Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino Part 15

I took him up then. "You have something more to do, and that is to go away civilly without a scene, and not to tell any one that you did so because you were angry. You have, above all, to avoid speaking, I do not say ill, but even lightly, of M. de Talleyrand." He said, "You make very pretty speeches this morning, but if I do as you wish, what will you do for me?"--"I will keep the true cause of your departure secret."--"You are too clever, Madame de Dino."--"I know what I am saying."

He asked me if I would shake hands with him and promise to be good natured about him. "Yes, if you do not speak amiss of M. de Talleyrand." "Very well. I shall not go straight to Paris. I shall go to d'Argenson at Ormes to get over this, and when I have got back my 'lamb-like temper,' I shall speak to the King and invent some business to excuse my not waiting for his son here." "Do what you like so long as you behave like a gentleman." He is gone. At luncheon he said that he had got a letter which obliged him to leave to-day.

The fact is, that I had been expecting something of the kind. M. de Talleyrand, after many years of too long suffering patience, has suddenly gone uncompromisingly to the other extreme, and the day before yesterday so clearly indicated to M. de Montrond that he was not wanted here, that the latter could not overlook it. It is possible that M. de Montrond will impose some restraint on his tongue, just sufficient that is to avoid an accusation of bad faith, but it seems to me impossible that he will not take some underhand way of revenging himself, for he is hurt and upset. To have to go on the eve of the arrival of a large and distinguished party of English people to whom he was preparing to do the honours of Valencay, not to be here when M.

le Duc d'Orleans is expected--these are two real disappointments for which he will not forgive M. de Talleyrand.

In the first and most virulent part of his conversation with me he frequently referred to the King and to M. de Flahaut in such a way as to persuade me that he means to take the latter's part absolutely, in order that he may be able to injure M. de Talleyrand with His Majesty.

What can one expect of a being like him? But also how childish to lose one's temper after forty years![37] M. de Montrond said to me, "He should treat me with the kindness and intimacy of an old friend, or else with the politeness of a host." To this I replied, "But would not M. de Talleyrand also be justified in saying to you that you give him neither the deference due to one's host, nor the attentions due to his age and to your former relations? In what other house would you have dared to run down everything as you do here? You have criticised his neighbours, his servants, his wine, his horses, in fact everything. If he has been rude you have given him provocation, and, indeed, there are too many witnesses of your habit of perpetual contradiction to make it possible for you to complain of the anger it has aroused."

[37] In 1793 Montrond had fled to England, and there had placed himself under M. de Talleyrand's protection. This was the beginning of their long friends.h.i.+p.

_Valencay, October 14, 1834._--We have staying here Lady Clanricarde, Mr. and Mrs. Dawson Damer, and Mr. Henry Greville. I went for a long drive yesterday with Lady Clanricarde, and talked to her a great deal about her father, the celebrated Mr. Canning, and of her mother, who was not less distinguished, but who did not appear to be much beloved by her daughter. Lady Clanricarde is clever; her manners are restrained, dignified, and in good taste; but, judging from what I saw, I consider her rather hard-hearted and intellectually stiff. Both her manners, however, and her character have, in my opinion, a real value. She never lets herself go and has no personal magnetism, but when all is said and done, she is a figure of real distinction and of the best and most exquisite breeding. Mrs. Damer is a good soul--nothing more.

_Valencay, October 18, 1834._--Speaking to Lady Clanricarde of Lord Palmerston and Lady Cowper, we fell to wondering what it is that enables some people to retain so much influence over some others, and I made an observation on the subject against which she protested, to the effect that, "it is by what they demand that men preserve their influence over women, while it is by what they concede that women preserve their influence over men."

_Valencay, October 21, 1834._--Yesterday the news came of the dreadful fire at Westminster. It is a terrible catastrophe and one which is distinctly ominous, as it suggests that the political edifice is crumbling along with the material one, and that the old walls refused any longer to be dishonoured by the profane doctrines of to-day. There is something in this which may well impress not only the imagination of the mult.i.tude, but the mind of every thinking person.

The English party here all believe that the fire was the work of an incendiary, because it began in the House of Lords. The _Globe_, which was sent to M. de Talleyrand, kept us all up very late, for we were anxious to know all the versions of the disaster. It appears that the loss in papers and doc.u.ments of all kinds is enormous, and is due not only to the fire, but to their being scattered and blown away. What a pity! It is said that it will cause much confusion, and many gaps in the proceedings of the Courts.

