so many clever things I wanted to say as when I +stood behind the ducal back--things that would be forever lost! And I +tried to enter them and fix them in my brain, to be produced later; but, +alas! + +The Duke (being, as I said, very short-sighted) came near shooting one of +his own servants. The man who carried his extra gun had tied the two ends +of a sack in which he carried various things, and put it over his head to +keep his ears warm. Just as the Duke was raising his gun, thinking that if +it was not a boar it was something else, I ventured a gentle whisper, +"C'est votre domestique, Monseigneur." "Merci!" he whispered back, in much +the same tone he would have used had I restored him a dropped pocket- +handkerchief. + +Finally (there must be an end to everything) we saw beneath us, on the +plains, three wild boars leaping in the snow, followed by a great many +more. They had the movements of a porpoise as he dives in and out of the +water, and of an ungraceful and hideous pig when hopping along. + +The Duke fired his two shots, and let us hope two boars fell. The others +flew to right and left, except one ugly beast, who came straight toward +our own tree. I must say that in that moment my little heart was in my +throat, and I realized that the tree was too high to climb and too small +to hide behind. The Duke said, in a husky voice, "Don't move, for God's +sake, even if they come toward us!" + +This was cheery! Abraham's blind obedience was nothing to mine! Here was +I, a stranger in a foreign land, about to sacrifice my life on the shrine +of a wild boar! Count Metternich, behind the next tree, fired and killed +the brute, so I was none the worse save for a good fright. It was high +time to kill him, for he began charging at the beaters, and threatened to +make it lively for us; and if Count Metternich had not, in the nick of +time, sent a bullet into him, I doubt whether I should be writing this +little account to you at this moment. + +There was a great deal of shouting, and the hounds were baying at the top +of their lungs, and every one was talking at the same time and explaining +things which every one knew. Counting the guests, the servants, the +trackers, the dilettantes, there were seventy people on the spot; and I +must say, though we were _transis de froid_, it was an exhilarating sight +--the snow is such a beautiful _mise en scène_. However, we were glad to +get back into the sheep-skin bags and draw the fur rugs up to our noses, +and though I had so many brilliant things to say under the tree I could +not think of one of them on our way home. + +Fourteen big, ugly boars were brought and laid to rest in the large hall, +on biers of pine branches, with a pine branch artistically in the mouth of +each. They weighed from one to three hundred pounds and smelled +abominably; but they were immensely admired by their slayers, who +pretended to recognize their own booty (don't read "beauty," for they were +anything but beautiful) and to claim them for their own. Each hunter has +the right to the jaws and teeth, which they have mounted and hang on their +walls as trophies. + +Count Westphal has his smoking-room filled to overflowing with jaws, +teeth, and chamois heads, etc. They make a most imposing display, and add +feathers to his already well-garnished cap. + +Howard said, in French, to the Duke, in his sweet little voice, looking up +into his face, "I am so sorry for you!" + +"Why?" inquired the Duke. + +"Because the Prussians have taken your country." + +We all trembled, not knowing how the Duke would take this; but he took it +very kindly, and, patting Howard on the back, said: "Thank you, my little +friend. I am sorry also, but there is nothing to be done; but thank you +all the same." And his eyes filled with tears. + +The next day he gave Howard his portrait, with, "Pour mon petit ami, +Howard, d'un pauvre chassé.--Adolf, Duc de Nassau." Very nice of him, +wasn't it? + +In the evening they played cards, with interruptions such as "Der +verfluchte Kerl," meaning "a boar that refused to be shot," or "I could +easily have killed him if my gun," etc., till every one, sleepy and tired, +had no more conversation to exchange, and the Duke left, as he said, to +write letters, and we simpler mortals did not mind saying that we were +dead beat and went to bed. + +The next day being Sunday, I sang in the little church (Catholic, of +course, as Westphalia is of that religion). The organist and I had many +rehearsals in the _schloss,_ but none in the church, so I had never +made acquaintance with the village organ. If I had, I don't think I should +have chosen the _Ave Maria_ of Cherubini, which has a final amble with the +organ, sounding well enough on the piano; but on that particular organ it +sounded like two hens cackling and chasing each other. I had to mount the +spiral staircase behind the belfry and wobble over the rickety planks +before reaching the organ-loft. Fortunately, Count Metternich went with me +and promised to stay with me till the bitter end; at any rate, he piloted +me to the loft. The organ was put up in the church when the church was +built, in the year Westphalia asserted herself, whenever that was; I +should say B.C. some time. It was probably good at that time, but it must +have deteriorated steadily ever since; and now, in this year of grace, +owns only one row of keys, of which several notes don't work. There are +several pipes which don't pipe, and an octave of useless pedals, which the +organist does not pretend to work, as he does not know how. However, there +is no use describing a village organ; every one knows what it is. Suffice +to say that I sang my _Ave Maria_ to it, and the Duke and my hosts, miles +below me, said it was very fine, and that the church had never heard the +like before, and never would again. Certainly _not from me!_... + +The village itself is a pretty little village and very quaint; it has +belonged to the _schloss,_ as the _schloss_ has to it, for centuries. The +houses are painted white, and the beams of oak are painted black. + +On the principal cross-beams are inscriptions from the Bible, cut in the +oak, and the names of the people who built the house. There is one: +"Joseph and Katinka, worthy of the grace of God, on whom He cannot fail to +shower blessings. For they believe in Him." The date of their marriage and +their virtues are carved also (fortunately they don't add the names of all +their descendants). Sometimes the sentences are too long for the beam over +the door, and you have to follow their virtues all down the next beam. + +This is perplexing on account of the German verb (which is like dessert at +dinner--the best thing, but at the end), and _gehabt_ or _geworden_ is +sometimes as far down as the foot-scraper. Some houses are like barns: one +roof shelters many families, having their little booths under one +covering, and they sit peacefully at their work in front of their homes +smoking the pipe of peace, and at the same time cure the celebrated hams +which hang from the ceiling. I won't say all hams are cured in this way, +because, I suppose, there are regular establishments which cure +professionally. But I have seen many family hams curing in these barns. + +The costumes of the women are wonderful, full of complexities; you have to +turn them around before you can tell if she is a man or a woman; they wear +hats like a coal-carrier in England, pantaloons, an apron, and--well! the +Countess had a woman brought to the _schloss_ and undressed, so that +we could see how she was dressed. I ought to send a