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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS
 
 X.\VIER PAOLI. 
 
 [Froitlispiecc.
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 XAVIER PAOLI 
 
 LATE SPECIAL COMMISSAKY ATTACHED TO THE 
 PARIS DETECTIVE-SERVICE 
 
 Translated by 
 ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON 
 
 LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
 
 Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, 
 
 brunswick street, stamford strkbt, s.e., 
 
 and bumoay, suffolk.
 
 J) 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 France has been described by a latter-day 
 historian as the holiday paradise of kings. The 
 predilection shown by foreign potentates for 
 visiting our country lays a heavy and a rather 
 delicate responsibility upon its rulers. The 
 French government has to take measures to 
 ensure the safety of our royal guests and to 
 arrange matters in such a way that a guard is 
 kept around them which is not only constant and 
 watchful, but, at the same time, sufficiently 
 discreet to leave them the illusion of absolute 
 freedom when they visit France incognito, to- 
 gether with the satisfaction of being able to 
 throw off all constraint and mingle unreservedly 
 with the crowd. 
 
 The fulfilment of this responsibility repre- 
 sented my task for five-and-twenty years. My 
 duties began as soon as the government was 
 advised, through diplomatic channels, of the 
 approaching arrival of a sovereign or minor 
 member of a royal house. I would receive from 
 the Ministry of the Interior an official letter of 
 appointment informing me of the place selected 
 by our guest for his stay, the name and title 
 under which he was travelling, the number and 
 
 X ^i /<x * J' -4. —i- <-»
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 quality of the persons who were to accompany 
 him, and the exact time at which the imperial or 
 royal train would enter French territory. Fur- 
 nished with these particulars, I at once packed 
 my trunk and started with my secretaries for the 
 watering-place or other health-resort at which 
 the iUustrious personage was expected. On 
 arriving, I communicated with the prefect of the 
 department, the mayor of the town, and the chief 
 of the local police ; I made minute enquiries con- 
 cerning the people who were likely to come into 
 contact with the royal visitor, especially the 
 servants of the hotel at which he was to stay; I 
 examined their papers and subjected them to an 
 elaborate interrogatory. I next investigated the 
 character of the foreigners living in the neigh- 
 bourhood. Lastly, I studied the topography of 
 the district. Excursions play a considerable 
 part in the holidays of sovereigns. Whether 
 they be young or old, whether they come from 
 the south or from the north, sight-seeing and 
 tripping generally constitute their favourite 
 pastime. From the moment of their arrival to 
 their departure, they enjoy roaming along the 
 roads, in carriages or on foot ; they want to visit 
 every show-place and to explore all the country 
 round about : a king abroad is something hke a 
 schoolboy on his holidays and loves to intoxicate 
 himself with fresh air, with the sense of space and 
 movement. 
 
 I, therefore, considered it very important to 
 know all the walks and drives in the country
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 beforehand : in this way I was able to discover 
 which of them offered any danger, either 
 because of their lonehness and the natural facili- 
 ties which they offered for the laying of an 
 ambuscade, or by reason of the suspicious indi- 
 viduals who were generally to be met there. I 
 was also led to make these preliminary re- 
 searches by a consideration of a purely aesthetic 
 character. I knew how greatly my clients 
 appreciated, from the point of view of their 
 amusements, the disinterested advice of a person 
 already acquainted with the district. I myself, 
 on the other hand, always took a subtle pleasure 
 in concealing from them, as far as possible, the 
 overpowering and often irritating side of my 
 mission. Officially the protector of the kings, I 
 applied my mind to acting as their Baedeker, a 
 Baedeker always open at the page which they 
 wished to consult at the moment. 
 
 When my local enquiries were completed and 
 the main lines of a discreet supervision fixed, 
 when I had nothing more to learn about the 
 people and places around, I set out to meet our 
 guest, went to await his arrival at the frontier- 
 station. I have a very clear recollection of those 
 little railway- stations, often tucked away in some 
 dull country-side, with that special animation of 
 their own and that melancholy aspect, that mys- 
 terious and alarming atmosphere, which our 
 imagination creates for them. How often have 
 I not paced their platforms, peering into the 
 distance, beyond the long ribbon of the railway-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 lines, for the first glimpse of a white lamp and a 
 puff of smoke ! 
 
 As soon as the special train pulled up at the 
 platform, I was asked to step into the royal 
 carriage. The presentation was quickly made, 
 the welcome nearly always friendly; and nearly 
 always the august traveller would say, with a 
 smile : 
 
 " M. Paoli, we have met before." 
 
