The Castle of Laxemburg--Heron-Hawking--The Empress of Austria--A Royal Hunt--Fête at the Ritterburg--A Recollection of Christina of Sweden--Constance and Theodore, or the Blind Husband--Poland--Scheme for her Independence--The Comte Arthur Potocki--The Prince de Ligne and Isabey--The Prince de Ligne’s House on the Kalemberg--Confidential Chats and Recollections--The Empress Catherine II.--Queen Marie-Antoinette--Mme. de Staël--Casanova, 105 CHAPTER VII A Court Function--The Empress of Austria--The Troubadours --Amateur Theatricals--The Empress of Russia--The Prince Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg--Tableaux-Vivants--Queen Hortense’s Songs--The Moustaches of the Comte de Wurbna-- Songs in Action--The Orphan of the Prisons--Diplomacy and Dancing--A Ball and a Supper at Court, 137 CHAPTER VIII Prince Eugène de Beauharnais--Recollections of the Prince de Ligne--The Theatre of the ‘Ermitage’ and of Trianon--The Baron Ompteda--Some Portraits--The Imperial _Carrousel_ --The Four-and-Twenty Paladins--Reminiscences of Mediæval Tournaments--The Prowess of the Champion--Fête and Supper at the Imperial Palace--The Table of the Sovereigns, 152 CHAPTER IX Recollections of the Military Tournament of Stockholm in 1800-- The Comte de Fersen--King Gustavus IV.--The Challenge of the Unknown Knight--The Games on the Bridge at Pisa, 174 CHAPTER X The Prince de Ligne’s Song of the Congress--Life on the Graben --The Chronicle of the Congress--Echoes of the Congress-- A Companion Story to the Death of Vatel--Brie, the King of Cheese--Fête at Arnstein the Banker’s--The Prince Royal of Würtemberg--Russian Dances--The Poet Carpani and the Prince de Ligne, 193 CHAPTER XI The Last Love-Tryst of the Prince de Ligne--A Glance at the Past--Z---- or the Consequences of Gaming--Gambling in Poland and in Russia--The Biter Bit--Masked Ball--The Prince de Ligne and a Domino--More Living Pictures--The Pasha of Surêne--Two Masked Ladies--A Recollection of the Prince de Talleyrand, 218 CHAPTER XII Illness of the Prince de Ligne--The Comte de Witt--Ambassador Golowkin--Doctor Malfati--The Prince gets worse--Last Sallies of the Moribund--General Grief--Portrait of the Prince de Ligne--His Funeral, 244 CHAPTER XIII