photograph, because I +can never describe her. There is a bodice of black satin, short in the +back, over a plastron of pasteboard of the same, and a huge black-satin +cravat sticking out on both sides of her cheeks, a wadded skirt of blue +alpaca, and pink leg-of-mutton sleeves. I can make nothing of this +description when I read it. I hope you can! + +Count Metternich entertained us all the afternoon talking about himself. +He has fought with the Emperor Maximilian in Mexico, and when he speaks of +him the tears roll down his bronzed cheeks. He has fought in all Don +Carlos's battles, and is a strong partisan of the Carlist party. His +description of Don Carlos makes one quite like him (I mean Don Carlos). He +said that Don Carlos goes about in a simple black uniform and _béret_ +(the red cap of the Pyrenees), with the gold tassels and the Order of the +Golden Fleece on his neck (I call that fantastic, don't you?). During his +campaign he suddenly swoops down upon people, no matter what their +condition is, and immediately there is a sentinel placed before the door. +The _consigne_ is not strict: any one can come and go as he pleases: +photographers, autographers, reporters, without hindrance, and there is a +general invitation to tea at headquarters. He has an army of volunteers, +of whom the Count is one. The rations are one-half pound of meat, one-half +pound of bread, and three-quarters liter of Navarre wine, which the Count +says is more fit to eat than to drink, "it is so fat." Navarre furnishes +the wine gratis, and promises to furnish twenty-four thousand rations +daily as long as the war lasts. The artillery is "not good," Count +Metternich added, but the officers are "colossal," a word in German that +expresses everything. + +Count Metternich is the greatest gentleman jockey in the world; he has not +got a whole bone in his body. They call him _der Mexicano_, as he is so +bronzed and dark-skinned and has been in Mexico. + +But he cannot rival Count Westphal, who, in his time, was not only the +greatest gentleman jockey, but a hero. At a famous race, where he was to +ride the horse of Count Fürstenberg, he fell, breaking his collar-bone and +his left arm; he picked himself up and managed to remount his horse. He +held the reins in his mouth, and with the unbroken arm walloped the horse, +got in first, and then fainted away. + +It was the pluckiest thing ever seen, and won for him not only the race, +but the greatest fame and his Countess, who made him promise never to ride +in a race again, and he never has. She told me that many ladies fainted +and men wept, so great was the excitement and enthusiasm! Count +Fürstenberg had a bronze statue made of the horse, and it stands on Count +Westphal's table now, and is an everlasting subject of conversation. + +The Duke invited us all to come to Lippspringe. He and all the hunting-men +have clubbed together and have hired the estate from the Baron B----, who +owns both house and country and is fabulously rich, so people say. Here +these gentlemen (I think there are twenty of them) go to pass two months +every year to hunt foxes. There are forty couples of foxhounds, which have +been imported from England. + +There were eight of us, and we quite filled the four-horse break, servants +and baggage followed later. We arrived at Paderborn, a thriving and +interesting town of historical renown (see Baedeker). A two hours' drive +left us rather cold and stiff, but we lunched on the carriage to save +time. At the hotel we found a relay of four fresh horses harnessed in the +principal street, the English grooms exciting great admiration by their +neat get-up and their well-polished boots, and by the masterful manner +they swore in English. + +After racing through the quiet streets at a tearing pace, we arrived at +the villa (_alias_ club-house) at six o'clock, in time to dress for +dinner at eight. The gentlemen appeared in regular hunting-dress: red +evening coats, white buckskin trousers, top-boots, white cravats, and +white vests; the ladies were _décolletées en grande toilette_. + +Our dinner lasted till ten o'clock. The French chef served a delicious +repast; everything was faultless even to the minutest details; the +servants were powdered, plushed, and shod to perfection. Then we went to +the drawing-room, where cards, smoking, billiards, and flirtation went on +simultaneously until the small hour of one, when we retired to our rooms. + +Countess Westphal and I had adjoining rooms, very prettily furnished in +chintz. Everything was in the most English style. + +It is the correct thing here to affect awful clothes in the daytime. The +Baron (_der alte Herr_), when not hunting, wears an Italian brigand +costume (short breeches, tight leggings, stout boots) and some animal's +front teeth sewed on his Tyrolean hat to hold the little feathers. But in +the evening, oh, dear me! nothing is equal to his elegance. + +The next day the gentlemen (twenty in number), all splendidly mounted on +English hunters, rode off at eleven o'clock, masses of grooms and +_piqueurs_, with lots of hunting-horns and the dogs. We ladies +followed in the break. The masters of the hounds were already at the +rendezvous on the hill. They soon started a fox, and then the dogs tore +off yelping and barking, and the riders riding like mad; and we waited in +the carriages, sorry not to be with them. The red coats looked well +against the background; the dogs, all of the same pattern, were rushing +about in groups with their tails in the air; but while our eyes were +following them the fox ran right under our noses, within a hair's-breadth +of our wheels. Of course the dogs lost the scent, and there was a general +standstill until another fox was routed out, and off they flew again. +_Der alte Herr_ is very much thought of in these parts; he was the only +one who dared oppose the House of Peers in Berlin in the question of +war with Austria in 1866, and made such an astounding speech that he was +obliged to retire from politics and take to fox-hunting. He gave the +speech to me to read, and--I--well!--I didn't read it! + +The Westphalians seem to go on the let-us-alone principle; they seem to be +anti-everything--from Bismarck and Protestantism downward. I sang the last +evening of our stay here. The piano belonging to this hunting-lodge is as +old as the _alte Herr_, and must have been here for years, and even at +that must be an heirloom. The keys were yellow with age and misuse, and +if it had ever been in tune it had forgotten all about it now and was out +of it altogether. I picked the notes out which were still good, and by +singing Gounod's "Biondina" in a loud voice and playing its dashing +accompaniment with gusto, I managed to keep myself awake. As for the tired +hunters who had been in the saddle all day, they were so worn out that +nothing short of a brass band could rouse them long enough for them to +keep their eyes open. + +The next day we bade our hosts good-by and, thanking them for our +delightful visit, we departed. I wonder if the gentlemen liked being +trespassed upon as much as we did who did the trespassing. However, they +were polite enough to say that they had never enjoyed anything so much as +our visit, and especially my singing. What humbugs! I was polite enough +not to say that I had _never_ enjoyed anything so _little_ as singing for +sleepy fox-hunters. + + +ROME, _January, 1875._ + +DEAR MOTHER,--I am here in Rome, staying with my friends the Haseltines, +who have a beautiful apartment that they have arranged in the most +sumptuous and artistic manner in the Palazzo