 I was invited, cordially and simply, to remain 
 in the compartment and made to answer a 
 number of questions about the country through 
 which we were passing and that through which 
 we were about to pass. The ice was broken; 
 from that moment I entered upon my func- 
 tions, which were of a manifold, although not of 
 a fixed character. They were not, as I have 
 explained elsewhere, limited to keeping a constant 
 watch over the royal person; they were summed 
 up more especially in this vaguely comprehensive 
 formula : *' To make our guest's stay in France 
 as agreeable as possible, so that he may take 
 back with him the best impression of our 
 country," a mandate on the political importance 
 of which I need hardly insist. 
 
 I began, therefore, by making enquiries among 
 the persons forming the royal suite as to the 
 sovereign's habits and tastes, not to say his 
 peculiarities and fancies. I strove to forestall 
 his wishes, to spare him the thousand and one 
 little worries which no traveller, not even 
 a king, is wholly able to avoid. I also
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 taxed my ingenuity to ward off the intruders 
 and petitioners — and their name is legion— who 
 always beset the path of sovereign rulers. 
 
 When we reached our destination, the detec- 
 tives in my service whom I had had posted at the 
 railway-station either told me, with a glance, 
 that all was well, or warned me, with a word in 
 my ear, of a possible risk. In this way, I have 
 often, at the last moment and without ever 
 betraying my reason, had occasion respectfully 
 but firmly to beg our guest to alter his route, or 
 else to order the driver of the carriage to take a 
 different road from that which he was supposed 
 to follow. 
 
 Once installed at the hotel, I received daily 
 telegraphic communications from our special 
 provincial commissaries. Sometimes they would 
 inform me of the presence in their department 
 of a dangerous anarchist, who had had the 
 impudence to make some threatening remark 
 about our royal visitor; sometimes they would 
 announce the sudden disappearance of sus- 
 pected strangers; sometimes they advised me of 
 the approaching arrival of some ill-intentioned 
 individual. I took my measures in accordance 
 and handed on the personal descriptions to the 
 local police and gendarmery. Every evening, I 
 dispatched to the Ministry of the Interior a 
 cipher report, in which I set down the smallest 
 incidents of the day. The reports were fre- 
 quently sent to the President of the Republic, 
 who, by this means, was kept informed of the 
 
 ix
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 impressions received by our guest. I was 
 occasionally employed to act as an intermediary 
 between the government and the sovereign, in 
 connection with some wish which the latter may 
 have expressed, or with the settling of some 
 question of international etiquette which did not 
 necessitate a more formal official interference, 
 so that matters were arranged without our having 
 to resort to the solemn and ponderous apparatus 
 of diplomacy. 
 
 As I have shown, my functions were manifold. 
 I frankly admit that the incessant activity which 
 they compelled me to display has been amply 
 rewarded by the interest of the recollections which 
 they left in my mind. For twenty-five years, I 
 have lived in the midst of an ever-changing 
 portrait-gallery of sovereigns; I have had the 
 opportunity of seeing and observing them in 
 the intimacy of their private Uves. During that 
 quarter of a century, I have gathered many im- 
 pressions ; and it is these impressions which I now 
 propose to record. 
 
 Xavier Paoli.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAOE 
 
 Introduction v 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The Empress Elizabeth of Austria .... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 King Alfonso XIII 43 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 The Shah of Persia 77 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Tsar Nicholas II. and the Tsaritsa Alexandra 
 
 Feodorovna • . .115 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The King and Queen of Italy 147 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 George I. King of the Hellenes .... 176 
 
 xi
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 King Edward VII 200 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands . . . 234 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 The late King of the Belgians . . . . 259 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 The English Royal Family 287 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 The King of Cambodia 311 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Queen Victoria 329 
 
 xu
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH OF AUSTRIA 
 
 My reason for first evoking the infinitely 
 fascinating and melancholy image of the Empress 
 Elizabeth of Austria is that she presents a special 
 type among the royal and imperial majesties 
 to whose persons I was attached during their 
 different stays in France; and this both on 
 account of her life, which was one long romance, 
 and of her death, which was a tragedy. 
 
 Hers was a strange, sad soul; and she dis- 
 appeared suddenly, as in a dream of terror. She 
 hovers round my memory crowned with the halo 
 of unhappiness ; and I at once think of her when 
 I take up my pen. 
 
