Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
confinement three days before her accession if she did not promise him
a peerage and the post held by Sir Herbert Taylor. She gave him a
pension of three thousand pounds and forbade him the palace. The
mother only comes to see her daughter when she is sent for. The
Duchess of Kent complains bitterly, and is obviously overcome by
vexation; and Caradoc, who had miscalculated his possibilities in that
quarter, has shared in this disgrace and has left England. The young
Queen is full of affection and respect for her uncle, King Leopold,
who did not like Conroy; he used to take the girl's part against her
mother. Melbourne is all-powerful, and adores his young Sovereign. Her
self-possession is incredible. People are quite afraid of her; she
keeps every one in order, and I assure you that everything looks very
different as compared with the old King's time. The Queen wears every
day the Order of the Garter as a medal upon her shoulder, and the
motto upon her arm. She has never grown tall, and therefore wears a
dress with a train even in the morning; she has a distinguished
appearance; her face is charming and her shoulders superb. She issues
her orders as a queen; her will must be obeyed at once and without
contradiction. All the courtiers seem overwhelmed."
_Valençay, August 15, 1837._--I knew Madame de Lieven's taste for
planting herself at Paris, but I did not think it went so far as to
induce her to monopolise the Russian Embassy, and from every point of
view this is a false move; with whatever kindness she may meet in her
present position, which is regarded as neutral and without influence,
an official position would bring her into inextricable difficulties.
_Valençay, August 17, 1837._--The following is an extract from a
letter from Madame de Lieven received yesterday: "For the moment
Conservatism is very fashionable in England. The new House of Commons
will be much better composed than the last; I hope and I believe that
this will produce an agreement with the moderate Tories; they are
prepared for it. I can answer for Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of
Wellington, who are ready to give their help and support for the
moment without any return. If Lord Melbourne accepts he will lose the
support of the Radical Party, and will find himself obliged in a short
time to bring Tories into the Cabinet; but that is the best bargain
open to him, and Lord Melbourne is more inclined to it than his
colleagues. We shall see if he is bold enough to take the step; when I
left him he seemed ready for it. The Queen will not be married or
think of marrying for a year or two at least. You may rely upon the
accuracy of this statement. The Duchess of Kent is a complete
nonentity, and even put somewhat on one side by her daughter. Conroy
dare not appear before the Queen. The Queen is astounding! Most
astounding! With so much power at eighteen, what will she be like at
forty?
"The Clanricardes have quarrelled with the Ministry. She is happy,
because she can now be as Tory as she pleases.
"Diplomacy is in a poor way at London, since you and I are no longer
there. The members look shabby indeed; they seem mere nobodies,
receive no respect, have no position, know no news, ask everybody for
news, and come and whisper a Court affair a fortnight after it is
forgotten. I blush for my late profession.
"Esterhazy has gone to Brussels. This is producing an effect at
London, as it is the first act of recognition to the Belgian royalty;
but from that source Queen Victoria's policy is inspired."
_Valençay, August 20, 1837._--We hear from Paris that the Duc
d'Orléans has a cold and is growing thin. There is some fear of his
lungs, and it is said that he takes too much exercise. It is thought
the exertion of the camp at Compiègne may be too much for him. His
wife is literally adored by the royal family, and by all who come near
her.
I have a charming letter from the Duchess of Gloucester. These old
princesses seem to have been deeply saddened by the death of the late
King.
_Valençay, August 25, 1837._--The King and Queen of the Belgians will
be at London on the 26th of this month--that is, to-morrow. It is
supposed that the King will have full influence over his niece, but
that he will not restore relations between the Duchess of Kent and the
Queen, or go out of his way to spare the former, as he finds their
disunion in accordance with his ideas.
The Princess de Lieven is very angry with her husband, who will not
appear at Havre, where she has arranged to meet him. She is doing her
utmost at St. Petersburg to gain some means of reviving her husband's
spirits, of which, to use her own expression, very little remain. She
repeats that she cannot leave Paris without risking her life. I think
that she has no great desire to meet the poor Prince again. She tells
me that M. Guizot is at Paris, that he comes to see her every day, and
that he drives M. Molé away as soon as he comes in. M. Molé is invited
to the camp at Compiègne from the 1st to the 4th of September, and M.
Guizot from the 5th to the 8th. The whole of France will be invited in
turn.
_Valençay, August 29, 1837._--I had a troublesome day yesterday.
Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde came to us, bringing her daughters and M.
Cuvillier Fleury, tutor to the Duc d'Aumale and a contributor to the
_Journal des Débats_. I had to put myself out and show them
everything, and was very glad when they started back for Beauregard at
nine o'clock in the evening. M. Fleury has left his pupil for the
moment to travel for six weeks, and is contributing articles to the
_Journal des Débats_ about the castles that he visits. There is
nothing so disagreeable as this kind of thing, and he has received a
strong hint here that we do not care to see ourselves in print.
Madame de Sainte-Aldegonde says that the Duchesse d'Orléans is
certainly with child. She also says that Princesse Marie is to marry
Duke Alexander of Würtemberg next October, and will live in France.
