In a departure arranged so hurriedly, all the necessary comforts were forgotten, and the royal invalid was faint for want of nourishment, which was only attainable after hours of travelling. Amadeus was grateful indeed for the soup he was at last able to procure at a little railway-station on the line, and he boldly met the remarks and curious looks of the people who crowded to see the royal fugitive as he bore the cup from the restaurant to his wife. Once in Portugal, Amadeus had nothing more to fear for the personal safety of the family, and it was from thence they soon sailed quietly for Italy. CHAPTER XIV SOME TRUTHS ABOUT THE REPUBLIC 1873-1874 We have an interregnum in the history of the Court of Spain during the republic which held rule from February 11, 1873, until the restoration of the monarchy on December 30, 1874; but those readers, who like to have some idea of what was passing in Spain whilst the palace was empty, may be interested in the following particulars, drawn from a book entitled “Contemporaneous Truths,” by His Excellency Vicente Lafuente. These truths were republished by Colonel Figuerola Ferretti[19] in 1898, with an able prologue from the officer’s pen, to show those malcontents who wished to return to this form of government how baneful it was for the welfare of the land. [19] This Spaniard is connected on his mother’s side with Pope Pius IX. (Mastai-Ferretti), whilst his father was Figuerola, the patriot of Cuba. [Illustration: LIEUTENANT-COLONEL LUIS DE FIGUEROLA FERRETTI From a Painting by Miss A. J. Challice, exhibited at the Royal Academy, London] Queen Maria Cristina graciously accepted the book from the Colonel, who was then a Chamberlain at her Court, and it doubtless served to disperse the false ideas as to the nature of a Spanish republic which had arisen in the minds of those who were absent from the country whilst it held sway. Twenty-five years had elapsed since Spain adopted the republic, but, as Figuerola Ferretti reminds his readers, that time had not obliterated the horrors of that period from those who belonged to that time. Those who were inclined to regard a republic as an ideal form of government were reminded that the fatal night of February 11, 1873, saw the opening of the Pandora box, whence issued all sorts of moral and political calamities, which spread like a black cloud over the Spanish nation in both worlds. With the enthronement of moral and material disorder, licence and anarchy came from all sides, to the increase of impiety and corruption of customs, the ruin of families, the debasement of the public credit, the demoralization of the forces on sea and land, the loss of honour and national dignity, and the peril of the independence and integrity of the country both in the Peninsula and in America.