Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 8, No. 50, December, 1861 | Page 8

assigned me. It was on the first--not
the ground--floor, at the end of a long vaulted gallery and in a tower.
There was a deep alcove from the bed,--a window looking down upon
the calm waters of the moat, and giving glimpses, through the trees, of
fields and woods beyond,--a fireplace with a cheerful fire, which had
evidently been kindled the moment my arrival was known,--the
tessellated floor with its waxen gloss,--and the usual furniture of a
French bed-room, a good table and comfortable chairs. A sugar-bowl
filled with sparkling beet sugar, and a decanter of fresh water, on the
mantel-piece, would have shown me, if there had been nothing else to
show it, that I was in France. The General looked round the room to
make sure that all was comfortably arranged for me, and then renewing
his welcome, and telling me that the castle-bell would ring for dinner in
about half an hour, left me to take possession of my quarters and
change my dress.
If I had not been afraid of getting belated, I should have sat down
awhile to collect my thoughts and endeavor to realize where I was. But
as it was, I could do little more than unpack my trunk, arrange my
books and writing-materials on the table, and change my dusty clothes,
before the bell rang. Oh, how that bell sounded through the long
corridor from its watch-tower over the gateway! And how I shrank
back when I found myself on the threshold of the hall and saw the inner
room full! The General must have divined my feelings; for, the moment
he saw me, he came forward to meet me, and, taking me by the arm,
presented me to all the elders of the party in turn. He apparently
supposed, that, with the start I had had in the Rue d'Anjou, I should
make my way among the younger ones myself.
It was a family circle covering three generations: the General, his son

and daughter-in-law and two daughters, and ten grandchildren,--among
whom I was glad to see some of both sexes sufficiently near my own
age to open a very pleasant prospect for me whenever I should have
learnt French enough to feel at home among them. Nor was the
domestic character of the group broken by the presence of a son of
Casimir Périer, who was soon to marry George Lafayette's eldest
daughter, the Count de Ségur, the General's uncle, though but a month
or two his elder, and the Count de Tracy, father of Madame George de
Lafayette, and founder of the French school of Ideology, companions,
both of them, of the General's youth, and, at this serene close of a life
of strange vicissitudes and bitter trials, still his friends. Levasseur, his
secretary, who had accompanied him in his visit to the United States,
with his German wife, a young gentleman whose name I have forgotten,
but who was the private tutor of young Jules de Lasteyrie, and Major
Frye, an English half-pay officer, of whom I shall have a good deal
more to say by-and-by, completed the circle. We formed a long
procession to the dining-room, and I shall never forget how awkward I
felt on finding myself walking, with the General's arm in mine, at the
head of it. There was a certain air of high breeding, of respect for others
founded on self-respect, and a perfect familiarity with all the forms of
society, which relieved me from much of my embarrassment by
making me feel instinctively that nobody would take unpleasant notice
of it. Still, that first dinner was a trial to my nerves, though I do not
remember that the trial interfered with my appetite. It was served, of
course, in courses, beginning with soup and ending with fruit. Most of
the dishes, as I afterwards learned, were the produce of the farm, and
they certainly bore good witness to the farmer's judgment and skill. The
General was a hearty eater, as most Frenchmen are; but he loved to
season his food with conversation, and, much as he relished his meals,
he seemed to relish the pleasant talk between the courses still more. As
I was unable to follow the conversation of the table, I came in for a
large share of the General's attention, who would turn to me every now
and then with something pleasant to say. He had had the consideration,
too, to place one of the young ladies next to me, directly on my right, as
I was on his; and her English, though not perfectly fluent, was fluent
enough to enable us to keep up a lively interlude.
On returning to the drawing-room, the General led me up to a portrait

of my grandfather, and indulged himself for a while in endeavoring