 The first time that I saw her was at Geneva ; and 
 I cannot recall this detail without emotion, for 
 it was at Geneva that she was to die under the 
 assassin's dagger. At the end of August 1895, 
 the government received notice from the French 
 Embassy in Vienna that the Empress was about 
 to visit Aix-les-Bains in Savoy; she was to 
 travel from her palace of Miramar through 
 Italy and Switzerland ; and, as usual, I received 
 my formal letter of appointment from the 
 
 B 1
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Ministry of the Interior, instructing me to go 
 and meet the Empress at the international 
 railway-station at Geneva. The letter was 
 couched in the following terms : — 
 
 "FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 " Ministry of the Interior 
 
 Paris, 29 August, 1895. 
 " The Chief Commissioner of the Detective-service 
 
 " To Monsieur Paoli, special commissary attached to the 
 Criminal Investigation Department. 
 
 " I have the honour to inform you that 
 H.I.M. the Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary, 
 travelling in the strictest incognito under the 
 name of Countess Hohenembs and proceeding to 
 Aix-les-Bains, will arrive at the railway- station 
 at Geneva on the 10th of September 1895 at 
 8.45 a.m. 
 
 " The imperial suite will be composed of the 
 following persons : 
 
 " 1. Countess Irma Sztaray, lady-in-waiting. 
 
 " 2. His Excellency Major-General von Berze- 
 viczy, Oherstallmeister (master of the horse). 
 
 "3. M. Marinaky, Greek reader. 
 
 " 4. Ritter von Feifalick, secretary. 
 
 " 5. Fraulein von Meissel, waiting-woman. 
 
 " 6. Frau von Feifalick, dresser. 
 
 " 7. Five men-servants. 
 
 " The bulk of the imperial luggage, consisting 
 of sixty-three trunks, will be in charge of the 
 footman Melchior Marz, who has been furnished 
 2
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 with a passport and a special permit by the 
 French Embassy in Vienna, and who will precede 
 Her Imperial Majesty by a few hours. I hereby 
 instruct you to ensure the safety of Her Imperial 
 Majesty during her stay in French territory, to 
 take all the necessary measures for this purpose, 
 and also to see that her incognito is scrupulously 
 respected. 
 
 " The Chief Commissioner 
 
 OF THE Detective-service." 
 
 I confess that, when I stepped into the train, 
 I experienced a keen sense of curiosity at the 
 thought that I was soon to find myself in the 
 presence of the lady who was already surrounded 
 by an atmosphere of legend, and who was known 
 as " the wandering Empress." I had been told 
 numerous more or less veracious stories of her 
 restless and romantic life; I had heard that she 
 talked little, that she smiled but rarely, and that 
 she always seemed to be pursuing a distant 
 dream. 
 
 My first impression, however, when I saw 
 her alight from her carriage on the Geneva 
 platform, was very different from that which I 
 was prepared to receive. The Empress, at that 
 time, was fifty-eight years of age. She looked 
 like a girl; she had the figure of a girl, with a 
 girl's lightness and grace of movement. 
 
 Tall and slender, with a touch of stiffness in 
 her bearing, she had a rather fresh-coloured face, 
 deep, dark and extraordinarily lustrous eyes, and 
 
 B2 3
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 a wealth of chestnut hair. I reahzed later that 
 she owed her vivacious colouring to the long walks 
 which she was in the constant habit of taking. 
 She wore a smartly-cut tailor-made dress, all in 
 black, which accentuated the slimness of her 
 wasp-like waist. The beauty of her figure was 
 a matter of which she was frankly vain : she 
 had herself weighed every day. 
 
 I was also struck by the smallness of her hands, 
 the musical intonation of her voice, and the purity 
 with which she expressed herself in French, 
 although she pronounced her words with a 
 slightly guttural accent. 
 
 One disappointment, however, awaited me : 
 my reception was icy cold. In spite of the 
 experience which I had acquired during the 
 exercise of my special functions, it left me 
 disconcerted. My feeling of discomfort was still 
 further increased when, on reaching Aix-les- 
 Bains, General von Berzeviczy, whom I had asked 
 for an interview in order to arrange for the 
 organization of my department, answered, curtly : 
 
 " We sha'n't want anybody." 
 
 These four words, beyond a doubt, constituted 
 a formal dismissal, an invitation both clear 
 and concise to take the first train back to Paris. 
 My position became one of singular embarrass- 
 ment. Invested with a confidential mission, I 
 began by inspiring distrust in the very persons 
 to whom this mission was addressed ; charged to 
 watch and remove " suspects," I myself appeared 
 to be more suspected than any ! 
 4
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 Nevertheless, I resolved that I would not be 
 denied. I organized my service without the 
 knowledge of our guests. Every morning, I 
 returned to see General von Berzeviczy. Avoiding 
 any allusion to the real object of my visit, I did 
 my best to overcome his coldness. The general 
 was a very kind man at heart, and a charming 
 talker. I told him the gossip of the day, 
 the news from Paris, the tittle-tattle of Aix. 
 I advised excursions, mentioned the curiosities 
 worth seeing, conscientiously fulfilled my part 
 of Baedeker . . . and, when I carelessly questioned 
 the general about the Empress's intentions as 
 to the employment of her day, he forgot him- 
 self to the extent of telling me. This was all 
 that I wanted to achieve. 
 
