so very peculiar. I wrote him a little note, as he was always very
amiable to me and complimentary about Father and Grandpa. This evening
we had a dinner at Julia, Lady Tweeddale's, who is chaperoning her
niece, Sir Robert Peel's daughter.
Tuesday.
I couldn't finish last evening, so take up my letter now at 7 o'clock,
while I am waiting to dress for dinner. It is a quiet dinner at the Miss
Monks'--two cousins, maiden ladies--and I shall wear a high dress, which
is much easier to get into. Our dinner last night was pleasant and
swell--Duke and Duchess of Leeds, Lord and Lady Delawarr, Lord and Lady
Claud Hamilton (she a beauty, with a fine figure; he an attractive
Irishman, son of the Duke of Abercorn) and others. They danced
afterwards, and we stayed till 12 o'clock. The pose of the fast young
married set is not to dance. There is no one to dance with, the Guards
are gone. The Row was lovely this morning, like a May day, everybody
out. I hope to begin to ride again next week. I am in treaty for a very
handsome chestnut, if the man will come down a little in his price.
#Albert Gate#,
February 25, 1885.
We have been to-day to the House of Lords to hear Lord Salisbury speak
and the vote of censure passed. The House was full--the Prince and Duke
of Cambridge there. Lord Salisbury spoke well; very calm, very nasty for
his adversaries, and as he had the beau role he was much applauded. The
defence was weak, the orator feeling evidently that his cause was a bad
one, and the temper of the House against him. I should think Lord
Salisbury would be a most unpleasant adversary, though always perfectly
courteous in manner.
_To J. K._
#Ambassade de France a Londres#,
Monday, March 9, 1885.
This is my week again, Dear Jan, and I will begin to-day.
We are going on in a wildly dissipated manner. Last week was very full.
We went to a very pretty ball given by the Artillery Company of London
to the Prince and Princess. The Duke of Portland, a young fellow, is
colonel of the regiment, and the thing was very well done. Both Prince
and Princess danced several times. The supper was very pretty. When it
was ready everybody made a line all down the ballroom, and then the
procession, with the Princess first and the Duke of Portland, then the
Prince with me and various other Princes and swells, walked down the
long room, the band playing the "British Grenadiers," and all the people
bowing and curtseying. The Royal party supped on a platform and there
were 1,000 people seated at supper at long narrow tables, everyone
looking hard at the Princess.
Thursday, 12th.
I never got any further and never have had time since, but I will begin
this morning and finish my letter this evening. To-day is the first
Drawing-room of the season. As Countess Karolyi doesn't come, I am the
Doyenne, and shall have to go in first, led by Sir Francis Seymour. Mr.
Lowell has asked me to take his presentation. However there is only
Bessie V. R., Eugene's daughter, who is pleased at being presented by an
Ambassadress. She will also see the Diplomatic Corps pass. I wish Jess
were here, and so does Adelaide, who would be so delighted to dress her.
Last night we had a very pleasant dinner at Lady Jersey's. Such a
handsome woman was there, the young Duchess of Montrose. After dinner we
went to the Speaker's reception, which was crowded, but rather
amusing--such funny looking people and such dresses.
I am overrun with artists. There are several French artists of all kinds
here, and I must make them play once, so I have decided upon next Friday
afternoon. It is my day and I shall invite all the musical and
entertaining people I know, as of course they all wish to be heard. One
girl really does play very well on the violin, and wants me very much to
sing with her accompaniment, which, naturally, I shan't, and another
sings, not very remarkably, and a third, Marie Dubois, plays really
beautifully--premier prix du Conservatoire. I will write you all about
it when it is over.
7 o'clock.