Yesterday, I took Lady Clanricarde and Mrs. Damer to see the little convent, the school and all the small inst.i.tution conducted by the Valencay sisters. This is the sort of thing which makes very little impression on English women. For all their cleverness and goodness, they are not charitable in the true sense of the word, and they have a singular unwillingness to come in contact with poverty, misery, misfortune, illness or suffering. This distant manner of theirs with lesser people, so useful in society, freezes and irritates me when I see it applied even to the poor. Thus Lady Clanricarde, so agreeable in society, found nothing to say to my poor sisters who are so simple and devoted. She hardly put her nose inside the door of the school, and gathered up her fine skirts, that they might not be rumpled by the little girls who were going to their places. The two ladies were much astonished that I found so much to say, and above all, when they saw me stopped several times in the village by people who wanted to consult me about their business. This way of living is incomprehensible to an Englishwoman, and at that moment, Lady Clanricarde, clever as she is, and well disposed to me, was surprised, I am sure, to think that I knew how to eat properly at table, and was wearing a dress made by Mlle. Palmyre!

_Valencay, October 23, 1834._--All yesterday it rained in torrents, and it was impossible to go out. Our English friends made music barbarously enough all morning; and in the evening three letters came.

One was from Lord Sidney to Henry Greville, saying that M. de Montrond had got back to Paris, and was telling everybody that Valencay had become quite uninhabitable, that Greville and the Damers were being bored to death, and that only Lady Clanricarde could put up with it. H. Greville read this in a low voice. Lady Clanricarde continued aloud, M. de Talleyrand asked what it was, and the whole pa.s.sage was read to him.

The second letter was from M. de Montrond to Mr. Damer, and inquired how he was getting on at Valencay. The writer observed that he was not anxious about H. Greville who loved t.i.ttle-tattle, and would get what he wanted there. Mr. Damer read this also aloud.

The third letter was from M. de Montrond to myself, and was as cool as possible in tone. I pa.s.sed it to M. de Talleyrand who, annoyed at what he had just heard, read it too aloud. It reminded me of Celimene's letter! I don't know what reflections this little scene may have provoked, for I went to bed immediately afterwards.

_Valencay, October 26, 1834._--The weather improved a little yesterday; just now it is very cold but dry, with brilliant suns.h.i.+ne.

Let us hope that it will last for the arrival of M. le Duc d'Orleans who is expected to-night! The populations of fourteen Communes are in motion and people are coming from Chateauroux and even from Issoudun which is ten or twelve leagues from here. The fact that it is Sunday makes it easier for them to gratify their curiosity and whatever the papers say there will be nothing else in the way of magnificence or festal preparations than a crowd. I believe that M. le Duc d'Orleans will be very well received by the country folk. Never since the days of la Grande Mademoiselle has any Prince of any dynasty come here. The whole country between Blois and Chateauroux, so well treated by the Valois, has been, as it were, disgraced and forgotten; none of the succeeding Governments would do anything for this corner of Berri.

When I first came here everything in the way of civilisation was as it had been in the time of Louis XIII. M. de Talleyrand has done something to secure a little progress, and I too have done a little, but it is only this year that we have been able to organise a system of post horses. So far there is not even a diligence, and for many people, even in easy circ.u.mstances, the only means of conveyance is _pataches_, that is, carriages without springs. In such a remote part a Prince is still somebody. Our communes are flattered that one is about to wander into our solitudes, and they will cry out "_Vive le Roi!_" with all their might, which is the best thing that they can do.

Among those who arrived last night were the Baron de Montmorency and Madame la Comtesse Camille de Sainte-Aldegonde. The Baron de Montmorency was long ago on the point of being the Lauzun of the Mademoiselle of his day,[38] and though he declined the honour of the alliance he has remained very intimate with Neuilly. Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde lives in a very pretty house between here and Blois; she is one of the Queen's ladies and a great friend of the Baron de Montmorency. Her first husband was General Augereau. She is my own age and we came out at the same time. We were both ladies-in-waiting to the Empress Marie Louise, but we did not see much of each other, for she followed her husband to the front and never came to Court. On the fall of the Empire we lost sight of each other completely. Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde has been extremely beautiful, and if her expression were more agreeable she would be so still, but she never had a kindly air owing to her eyebrows which are very dark and turn up too much; and, as she has lost the softness of her first youth, there remains a certain crudity which is not attractive. Her voice is rather high-pitched, and, though polite and well-bred enough, she lacks that ease and smooth courtesy which can only be acquired at the time when one first learns the elegances of life. When one does not learn them in one's cradle one may be presentable, but one can never be distinguished, yet after all, considering everything, she will pa.s.s muster.