 In a week's time, we were the best of friends. 
 The Empress had condescended to appreciate 
 my attention in daily covering her table with 
 newspapers and reviews. She gradually became 
 accustomed to seeing me appear just in time to 
 forestall her wishes. The game was won; and, 
 when, later, curious to know the cause of what 
 appeared to me to have been a misunderstanding, 
 I asked General von Berzeviczy to explain 
 the cause of his disappointing reception, he 
 replied : 
 
 " It was simply because, when we go abroad, 
 they generally send us officials who, under the 
 pretence of protecting us, terrorize us. They 
 appear to us like Banquo's ghost, with long 
 faces and rolling eyes ; they see assassins on every 
 
 5
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 side; they poison and embitter our holidays. 
 That is why you struck us at first as suspicious." 
 
 " And now ? " 
 
 " Now," he answered, with a smile, " the 
 experiment has been made. You have for- 
 tunately broken with a bad tradition. In your 
 case, we forget the official and remember only 
 the friend." 
 
 In the course of the three visits which the 
 Empress Elizabeth paid to France between 1895 
 and 1898, I had every opportunity of study- 
 ing in the intimacy of its daily life that little 
 wandering court swayed by the melancholy and 
 alluring figure of its sovereign. She led an 
 active and solitary existence. Rising, winter and 
 summer, at five o'clock, she began by taking a 
 warm bath in distilled water, followed by electric 
 massage, after which, even though it were still 
 dark, she would go out into the air, without 
 informing her suite. 
 
 Clad in a black-serge gown of so simple a 
 character that no well-to-do tradeswoman would 
 have cared to be seen in it, laced boots and, on 
 her head, either a plain black mantilla or a straw 
 hat also trimmed with black, she walked at a 
 smart pace along the paths of the garden, or, 
 if it were raining, perambulated the long passages 
 that run out of the halls or " lounges " of most 
 hotels. Sometimes, she would venture on the 
 roads and look for a fine site — by preference, the 
 6
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 top of a rock — from which she loved to watch the 
 sunrise. 
 
 She returned at seven o'clock and breakfasted 
 lightly on a cup of tea, with a single biscuit. 
 She then disappeared into her apartments and 
 devoted two hours to her toilet. 
 
 Her second meal was taken at eleven and 
 consisted of a cup of clear soup, an egg, and one 
 or two glasses of meat- juice, extracted every 
 morning from several pounds of fillet of beef 
 by means of a special apparatus that accom- 
 panied her on her travels. She also tasted a 
 light dish or two, with a preference for sweets. 
 Immediately after lunch, she went out again, 
 accompanied, this time, by her Greek reader. 
 
 This Greek reader was a very important 
 person. He formed one of the suite on every 
 journey. Selected from among the young 
 scholars of the University of Athens and often 
 appointed by the Greek government, he was 
 changed year by year. I, for my part, have 
 known three different readers. Their duties 
 consisted in talking with the Empress in the 
 Greek language, ancient and modern, both of 
 which she spoke with equal facility. 
 
 This might have seemed a quaint fancy, 
 but it was explained as soon as the Em- 
 press's mental condition was better known. 
 Ever haunted by a melancholy past, romantic 
 by temperament and poetic by instinct, she had 
 sought a refuge in literature and the arts. Greece 
 personified in her imagination the land of beauty 
 
 7
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 which her dreams incessantly evoked; she had 
 a passionate love for antiquity, loved its artists 
 and its poets ; she wished to be able, everywhere 
 and at all times, when the obsession of her 
 sad memories became too intense, to escape 
 from the pitiless phantoms that pursued her and, 
 in some way, to isolate her thoughts from the 
 realities of life. The scholarly conversation of 
 the young Greek savant made this effort easier 
 for her; in the varied and picturesque surround- 
 ings which her aesthetic tastes demanded, she 
 took Homer and Plato for her companions; and 
 thus to the delight of the eyes was added the 
 most delicate satisfaction of the mind. 
 
