'But, madame, other gentlemen - '
'Ah! Mais, c'est un enfantillage! Allez-vous-en.'

And the door was slammed in my face.
'Well,' thought I, 'the right woman is in the right place

there, at all events.'
Another little incident at the performance itself also

recalled the days and manners of the court of Louis XV.
Between each tableau, which was lighted solely from the

raised stage, the lights were put out, and the whole room
left in complete darkness. Whenever this happened, the

sounds of immoderate kissing broke out in all directions,
accompanied by little cries of resistance and protestation.

Until then, I had always been under the impression that
humour of this kind was confined to the servants' hall. One

could not help thinking of another court, where things were
managed differently.

But the truth is, these trivial episodes were symptomatic of
a pervading tone. A no inconsiderable portion of the ladies

seemed to an outsider to have been invited for the sake of
their personal charms. After what has just been related, one

could not help fancying that there were some amongst them who
had availed themselves of the privilege which, according to

Tacitus, was claimed by Vistilia before the AEdiles. So far,
however, from any of these noble ladies being banished to the

Isle of Seriphos, they seemed as much attached to the court
as the court to them; and whatever the Roman Emperor might

have done, the Emperor of the French was all that was most
indulgent.

There were two days' shooting, one day's stag hunting, an
expedition to Pierrefonds, and a couple of days spent in

riding and skating. The shooting was very much after the
fashion of that already described at Prince Esterhazy's,

though of a much more Imperial character. As in Hungary, the
game had been driven into coverts cut down to the height of

the waist, with paths thirty to forty yards apart, for the
guns.

The weather was cold, with snow on the ground, but it was a
beautifully sunny day. This was the party: the two

ambassadors, the Prince de la Moskowa, Persigny, Walewski -
Bonaparte's natural son, and the image of his father - the

Marquis de Toulongeon, Master of the Horse, and we three
Englishmen. We met punctually at eleven in the grand saloon.

Here the Emperor joined us, with his cigarette in his mouth,
shook hands with each, and bade us take our places in the

char-a-bancs. Four splendid Normandy greys, with postilions
in the picturesque old costume, glazed hats and huge jack-

boots, took us through the forest at full gallop, and in half
an hour we were at the covert side. The Emperor was very

cheery all the way. He cautioned me not to shoot back for
the beaters' sakes, and asked me how many guns I had brought.

'Two only? that's not enough, I will lend you some of mine.'
Arrived at our beat - 'Tire de Royallieu,' we found a

squadron of dismounted cavalry drawn up in line, ready to
commence operations. They were in stable dress, with canvas

trousers and spurs to their boots. Several officers were
galloping about giving orders, the whole being under the

command of a mounted chief in green uniform and cocked hat!
The place of each shooter had been settled by M. de

Toulongeon. I, being the only Nobody of the lot, was put on
the extreme outside. The Emperor was in the middle; and

although, as I noticed, he made some beautiful shots at
rocketers, he was engaged much of the time in talking to

ministers who walked behind, or beside, him.
Our servants were already in the places allotted to their

masters, and each of us had two keepers to carry spare guns
(the Emperor had not forgotten to send me two of his, which I

could not shoot with, and never used), and a sergeant with a
large card to prick off each head of game, not as it fell to

the gun, but only after it was picked up. This conscientious
scoring amused me greatly; for, as it chanced, my bag was a

heavy one, and the Emperor's marker sent constant messages to
mine to compare notes, and so arrange, as it transpired, to

keep His Majesty at the top of the score.
About half-past one we reached a clearing where DEJEUNER was

awaiting us. The scene presented was striking. Around a
tent in which every delicacy was spread out were numbers of

little charcoal fires, where a still greater number of cooks
in white caps and jackets were preparing dainty dishes; while

the Imperial footmen bustling about brightened the picture
with colour. After coffee all the cards were brought to his

Majesty. When he had scanned them, he said to me across the
table:

'I congratulate you, Mr. Coke, upon having killed the most.'
My answer was, 'After you, Sir.'

'Yes,' said he, giving his moustache an upward twist, but
with perfect gravity, 'I always kill the most.'

Just then the Empress and the whole court drove up.
Presently she came into the tent and, addressing her husband,

exclaimed:
'Avez-vous bientot fini, vous autres? Ah! que vous etes des

gourmands!'
Till the finish, she and the rest walked with the shooters.

By four it was over. The total score was 1,387 head. Mine
was 182, which included thirty-six partridges, two woodcocks,

and four roedeer. This, in three and a half hours' shooting,
with two muzzle-loaders (breech-loaders were not then in

use), was an unusually good bag.
Fashion is capricious. When lunch was over I went to one of

the charcoal fires, quite in the background, to light a
cigarette. An aide-de-camp immediately pounced upon me, with

the information that this was not permitted in company with
the Empress. It reminded one at once of the ejaculation at

Oliver Twist's bedside, 'Ladies is present, Mr. Giles.'
After the shooting, I was told to go to tea with the Empress

- a terrible ordeal, for one had to face the entire feminine
force of the palace, nearly every one of whom, from the

highest to the lowest, was provided with her own CAVALIERE
SERVENTE.

The following night, when we assembled for dinner, I received
orders to sit next to the Empress. This was still more

embarrassing. It is true, one does not speak to a sovereign
unless one is spoken to; but still one is permitted to make

the initiative easy. I found that I was expected to take my
share of the task; and by a happy inspiration, introduced the

subject of the Prince Imperial, then a child of eight years
old. The MONDAINE Empress was at once merged in the adoring

mother; her whole soul was wrapped up in the boy. It was
easy enough then to speculate on his career, at least so far

as the building of castles in the air for fantasies to roam
in. What a future he had before him! - to consolidate the

Empire! to perfect the great achievement of his father, and
render permanent the foundation of the Napoleonic dynasty! to

build a superstructure as transcendent for the glories of
Peace, as those of his immortalancestor had been for War!

It was not difficult to play the game with such court cards
in one's hand. Nor was it easy to coin these PHRASES DE

SUCRECANDI without sober and earnest reflections on the
import of their contents. What, indeed, might or might not

be the consequences to millions, of the wise or unwise or
evil development of the life of that bright and handsome

little fellow, now trotting around the dessert table, with
the long curls tumbling over his velvetjacket, and the

flowers in his hand for some pretty lady who was privileged