Tracks of a Rolling Stone Part 26

was inseparable from the latter. It was a name to conjure with. Captain Anderson took off his cap, shook me warmly by the hand, expressed his pleasure at making my acquaintance, and hoped I, and my friend Mr.-ahem-would come into his cabin and have luncheon, and then allow him to show me over his ship. Scott Russell was far too deeply absorbed in his surroundings to note any peculiarity in this neglect of himself and marked respect for 'Captain Cole.' We made the round of the decks, then explored the engine room. Here the designer found himself in an earthly paradise. He b.u.t.ton-holed the engineer and inquired into every crank, and piston, and valve, and every bolt, as it seemed to me, till the officer in charge unconsciously began to ask opinions instead of offering explanations. By degrees the captain was equally astonished at the visitor's knowledge, and when at last my friend asked what had become of some fixture or other which he missed, Captain Anderson turned to him and exclaimed, 'Why, you seem to know more about the ship than I do.'

'Well, so I ought,' says my friend, never for a moment supposing that Anderson was in ignorance of his ident.i.ty.

'Indeed! Who then are you, pray?'

'Who? Why, Scott Russell of course, the builder!'

There was a hearty laugh over it all. I managed to spare the captain's feelings by preserving my incognito, and so ended a pleasant day.

CHAPTER XLIV

IN November, 1862, my wife and I received an invitation to spend a week at Compiegne with their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of the French.

This was due to the circ.u.mstance that my wife's father, Lord Wilton, as Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, had entertained the Emperor during his visit to Cowes.

We found an express train with the imperial carriages awaiting the arrival of the English guests at the station du Nord. The only other English besides ourselves were Lord and Lady Winchilsea with Lady Florence Paget, and Lord and Lady Castlerosse, now Lord and Lady Kenmare.

These, however, had preceded us, so that with the exception of M. Drouyn de Lhuys, we had the saloon carriage to ourselves.

The party was a very large one, including the Walewskis, the Persignys, the Metternichs-he, the Austrian Amba.s.sador-Prince Henri VII. of Reuss, Prussian Amba.s.sador, the Prince de la Moskowa, son of Marshal Ney, and the Labedoyeres, amongst the historical names. Amongst those of art and literature, of whom there were many, the only one whom I made the acquaintance of was Octave Feuillet. I happened to have brought his 'Comedies et Proverbes' and another of his books with me, never expecting to meet him; this so pleased him that we became allies. I was surprised to find that he could not even read English, which I begged him to learn for the sake of Shakespeare alone.

We did not see their Majesties till dinner-time. When the guests were a.s.sembled, the women and the men were arranged separately on opposite sides of the room. The Emperor and Empress then entered, each respectively welcoming those of their own s.e.x, shaking hands and saying some conventional word in pa.s.sing. Me, he asked whether I had brought my guns, and hoped we should have a good week's sport. To each one a word.

Every night during the week we sat down over a hundred to dinner. The Army was largely represented. For the first time I tasted here the national frog, which is neither fish nor flesh. The wine was, of course, supreme; but after every dish a different wine was handed round. The evening entertainments were varied. There was the theatre in the Palace, and some of the best of the Paris artistes were requisitioned for the occasion. With them came Dejazet, then nearly seventy, who had played before Buonaparte.

Almost every night there was dancing. Sometimes the Emperor would walk through a quadrille, but as a rule he would retire with one of his ministers, though only to a smaller boudoir at the end of the suite, where a couple of whist-tables were ready for the more sedate of the party. Here one evening I found Prince Metternich showing his Majesty a chess problem, of which he was the proud inventor. The Emperor asked whether I was fond of chess. I was very fond of chess, was one of the regular _habitues_ of St. George's Chess Club, and had made a study of the game for years. The Prince challenged me to solve his problem in four moves. It was not a very profound one. I had the hardihood to discover that three, rather obvious moves, were sufficient. But as I was not Gil Blas, and the Prince was not the Archbishop of Grenada, it did not much matter. Like the famous prelate, his Excellency proffered his felicitations, and doubtless also wished me 'un peu plus de gout' with the addition of 'un peu moins de perspicacite.'

One of the evening performances was an exhibition of _poses-plastiques_, the subjects being chosen from celebrated pictures in the Louvre.

Theatrical costumiers, under the command of a noted painter, were brought from Paris. The ladies of the court were carefully rehea.r.s.ed, and the whole thing was very perfectly and very beautifully done. All the English ladies were a.s.signed parts. But, as nearly all these depended less upon the beauties of drapery than upon those of nature, the English ladies were more than a little staggered by the demands of the painter and of the-_un_dressers. To the young and handsome Lady Castlerosse, then just married, was allotted the figure of Diana. But when informed that, in accordance with the original, the drapery of one leg would have to be looped up above the knee, her ladyship used very firm language; and, though of course perfectly ladylike, would, rendered into masculine terms, have signified that she would 'see the painter d-d first.' The celebrated 'Cruche ca.s.see' of Greuze, was represented by the reigning beauty, the Marquise de Gallifet, with complete fidelity and success.