 The Greek reader, therefore, was the faithful 
 companion of her afternoon walks, which lasted 
 until dusk; and the Empress often covered a 
 distance of fifteen to twenty miles on end. 
 Dressed as in the morning and always in black, 
 she carried, whatever the weather might be, an 
 en cas and a fan. For twenty years, she had 
 obstinately refused to allow herself to be photo- 
 graphed ; she dreaded the indiscretion of amateur 
 photographers; and no sooner did she perceive 
 a camera aimed in her direction than she quickly 
 unfurled her black feather fan and modestly 
 concealed her features, leaving nothing visible 
 but her great, wide, never-to-be-forgotten eyes, 
 which still retained all the splendour and fire of 
 youth. 
 
 The young Greek's duties, however, were not 
 confined to talking to the Empress on her walks. 
 8
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 Sometimes the reader would read. Carrying a 
 book which Her Imperial Majesty had selected 
 beforehand, he read a few chapters to her during 
 the rests by the roadside, on the mountain-tops, 
 or at the deserted edge of the sea. Later, he 
 added the daily budget of cuttings from the 
 newspapers and reviews which I prepared for her, 
 knowing the interest which she took in the 
 current events of the day. 
 
 He also carried on his arm a dark garment, a 
 skirt, to be exact. The Empress had the habit, 
 in the course of her long walks, of changing the 
 skirt in which she had started for one made of a 
 lighter material. It was a question of health 
 and comfort. This little change of attire was 
 effected in the most primitive fashion. The 
 Empress would disappear behind a rock or a 
 tree, while the reader, accustomed to this rapid 
 and discreet proceeding, waited in the road, 
 taking care to look the other way. The Empress 
 handed him the skirt which she had cast off ; and 
 the walk was resumed. 
 
 On returning to the hotel, she made a frugal 
 dinner, consisting sometimes merely of a bowl of 
 iced milk and some raw eggs washed down with 
 a glass of Tokay, the whole forming an almost 
 savage dietary to which she had forced herself, 
 in order to preserve the slimness of figure which 
 she prized so highly. 
 
 She took all her meals alone, in a private room, 
 and seldom passed the evening with her suite. 
 Its members hardly ever saw her; sometimes 
 
 9
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the lady-in-waiting spent day after day without 
 setting eyes on her imperial mistress. 
 
 Of the different places in France which Her 
 Imperial Majesty visited, the one which she loved 
 above all others was Cap Martin, the promontory 
 which separates the Bay of Monaco from that of 
 Mentone. She came here for three years in 
 succession, and returned to it each time with 
 renewed pleasure. The softness of the climate, 
 the wild beauty of the views, the splendour of 
 the luxurious vegetation, and the poetic solitude 
 of the pine-forests and orange-groves reminded 
 her of her property of Achilleon in the island of 
 Corfu and of her palace of Miramar on the 
 shores of the Adriatic. She felt more at ease 
 here than anywhere else; and here she created 
 a charming home for herself. She selected as 
 her residence the enormous hotel that stands at 
 the end of the point, among the tall pines, the 
 fields of rosemary, the clusters of myrtle and 
 arbutus. The building, intended for the sojourn 
 of princes and millionaires, combined something of 
 the palace with something of the monastery. One 
 could imagine, in fact, that a sovereign would 
 love to have a retreat all to himself in 
 that blue setting; and a community of monks 
 also would have been extraordinarily happy in 
 that solitude made for meditation and hope. 
 
 The hotel, which had been open to visitors 
 for only about a year, was hardly known at the 
 time when the Empress first went there in search 
 of retirement and repose. It was recommended 
 10
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 to her by the Empress Eugenie, who had stayed 
 there while the Villa Cyrnos was being built; 
 the poor Tsarevitch George, who was already 
 attacked by the illness of which he was to die, 
 had also lived in it for a short time. 
 
 The Empress Elizabeth occupied the ground- 
 floor of the right wing, where she had a suite of 
 six rooms on a corridor separated by a heavy 
 red-velvet hanging from the public lounge. The 
 windows opened on a terrace from which the 
 eye took in the wonderful view extending from 
 the picturesque houses rising in stages on the 
 peninsula of Monaco to the verdant point of 
 Bordighera, strewn with bright-coloured villas. 
 Beyond the sunny coast-line and its rocky 
 rampart, the immensity of the sea stretched its 
 blue expanse, bathed in radiant light and covered 
 with fleeting white sails, which the Empress loved 
 to follow with her gaze until they disappeared 
 below the horizon. 
 
