The Romance of Madame Tussaud'sTussaud, John Theodore
History
The Romance of Madame Tussaud's
Tussaud, John Theodore
Madame Tussaud and Sons' Exhibition; Tussaud, Marie, 1761-1850; Waxworks
Landseer suggested Madame Tussaud’s, an Exhibition which d’Orsay had
never before seen; and to Baker Street they went. The Count, charmed with
the novelty of the wax figures, was childishly delighted with all he saw,
until a moment when he became conscious that his footsteps were being
dogged by two suspicious-looking individuals.
“Do you see those men?” said d’Orsay. “They never take their eyes from
me.”
“Yes, I see them,” answered Landseer, who had really noticed them for
some time, but thought it wiser not to say anything on the subject to his
friend. “Let us go into the Chamber of Horrors.”
Accordingly they paid their extra sixpences and entered the mysterious
inner room. The two men followed them. Landseer gave up his friend for
lost. After a few moments of suspense one of the two men advanced towards
d’Orsay, hat in hand, and, making an elaborate bow, said:
“Have I the honour of speaking to M. le Comte d’Orsay?”
No escape seemed possible now, so the Count drew himself up and answered
with much dignity:
“Sir, I am he.”
“Then, if M. le Comte will be so very kind as to allow me, Madame Tussaud
presents her compliments, and she will be greatly honoured if M. le Comte
will give her some sittings and will permit us to add his illustrious
figure to those already in our establishment.”
Finding that all his anxieties were at an end, d’Orsay forgot his dignity
in a moment, almost embracing the man in his sudden joy, and exclaiming,
with his accents of broken English:
“My dear fellow, you shall do what you like.”
The handsome face and distinguished figure of the Count were, of course,
sufficiently remarkable to attract attention anywhere, and Madame Tussaud
had too keen an eye for business ever to let slip so excellent an
opportunity.
This may be regarded as an interesting reminiscence of the old rooms in
Baker Street and the people who used to frequent them three-quarters of a
century ago.
Although we know that Queen Victoria came to visit the Exhibition in
Baker Street as Princess Victoria, there is no direct evidence that she
ever came as Queen.
There is, however, a story that on one occasion Her Majesty paid a
private visit with her children. When it is remembered that the Cattle
Show used to be held in the rooms underneath the Exhibition, and that Her
Majesty used to pay it at least one annual visit in those days, it is
quite reasonable to suppose that the Queen would take an opportunity of
going upstairs.
The story goes that seventy years ago, a fortnight after an auctioneer
had murdered Mr. Jermy, Recorder of Norwich, and his family, at Stanfield
Hall, near Wymondham, a Norfolk farmer came to London for the Cattle
Show, and was an unconscious interviewer of Queen Victoria in the
Exhibition.
I will give the narrative in his own words, being unable to vouch for its
authenticity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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