Well, we have performed the Drawing-room--it was short, not more than an
hour and a quarter, and I must say very few pretty faces or pretty
dresses--Bessie V. R. looked very well, very distinguished. She followed
directly behind me--even in front of my secretaries' wives, and was the
third lady in the room. There were quite a lot of Princes--Prince and
Princess of Wales, Prince Waldemar of Denmark, Duke and Duchess of
Edinburgh, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar. Mme. de
Bylandt, wife of the Dutch Minister, presented Mme. and Mlle. de Brenen,
Dutch ladies, both mother and daughter handsome and well dressed. The
Princess looked charming in white and gold. The Duchess of Edinburgh had
a dark green velvet train. We all came back here to tea and had various
visitors to look at the dresses, including Baron Pawel-Rammingen,
husband of Princess Frederica of Hanover, who also happened in and was
much amused at finding such an etalage of trains--happily we have
nothing this evening. Next week is the marriage of the Duke of B.'s
daughter. It is to be at Westminster Abbey and very swell, the Prince
and Princess going. There is to be a party Tuesday night, where all her
jewels are to be shown, which they say are splendid. I am sorry not to
go, but we have a dinner and a dance ourselves. I shall go to the
wedding. She is small and quiet--rather shy. I don't know whether one of
those mysterious changes will take place which one sees sometimes after
marriage--coronets and trains do a great deal. I must finish, as I have
of course several notes to answer. I hate it so, when people wait for
answers. I suppose I shall have a fine account of the Inauguration from
Gertrude. I hope the girls have enjoyed it.
_To G. K. S._
#London#,
March 12, 1885.
I went yesterday to say good-bye to Lady R. They are leaving for Bombay,
where he is named Governor. It is for five years; I think I should be
unwilling to go so far, and to such a trying climate, but she seems
plucky enough and will certainly do well.
Francis and I were driving up Constitution Hill yesterday just as the
Queen arrived, so we had a very good look at her. She was in an open
carriage with Princess Beatrice and her fiance, Prince Henry of
Battenberg (such a handsome man), and the usual escort of Life-Guards.
She recognised me perfectly, and always has a gracious bow and smile.
Just before she came one of our English friends who was walking about
with her daughter (a young girl who had never seen the Queen) suddenly
spied me (as mine was the only carriage that was allowed to stand) and
asked me if she and her daughter could get into the carriage with me, as
that would be such a good chance for the girl to see the Queen. I of
course was delighted to have them, as Francis and I were alone, and the
girl saw perfectly. So many English people, except those who go to
Drawing-Rooms, never get a chance to see the Queen at all.
Sunday, March.
We have been to Church this morning at Westminster Abbey, such a
magnificent service. The Dean always gives us seats, and I love the
music, the boys sing very well, and the hymns are grand as they echo
through the fine old church. In every direction there is some historical
souvenir; tombs, old glass windows, tattered flags, crests,--all
England's past. We walked home through Green Park, and it is curious to
notice the absence of equipages--so many English people don't take out
their carriages on Sunday (to rest the horses and let the servants go to
church), again such a striking contrast to Paris, where every kind of
conveyance is out on that day. I think of the little grocer near H. who
goes out every Sunday as soon as it is at all warm with his whole family
and 2 or 3 dogs in his little covered cart. All the "Societe" is out
also; at the big concerts, reviews, races, etc. Sunday is the great
Parisian holiday.
This morning before starting I had my head out of the window on the
other side of the Embassy, looking at the Guards pass on their way to
the little church just behind the Embassy in Knightsbridge. They came
down from the barracks at a swinging pace, a fine body of men, the
sergeants with their canes, and several officers. The band, a very good
one, plays all the time (to-day they marched to the French tune "Le Pere
Victoire"), and takes up its station, always playing, at the door of the
church. They play until the last man files in, then suddenly the music
stops, and the band goes in also. It always interests the French
servants immensely, the two maids had their heads out too, and said to
me just now, "C'est bien beau, Madame, quel dommage que cela ne se passe
pas comme cela chez nous." The service in the Guards' Chapel at
Wellington Barracks is also a fine one, the chapel filled with soldiers,
a mass of red (as one sees only their tunics), and the singing very
good--a little loud sometimes when it is a favourite hymn and all join
in.
_To H. L. K._
#Albert Gate#,
March 13, 1885.
We have had our second "Drawing-room" to-day, and were asked to come in
"demi-deuil," as it was the first time the Queen had received any of the
Corps Diplomatique since the Duke of Albany's death. There are always
more people when the Queen holds the Drawing-room, as it is the only
chance so many of her subjects ever have of seeing her. She rarely comes
to London, and stays only two or three days. She was dressed with her
little closed diamond crown, the blue ribbon of the Garter, and many
diamonds. I thought the black becoming generally.
March 16th.