[38] Madame Adelade had caused her hand to be offered to the Baron de Montmorency, but on condition that she should not be required to change her name--a condition which the Baron declined to accept.

_Valencay, October 27, 1834._--M. le Duc d'Orleans came yesterday, in very bad weather, an hour sooner than he was expected, which much upset both us and the sightseers. However, our little _Garde Nationale_ was there to receive him. The Munic.i.p.ality were also a.s.sembled and a certain number of people were there to greet him as he pa.s.sed. There were no speeches, for which I think he was thankful.

M. le Duc d'Orleans began by having some conversation in the salon with M. de Talleyrand, M. and Madame de Valencay and myself. He announced, much to my surprise, that Madame de Rigny, Thiers and Guizot were coming. My surprise was not lessened when Monseigneur told me that the King was strongly urging his Ministers to come here because it was a good excuse to suspend the Councils for a few days.

These had become almost impossible owing to the outbursts of Marshal Gerard, and a crisis was inevitable. It was desired, however, to postpone it for a time, and, with this in view, not to call the Cabinet together. Marshal Gerard was in a minority of one, all the Ministers being united against him.

When Monseigneur retired to his apartments I went to dress and went down at once in order to be first in the salon. I found there General Pet.i.t commanding the 5th Division, General Saint-Paul commanding the Department of the Indre, and General Baudrand of the Prince's suite with his secretary M. de Boismilon.

After dinner there was a slight fit of solemnity, which I soon dissipated by taking up my work as usual. The Prince thanked me cordially for doing so. Then every one grouped and arranged themselves naturally. A little later M. de Talleyrand took his usual evening walk, and when he came back he found Lady Clanricarde, the Prince, Henry Greville and me playing whist gaily together. Music was playing in the vestibule, and in a word the ice was broken.

After tea the Prince vanished, and at eleven everybody went to bed.

_Valencay, October 28, 1834._--Here is an account of yesterday. After breakfast M. le Duc d'Orleans went over the Chateau and its immediate neighbourhood, my son and I acting as his guides. All our guests who had not already seen what there is to see followed.

When we got back three carriages, a phaeton, and six saddle-horses were in attendance. Each member of the company took his place. M. le duc d'Orleans, the Marchioness of Clanricarde, the Baron de Montmorency and I were in the first carriage. M. de Talleyrand, Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde, General Baudrand, and M. Jules d'Entraigues were in the second, and so on. After crossing the park and an isolated piece of the forest, we stopped at a pretty pavilion, from which there is a fine view. The military band was concealed behind the trees, which still have much of their foliage. There was a considerable crowd, and the whole made a very pretty forest scene. We then plunged into the forest itself, and did not return till it was time to dress for dinner.

After dinner we took the Prince to a ball at the Orangerie. The courts, the keep, and the railings were illuminated, and the effect was very fine. The ball-room was very finely decorated, and so full of people that one could scarcely move. There was, however, no vulgar pushfulness, and if the cries of greeting were ear-splitting, they were such as always please a Prince. He walked all through the room, greeted every one, and talked a little. They were, in short, much pleased with him; so pleased, indeed, that, though he only stayed an hour, they were still shouting under his windows at two o'clock in the morning.

_Valencay, October 29, 1834._--Yesterday before luncheon our Royal guest, with his aide-de-camp, my son, and the Baron de Montmorency, went to visit the spinning mill and the quarries from which came the stone of which the Chateau is built. He thought the quarries superb.

After luncheon we took him to the ironworks. There was a cheering crowd; the men did their work well, both casting and forging. Inside the fine building they produced and repeated an effect of fireworks with the flaming molten metal which was very fine and much amused our English ladies. On the way back we made a slight detour to see the ruins of Veuil.[39]

[39] Veuil commands the valley of Nahon, and was joined to the Seigneurie of Valencay in 1787 by M. de Lucay, who was then the owner. The castle, which must have been very fine, is now a ruin, of which only a fragment is inhabited by a farmer.

The band was hidden in one of the old towers. A great fire had been lighted in the only room which remains intact, and in which we were served with refreshments. In the courtyard and through the half-ruined archways were seen national guards and peasants, who cheered and threw their hats up into the air. This little excursion was very pleasant in spite of the dull weather. The sun, or rather the moon, would have made it perfect.

At dinner, besides our guests of last night, we had the Prefects of Indre-et-Loire and of Loir-et-Cher, General Ornano, and Colonel Garraube, a Deputy, to whom we owe the band that has given so much pleasure. After dinner there was whist, a few turns of a waltz, &c.

