I have received to-day a great visit,--that of my hero, the czar
[Peter the Great]. I think he has very good manners, taking that
expression in the sense of the manners of a person without affectation
or ceremony. He has much judgment; he speaks bad German, but he makes
himself understood without difficulty, and he converses very well. He
is polite to everybody, and is much liked.
He went to Saint-Cyr and saw the old _guenipe_, who keeps herself
completely retired there; no one can say that she has meddled in
the slightest thing; which makes me think that woman has still some
project in her head, though I can't imagine what it can be. She used
to reproach me, and say it was a shame I had no ambition and never
took part in anything, and one day I answered: "If a person had
intrigued a great deal to become Madame, might she not be permitted
to enjoy that title in tranquillity? Imagine that to be my case, and
leave me in peace."