Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino (Afterwards Duchesse de Talleyrand et de Sagan), 1836-1840
nothing of the conflagration which destroyed the _Théâtre Italien_ the
preceding night. The under-manager and four firemen lost their lives.
It is a great catastrophe, and disastrous for poor people like myself
whose only pleasure was the Italian Opera. I feel it quite deeply.
Lady Clanricarde came to lunch with me yesterday, and it was a great
pleasure to see her again. She is very nice, and we talked over "dear,
ever dear England," an inexhaustible subject for me.
In the evening I took Pauline to a ball given by the Duc d'Orléans; it
was charming and delightfully arranged. We went away after supper at
two o'clock in the morning, which was late for me. However, apart from
a bad headache I need not complain of the way in which I got through
my task. Unfortunately there are many others of the kind, and the
prospect of their multiplicity frightens me. I saw nothing noticeable
at the ball except the delicate appearance of the Duchesse d'Orléans,
which unfortunately is not to be explained by any prospect of a child.
I think our excellent Queen looks older, and the Duc de Nemours is
terribly thin. He has grown a beard in the modern style, but so fair
that it is frightful to behold.
_Paris, January 17, 1838._--Yesterday I spent the morning with my
sister in doing what I detest more than anything else--making a full
round of indispensable calls. In the evening I took her to the
Tuileries. The arrangements were most noble and magnificent. She was a
little astonished at the forms of presentation here, and I was more
than usually struck by them.
_Paris, January 23, 1838._--I have caught a cold as a result of
sitting in a draught which blew straight upon my back at a concert
yesterday at the residence of the Duc d'Orléans; this was the only
thing of which to complain at an evening's entertainment where there
was no crowd and where the music was delightful, well chosen, and not
too long.
M. de Talleyrand is very well, except for his legs; their weakness
does not matter so much, but they are becoming painful, especially
the toes of one foot, which are not always their natural colour. This
is an ominous sign. I am very anxious, and so is he; in short, I am
greatly depressed, and everything weighs heavily upon my mind.
_Paris, January 28, 1838._--M. de Talleyrand is not ill, but his mania
for dining out has not agreed with him. Yesterday at Lord Granville's,
when giving his arm to the Princesse de Lieven, he trod upon the folds
of her dress and nearly fell; he did not actually fall, but his knee
gave way, his weak foot turned, and he twisted his big toe. I was
deeply anxious when I saw him come back in this state. What a sad year
it is! The fact is that since last April nothing has gone right, and
if I did not regard all this as a trial and preparation for a better
world, I should be quite disgusted with this one.
_Paris, January 30, 1838._--M. de Talleyrand's foot gives him pain,
and the worst of it is the difficulty of finding out whether the pain
is the result of the sprain or the general weakness of the foot;
otherwise he is calm, with people always about him, and plays his game
of whist every evening.
I was with the Queen this evening, who had received the sad news that
morning of the burning of the palace in Gotha in which her daughter,
Princesse Marie, was living. Princesse Marie nearly lost her life, and
has lost much valuable property, albums, portraits, books, her
diaries, in fact everything. Her diamonds are melted out of the
settings, which are mere lumps of metal; the large stones alone
resisted the heat, and these must be repolished. And then many
precious objects which money cannot replace have gone. This first
cloud which overshadows her young happiness is especially cruel,
because it raises distrust and destroys the sense of future security.
It is a real grief to the Queen, the more so as the shock might have
done the Princess some harm, as she is with child.
_Paris, February 1, 1838._--M. de Talleyrand is anxious about the
state of his leg and the consequent change necessitated in his mode of
life. I wish his foot would get strong enough to allow him to get
into a carriage, but he cannot yet put enough weight upon it to mount.
Want of fresh air and exercise, if this continues, may have serious
consequences. Meanwhile he is not alone for a single moment from ten
o'clock in the morning till after midnight.
Lady Clanricarde came to lunch with me yesterday. In a few days she is
returning to her dear England, of which I think daily with deep
regret. I knew all that I was losing when I left it, and I have at any
rate counted the cost.
_Paris, February 2, 1838._--The state of M. de Talleyrand's leg is
pretty much the same, though it was slightly less swollen yesterday.
He is rather despondent, and, I think, too far-sighted not to realise
all the possible ill-results. I cannot say how despondent I feel and
what a weight is upon my mind.
_Paris, February 3, 1838._--Yesterday was M. de Talleyrand's birthday,
and he is now eighty-four. Fortunately his leg has seemed much better
during the last day or two. This fact was the best birthday present he
could have, or I either.
_Paris, February 5, 1838._--My sister collected some Austrians and
Italians yesterday evening at her house, and engaged a band of
Neapolitan musicians who are here. She got them to sing some of their
national airs, which are very pretty. M. de Talleyrand was carried up
to my sister's rooms, and played his game there. His leg improves in
appearance, but the sprained foot is weak and painful. I do not know
if he will ever be able to walk again. If he could only get into a
carriage! His inability to get fresh air makes me anxious.