Later on there was a real ball and supper for the servants, and in honour of the servants of the Prince Royal; it was really very pretty.

Yesterday at dinner I was a little surprised at something my Royal neighbour said to me. He asked me when we were going to Rochecotte.--"I don't know, Monseigneur."--"But you can't spend the winter here where it is so cold."--"Oh no, we never intended to do that."--"Are you coming to Paris?"--"I really don't know."--"For, of course, England is out of the question since Lord Palmerston won't go to India." I looked straight at the Prince with some surprise, and said: "I believe that Lord Palmerston's departure would certainly have recalled the Amba.s.sadors to London, and that if he stays that will keep them away; but M. de Talleyrand's plans are very uncertain, and, moreover, depend on the King's wishes."--"Your uncle told me that he thinks we have got out of England all that we can, and that great affairs are no longer to be transacted in London, but in Paris, under my father's eye."--"Yes, that is M. de Talleyrand's idea, because the King's honesty and ability have inspired confidence in Europe in inverse ratio to the distrust which the policy carried on in England for the last months has aroused."--"My father very much wants M. de Talleyrand to return to England, but before talking to your uncle about it I told the King that I thought it was impossible."--"It certainly would be difficult, Monseigneur."--"But you, Madame, what are your wishes?"--"Whatever will be agreeable to the King, Monseigneur; and if M. de Talleyrand does not go back to London it will be because he is persuaded that, things being as they are, he would be of no use. Personally, I am extremely fond of England; a thousand ties of grat.i.tude and admiration bind me to that country, especially the Queen's kindness, and the friends.h.i.+p of Lord Grey and the Duke of Wellington. But there are some friends whom one does not lose simply because one leaves them, and I hope in course of time to go and thank my English friends for all their kindness to me during the last four years."[40]--"But, to leave the question of the Emba.s.sy, what will M. de Talleyrand do?"--"Whatever the King wishes. If the King wishes to see him, he will go and pay his respects; if his Majesty will allow him to rest, he will remain in retirement, taking care of his legs, which, as you see, are very weak and very painful.

In a word, Monseigneur, he will always be the King's most devoted servant." And at this point this somewhat curious conversation came to an end.

[40] The d.u.c.h.esse de Dino never revisited England in spite of her happy memories of that country.

_Valencay, October 30, 1834._--Yesterday morning all our neighbours from Tours, Blois, and the neighbourhood left rather early, as did M.

Motteux, who left a charming English dog as a present for M. de Talleyrand. The excellent man left us with much regret, having greatly enjoyed his visit, most of which he spent in the kitchen, in the press house, or at market. He said very little, but was neither indiscreet nor in the way, nor spiteful with his tongue.

Before luncheon M. le Duc d'Orleans visited the two hosiery establishments,[41] made purchases, and gave orders. After luncheon he asked to be shown our schools and the establishment of the Sisters, and gave a large sum for the poor. He seemed much struck by the excellent management of the little convent, and particularly with the manners of the Superior. On this occasion he told me that one of his ancestors lent money to the Holy See and was not repaid at the appointed time. The Pope, however, by way of compensation sent a Bull creating all the male posterity of his family sub-deacons from their birth and canons of Saint-Martin of Tours, with the right to touch the sacred vessels without gloves, and to sit on the Gospel side of the church instead of the Epistle side. King Louis-Philippe was installed Canon of Tours at the age of seven.

[41] When you entered this shop, then very celebrated in France, you used to see models of the legs of all M. de Talleyrand's lady friends, duly labelled, which had been made for the guidance of the Valencay tradesman.

Later on, we took the Prince to the ponds in the forest, by the side of which there was a great camp-fire.

Before dinner the Prince again desired some private conversation with M. de Talleyrand and then with me. Afterwards we played pool on the billiard-table. The scene was very animated, the ladies being of the party. Tea taken, the letters came, and announced the resignation of Marshal Gerard; and M. le Duc d'Orleans, retired, put on his travelling dress, and at half-past eleven, after saying many gracious things, he departed.

Although everything went off very well during his visit, and though the Prince was really perfectly charming to everybody, I am nevertheless much relieved now that he is gone. I feared every moment that some accident would happen, and for this reason opposed every idea of a shooting party; I feared disloyal cries, bad weather, a thousand things; and, besides, I was worn out with fatigue.