 The furniture of the imperial apartments was 
 marked by extreme simplicity combined with 
 perfect taste, most of the pieces being of English 
 workmanship. Her bedroom was just the 
 ordinary hotel bedroom, with a brass bedstead 
 surmounted by a mosquito-net, a mahogany 
 dressing-table, and a few etchings hanging on the 
 walls. On the other hand, the management 
 had placed beside the bed, at her request, a 
 set of electric bell-pushes distinguished by their 
 colours — white, yellow, green and blue — which 
 enabled her to summon that person of her suite 
 
 11
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 whose presence she required, without having to 
 disturb the others. She made it a rule to give 
 as httle trouble as possible; and, when, by 
 chance, she had a request to make of one of the 
 strange servants, she never addressed them but 
 in terms of the most exquisite politeness. This 
 happened but rarely, for her service was per- 
 formed exclusively by her own two women, Frau 
 von Feifalick and Fraulein von Meissel. 
 
 She was not at all difficult to please, although she 
 certainly drove her love of cleanliness to an extreme 
 pitch. In particular, she could not bear to have 
 water, even for the purpose of her toilet, brought 
 to her in any other vessel than glass-stoppered 
 bottles. Her homeliness, it is true, proceeded 
 less from an innate taste than from the severe 
 discipline which she exercised over her habits. 
 Thus she never slept on any but a hard mattress, 
 a fact which one would have scarcely suspected 
 from the aristocratic daintiness of her person. 
 
 In addition to the ground-floor, one other room 
 was reserved for her on every Sunday during her 
 visits. This was the billiard-room, which, on 
 that day, was transformed into a chapel. When 
 the Empress came to the Cap Martin Hotel for 
 the first time, she enquired after a church, for 
 she was very religious. There was none in the 
 immediate neighbourhood : to hear mass, one 
 had to go to the village of Roquebrune, the 
 parish to which Cap Martin belongs. The 
 Empress then decided to improvise a chapel in 
 the hotel itself, and, for this purpose, selected the 
 12
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 billiard-room, to which she could repair without 
 attracting attention. But the rites of the Church 
 require that every room in which mass is said 
 should first be consecrated; and none save the 
 bishop of the diocese is qualified to perform 
 the consecration. A ceremony of this kind 
 in an hotel billiard-room would have been 
 rather embarrassing. The difficulty was over- 
 come in a curious and unexpected manner. 
 There is an old rule by virtue of which the great 
 dignitaries of the religious Order of Malta enjoy 
 the privilege of consecrating any room in which 
 they drop their cloak. It was remembered that 
 General von Berzeviczy, the Empress's chamber- 
 lain, occupied one of the highest ranks in the knight- 
 hood of Malta. He was, therefore, asked to drop 
 his cloak in the billiard-room. Thenceforward, 
 every Sunday morning, the Empress's footman 
 put up a portable altar in front of the tall oak 
 chimney-piece; he arranged a number of gilt 
 chairs before it; and the old rector of Roque- 
 brune came and said mass, served by a little 
 acolyte, to whom the lady-in-waiting handed a 
 gold coin when he went away. 
 
 The Empress, in fact, was extremely generous ; 
 and her generosity adopted the most delicate 
 forms. Herself so sad, she wished to see none 
 but happy faces about her. And so she 
 always distributed lavish gratuities to all who 
 served her; and she succoured all the poor of 
 the country-side. Whenever, in the course of 
 her walks, she saw some humble cottage hidden 
 
 13
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 in the mountain among the olive-trees, she 
 entered it, talked to the peasants, took the little 
 children on her knees, and, as she feared lest the 
 sudden offer of a sum of money might offend 
 those whom she was anxious to assist, she 
 employed the most charming subterfuges. She 
 would ask leave to taste their fruit, paying for it 
 royally ... or else buying several quarts of milk, 
 or dozens of eggs, which she would tell them to 
 bring to the hotel next day. The good people 
 were not aware of their customer's station : they 
 took her for a rich foreigner who had had troubles 
 of her own and who felt for the poverty of others ; 
 and often, at break of day, some of them would 
 come down from the mountain with bunches of 
 wild flowers, which they handed to the porter of 
 the hotel for " the lady in black." 
 
 She ended, of course, by knowing all the walks 
 at Cap Martin and the neighbourhood. She 
 set out each morning with her faithful tramping- 
 companion, the Greek reader. Sometimes she 
 would go along the rocks on the shore, sometimes 
 wend her way through the woods, sometimes she 
 would climb the steep hills, scrambling " up to 
 the goats," as the herds say. She never men- 
 tioned the destination or the direction of her 
 excursions, a thing which troubled me greatly, 
 notwithstanding that I had had the whole 
 district searched and explored beforehand. How 
 was I to look after her ? 
 