He is sad and worried. Strange to say, he has expressed a wish to make
the acquaintance of the Abbé Dupanloup, and has asked me to invite him
to dinner on my birthday. I did so at once. The Abbé at first accepted
and then refused. I suspect the Archbishop's hand in this. I shall see
him to-morrow and get an explanation. When M. de Talleyrand heard that
the Abbé had refused he said: "He has less intelligence than I
thought, for he ought to be anxious to come here for my sake and his
own." These words have impressed me and increased my vexation with the
Abbé's refusal.
_Paris, February 7, 1838._--Yesterday, in spite of the keen cold, I
went to the Archbishop, who was very gracious. He gave me, for St.
Dorothea's Day, my birthday, which was yesterday, a splendid copy of
the _Imitation of Jesus Christ_, and another for M. de Talleyrand; for
my sister a portrait of Leo XII., the Pope who had received his
renunciation, and for Pauline a handsome religious work. He was
greatly surprised and vexed that the Abbé Dupanloup had refused to
dine with us; in short, I came away quite satisfied.
I was still more pleased at the way in which M. de Talleyrand accepted
the Archbishop's present and listened to my account of our
conversation. He would like the Archbishop to use his authority to
induce the Abbé Dupanloup to come here. I cannot help ascribing his
excellent frame of mind to my own feelings in my last illness, and to
the words which I was then able to speak to him. I bless God for the
sign that He has been pleased to send me by His hidden and always
admirable means of working and if to complete this great task I should
have to make a yet greater sacrifice I shall readily do so.
_Paris, February 9, 1838._--M. de Talleyrand went out yesterday for
the first time for a drive, which did him good, or, more correctly,
pleased him. The effects of his sprain are rapidly passing away, but
the same is not true of the general condition of his foot, which is
unsatisfactory. He was carried into the carriage and helped out again,
which was not so difficult as I thought, but this obvious infirmity is
painful to look at--more painful than I can say. Rumours are believed
that the Duchesse d'Orléans is with child; however, I think we shall
have to wait a little before the story can be confirmed.
_Paris, February 10, 1838._--It is said that the quarrel between the
Flahauts and General Baudrand will be settled, but I do not think
permanently.[85] Madame de Flahaut comes to see M. de Talleyrand in
the evenings, and her husband every morning; they are kind and
gracious, as threatened people are.
[85] M. de Flahaut and General Baudrand were in constant rivalry
with one another. They were continually quarrelling about their
official duties in attendance upon the Duc d'Orléans, and in
February 1838 they were intriguing to be sent to the coronation
of Queen Victoria.
M. Royer-Collard, whom I saw yesterday for a moment, was delighted to
find that his speeches the other day had shattered the position which
people wished the Deputies to resume. There was some friction between
us on this occasion. There is too strong a strain of bitterness in his
nature, which sometimes makes him quite mischievous, though he does
not know it.
_Paris, February 11, 1838._--M. de Talleyrand was able to visit Madame
Adélaïde yesterday, the chief event of his day, and therefore of mine.
The event of to-day is the snow, which is falling heavily and
incessantly, and brings us back to the middle of the winter.
The Abbé Dupanloup came to see me yesterday, and paid a long call. I
was quite satisfied with the result, and he will dine with us in a
week.
We also had some people to dinner; the whole of the Albuféra family,
the Thiers, the Flahauts; and some people come in every evening.
_Paris, February 15, 1838._--M. de Talleyrand is very busy with a
small laudatory speech upon M. Reinhard which he proposes to deliver
at the Academy of Moral and Political Science at the beginning of next
month. He is taking trouble with it, and spent several hours over it
yesterday.
The Baudrand and Flahaut business is not yet concluded. Claims,
hesitations, and equivocations have been forthcoming from either side,
with the result that the two rivals have become ridiculously bitter,
and, what is worse, the Prince Royal has been involved.
_Paris, February 23, 1838._--We are still in the midst of cold and
snow.
The Duc de Nemours has had a sore throat, which threatened to become
quinsy, but his indisposition has not postponed any of the Court
festivities, and the day before yesterday he was present at the
Queen's ball.
M. de Talleyrand has a cold and his legs are weak. These are his two
weak points. The former is only a transitory trouble; the other,
though its remote consequences may be serious, is not threatening at
present. Such is the true state of affairs.
_Paris, February 25, 1838._--I was informed early this morning that M.
de Talleyrand was suffering from a kind of suffocation. This was
purely due to outward circumstances, for he had slipped down in his
bed and was practically buried by his vast bedclothes, with the result
that a kind of nightmare was the consequence. I have just left him
sleeping peaceably in an armchair. What I do not like is the fact that
for the last two days he has been more or less feverish, and that he
will eat nothing or very little for fear of increasing the fever. He
is very weak. The absence of Dr. Cruveilhier, who is at Limoges, is
also a trouble, and though I feel no immediate anxiety, I am far from
confident concerning the result of this invalid condition, which seems
to point to a general break-up.
_Paris, March 3, 1838._--In two hours M. de Talleyrand is going to the
Academy in cold and most unpleasant rain; I also fear the effect of
the excitement upon him. There will be a large audience, but no women,
as this Academy will not admit them. I hope that to-day will go off
well, but I wish it were to-morrow.