Domestic Peace | Page 4

them no less lavishly. Possibly the necessity for carrying
plunder in the most portable form made gems the fashion in the army.
A man was not ridiculous then, as he would be now, if his shirt-frill or
his fingers blazed with large diamonds. Murat, an Oriental by nature,
set the example of preposterous luxury to modern soldiers.
The Comte de Gondreville, formerly known as Citizen Malin, whose
elevation had made him famous, having become a Lucullus of the
Conservative Senate, which "conserved" nothing, had postponed an
entertainment in honor of the peace only that he might the better pay
his court to Napoleon by his efforts to eclipse those flatterers who had
been before-hand with him. The ambassadors from all the Powers
friendly with France, with an eye to favors to come, the most important
personages of the Empire, and even a few princes, were at this hour
assembled in the wealthy senator's drawing-rooms. Dancing flagged;
every one was watching for the Emperor, whose presence the Count
had promised his guests. And Napoleon would have kept his word but
for the scene which had broken out that very evening between him and
Josephine--the scene which portended the impending divorce of the
august pair. The report of this incident, at the time kept very secret, but
recorded by history, did not reach the ears of the courtiers, and had no
effect on the gaiety of Comte de Gondreville's party beyond keeping

Napoleon away.
The prettiest women in Paris, eager to be at the Count's on the strength
of mere hearsay, at this moment were a besieging force of luxury,
coquettishness, elegance, and beauty. The financial world, proud of its
riches, challenged the splendor of the generals and high officials of the
Empire, so recently gorged with orders, titles, and honors. These grand
balls were always an opportunity seized upon by wealthy families for
introducing their heiresses to Napoleon's Praetorian Guard, in the
foolish hope of exchanging their splendid fortunes for uncertain favors.
The women who believed themselves strong enough in their beauty
alone came to test their power. There, as elsewhere, amusement was
but a blind. Calm and smiling faces and placid brows covered sordid
interests, expressions of friendship were a lie, and more than one man
was less distrustful of his enemies than of his friends.
These remarks are necessary to explain the incidents of the little
imbroglio which is the subject of this study, and the picture, softened as
it is, of the tone then dominant in Paris drawing-rooms.
"Turn your eyes a little towards the pedestal supporting that
candelabrum--do you see a young lady with her hair drawn back a la
Chinoise!--There, in the corner to the left; she has bluebells in the knot
of chestnut curls which fall in clusters on her head. Do not you see her?
She is so pale you might fancy she was ill, delicate-looking, and very
small; there--now she is turning her head this way; her almond-shaped
blue eyes, so delightfully soft, look as if they were made expressly for
tears. Look, look! She is bending forward to see Madame de
Vaudremont below the crowd of heads in constant motion; the high
head-dresses prevent her having a clear view."
"I see her now, my dear fellow. You had only to say that she had the
whitest skin of all the women here; I should have known whom you
meant. I had noticed her before; she has the loveliest complexion I ever
admired. From hence I defy you to see against her throat the pearls
between the sapphires of her necklace. But she is a prude or a coquette,
for the tucker of her bodice scarcely lets one suspect the beauty of her
bust. What shoulders! what lily-whiteness!"
"Who is she?" asked the first speaker.
"Ah! that I do not know."
"Aristocrat!--Do you want to keep them all to yourself, Montcornet?"

"You of all men to banter me!" replied Montcornet, with a smile. "Do
you think you have a right to insult a poor general like me because,
being a happy rival of Soulanges, you cannot even turn on your heel
without alarming Madame de Vaudremont? Or is it because I came
only a month ago into the Promised Land? How insolent you can be,
you men in office, who sit glued to your chairs while we are dodging
shot and shell! Come, Monsieur le Maitre des Requetes, allow us to
glean in the field of which you can only have precarious possession
from the moment when we evacuate it. The deuce is in it! We have a
right to live! My good friend, if you knew the German women, you
would, I believe, do me a good turn with the Parisian you love best."
"Well, General, since you have vouchsafed to turn your attention