There was one stage of the performance which neither I nor Lord Castlerosse, both of us newly married, at all appreciated. This was the privileges of the Green-room, or rather of the dressing-rooms. The exhibition was given in the ball-room. On one side of this, until the night of the performances, an enclosure was boarded off. Within it, were compartments in which the ladies dressed and-undressed. At this operation, as we young husbands discovered, certain young gentlemen of the court were permitted to a.s.sist-I think I am not mistaken in saying that his Majesty was of the number. What kind of a.s.sistance was offered or accepted, Castlerosse and I, being on the wrong side of the boarding, were not in a position to know.

There was a door in the boarding, over which one expected to see, 'No admittance except on business,' or perhaps, 'on pleasure.' At this door I rapped, and rapped again impatiently. It was opened, only as wide as her face, by the empress.

'What do you want, sir?' was the angry demand.

'To see my wife, madame,' was the submissive reply.

'You can't see her; she is rehearsing.'

'But, madame, other gentlemen-'

'Ah! Mais, c'est un enfantillage! Allez-vous-en.'

And the door was slammed in my face.

'Well,' thought I, 'the right woman is in the right place there, at all events.'

Another little incident at the performance itself also recalled the days and manners of the court of Louis XV. Between each tableau, which was lighted solely from the raised stage, the lights were put out, and the whole room left in complete darkness. Whenever this happened, the sounds of immoderate kissing broke out in all directions, accompanied by little cries of resistance and protestation. Until then, I had always been under the impression that humour of this kind was confined to the servants' hall. One could not help thinking of another court, where things were managed differently.

But the truth is, these trivial episodes were symptomatic of a pervading tone. A no inconsiderable portion of the ladies seemed to an outsider to have been invited for the sake of their personal charms. After what has just been related, one could not help fancying that there were some amongst them who had availed themselves of the privilege which, according to Tacitus, was claimed by Vistilia before the aediles. So far, however, from any of these n.o.ble ladies being banished to the Isle of Seriphos, they seemed as much attached to the court as the court to them; and whatever the Roman Emperor might have done, the Emperor of the French was all that was most indulgent.

There were two days' shooting, one day's stag hunting, an expedition to Pierrefonds, and a couple of days spent in riding and skating. The shooting was very much after the fashion of that already described at Prince Esterhazy's, though of a much more Imperial character. As in Hungary, the game had been driven into coverts cut down to the height of the waist, with paths thirty to forty yards apart, for the guns.

The weather was cold, with snow on the ground, but it was a beautifully sunny day. This was the party: the two amba.s.sadors, the Prince de la Moskowa, Persigny, Walewski-Bonaparte's natural son, and the image of his father-the Marquis de Toulongeon, Master of the Horse, and we three Englishmen. We met punctually at eleven in the grand saloon. Here the Emperor joined us, with his cigarette in his mouth, shook hands with each, and bade us take our places in the char-a-bancs. Four splendid Normandy greys, with postilions in the picturesque old costume, glazed hats and huge jack-boots, took us through the forest at full gallop, and in half an hour we were at the covert side. The Emperor was very cheery all the way. He cautioned me not to shoot back for the beaters' sakes, and asked me how many guns I had brought.

'Two only? that's not enough, I will lend you some of mine.'

Arrived at our beat-'Tire de Royallieu,' we found a squadron of dismounted cavalry drawn up in line, ready to commence operations. They were in stable dress, with canvas trousers and spurs to their boots.

Several officers were galloping about giving orders, the whole being under the command of a mounted chief in green uniform and c.o.c.ked hat!

The place of each shooter had been settled by M. de Toulongeon. I, being the only n.o.body of the lot, was put on the extreme outside. The Emperor was in the middle; and although, as I noticed, he made some beautiful shots at rocketers, he was engaged much of the time in talking to ministers who walked behind, or beside, him.

Our servants were already in the places allotted to their masters, and each of us had two keepers to carry spare guns (the Emperor had not forgotten to send me two of his, which I could not shoot with, and never used), and a sergeant with a large card to p.r.i.c.k off each head of game, not as it fell to the gun, but only after it was picked up. This conscientious scoring amused me greatly; for, as it chanced, my bag was a heavy one, and the Emperor's marker sent constant messages to mine to compare notes, and so arrange, as it transpired, to keep His Majesty at the top of the score.

