The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912 | Page 3

of the White House, which he mounted with conscious dignity.
His written speech, nicely folded, he carried in his hand. In Europe
there would have been a crowd of gorgeous chamberlains to receive
him, but here he found a negro, who, on seeing him, hurriedly donned a
coat and, with an encouraging wave of the hand, said: "Come right
along in, sir. I'll let them know you're here, sir." Johan was shown into
a room and waited with patience until the President and Mr. Hamilton
Fish came in. Mr. Grant was dressed in a gray walking-suit and wore a
colored tie; and Mr. Hamilton Fish (Secretary of State) had evidently
just come in from a walk, as his turned-up trousers signified.
Johan read his speech, and the President answered by reading, with
some difficulty, a paper which Mr. Fish handed to him at the last
moment. After this exchange of formalities Johan shook hands with the
President, and without further ceremony he left the room, the door this
time being opened by a white servant in black clothes. Mr. Fish at
parting casually observed that the weather was fine.

I was officially presented on their reception days to the wives of all the
Ministers, and made my visits to the members of the Corps
Diplomatique. We were invited to dinner at the White House--a dinner
given to the Corps Diplomatique. I was taken in by M. de Schlözer, the
German Minister, and sat between him and Sir Edward Thornton (the
English Minister), who sat on the right of Mrs. Grant. We were
opposite to the President. I noticed that he turned his wine-glasses
upside down, to indicate, I suppose, that he did not drink wine during
dinner. Afterward we amused ourselves by walking in the long Blue
Room. The President disappeared with some of the gentlemen to smoke
and was lost to view. The company also faded gradually away. Mrs.
Grant did not seem inclined to gaze on us any longer, and appeared to
be relieved when we shook her outstretched hand and said "Good
night."
A dinner to which we went, given by the Schiskines (the Russian
Minister) in honor of the Grand-Duke Constantine of Russia, was most
delightful. The Grand Duke is very charming, natural, with a sly
twinkle in his mild blue eye. He has a very handsome face, is extremely
musical, and plays the piano with great finesse, having a most
sympathetic touch.
[Illustration: MRS. U.S. GRANT From a photograph taken about 1876,
when she was mistress of the White House.]
[Illustration: SARAH BERNHARDT From a photograph taken at the
time of her visit to Boston.]
After dinner we darned stockings. This sounds queer, but nevertheless
it is true. The Schiskines had just bought a darning-machine. They paid
eighty-six dollars for it; but to darn, one must have holes, and no holes
could be found in a single decent stocking, so they had to cut holes, and
then we darned. The Grand Duke was so enchanted with this darning
that he is going to take a machine home to the Grand Duchess, his
august mother.
The darning done, we had some music. M. de Schlözer improvised on
the piano, and after the Grand Duke had played some Chopin I sang. M.

de Schlözer went through his little antics as advance-courier of my
singing: he screwed the piano-stool to the proper height (he thinks it
must be just so high when I accompany myself); he removed all albums
from sight for fear people might be tempted to glance in them; he
almost snatched fans from the hands of unoffending ladies, fearing they
might use them; no dogs were to be within patting distance, and no
smoking; he turned all the chairs to face the piano so that no one should
turn his back to it. These are all heinous crimes in his eyes. He would,
if he could, have pulled down all the portières and curtains, as he does
in his own house when I sing there. What must people think of him?
You ask me, "What kind of a cook have you?" Don't speak of it--it is a
sore subject! We have the black cook from the White House (so her
certificate says). She is not what our fancy painted her. Neither is the
devil as black as he is painted (I don't know why I associate them in my
mind). We had painted this cook white. I shudder to think how the
White House must have lived in those years when she did the cooking.
Our dinners are simply awful. Although she has carte blanche to
provide anything and everything she wants, our dinners are failures. I
look the fact in the face and blush. Our musical parties are better when
I do the cooking and Johan