At our dinner to-day at Lord A.'s Mr. Campbell was next to me, and told
me he was most anxious to be recalled to the French Ambassador, that he
had been his fag at Rugby, and had never seen him since. Of course they
made acquaintance again after dinner, and plunged into all sorts of
recollections of their school days. The other men who were smoking with
them said the talk was most interesting and curious, as their careers in
after life had been so very different. At every turn W. finds someone
who had been at Rugby or Cambridge with him.
_To H. L. K._
April 9, 1885.
This morning it is pouring, so I gave up the Oxford and Cambridge boat
race. W. and Count de Florian started all with light blue rosettes
(Cambridge). W. was on the umpire boat. Cambridge won easily, which was
of course a great pleasure to him (having rowed himself so many years
ago in the Cambridge crew), in the evening. He said he was so much
cheered when he got up to speak--young men standing on chairs to see
him--that he had to wait some time before he could begin. He is
certainly the only foreign Ambassador that ever rowed in the Cambridge
eight. He was quite pleased when he came home, so many old memories of
happy boyish days had been brought back. We talked for some time after
dinner, and recalled all sorts of Cambridge experiences--once when the
Queen came with Prince Albert to Cambridge the students were all
assembled in the court-yard as her carriage drove up. It had been
raining, and the Queen hesitated a moment in getting out, as the ground
was wet and there was mud. Instantly W. had his gown off and on the
ground, the others followed his example, and she walked over a carpet of
silk gowns the few steps she had to make. W. said he had never forgotten
her smile as she bowed and thanked them.
_To J. K._
#The Garth, Bicester#,
Sunday, April 19, 1885.
I believe this is my week, Dear Jan. I am staying here at a queer little
hunting box in Oxfordshire with Hilda Deichmann (nee de Bunsen). It is
literally an enormous stable, with a cottage attached, but they have
added a story and wings and it is the most wonderful-looking place, very
low--but comfortable. W. went off to Paris Sunday, and I came down here
last Saturday with Mimi. He is very fond of the children--a big boy of
11 and a girl of 7--and has enjoyed himself thoroughly. We feel awfully
cut up at Pontecoulant's death. He has been such a good friend to us,
and so completely associated with all our political life. It seems
incredible that a strong man should be carried off like that in 4 days
from a cold. Henrietta will miss him awfully, as, now that we are so
much away he was always there and attending to anything she wanted done.
Of course everyone is talking and speculating about the Anglo-Russian
question. W. thinks the English must fight, and that they will. I think
this government, with Gladstone at its head, will never make up their
minds to fight seriously or in time, judging from the way the Soudan
campaign has been conducted.
We have been driving all over the country, which is charming, flat, but
all grass (Oxfordshire is a regular hunting country), and since three
days the weather has been enchanting. Yesterday we made a lovely
excursion to Blenheim on Deichmann's coach. We picked up 2 neighbours,
nice, pretty English girls, and had a beautiful drive over the downs.
Mimi had never been on a coach before, and was in a wild state of
delight when all four horses galloped up the hills, and they blew the
horns at all the railway stations and passing thro' the villages. I had
forgotten how magnificent Blenheim was. The house is rather dismantled,
as the present Duke has sold all the books and some of the handsomest
pictures, but there are plenty left--Van Dycks, Rubens, etc., and the
rooms and halls are splendid. There were lots of portraits of the Dukes
and Duchesses, from the great Duke down, some curiously like the present
Churchills, particularly the women. When we had finished sauntering
through the house, we drove about the park looking for a shady place to
lunch, and then established ourselves; the horses were taken out, the
lunch basket opened, and we had a very good lunch on the top of the
coach. We drove back through Woodstock and stopped for tea at Dashwood
Park, one of the great places of the country. They gave us tea, with
every variety of toast, cake, and bread that can be imagined, in a
beautiful room as large as a church, opening on a stone terrace, and the
most lovely (English) views of grass meadows and trees, stretching miles
away. There were quantities of family portraits there, too, but we
hadn't time to see them. We got home at 7 o'clock, rather exhausted, but
having had a lovely day.
I began my letter this morning before breakfast and will finish it now.
