_Saturday, May 12, 1860._
... I congratulate you on having beautiful weather and sunshine. Here it
rains incessantly, and when it is not raining, the heat is full of
humidity. There is a storm in the air, and nervous people like myself
are as comfortable as violin cords near the fire. To complete my
miseries, I am obliged to stay here until the end of the season, which
seems to be far from its close. Now you know all about my plans, and I
should like to have some information about yours, of which I have not
even a suspicion.
An amusing thing happened not long ago. M. Boitelle, prefect of police,
supposed to be the best-informed man in Paris, learned through the
report of his trusty agents that the Minister of State, M. Fould, had
spent the night in the house which he had built in the faubourg Saint
Honoré. Very early next morning he called to see the minister, shook
hands with him warmly, and expressed his interest in what had just
happened. M. Fould explained that the matter concerned one of his sons,
who was carrying on foolishly in England. The blunder continued for some
time, until the prefect of police inquired the name of his successor;
when M. Fould explained that he had given a house-warming in his new
house, and had not cared to take the trouble to return to the
ministerial residence for the night.
The Carlists here are in despair at Montemolin’s dulness. There is no
doubt that he expected Ortega, before his execution, to be overcome by
fear, and to renounce his claims. It would have been nobler on his part
to have hastened his work, so that no one should be shot. There is a
brother living in England who has not abdicated, and who has children.
He is called ----, and married a daughter of the duke de ----. He stole
his wife’s diamonds, and with the proceeds supports a chambermaid of the
aforesaid. This proves him a man of refined taste.
It seems that Lamoricière is already a little tired of all the worries
to which he is subjected in papal territory. Cardinal Antonelli said not
long ago to a foreign minister that he had never met a more
distinguished man than Lamoricière. “I spoke to him of the present
situation, and he suggested at once five or six remedies for the
difficulty; he is so eloquent that, in an hour’s conversation, he
expressed four different opinions on the same question, all of which
were so reasonable that I should have found it embarrassing to make a
choice.”
Every one here is deeply interested in Garibaldi’s expedition, and
apprehension is felt that it will result in a general complication. M.
de Cavour would not, I fancy, be greatly grieved if he should “kick the
bucket” in Sicily; but in case he succeeds, he will become ten times
more dangerous than at present.
You will be astonished, probably, to learn that I am working and writing
as in my good days. When I see you, I shall tell you through what
singular circumstance I have shaken off my traditional idleness. It is
too long a story to write, but it has nothing to do with works for your
perusal. You must read Granier de Cassagnac’s book on the Girondins. It
contains the most curious passages and the most horrible descriptions of
revolutionary massacres and atrocities, all written with intense passion
and fervour.
I received a call a few days ago from M. Feydeau, a very handsome
fellow, but whose vanity seems to me to be too outspoken. He is going to
Spain to complete the work roughly sketched out by Cervantes and Lesage.
He has in view still about thirty novels, the scenes of which are laid
in thirty different countries; this is why he travels.
Good-bye. I think of you constantly in spite of all your faults....