Altieri. Mr. Haseltine has +two enormous rooms for his studio and has filled them with his faultless +pictures, which are immensely admired and appreciated. His water-colors +are perfection. + +I have met many of your friends whom you will be glad to hear about; to +begin with, the Richard Greenoughs, our cousins. We had much to talk +about, as we had not seen each other since Paris, when he made that bust +of me. They are the most delightful people, so talented in their different +ways, and are full of interest in everything which concerns me. She has +just published a book called _Mary Magdalene_, which I think is perfectly +wonderful. + +I have made the acquaintance of William Story (the sculptor). He spoke of +you and Aunt Maria as his oldest and dearest friends, and therefore +claimed the right to call me Lillie. + +I have not only seen him, but I have been Mrs. Story, Miss Story, and the +third story in the Palazzo Barberini, where they live, and I have already +counted many times the tiresome one hundred and twenty-two steps which +lead to their apartment, and have dined frequently with them in their +chilly Roman dining-room. This room is only warmed by the little apparatus +which in Rome passes for a stove. It has a thin leg that sticks out of a +hole in the side of the house and could warm a flea at a pinch. + +The hay on the stone floor made the thin carpet warmer to my cold toes, +which, in their evening shoes, were away down below zero, but my cold and +bare shoulders shivered in this Greenland icy-mountain temperature which +belongs to Roman palaces. This was before I was an _habituée_; but after I +had become one I wore, like the other jewel-bedecked dames, woolen +stockings and fur-lined overshoes. The contrast must be funny, if one +could see above board and under board at the same time. + +The Storys generally have a lion for dinner and for their evening +entertainments. My invitations to their dinners always read thus: "Dear +Mrs. Moulton,--We are going to have (mentioning the lion) to dinner. Will +you not join us, and if you would kindly bring a little music it would be +such a," etc. No beating about the bush there! The other evening Miss +Hosmer--female rival of Mr. Story in the sculpturing line--was the lion of +the occasion, and was three-quarters of an hour late, her excuse being +that she was studying the problem of perpetual motion. Mr. Story, who is a +wit, said he wished the motion had been perpetuated in a _botta_ (which is +Italian for cab). + + +_February 1st._ + +Last Thursday, at nine o'clock in the morning, a card was brought to my +bedroom. Imagine my astonishment when I read the name of Baroness de +C----, the wife of the French Ambassador to the Vatican. What could she +want at that early hour? I had heard many stories of her absent- +mindedness. I thought that nothing less than being very absent-minded, or +else the wish to secure my help for some charity concert, could account +for this matutinal visit, especially as I knew her so slightly. + +To my great surprise she had only come to invite me to dinner, and never +mentioned the word charity concert or music. I thought this very strange; +but as she is so _distraite_ she probably did not know what time of day it +was, and imagined she was making an afternoon visit. + +One of the stories about her is that once she went to pay a formal call on +one of her colleagues, and stayed on and on until the poor hostess was in +despair, as it was getting late. Suddenly the ambassadress got up and +said, "Pardon, dear Madame, I am very much engaged, and if you have +nothing further to say to me I should be very grateful if you would leave +me." The Baroness had been under the impression that she was in her own +salon. They say that, one day, when she was walking in the Vatican gardens +with the Pope, and they were talking politics, she said to him, "Oh, all +this will be arranged as soon as the Pope dies!" + +Well, we went to the dinner, which was quite a large one, and among the +guests was Signor Tosti, which would seem to denote that there _was_, +after all, "music in the air"; and sure enough, shortly after dinner the +ambassadress begged me to sing some _petite chose_, and asked Tosti to +accompany me. Neither of us refused, and I sang some of his songs which +I happened to know, and some of my own, which I could play for myself. + +However, I felt myself recompensed, for when she thanked me she asked if I +had ever been present at any of the Pope's receptions. + +I told her that I had not had the opportunity since I had been here. + +"The Pope has a reception to-morrow morning," said she. "Would you care to +go? If so, I should be delighted to take you." + +"Oh," I said, "that is the thing of all others I should like to do!" + +"Then," said she, "I will call for you and take you in my carriage." + +This function requires a black dress, black veil, and a general funereal +appearance and gloveless hands. Happily she did not forget, but came in +her coupé at the appointed time to fetch me, and we drove to the Vatican. + +The ambassadress was received at the entrance with bows and smiles of +recognition by the numerous _camerieri_ and other splendidly dressed +persons, and we were led through endless beautiful rooms before arriving +at the gallery where we were to wait. It was not long before his Holiness +(Pius IX.) appeared, followed by his suite of monsignors and prelates. I +never was so impressed in my life as when I saw him. He wore a white-cloth +_soutane_ and white-embroidered _calotte_ and red slippers, and looked so +kind and full of benevolence that he seemed goodness personified. I knelt +down almost with pleasure on the cold floor when he addressed me, and I +kissed the emerald ring which he wore on his third finger as if I had been +a born Catholic and had done such things all my life. + +He asked me in English from which country I came, and when I answered, +"America, your Holiness," he said, "What part of America?" I replied, +"From Boston, Holy Father." + +"It is a gallant town," the Pope remarked; "I have been there myself." + +Having finished speaking with the men (all the ladies stood together on +one side of the room and the men on the other), the Pope went to the end +of the gallery. We all noticed that he seemed much agitated, and wondered +why, and what could have happened to ruffle his benign face. It soon +became known that there was an Englishman present who refused to kneel, +although ordered to do so by the irate chamberlain, and who stood stolidly +with arms folded, looking down with a sneer upon his better-behaved +companions. + +His Holiness made a rather lengthy discourse, and did not conceal his +displeasure, alluding very pointedly to the unpardonable attitude of the +stranger. + +On leaving the gallery he turned around a last time, made the sign of the +cross, giving us his blessing, and left us very much impressed. I looked +about for my companion, but could not see her anywhere. Had she forgotten +me and left me there to my fate? It would not be unlike her to do so. + +I saw myself, in my mind's eye, being led out of the Vatican by the +striped yellow and black legs and halberded guards, and obliged to find my +way home alone; but on peering about in all the corners I caught sight of +her seated on a bench fervently saying her prayers, evidently under the +impression that she was in church during mass. As we were about to enter +the coupé she hesitated before giving any orders to the servant, possibly +not remembering where I had lived. But the footman, being accustomed to +her