The children are off to the woods with the German tutor after primroses,
but it is too warm for us--so we shall take a walk after tea. I am very
fond of Hilda Deichmann. She is very clever--knows a great many
things--draws well, paints well, is a good musician, and is womanly and
practical. We fraternised from the first moment. We are going back to
London to-morrow afternoon. Mimi's school begins on Tuesday, and I think
he has had a good outing for the present. I haven't an idea what we
shall do this winter. Perhaps when W. comes back he will have some
plans. With this new Ministry, it is difficult to make any. I am so
afraid of their proposing some beastly measure, like the exile of the
Orleans Princes, or something of that kind to be popular before the
election. The Wales' visit to Ireland seems to be progressing most
delightfully and much more quietly than people thought. He has such
wonderful charm of manner. I should think personal contact with him
would always work wonders. I must stop now or my letter will not go this
afternoon.
_To G. K. S._
May 6, 1885.
We had yesterday a typical London _Season_ evening. We dined at Lady
Vivian's--a large, handsome dinner, everybody rather in a hurry to get
away, as there were two big parties; Lady Derby's in St. James's Place,
and Lady Salisbury's in Arlington Street. We drove down Piccadilly with
much difficulty, getting along very slowly in spite of our "white card,"
but finally did arrive at Lady Derby's. The staircase was a mass of
people struggling to get in, an orchestra playing, and about 1,200
people in rooms that would hold comfortably about half. Of course on
such occasions one doesn't talk. We spoke to our host and hostess, were
carried on by the crowd, made the tour of the rooms and got down again
with much waiting and jostling, as there were two currents coming and
going. However, we did finally get our carriage, and then with many
stops and very slowly, got to Arlington Street, where apparently the
same people were struggling on the staircase, the same orchestra
playing, and just as big a crowd (I should think the whole Conservative
party), for though the house is larger they had invited more people, so
the result was practically the same. We did exactly the same thing,
exchanged a few words with Lady Salisbury, made the tour, and came home.
We were two hours performing these two receptions, but I suppose it was
right to do it once. However, the English certainly enjoy the sight, and
don't mind the waiting. Lady Jersey, who is a grandmother, told me this
afternoon she had bored herself to death last night. "Why did you go?" I
said, "you must know these big political parties by heart." "Oh, I like
the parties," she said; "only I didn't get to either," and then she
explained her evening. She started alone in her carriage at 10 o'clock
for Lady Derby's, was kept waiting an interminable time in Piccadilly,
and when she finally did reach Lady Derby's door, a friendly link-man
advised her not to go in as everybody was coming away, and she would
never get up the stairs, so she turned back and proceeded to Arlington
Street. She had the same crowd, the same long wait, and when she arrived
at Lady Salisbury's the party was over, and no one could possibly get
in. It was then midnight, and she drove home, having passed her whole
evening since 10 o'clock alone in her brougham in Piccadilly.
[Illustration: The Salon of the French Embassy in London, 1891]
May 9, 1885.
This afternoon we have had a conference "sur Racine" in the big
drawing-room. A good many people came and apparently listened, and I
hope it may do the young lady good. Mlle. de B. wishes to get up classes
of French literature for ladies, but I hardly think it will succeed here
in the season; on a bright day no one will shut herself up in a smallish
room to hear about Racine, Moliere, etc. I was amused by one of our
colleagues whom I invited. He refused promptly, "he really couldn't do
that even for me. He hadn't thought about Racine since he left school,
and hadn't felt it a blank in his life." Mlle. de B. did it very well;
she sat on a little platform with a table in front of her, and all the
swells in red and gilt arm-chairs facing her, and looking at her hard.
She was a little nervous at first, but soon got over that, and her
language was good and well chosen, she knew her subject perfectly, and
spoke in a pretty clear voice. This was the invitation:--
MADAME WADDINGTON
SERA CHEZ ELLE
le Samedi, 9 Mai, 2 a 4 heures,
_Mlle. de Bury lira une etude de critique litteraire sur Racine, son
milieu, et sa tragedie de Berenice._
Do you think it would have tempted you? I am afraid Schuyler wouldn't
have come.
_To H. L. K._
#London#,
May, 1885.