As I foresaw, the visit of M. le Duc d'Orleans has thrown some light on our future, for M. de Talleyrand said to him that there was no more for him to do in London. He pointed out Lord Palmerston's personal character, the line taken by the English Cabinet, the absence of all the _haut corps diplomatique_ from London, and the evident tendency of all the Courts to cease acting in that capital and to choose another centre of high politics. Besides all this, the weariness of his legs made it impossible for him to return to England unless a reaction occurred which made him--M. de Talleyrand--a more suitable person than any other to conduct the affairs of France there. For the moment he thought that any one would do just as well, if not better, than he. M.

le Duc d'Orleans said positively that he had been charged by the King to discover the intentions of M. de Talleyrand, and at the same time to express the King's desire to talk with him if he did not mean to return to London. His Majesty was most anxious that M. de Talleyrand should not abandon his interest and partic.i.p.ation in the work at which he had laboured so much.

M. le Duc d'Orleans told me a curious thing--that eighteen months ago Lucien Bonaparte had written him a rather abject letter, begging him to obtain for him the post of French Minister at Florence!

I have just heard that the King has positively refused to call the Duc de Broglie to the Presidency of the Council in place of Marshal Gerard. It is clear that it was this Ministerial crisis which prevented the arrival of the three Ministers who were to have come here. I am quite glad it did, for this took away all political significance from the Prince's visit.

He spoke much of Rochecotte and of his desire to visit it again next summer.

_Valencay, October 31, 1834._--M. le Comte de la Redorte is staying here. He is a man of undoubted erudition. He has studied a great deal, and travelled much. He remembers everything, but, unfortunately, instead of waiting till you knock at his door, as an Englishman would do, he throws it wide open and forces you to come in. Though his face is fine and his manners charming, and the sound of his voice delightful, he is simply a bore. He fills his conversation with facts, dates, and figures; he enters into the most minute details; he plunges head first into the heaviest economic topics, and wearies, extinguishes, and crushes his audience. His opinions, moreover, are cut and dried on every subject; his judgments are absolute; his expositions are all arranged beforehand. It is deadly dull! Our English party groaned under him! He left after luncheon, and as he was going M. de Talleyrand said: "There is a mind which stopped before it arrived." He said a rather sharp thing about Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde, who also left this morning. Speaking of her very dark eyebrows, which surmount rather expressionless eyes: "These," he said, "are bows without arrows."

Here is an extract from a letter from Paris, dated the 29th, which came yesterday: "The post-horses were waiting in M. de Rigny's courtyard on Sunday the 26th, and he was just about to leave with Bertin de Veaux, when the King sent for him and commanded him to put off his departure for a day. He never got another opportunity of getting away. Yesterday, at four, Marshal Gerard forced the King to accept his resignation. M. de Rigny has determined not to accept the Premiers.h.i.+p which they wish to offer him. He thinks he has neither the talent nor the consistency necessary for the post. He cannot disguise from himself that the only reason for offering him the place is the difficulty of getting any one else; and if his refusal costs him his place he will console himself with the reflection that it is better to go out of office in this way than to go later on less honourably. And yet what will be the end of all this? What appears most probable is the addition of M. Mole to the Ministry. M. Thiers would much like to be Premier, but he does not yet dare to be openly a candidate. M. Mole would not remain long. His means, his character, his surroundings, will all combine to promote his speedy fall. This would be enough to enable M. Thiers to realise his ambition--at least he thinks so. He would, however, have been better pleased to see M. de Rigny undertake the part intended for M. Mole, but that even his eloquence could not achieve!"

_Valencay, November 1, 1834._--I hear from Paris that an article in terms very insulting to M. de Talleyrand and myself has just appeared in a periodical review. For many years I have been afflicted with insults, libels, and gutter calumnies of all kinds, and I shall be so persecuted till the end of my days. Living as I have done in the house of M. de Talleyrand, and in his confidence, how could I escape the licence of the press and its attacks in the most libellous age of journalism? It was long before I got used to it. I used to be deeply wounded, very much upset, and very unhappy, and I shall never become quite indifferent. A woman never could be, and would, in my opinion, be the worse for becoming so. However, as it would be equally absurd to allow one's peace of mind to be at the mercy of people one despises, I have made up my mind to read nothing of this kind, and the more directly concerned I am the less I desire to know about it. I do not wish to know the evil people think or say or write about me, or about my friends. If they do wrong, or if I myself am not all I should be, I am quite aware of the fact, and want to forget it. As for calumny, it disgusts and enrages me, and I see no reason why I should acknowledge the dirt thrown at those nearest and dearest to me.

There are so many pains and mortifications in this life, and so many are inevitable, that my only thought is how to avoid as many as possible, for I am sure that enough remains to test my courage and resignation.