In the Courts of Memory, 1858-1875; from Contemporary LettersHegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)
History
In the Courts of Memory, 1858-1875; from Contemporary Letters
Hegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)
France -- Court and courtiers; France -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
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:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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