We are having most beautiful weather, Dear, and our morning rides are
delightful. If only the Park was a little bigger. We always get a good
gallop on the other side by the Marble Arch, but it is small, and one
goes round and round. When I ride with W. we generally make three or
four turns as fast as we can go, he hates to dawdle. When I ride with
the military attache, or some other friends, we do the Row, and amble up
and down, talking to the people walking as well as the riders. The
children always delight in scampering along on their ponies, and they
certainly begin young. A friend of ours, who has a nice sturdy boy of
about six, was wondering whether he should begin with his child on a
narrow pony, thinking he was still rather young, so he consulted Lady
P., a beautiful rider, and an authority on all matters connected with
riding. "You mustn't begin too early with boys," she said; "one must be
careful; I never put any boy of mine on a horse until he was two years
old."
May 13th.
To-day we have had a very long Drawing-room held by the Queen, which of
course attracts everyone. She rarely stays more than an hour, just long
enough to receive the Corps Diplomatique and the people who have the
entree. The Queen looked very well, merely shook hands with me, but
talked some little time to W., said she had enjoyed her stay at
Aix-les-Bains so much, and that everything had been done to make her
comfortable. I watched her while she was talking and I never saw a smile
make such a difference in a face. Hers is quite beautiful and lights up
her whole face. It was tiring to-day--unending. Lord R. told me there
were 400 presentations, and at the end said about 1,200 people had
passed. They say the Queen is sometimes made sick by the quantity of
people curtseying before her--the constant movement of the people
bending down and rising has the same effect upon her as the waters of
the sea. I can understand it.
The long Drawing-room to-day was a god-send to Lady A.,--one of Lord
C.'s daughters. She is a "debutante," had a very pretty new dress, and
was much excited over her presentation, had started very early with her
mother so as to see the Queen (who stays only a short hour). The early
start and the long waiting in the row of carriages and also the
ante-room, exhausted her absolutely. She was sick and faint; they did
all they could, brought her brandy, put her near an open window--nothing
did any good. She had to retire from the room, go downstairs, have her
dress cut open (there was a knot in the lace and they couldn't unlace
her bodice), and remained extended on a sofa in the hall--train, veil,
feathers, all in a heap. After a rest of two hours, and a cup of tea
(procured with great difficulty, as there is no buffet on these
occasions) she felt better, and her mother hearing from a friend
upstairs, who was "de service," that the Drawing-room was still going
on, was most anxious that the girl should pass, so they arranged her
veil, hair, and feathers as well as they could, tied the bodice of her
dress, and filled in the intervals with some bits of tulle cut from her
veil. She passed, and I don't believe anyone noticed anything wrong with
her dress, and she was so thankful not to have to go through that long
waiting again. It is a most fatiguing day for those who haven't the
entree, as they must sit so long in their carriages in the file.
#Hatfield#, May 30th.
We came down yesterday to this most beautiful old place. A large
Elizabethan castle, standing rather high, with courts and terraces in
every direction. We found Lady Salisbury at her tea-table on the terrace
with a lovely view of park and woods on all sides. Various members of
the family and house-party sauntered up, some of the young ladies in
their habits, having been riding; and some guests having walked up from
the station, which is quite near at the end of the Park. After an hour's
talk Lady Salisbury took me to my room (miles away through the long hall
and up a great staircase), and told me dinner was "easy 8." The room is
large, all panelled in oak which has become almost black with age, an
enormous bed (they have always had their sheets made especially for
these beds for more than 200 years, in Germany I think, as no ordinary
sheets could cover more than half). The beds are very long and almost
square. They would easily hold Brigham Young and all his wives. Do you
remember the picture in Mark Twain? Mine was so high I had to take a
footstool to clamber into it. W.'s room, next, about the same. We went
downstairs at 8.10 and certainly didn't dine until after 8-1/2. We were
about 30 in the great dining-room, a splendid hall with portraits of
Queen Elizabeth (one in fancy dress, most curious with bright red hair),
Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, etc. We played cards in the evening and
broke up rather early. This morning Lady Salisbury showed me the
house--most interesting, full of treasures and memories, a great library
with all sorts of letters from the time of Elizabeth, and in the
drawing-room a vitrine filled with relics of the "Virgin Queen." It was
curious to see her gloves, shoes, hat. I think Lady Salisbury was
somewhat surprised at my interest in these last things, but I told her
she must make allowances for the American, who was not accustomed to old
family traditions and souvenirs of that kind. When I think of our
Revolution, then it seems ages ago to me. We enjoyed our visit
extremely, they are all so nice and simple.