 " Set your mind at rest, my dear M. Paoli," 
 she used to say, laughing. " Nothing will happen 
 14
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 to me : what would you have them do to a poor 
 woman ? Besides, not one of us is more than 
 the petal of a poppy, or a ripple on the water ! " 
 
 Nevertheless, I was far from easy, the more so as 
 she obstinately refused to let one of my men follow 
 her, even at a distance. One evening, however, 
 having heard that some Italian navvies, who were 
 at work on the Mentone Road, had spoken in 
 threatening terms of the crowned heads who are 
 in the habit of visiting that part of the country, 
 I begged the Empress to be pleased not to go in 
 that direction and was promptly snubbed for my 
 pains : 
 
 " More of your fears ! " she replied. " I 
 repeat, I am not afraid of them . . . and I make no 
 promise." 
 
 I was determined. I redoubled my super- 
 vision and resolved to send one of my Corsican 
 detectives, fully armed, disguised and got up 
 as a navvy, with instructions to mix with the 
 Italians who were breaking stones on the road. 
 He rigged himself out in a canvas jacket and 
 a pair of corduroy trousers, and made up his 
 face to perfection. Speaking Italian fluently, he 
 diverted all suspicion on the part of his mates, 
 who took him for a newly-arrived fellow-country- 
 man of their own. 
 
 He was there, lynx-eyed, with ears pricked up, 
 doing his best to break a few stones, when 
 suddenly a figure which he at once recognized 
 appeared at a turn in the road. The night was 
 beginning to fall : the Empress, accompanied by 
 
 15
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 her reader, was on her way back to Cap Martin. 
 Bending over his heap of stones, the sham navvy 
 waited rather anxiously. When the Empress 
 reached the group of road-menders, she stopped, 
 hesitated a moment and then, noticing my man, 
 doubtless because he looked the oldest, she went 
 up to him and said, kindly : 
 
 " Is that hard work you're doing, my good 
 man ? " 
 
 Not daring to raise his head, he stammered a 
 few words in Italian. 
 
 " Don't you speak French ? " 
 " No, signora.''' 
 " Have you any children ? " 
 '' Si, signora.'^ 
 
 '* Then take this for them," slipping a louis 
 into his hand. " Tell them that it comes from a 
 lady who is very fond of children." 
 And the Empress walked away. 
 That same evening, seeing me at the hotel, she 
 came up to me with laughing eyes : 
 
 " Well, M. Paoli, you may scold me, if you like. 
 I have been disobedient. I went along the 
 Mentone Road to-day and I talked to a navvy." 
 It was my faithful Corsican. 
 Sometimes, she ventured beyond the radius 
 of her usual walks. For instance, one afternoon, 
 she sent for me on returning from a morning 
 excursion : 
 
 " M. Paoli, you must be my escort to-day. 
 You shall take me to the Casino at Monte Carlo : 
 I have never been there. I must really, for 
 16
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 once in my life, see what a gambling-room is 
 like." 
 
 Off we went : the Empress, Countess Sztaray 
 and I. It was decided that we should go 
 by train. We climbed into a first-class carriage 
 in which two English ladies were already seated. 
 The Empress, thoroughly enjoying her incognito, 
 sat down beside them. At Monte Carlo, we 
 made straight for the Casino and walked into 
 the roulette-room. The august visitor, who 
 had slipped through the crowd of punters leaning 
 over the tables, followed each roll of the ball with 
 her eyes, looking as pleased and astonished as 
 a child with a new toy. Suddenly she took a 
 five-franc piece from her hand-bag : 
 
 " Let me see if I have any luck," she said to us. 
 " I believe in number 33." 
 
 She put the big coin on number 33 en plein. At 
 the first spin of the wheel, it lost. She put on 
 another and lost again. The third time, number 
 33 turned up. The croupier pushed 175 francs 
 across to her with his rake. She gathered it up 
 and then, turning gaily to us, said : 
 
 " Let us go away quickly. I have never made 
 so much money in my life." 
 
 And she dragged us from the Casino. 
 
 Whenever she went to Monte Carlo, she 
 
 always took tea at Rumpelmayer's, the famous 
 
 Viennese confectioner's, for, as I have already 
 
 hinted, she adored pastry and sweets. The 
 
 Rumpelmayer establishments at Mentone, Nice 
 
 and Monte Carlo were well aware of the identity 
 c 17
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 of this regular customer ; but she had asked them 
 not to betray her incognito. When there were 
 many people in the shop, she would sit down at a 
 little table near the counter; and nobody would 
 have suspected that the simple, comely lady in 
 black, who talked so familiarly with the girls in 
 the pay-box and at the counter, was none other 
 than Elizabeth Empress of Austria, Queen of 
 Hungary. 
 
