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 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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