LAbbe Constantin, vol 2 | Page 8

a very
remarkable power.
The most French of our colonies is Canada, which is no longer ours.
The recollection of their first home has been preserved faithfully and
tenderly in the hearts of the emigrants to Montreal and Quebec. Susie
Percival had received from her mother an entirely French education,
and she had brought up her sister in the same love of our country. The
two sisters felt themselves Frenchwomen; still better, Parisians. As
soon as the avalanche of dollars had descended upon them, the same
desire seized them both--to come and live in Paris. They demanded
France as if it had been their fatherland. Mr. Scott made some
opposition.
"If I go away from here," he said, "your incomes will suffer."

"What does that matter?" replied Susie. "We are rich--too rich. Do let
us go. We shall be so happy, so delighted!"
Mr. Scott allowed himself to be persuaded, and, at the beginning of
January, 1880, Susie wrote the following letter to her friend, Katie
Norton, who had lived in Paris for some years:
"Victory! It is decided! Richard has consented. I shall arrive in April,
and become a Frenchwoman again. You offered to undertake all the
preparations for our settlement in Paris. I am horribly presuming-- I
accept! When I arrive in Paris, I should like to be able to enjoy Paris,
and not be obliged to lose my first month in running after upholsterers,
coach-builders, horse-dealers. I should like, on arriving at the railway
station, to find awaiting me my carriage, my coachman, my horses.
That very day I should like you to dine with me at my home. Hire or
buy a mansion, engage the servants, choose the horses, the carriages,
the liveries. I depend entirely upon you. As long as the liveries are blue,
that is the only point. This line is added at the request of Bettina.
"We shall bring only seven persons with us. Richard will have his valet,
Bettina and I two ladies' maids; then there are the two governesses for
the children, and, besides these, two boys, Toby and Bobby, who ride
to perfection. We should never find in Paris such a perfect pair.
"Everything else, people and things, we shall leave in New York. No,
not quite everything; I had for gotten four little ponies, four little gems,
black as ink. We have not the heart to leave them; we shall drive them
in a phaeton; it is delightful. Both Bettina and I drive four-in-hand very
well. Ladies can drive four-in-hand in the Bois very early in the
morning; can't they? Here it is quite possible. Above all, my dear Katie,
do not consider money. Be as extravagant as you like, that is all I ask."
The same day that Mrs. Norton received this letter witnessed the failure
of a certain Garneville. He was a great speculator who had been on a
false scent. Stocks had fallen just when he had expected a rise. This
Garneville had, six weeks before, installed himself in a brand-new
house, which had no other fault than a too startling magnificence. Mrs.
Norton signed an agreement--100,000 francs a year, with the option of
buying house and furniture for 2,000,000 during the first year of

possession. A famous upholsterer undertook to correct and subdue the
exaggerated splendor of a loud and gorgeous luxury. That done, Mrs.
Scott's friend had the good fortune to lay her hand on two of those
eminent artists without whom the routine of a great house can neither
be established nor carried on. The first, a chef of the first rank, who had
just left an ancient mansion of the Faubourg St. Germain, to his great
regret, for he had aristocratic inclinations.
"Never," said he to Mrs. Norton, "never would I have left the service of
Madame la Duchesse if she had kept up her establishment on the same
footing as formerly; but Madame la Duchesse has four children--two
sons who have run through a good deal, and two daughters who will
soon be of an age to marry; they must have their dowries. Therefore,
Madame la Duchesse is obliged to draw in a little, and the house is no
longer important enough for me."
This distinguished character, of course, made his conditions. Though
excessive, they did not alarm Mrs. Norton, who knew that he was a
man of the most serious merit; but he, before deciding, asked
permission to telegraph to New York. He wished to make certain
inquiries. The reply was favorable; he accepted.
The second great artist was a stud-groom of the rarest and highest
capacity, who was just about to retire after having made his fortune. He
consented, however, to organize the stables for Mrs. Scott. It was
thoroughly understood that he should have every liberty in purchasing
the horses,