vagaries, did not wait, and as he knew where to deposit me, I was +landed safely at the Palazzo Altieri. + + +_February 15th._ + +The Storys gave "The Merchant of Venice" the other evening. They had put +up in one of the salons a very pretty little stage; the fashionable world +was _au complet_, and, after having made our bows to Mrs. Story, we took +our places in the theater. Mr. Story was Shylock, and acted extremely +well. Edith was very good as Portia. Waldo and Julian both took part. Mr. +and Mrs. Prank Lascelles, of the English Embassy, both dressed in black +velvet, played the married couple to the life, but did not look at all +Italian. The whole performance was really wonderfully well done and most +successful; the enthusiasm was sincere and warmed the cold hands by the +frequent clapping. We were so glad to be enthusiastic! + +Mr. Story gave me his book called _Roba di Roma_, which I will tell you +does _not_ mean Italian robes--you might think so; it means things about +Rome. I will also tell you, in case that your Italian does not go so far, +that when I say that the Storys live in the third _piano_. I do not mean +an upright or a grand--_piano_ is the Italian for story. + +Madame Minghetti--the wife of the famous statesman--receives every Sunday +twilight. Rome flocks there to hear music and to admire the artistic +manner in which the rooms are arranged; flirtations are rife in the twilit +corners, in which the salon abounds. As Madame Minghetti is very musical +and appreciative, all the people one meets there pretend to be musical and +appreciative, and do not talk or flirt during the music; so when I sing +"Medjé" in the growing crepuscule I feel in perfect sympathy with my +audience. Tosti and I alternate at the piano when there is nothing better. +If no one else enjoys us, we enjoy each other. + +I have always wanted very much to see the famous Garibaldi, and knowing he +was in Rome I was determined to get a glimpse of him. But how could it be +done? I had been told that he was almost unapproachable, and that he +disliked strangers above all. + +However, where there is a will there seems to come a way; at any rate, +there did come one, and this is how it came: + +At dinner at the French Embassy J sat next to Prince Odescalchi, and told +him of my desire to see Garibaldi. He said: "Perhaps I can manage it for +you. I have a friend who knows a friend of Garibaldi, and it might be +arranged through him." + +"Then," I said, "your friend who is a friend of Garibaldi's will let you +know, and as you are a friend of my friend you will let _her_ know, +and she will let _me_ know." + +"It sounds very complicated," he answered, laughing, "and is perhaps +impossible; but we will do our best." + +No more than two days after this dinner there came a message from the +Prince to say that, if Mrs. Haseltine and I would drive out to Garibaldi's +villa, the friend and the friend of the friend would be there to meet us +and present us. This we did, and found the two gentlemen awaiting us at +the gate. I felt my heart beat a little faster at the thought of seeing +the great hero. + +Garibaldi was sitting in his garden, in a big, easy, wicker chair, and +looked rather grumpy, I thought (probably he was annoyed at being +disturbed). But he apparently made up his mind to accept the inevitable, +and, rising, came toward us, and on our being presented stretched out a +welcoming hand. + +He had on a rather soiled cape, and a _foulard,_ the worse for wear, +around his neck, where the historical red shirt was visible. His head, +with its long hair, was covered with a velvet _calotte._ He looked +more like an invalid basking in the sun with a shawl over his legs than he +did like the hero of my imagination, and the only time he did look at all +military was when he turned sharply to his parrot, who kept up an +incessant chattering, and said, in a voice full of command, "Taci!" which +the parrot did not in the least seem to mind (I hope Garibaldi's soldiers +obeyed him better). + +Garibaldi apologized for the parrot's bad manners by saying, "He is very +unruly, but he talks well"; and added, with a rusty smile, "Better than +his master." + +"I don't agree with you," I said. "I can understand you, whereas I can't +even tell what language he is speaking." + +"He comes from Brazil, and was given to me by a lady." + +"Does he only speak Brazilian?" I asked. + +"Oh no, he can speak a little Italian; he can say 'Io t'amo' and 'Caro +mio'." + +"That shows how well the lady educated him. Will he not say 'Io t'amo' for +me? I should so love to hear him." + +But, in spite of tender pleadings, the parrot refused to do anything but +scream in his native tongue. + +Garibaldi talked Italian in a soft voice with his friend and French to us. +He asked a few questions as to our nationality, and made some other +commonplace remarks. When I told him I was an American he seemed to unbend +a little, and said, "I like the Americans; they are an honorable, just, +and intelligent people." + +He must have read admiration in my eyes, for he "laid himself out" (so his +friend said) to be amiable. Amiability toward strangers was evidently not +his customary attitude. + +He went so far as to give me his photograph, and wrote "Miss Moulton" on +it with a hand far from clean; but it was the hand of a brave man, and I +liked it all the better for being dirty. It seemed somehow to belong to a +hero. I think that I would have been disappointed if he had had clean +hands and well-trimmed finger-nails. On our taking leave of him he +conjured up a wan smile and said, very pleasantly, giving us his ink- +stained hand, "A rivederci." + +[Illustration: GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI] + +I wondered if he really meant that he wanted to see us again; I doubt it, +and did not take his remark seriously. On the contrary, I had the feeling +that he was more than indifferent to the pleasure our visit had given him. + +When we were driving back to Rome the horses took fright and began running +away. They careered like wildfire through the gates of the Porta del +Popolo, and bumped into a cart drawn by oxen and overloaded with wine- +casks. Fortunately one of the horses fell down, and we came to a +standstill. The coachman got down from the box and discovered that one of +the wheels was twisted, the pole broken, and other damage done. We were +obliged to leave the carriage and walk down the Corso to find a cab. + +Just as we were getting into one we saw on the opposite side of the street +a man who, while he was cleaning the windows in the third story of a +house, lost his balance and fell into the street. + +We dreaded to know what had happened, and avoided the crowd which quickly +collected, thus shutting out whatever had happened from our view. We +hurried home, trembling from our different emotions. + +The next morning I awoke from my sleep, having had a most vivid dream. I +thought I was in a shop, and the man serving me said, "If you take any +numbers in the next lottery, take numbers 2, 18, and 9." This was +extraordinary, and I immediately told the family about it: 2, 18, 9 (three +numbers meant a _terno_, in other words, a _fortune_). Mr. H---- said, +"Let us look out these numbers in the _Libro di Sogni_ (the Book of +Dreams)," and sent out to buy the book. Imagine our feelings! Number 2 +meant _caduta d'una finestra_ (fall from a window); number 18 meant _morte +subito_ (sudden death), and number 9 meant _ospedale_ (hospital). + +Just what had happened; the man had fallen from the window and had been +carried dead to the