About half-past one we reached a clearing where _dejeuner_ was awaiting us. The scene presented was striking. Around a tent in which every delicacy was spread out were numbers of little charcoal fires, where a still greater number of cooks in white caps and jackets were preparing dainty dishes; while the Imperial footmen bustling about brightened the picture with colour. After coffee all the cards were brought to his Majesty. When he had scanned them, he said to me across the table:

'I congratulate you, Mr. c.o.ke, upon having killed the most.'

My answer was, 'After you, Sir.'

'Yes,' said he, giving his moustache an upward twist, but with perfect gravity, 'I always kill the most.'

Just then the Empress and the whole court drove up. Presently she came into the tent and, addressing her husband, exclaimed:

'Avez-vous bientot fini, vous autres? Ah! que vous etes des gourmands!'

Till the finish, she and the rest walked with the shooters. By four it was over. The total score was 1,387 head. Mine was 182, which included thirty-six partridges, two woodc.o.c.ks, and four roedeer. This, in three and a half hours' shooting, with two muzzle-loaders (breech-loaders were not then in use), was an unusually good bag.

Fashion is capricious. When lunch was over I went to one of the charcoal fires, quite in the background, to light a cigarette. An aide-de-camp immediately pounced upon me, with the information that this was not permitted in company with the Empress. It reminded one at once of the e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n at Oliver Twist's bedside, 'Ladies is present, Mr. Giles.'

After the shooting, I was told to go to tea with the Empress-a terrible ordeal, for one had to face the entire feminine force of the palace, nearly every one of whom, from the highest to the lowest, was provided with her own _cavaliere servente_.

The following night, when we a.s.sembled for dinner, I received orders to sit next to the Empress. This was still more embarra.s.sing. It is true, one does not speak to a sovereign unless one is spoken to; but still one is permitted to make the initiative easy. I found that I was expected to take my share of the task; and by a happy inspiration, introduced the subject of the Prince Imperial, then a child of eight years old. The _mondaine_ Empress was at once merged in the adoring mother; her whole soul was wrapped up in the boy. It was easy enough then to speculate on his career, at least so far as the building of castles in the air for fantasies to roam in. What a future he had before him!-to consolidate the Empire! to perfect the great achievement of his father, and render permanent the foundation of the Napoleonic dynasty! to build a superstructure as transcendent for the glories of Peace, as those of his immortal ancestor had been for War!

It was not difficult to play the game with such court cards in one's hand. Nor was it easy to coin these _phrases de sucrecandi_ without sober and earnest reflections on the import of their contents. What, indeed, might or might not be the consequences to millions, of the wise or unwise or evil development of the life of that bright and handsome little fellow, now trotting around the dessert table, with the long curls tumbling over his velvet jacket, and the flowers in his hand for some pretty lady who was privileged to kiss him? Who could foretell the cruel doom-heedless of such favours and such splendid promises-that awaited the pretty child? Who could hear the brave young soldier's last shrieks of solitary agony? Who could see the forsaken body slashed with knives and a.s.segais? Ah! who could dream of that fond mother's heart, when the end came, which eclipsed even the disasters of a nation!

One by-day, when my wife and I were riding with the Emperor through the forest of Compiegne, a rough-looking man in a blouse, with a red comforter round his neck, sprang out from behind a tree; and before he could be stopped, seized the Emperor's bridle. In an instant the Emperor struck his hand with a heavy hunting stock; and being free, touched his horse with the spur and cantered on. I took particular notice of his features and his demeanour, from the very first moment of the surprise.

Nothing happened but what I have described. The man seemed fierce and reckless. The Emperor showed not the faintest signs of discomposure.

All he said was, turning to my wife, 'Comme il avait l'air sournois, cet homme!' and resumed the conversation at the point where it was interrupted.

Before we had gone a hundred yards I looked back to see what had become of the offender. He was in the hands of two _gens d'armes_, who had been invisible till then.

'Poor devil,' thought I, 'this spells dungeon for you.'

Now, with Kinglake's acrimonious charge of the Emperor's personal cowardice running in my head, I felt that this exhibition of _sang froid_, when taken completely unawares, went far to refute the imputation. What happened later in the day strongly confirmed this opinion.

After dark, about six o'clock, I took a stroll by myself through the town of Compiegne. Coming home, when crossing the bridge below the Palace, I met the Emperor arm-in-arm with Walewski. Not ten minutes afterwards, whom should I stumble upon but the ruffian who had seized the Emperor's bridle? The same red comforter was round his neck, the same wild look was in his face. I turned after he had pa.s.sed, and at the same moment he turned to look at me.

Would this man have been at large but for the Emperor's orders?