Monsieur,
Par ordre de l'Empereur, j'ai l'honneur de vous prévenir que vous êtes
invité, ainsi que Madame Charles Moulton, à passer huit jours au
Palais de Compiègne, du 22 au 29 Novembre.
Des voitures de la Cour vous attendront le 22, à l'arrivée à Compiègne
du train partant de Paris à 2 heures 1/2, pour vous conduire au
Palais.
Agréez, Monsieur, l'assurance de ma considération très distinguée.
_Le Premier Chambellan_.
V'te de Laferrière.
Monsieur,
Madame Charles Moulton.
This gave me plenty of time to order all my dresses, wraps, and everything
else that I needed for this visit of a week to royalty.
[Illustration: THE MAIN FAÇADE--CHÂTEAU DE COMPIÈGNE]
I was obliged to have about twenty dresses, eight day costumes (counting
my traveling suit), the green cloth dress for the hunt, which I was told
was absolutely necessary, seven ball dresses, five gowns for tea. Such a
quantity of boxes and bundles arrived at the house in Paris that
Mademoiselle Wissembourg was in a blue fidget, fussing about, boring me
with silly, unnecessary suggestions, and asking so many useless questions
that I wished her at the bottom of the Red Sea.
A professional packer came to pack our trunks, of which I had seven and
C---- had two; the maid and the valet each had one, making, altogether,
quite a formidable pile of luggage. As we saw it on the wagon driven from
the house, it seemed an absurdly large amount for only a week's visit.
We arrived at the St. Lazare Station at 2.30, as indicated on the
invitation.
We found the Vicomte Walsh (the Chamberlain of the Emperor) waiting to
show the guests where the train was. It would have been rather difficult
not to have seen it, as it was the only one in the station, and was marked
"Extra and Imperial."
There were several large salon carriages with large, comfortable
_fauteuils_, and some tables covered with newspapers and _journaux
illustrés_ to beguile the time. It would take too much time to tell you
the names of all the people I recognized at the station; but in the
carriage with us were the Duke and Duchess Fernan Nuñez, Madame de
Bourgogne (whose husband is Equerry of the Emperor), the two Princes
Murat, Joachim and Achille, Monsieur Davilliers, Count Golz (the German
Ambassador), Baron Haussmann and his daughter, and Mr. de Radowitz of the
German embassy, who immediately stretched himself out contentedly in a
comfortable arm-chair and fell fast asleep.