hospital! + +Perhaps you don't know what a tremendous part the lottery plays in Italy; +it is to an Italian what sausages and beer are to a German. An Italian +will spend his last _soldo_ to buy a ticket. He simply cannot live +without it. The numbers are drawn every Saturday morning at twelve +o'clock, and are instantly exposed in all the tobacco-shops in the town. + +An hour after, whether lucky or unlucky, the Italian buys a new ticket for +the following week, and lives on hope and dreams until the next Saturday; +and when any event happens or any dream comes to him he searches in the +dream-book for a number corresponding to them, and he is off like +lightning to buy a ticket. I was told that the Marquis Rudini, on hearing +that his mother had met her death in a railroad accident, sought in the +dream-book for the number attached to "railroad accident," and bought a +ticket before going to get her remains. + +A winning _terno_ brings its lucky owner I don't know exactly how much-- +but I know it is something enormous. + +Well, this would be a _terno_ worth having. My dream, coming as it did +straight from the blue, must be infallibility itself, and we felt +perfectly sure that the three magical numbers would bring a fortune for +every one of us, and we all sent out and bought tickets with all the money +we could spare. + +This was on Thursday, and we should have to wait two whole days before we +became the roaring millionaires we certainly were going to be, and we +strutted about thinking what presents we would make, what jewels we would +buy; in fact, how we would use our fortunes! We sat up late at night +discussing the wisest and best way to invest our money, and I could not +sleep for fear of a _contre-coup_ in the shape of another dream. For +instance, if I should dream of a cat miauling on a roof, it would mean +disappointment. It would never do to give fate a chance like that! + +Imagine with what feverish excitement we awoke on that Saturday, and how +we watched the numbers, gazing from the carriage-windows, at the tobacco- +shop! Well, not one of those numbers came out! We drove home in silence, +with our feathers all drooping. However, we had had the sensation of being +millionaires for those two days (ecstatic but short!), and felt that we +had been defrauded by an unjust and cruel fate. + +Unsympathetic Mr. Marshal said, mockingly: "How could you expect anything +else, when you go on excursions with the Marquis Maurriti [that was the +name of Garibaldi's friend]? You might have known that you would come to +grief." + +"Unfeeling man! Why should we come to grief?" we cried with impatience. + +"Because, did you not know that he has the _mal'occhio_ [the evil eye]? I +thought every one knew it," said he, making signs with his fingers to +counteract the effect of the devil and all his works. We said indignantly, +"If every one knows it, why were we not told?" Our tormentor continued; +"There is no doubt about it, and nothing can better prove that people are +afraid of him than that when, the other evening, he gave a _soirée_ and +invited all Rome, only half a dozen people out of some five hundred +ventured to go. The mountains of sandwiches, the cart-loads of cakes, the +seas of lemonade, set forth on the supper-table, were attacked only by the +courageous few." + +"How dreadful to have such a thing said about you! Who can prove that he +or any one else has got the evil eye?" + +"Sometimes there is no foundation for the report; perhaps some one, out of +spite or jealousy, spreads the rumor, and there you are." + +"Does it not need more than a rumor?" I asked. + +"Not much; but we must not talk about him, or something dreadful will +happen to us." + +"Do you also believe in such rank nonsense?" I asked. + +"Of course I do!" Mr. Marshal replied. "You can see for yourself. If you +had not gone with him your horses would not have run away, and you would +surely have got your million." + +"Well, we have escaped death and destruction and the million; perhaps we +ought to be thankful. But in his case I would go and shut myself up in a +monastery and have done with it." + +"No monastery would take him. No brotherhood would brother _him_." + +"You can't make me believe in the evil eye. Neither shall I ever believe +in dreams again." + +You will hardly believe how many acquaintances I have made here. I think I +know all Rome, from the Quirinal and the Vatican down. The Haseltines know +nearly every one, and whom they don't know I _do_. + +We were invited to see the Colosseum and the Forum illuminations, and were +asked to go to the Villino, which stands in the gardens of the Palace of +the Caesars, just over the Forum. + +That there would be a very select company we had been told; but we did not +expect to see King Victor Emanuel, Prince Umberto, and Princess +Margherita, who, with their numerous suites and many invited guests, quite +filled the small rooms of the Villino. I was presented to them all. + +I found the Princess perfectly bewitching and charming beyond words; the +Prince was very amiable, and the King royally indifferent and visibly +bored. That sums up my impressions. + +At the risk of committing _lèse majesté_, I must say that the King is +more than plain. He has the most enormous mustaches, wide-open eyes, and a +very gruff, military voice, speaking little, but staring much. The Prince, +whom I had seen in Paris during the Exposition, talked mostly about Paris +and of his admiration of the Emperor and Empress. The Princess was +fascinating, and captivated me on the spot by her affability and her +natural and sweet manner. + +The Colosseum looked rather theatrical in the glare of the red and green +Bengal lights, and I think it lost a great deal of its dignity and +grandeur by this cheap method of illumination. + +I met there a Spanish gentleman whom I used to know in Paris years ago. He +was at that time the Marquis de Lema, a middle-aged beau, who was always +ready to fill any gap in society where a noble marquis was needed. + +He began life, strange to say, as a journalist, and as such made himself +so useful to the ex-King of Naples that the King, to reward him, hired the +famous Farnesina Palace for ninety-nine years. Here the former Marquis, +who is now Duke di Ripalda, lives very much aggrandized as a descendant of +the Cid, glorying in his ancestorship. + +He was very glad to see me again, he said, and to prove it came often to +dine with us. + +One day he asked Mrs. Lawrence, Miss Chapman, and myself to take tea with +him in the romantic garden of the Farnesina. Mrs. Lawrence said it was +like a dream, walking under the orange-trees and looking down on the old +Tiber, which makes a sudden turn at the bottom of the broad terrace. + +Her dream came suddenly to an end when she saw the stale cakes and the +weak and watery tea and oily chocolate which, out of politeness, we felt +obliged to swallow; and the nightmare set in when she saw his apartment on +the first floor, furnished by himself with his own individual taste, which +was simply awful. But who cares for the mother-of-pearl inlaid furniture +covered with hideous modern blue brocade and the multicolored carpets in +which his coat of arms were woven, when one can look at his Sodomas and +Correggios and Raphaels? His coat of arms, which is a sword with "Si, si, +no, no," is displayed everywhere throughout the palace. + +The "_cid-evant_" Marquis told us that the Cid had given the sword to +one of his ancestors, and remarked that it signified that his forefathers +had very decided characters, and that it was either yes or no with them. I +thought it might work the other way; it might just as well mean that the +ancestors did not know their own minds, and that first it was _yes_ and +then it was _no_ with them. The Duke, in a truly grandiose manner, lays no +restriction on the public, but throws his whole palace open every first +and fifteenth of the month, and allows people to roam at their pleasure +through all the rooms; they can even sit on the blue brocade furniture if +they like, and there is no officious guide ordering people about with +their, "This way, Madame," or "Don't sit down," "Don't walk on the +carpet," or "Don't spit on the floor." + +On the ground floor are the celebrated frescoes of "Psyche," painted by +Raphael, and in the large gallery there is a little design on the walls to +which the Duke called our attention, saying it was Michelangelo's +visiting-card, and told us that Michelangelo came one day, and, finding +Raphael absent, took up his palette and painted this little picture, which +still remains on the walls, framed and with a glass over it. + +Mrs. Lawrence told us of a new acquaintance she had made, a Baron +Montenaro, who said he was the last (the very last) of the Rienzis, a +descendant of Cola di. The last tribune left! "Is it not romantic?" cried +Mrs. Lawrence, and was all eyes and ears. But prosaic Duke di Ripalda +said, "How can he say he is the last of the Rienzis, when he has a married +brother who has prospects of a small tribune of his own?" + + +ROME, _April, 1875._ + +Mrs. Polk (widow of the former President Polk) and her two daughters are +very much liked here. I call Miss Polk _la maîtresse demoiselle_, because +she rules every one with a high and masterful hand. + +They had some wonderful tableaux recently at their palace (Salviati), +which were most beautiful and artistically arranged by different artists. +They had turned a long gallery which had once served as a ballroom into +the theater. I was asked to sing in a tableau representing a Bohemian +hall, where, as a background, Bohemian peasants in brilliant costumes sat +and stood about. I was also dressed in a Bohemian dress, and leaned +against a pillar and held a tambourine in my hand. Tosti played the +accompaniment of "Ma Mère était Bohémienne," which was most appropriate to +the occasion. + +The Princess Margherita sat in the front row, and a more sympathetic and +lovelier face could never have inspired a singer. She insisted upon my +repeating my song, which rather bored the other performers, as they had to +stand quiet while the song was going on. Tosti made the accompaniment +wonderfully well, considering that I had only played it once for him. + +After the tableaux, and when the Princess had retired to a little salon +placed at her disposal, she sent word to ask me to come to her, as she +wished to speak with me. I was overjoyed to see her again, as the short +interview at the Villino could hardly be called an interview. The +Princess said; "I have heard a great deal about your singing; but I did +not believe any amateur could sing as you do. Your phrasing and expression +are quite perfect!" She finished by asking me to come to the Quirinal to +see her, "and perhaps have a little music"; and added, "The Marquis +Villamarina sings beautifully, and you shall hear him." The Princess is so +lovely, no words can describe her charm and the sweet expression of her +face. Her smile is a dream. + +I had intended leaving Rome the very day she fixed for my going to her, +but of course I postponed my departure and I went, and had a most +delightful afternoon. It was the first time that I had seen the Quirinal +and I was very much interested. One of the numerous _laquais_ who were +standing about in the antechamber when I arrived preceded me into a +salon where I found the Marquise Villamarina (first lady-in-waiting of the +Princess). She came toward me, saying that the Princess was looking +forward with pleasure to seeing me, and added that she hoped that I had +thought to bring some music. I followed her through several very spacious +salons until we reached a salon which evidently was the music-room, as +there were two grand pianos and a quantity of music-books placed on +shelves. Here I found the Princess waiting for me, and she received me +with much cordiality. + +The Marquis Villamarina has a most enchanting voice, liquid and velvety, +the kind that one only hears in Italy. Signor Tosti (the composer) was +already at the piano and accompanied the Marquis in "Ti rapirei, mio ben," +a song he composed and dedicated to him. The Princess sang a very charming +old Italian song. She has a mezzo-soprano voice and sings with great taste +and sweetness. She, the Marquis, and I sang a trio of Gordigiani; then the +Princess asked me to sing the "Ma Mère était Bohémienne," which i had sung +at the tableaux. I also sang "Beware!" which she had never heard and which +she was perfectly delighted with, and I promised to send her the music. It +was a great pleasure to sing in this intimate and _sans façon_ way, with +the most sympathetic and charming of Princesses. Chocolate, tea, and +little cakes were served, which I supposed was the signal for departure. +The Princess, on bidding me good-by, gave me her hand and said, "I hope to +see you soon again." + +"Alas!" I replied, "I am leaving Rome to-morrow," and as I stooped down to +kiss her hand she drew me to her and said, "I am sorry that you are going, +I hoped that you were staying longer," and kissed me on both cheeks. + + +PARIS, _May, 1875._ + +I have had a lazy month. Mrs. Moulton was delighted to have me back again, +and I was glad to rest after all my junketing. Just think, I was almost a +year in Germany! + +Nina has had the measles, fortunately lightly; I was _garde malade_, and +stayed with her in her sick-room. + +Howard goes to a day-school not far from the Rue de Courcelles every +morning, and comes home at two o'clock and shows with pride the book the +teacher gives him to show. They must mean it to be shown, otherwise so +much trouble would not be taken to make such lengthy and marvelous +accounts of his prowess, the numbers running up in the thousands, and +notations all through, such as _très bien, verbes sans faute_, and _dictés +parfaits_. He can repeat all the departments of France backward and +forward, and goes through the verbs, regular and irregular, like a +machine. The French love these irregular verbs, so irregular sometimes +that they border on frivolity. He has learned some rather inane patriotic +poetry, which he recites with a childish dramatic swagger. + +This is about all they teach in this school; but the _rapports_ are +worth the money: they deceive the parents, making them believe their geese +are swans of the first water. + + +PARIS, _May._ + +We have had real pleasure in hearing a young _pianiste_ from Venezuela +called Teresa Careño. She is a _wunderkind_. Her mother says she is nine +years old; she looks twelve, but may be sixteen. No one can ever tell how +old a _wunderkind_ really is. Her playing is marvelous, her technic +perfect. She knows about two hundred pieces by heart, is extremely pretty +and attractive, and performs whenever she is asked. I think she has a +great career before her, and she has already got the toss-back of her +black hair in the most approved pianist manner. "Elle ne manque rien," the +great Saint-Saëns said. One can't imagine that she could play better than +she does; but she thinks that she is by no means perfect. + +Though I said that I had led a _dolce-far-niente_ existence, and had been +lazy, I have been dreadfully busy and