M. Mignet, who has been here for two days, tells us no news. He
confines himself to long historical dissertations, which are sometimes
interesting, but generally somewhat pedantic.
Madame de Jaucourt writes that Baron Louis is dying of a stroke of
apoplexy. This has been largely brought on by fretting over the
business of his nephew de Rigny.[77]
[77] _See_ p. 120.
_Valençay, September 2, 1837._--I have a letter from the Duc de
Noailles, who gives me some small news. I never saw any one of
importance stay at home less than he does. At Paris he pays a daily
round of calls, morning and evening, which take up the whole of his
time, and he never refuses an invitation to dinner. In the summer he
goes the round of the country houses and the watering-places, and is
continually making excursions to Paris, as his residence is close at
hand. Barren characters, when they are naturally intelligent, feel a
greater need of change than others; in any case, the consequence is
that he always knows the news. At Paris he keeps it to himself, and
asks more questions than he answers; but when he writes he tells all
that he knows, so that his letters are always pleasant.
I have also a letter from M. Thiers, from Cauterets. He is
izard-hunting with the Basques, of which sport he is very fond,
although the Pyrenees seem to him but poor scenery after the Lake of
Como. He is less anxious about his wife's health, and talks of coming
here for the end of the month, but with all his impedimenta, as he
cannot leave the ladies whom he is escorting. I am not altogether
pleased, but how can I refuse?
It seems that the expedition to Constantine is actually to take place,
and that the Prince Royal will lead it. This campaign seems to me a
very foolish one for the Prince Royal.
I have just read the so-called memoirs of the Chevalier d'Eon, which
are tiresome, improbable, and absurd; the idea in particular that he
could have had a love-affair with the old Queen of England, the
ugliest, the most prudish and austere woman of her time, is too
ridiculous an invention.
_Valençay, September 6, 1837._--The newspapers now say that it is the
Duc de Nemours, and not the Prince Royal, who will command the
expedition to Constantine. This seems to me a better arrangement.
The Princesse de Lieven writes as follows: "There is talk of a double
marriage: the Princesse Marie with Duke Alexander of Würtemberg and
Princesse Clémentine with the eldest son of the reigning Duke of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Here, however, a difficulty appears. The children
of the marriage should be Lutherans, which the Queen does not wish;
and in the case of the first marriage there is also the possible
difficulty that the King of Würtemberg might not give his consent. It
is said that the negotiations, though not broken off, are not far
advanced. I have a letter from my brother which shows me that Orloff
has kept his word. He says that Paris is the only place to suit me,
and that no one protests against it. Now I have only my husband to
think of, and how can he be likely to offer objections as the Court
has raised none? This difficulty is bound to disappear, but not for a
month or six weeks, for my husband will require advices from the
Emperor, and the whole troublesome affair will have to go round
Europe, from Paris to Odessa and from Odessa to Ischl and from Ischl
to Paris. Just think of that!" So much from this great and aged spoilt
child.
_Valençay, September 8, 1837._--The news given us by Madame de
Sainte-Aldegonde was premature. Madame Adélaïde writes to M. de
Talleyrand that the Duchesse d'Orléans is not with child, that the
King will not go to Amboise this year, and that the marriage of the
Princesse Marie with Duke Alexander of Würtemberg is possible, but not
absolutely settled, though negotiations are going on.
_Valençay, September 9, 1837._--I have come back from an excursion to
Châteauvieux and Saint-Aignan which occupied the whole of yesterday
and to-day. I was marvellously well and in high spirits with M.
Royer-Collard, but to-day I feel broken down and miserable. There is
no sense in it; I do not know what does me good or what makes me feel
ill; I suffer from what I think should do me good and recover from
that which should lay me low. I am a very strange little creature. The
doctor tells me every day that it is the result of my nervous,
fantastic, and capricious disposition. What is certain is that I have
fits of cheerfulness, of gaiety, and of sadness; that I look after
myself, or my nerves look after me, very badly; and that I am
exceedingly tired of myself, and to some extent of other people.
_Valençay, September 11, 1837._--What is to be said of the mandate of
the Archbishop of Paris, and of the article in the _Journal des
Débats_ which follows it? The desecration of Sainte-Geneviève is
obvious, and the scandal of the pediment has been felt by all
right-thinking people.[78] In the face of such an enormity it was
difficult for the plaintive voice of the chief pastor not to utter a
cry of pain, and the absence of any protest would have been
blameworthy, in my opinion. But his cry has been uttered with violence
and bitterness, and with none of the apostolic respect for the
feelings of others which it is always wise to keep in view. In M. de
Quélen we shall always have an excellent priest with the courage and
devotion of his convictions, but he will never learn tact, and will
constantly injure his position by his words and his actions. I am
sorry for him, as I am interested in him, and also for the cause of
religion, which is even more wounded by these unhappy events and
Governmental scandals. The want of thought which permitted this
pediment, the obvious hesitation of the Ministry to know whether it