have been on the go from morning +till night: I might call it a _dolce-far-molto_ existence. I spend hours, +which ought to be better spent, in shops. I simply revel in them. + +You have heard of the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. Well, she is not +only an actress, but she is a sculptress, and is a very good one. She is +now playing at the Vaudeville. But I must begin at the beginning, the +whole thing was so amusing, + +You remember Mrs. Bradley? You used to scold me for calling her "the +Omelette." They are living now in Paris; her hair and complexion are just +as yellow as they used to be; but her dresses are yellower. Beaumont said +that she was "Une étude en jaune." + +The other evening she had a box at the theater, and asked me to go to hear +Sarah Bernhardt in "Le fils Giboyer." Her son, the immaculate Bostonian, +went with us. He is a duplicate of his mother's yellowness. I took Nina, +who looked extremely pretty: she was beaming with excitement; her cheeks +were flushed, and her curly, golden hair made a halo about her delicate +features. Every one stared at her when we entered the box. During the +second act I let her take my place in front, and, observe how virtue is +rewarded! In the following _entr'acte_ the _ouvreuse_ came in suddenly +without knocking (_ouvreuses_ never knock! that is one of their many +privileges) and begged to _parler à_ Monsieur. Imagine the chaste George's +feelings when he was told that the famous Sarah wished to speak with him, +and, moreover, desired him to come behind the scenes to her dressing-room. +What a situation! His red hair blushed to the very roots, and his yellow +face became n sunset. However, one is or one is not a man. He proved +himself to be one who could face danger when the time came. + +Trembling at the thought of Boston, the virtuous, hearing of it, he saw in +his mind's eye the height the Puritan brows of his most distinguished +family would reach when the news would be spread over the town, and a +certain biblical scene passed before his mental vision. + +He gave his lemon-colored mustache a final fascinating twist, and, humming +to himself "Hail, the conquering hero comes!" he buckled on his sword and +went--all his colors flying. + +We waited breathlessly for his return, which was much sooner than we +expected, and the smile he wore was not that of a conquering hero; it was +another kind of a smile. Well, what do you think Madame Sarah wanted? +Merely to know if the child in the box was his! His! His unmarried hair +stood on end; he was so taken aback that he only had breath to mutter, "I +am not married, Madame." + +Then in her most dramatic tones she demanded, "Who is the child, then?" + +He told her. + +"Where does this Madame Moulton live?" she asked. + +He told her that also. Then, with a dismissing wave of the hand, Sarah +bade him farewell. It was all over. He had survived! Boston would never +know. + +The next day I received a note from Sarah Bernhardt, asking me if I would +allow her to make a bust of _la charmante petite fille_. I answered that I +should be delighted. Then came another note telling me at what time +_l'enfant_ should come for the first sitting. + +I took Nina to the studio, which was beyond the Boulevard de Courcelles in +a courtyard. It was enchanting to watch the artist at work. She was +dressed like a man: she wore white trousers and jacket, and a white +_foulard_ tied artistically about her head. She had short and frizzly +hair, and she showed us how she did it, gathering the four corners as if +it were a handkerchief, with the ends sticking up on the top of her head. +She smoked cigarettes all the time she was working. + +She posed Nina in the attitude she thought interesting, with head down and +eyes up--a rather tiring position. And to keep _l'enfant_ quiet she +devised all sorts of things. Sometimes she would rehearse her rôles in the +voice they speak of as golden; because it coins gold for her, I suppose. +The rehearsing of her rôles was not so amusing, as there were no +_répliques_; but what kept Nina most quiet was when Sarah told her of the +album she was making for her. Every artist she knew was working at some +offering, and when it would be finished Nina was to have it. She would +expatiate for hours on the smallest details. Meissonier, for instance, was +painting a water-color, a scene of the war: a German regiment attacking a +French inn, which was being defended by French soldiers. Then Gounod was +writing a bit of music dedicated to _la charmante modèle_, and so forth. +Nina would listen with open mouth and glistening eyes, and at every +sitting she would say, "Et mon album?" expecting each time to see it +forthcoming. But it never came forth. It only existed in Madame +Bernhardt's fertile brain. It had no other object than to keep the model +still. It seemed cruel to deceive the child. Even to the last, when Nina +had said for the last time, "And shall I have my album to-day?" Sarah +answered that it was not _quite_ ready, as the binding was not +satisfactory, and other tales, which, if not true, had the desired effect, +and she finished the bust. It was not a very good likeness, but a very +pretty artistic effort, and was sent to the next Exposition, receiving +"honorable mention," perhaps more honorable than we mentioned her at home. +She gave me a duplicate of it made of terra-cotta. + +Don't expect any more letters, for I shall be very busy before my +departure for America, which is next week, and then I shall.... Well, +wait! + +Good-by. + + + + +INDEX + +AGASSIZ, Professor, "Father Nature" helped to pay for his new house. +Amateur theatricals. +American songs at the French court. +American soul-probes, intimate questions answered by the Emperor, + the Empress and Prosper Mérimée. +Americans seeking a hotel. +Anti-slavery anecdotes; + Joshua Green's forgetfulness; + Phillips Brooks's story of a convert's confession. +Auber, the composer, introduced by the Duke de Persigny; + writes a cadenza for Alabieff's "Rossignol"; + at Meyerbeer's funeral; + his life in Paris; + "Le Rêve d'Amour" at eighty-three; + describes the slaughter of Generals Thomas and Lecomte; + his friendship with Massenet; + entertains Madame at breakfast during the siege; + dies on the ramparts. + +BALL costumes. +Ball of the Plebiscite. +Bancroft, George, historian, presents a souvenir of an enjoyable evening. +Bernhardt, Sara, makes a bust of Madame's daughter Nina. +"Beware!", Longfellow's words set to music by Charles Moulton, + wins praise. +Birthday joy for Count Pourtales. +Blind Tom imitates Auber. +Brignoli, in his prime. +Brooks, Phillips, anecdote by. +Brunswick's wicked duke and his famous crime; + his silken wig. + +CAREÑO, TERESA, a _wunderkind_ at nine; + plays in Paris. +Carl XIV. of Sweden at the Exposition. +Castellane, Countess, exhibits her stable at a fancy ball. +Castiglione, Countess, as "Salammbô"; + as "La Vérité". +Changarnier, General, in the lancers. +Charades and amateur theatricals. +Charity, singing for. +Cinderella coach, Mrs. Moulton's. +Compiègne and its festivities; + its grand officials and its guests; + ceremonies at the table; + dress etiquette. +Costumes for Compiègne. +Croquet at night with lamps; + imperial players; + beaten with a despised ivory mallet. +Cuba visited; + an old Harvard friend lands the party in Havana; + high officials escort Madame all over the island; + assisted by old acquaintances; + a curious Cuban waltz; + a hot time in Morro Castle; + international courtesies on the war-ships; + fame had preceded Madame; + discovers and visits Jules Alphonso; + news of Napoleon's death; + a German serenade; + "Pinafore" for the sailors; + a triumphal departure. +Curls from the "Magasin du Bon Dieu" cause a sensation. + +D'AOUST'S, Marquis, operetta. +De Bassano, Duchess, _grande maîtresse_. +Delle Sedie, music-teacher, and his theories. +Delsarte and his emotion diagrams; + his "tabac,"; + the Emperor's joke; + Madame visits him during the siege; + his evening dress. +De Morny, Duke (Queen Hortense's son), and his protégé; + as a librettist, with music by Offenbach; + his death. +Doré caricatures nobility. + +EMERALDS from the Khedive. +Eugénie, Empress, skates with Madame; + "a beautiful apparition,"; + in collision with an American; + at the play in Compiègne; + her flight from the Tuileries after Sedan assisted by Prince Metternich; + takes refuge with Dr. Evans; + widow and exile at Chiselhurst. +Evans, Dr., American dentist, shelters the fleeing Empress after Sedan. +Exposition of 1867. + +GALLIFET, Marquis de, tells of his silver plate; + criticizes English idioms. +Garcia, Manuel, teacher of singing, engaged; + first impressions and lessons; + "Bel raggio" the first song. +Garibaldi in retirement; + autographs his portrait. +Gautier, Théophile, dinner companion, tells of his educated cats; + his poetical tribute to Madame. +Germans in Versailles. +Germany and the Rhineland; + visit to the Metternichs' château, Johannisberg; + reminiscences of the war; + famous Johannisberg wine; + a gentlemanly American bronco-buster captures the Westphals; + at Weimar; + calling on a noble farmer; + boar-hunting in Westphalia. +Gold button of the Imperial Hunt, a gift from Napoleon; + worn at a _chasse-à-tir_; + at a mock battle. +Gounod "hums" deliciously. +Green corn and a clay pipe at Fontainebleau. +Green, Joshua, and his Creator. +Gudin, William, artist, and his collection of cigars and cigarettes. + +HATZFELDT, Count, married to Madame's sister Helen; + Bismarck's secretary; + his opinion of Napoleon; + German minister to Madrid. +Hegermann-Lindencrone, Madame Lillie de, prefatory note. + +IN London society. +Imperial gifts. +Imperial hunt fashions and cruelty to animals; + the dog's share. + +"LA DIVA DU MONDE"--Strakosch tempts Madame to sing in concert; + an immediate success; + story of a floral harp; + a trying moment in oratorio; + news of Mr. Moulton's illness and sudden death. +Lincoln, President, at the Sanitary Fair; + compliments Madame; + news of his assassination. +Lind's, Jenny, American memories; + comparing trills; + duets with. +Liszt plays Auber's music and praises Massenet; + his letter to Madame. +Locket souvenirs. +Longfellow, the poet disapproves of but forgives a joke. +Lowell, James Russell, cousin, a substitute for Longfellow in the + Agassiz school. + +MARGHERITA, Princess of Italy, entertains Madame at the Quirinal. +Massenet at Petit Val, the Moultons' country seat. +Maximilian's death in Mexico. +Mechanical piano dance music, a substitute for Waldteufel; + Madame takes a turn. +Melody, tears, and a "speech" in Rochester's "pen". +Mérimée, Prosper, "entrancing"; + his long love affair. +Metternich, Prince, Austrian ambassador to France; + describes Rossini's home life; + entertains Madame at Johannisberg; + dedicates a volume, _A l'Inspiratice_. +Metternich, Princess, leader in society and fashion; + her enormous cigars; + one of her famous dances; + her home at Johannisberg. +Moulton, Charles, engaged to marry; + his family and musical talents; + author of "Beware!"; + his illness and sudden death. +Musard, Madame, and her petroleum stock. + +NAPOLEON III., Emperor, introduced to Madame on the ice by Prince Murat; + skates with Madame; + invites Madame to sing at the Tuileries; + the domino his favorite disguise; + dances the Virginia reel; + places Madame next to him at dinner; + a distorted joke; + takes command of the army; + his death. +New York mansion of the late fifties. +Nilsson in "Traviata"; + her famous appetite. + +OFFENBACH, JACQUES, composer, + writes the music for a play by the Duke de Morny. +Old family origins. + +PATTI, reminiscences of. +Petit Val, the Moultons' country seat; + its princely neighbors and guests; + Napoleon builds a bridge for; + the nightingale in the cedar; + in the path of the German army; + Madame views ruin all around; + dining with the invaders; + conquering with song; + rescued by the American Minister Washburn. +Picnic at Grand Trianon. +Pierrefonds, ancient château, excursion to; + restored by Architect Viollet-le-Duc; + second visit to. +Prince Imperial as "Pan"; + leaves for the war with the Emperor; + "le baptême du feu". +Prince Oscar's tributes of punch, bracelets, and poetry; + duet with; + visits Delsarte. + +RIGAULT, RAOUL, Communard prefect of Paris, insults Madame; + decrees many arrests; + gives orders for the massacre of forty hostages. +Roman days with the Haseltines; + Sculptor Story and his family; + an Italian "Mrs. Malaprop"; + audience with the Pope; + visit to Garibaldi; + an accident, a dream, and a lottery ticket; + presented to the royal family; + a typical nobleman; + President Polk's widow entertains; + Madame a guest at the Quirinal; + Tosti as accompanist. +Rossini, Gioachino, his home and his wigs; + highly praises Madame's voice; + severely criticizes Wagner but praises "Tannhäuser;" + approves of Gounod. +Rothschild, Baroness Alphonse, gives a concert with no one to hear it but + herself and Madame. +Rue de Courcelles and the Moulton Hotel during the siege; + Père Moulton's prevision; + farming and dairying in the conservatory; + visited by Courbet, the Communard artist; + Auber tells of the saturnalia; + Mère Moulton leaves for Dinard; + a notable dinner party has peas from Petit Val; + Massenet and Auber at the piano; + Whist under difficulties; + shut in; + despoiled of horse, but the cow is saved; + under fire; + succoring a wounded fugitive; + refuge at Dinard. + +SCHOOL-DAYS at Cambridge under Professor Agassiz; + Character sketches of the tutors, the best in Harvard. +Skating on the lake at Suresnes with baby Nina; + meets and teaches Napoleon and Eugénie; + in the Bois. +Strauss, at the Metternich ball, conducts "The Blue Danube" waltz. +Sullivan's "Prodigal Son." + +THEATER at Compiègne. +Three famous artists amuse the invalid. +"Three Little Kittens." +Tips a burden at Compiègne; + Père Moulton objects and they are abolished. + +VIRGINIA reel with the Emperor; + Madame de Persigny gets a fall. + +WAGNER, RICHARD, severe and critical. +Waldteufel, waltz-master, at the piano. +War clouds rising; + a distressing dinner; + war declared; + false news of victories. +War play and a Virginia reel with the Emperor. +War scenes in Paris and its environs; + the Commune proclaimed; + murder of the peacemakers; + shooting of Generals Thomas and Lecomte; + Madame ministers in the hospitals; + two pathetic German patients; + an American victim; + through the mob to Worth's _atelier_; + bearding the Communard prefect Rigault; + seizure of the Moulton carriage; + fall of the Column Vendôme; + slaughter of the hostages; + MacMahon captures the city. +Washburn, American minister; + "only a post-office,"; + in the Assembly; + getting passports. +Worth's _atelier_ during the Commune. + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Courts of Memory 1858-1875. +by L. de Hegermann-Lindencrone + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE COURTS OF MEMORY 1858-1875. *** + +This file should be named 7044-8.txt or 7044-8.zip + +This eBook was produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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