 At other times, she would walk out on the 
 pretty Beaulieu Road, edged with villas whose 
 flower-gardens were a subject of perpetual delight 
 to her. Here she was constantly followed by 
 those little curly-haired Italian boys who go about 
 selling plaster statuettes. The sight of them 
 moved her compassionate heart to pity : 
 
 " They are unhappy before their time," she 
 would explain, as though in self -excuse. " Why 
 not give them a trifling pleasure, when it costs so 
 little ? " 
 
 And she always bought their wares. The 
 small Italians, of course, were overjoyed at this 
 windfall, all the more as they were allowed to keep 
 their statuettes, which they hastened to dispose 
 of anew. 
 
 She also often went to Nice. Nevertheless, 
 she preferred to the frequented roads those steep 
 and secluded paths which clamber up the heights. 
 Just at the back of Monte Carlo stands a very 
 precipitous mountain of rocks : it is crowned by 
 a fort of the first importance, known as the Fort 
 de Mont-Angel and overlooking the long chain 
 18
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 of the Alps. It is reached by a road seven miles 
 long, built by the corps of engineers, and affords 
 a glorious view of the mountains and the sea. 
 
 One day, the Empress said to me : 
 
 " May we visit the fort ? I should like to see 
 it. If you will do what is necessary, we will go 
 there the day after to-morrow." 
 
 Admission to the fort was prohibited to the 
 public. I therefore informed General Gebhardt, 
 at that time Governor of Nice, of Her Majesty's 
 wishes. The general, anxious to be polite, not 
 only hastened to give the desired authorization, 
 but sent orders to Captain Giacobbi, commanding 
 the fort, to look out for the Empress's arrival, 
 so that he might show her round. 
 
 Unfortunately, the Empress forgot her inten- 
 tion. The poor captain dared not leave his fort, 
 as he expected to see her arrive at any moment. 
 Days passed, days and weeks. His wife and 
 children, who lived at Nice, were heart-broken 
 at never seeing him. At the end of two months, 
 unable to bear the separation any longer, he 
 wrote and told me of his unhappy position. I 
 decided to mention the matter to the Empress. 
 Deeply distressed, she told the Emperor, who had 
 just arrived. He at once asked General Geb- 
 hardt to countermand the captain's orders, and 
 sent him the Cross of Francis Joseph by way of 
 compensation. 
 
 C2 19
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 The Emperor joined the Empress on three 
 occasions during her visits to Cap Martin. The 
 event naturally created a diversion in the mono- 
 tony of our sojourn. Though travelling in- 
 cognito as Count Hohenembs, he was accompanied 
 by a fairly numerous suite, whose presence 
 added great animation to our little colony. 
 I had, of course, to redouble my measures of 
 protection and to send to Paris for an additional 
 force of detective-inspectors. A telegraphic 
 apparatus was installed at the hotel, to enable the 
 sovereign to communicate direct with Vienna; 
 and a gang of upholsterers busied themselves with 
 decorating the apartments destined for his use 
 and situated above those of the Empress. 
 
 Francis Joseph generally spent a fortnight with 
 his consort. I thus had the opportunity of observ- 
 ing the touching affection which they displayed 
 towards each other, notwithstanding the gossip of 
 which certain sections of the press have made 
 themselves the complacent echo. Nothing could 
 be simpler or more charming than their meetings. 
 As soon as the train stopped at Mentone Station, 
 where the Empress went to wait its arrival, 
 accompanied by her whole suite, in addition to the 
 Austrian Consul, the Prefect of the Alpes-Mari- 
 times, the Mayor of Mentone and myself, the 
 Emperor sprang lightly to the platform and 
 hastened, bare-headed, to the Empress, whom he 
 kissed on both cheeks. His expressive face, 
 20
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 framed in white whiskers, Ht up with a kindly 
 smile. He tucked the Empress's arm under his 
 own and, with exquisite politeness, addressed a 
 few gracious words to each of us individually. 
 
 During the Emperor's stay, the Empress 
 emerged for a little while from her state of timid 
 isolation. They walked or drove together, and 
 received visits from the princes staying on the 
 Cote d'Azur or passing through, notably Edward 
 VII., then Prince of Wales, the Archduke Regnier, 
 the then Tsarevitch, the Prince of Monaco, the 
 King and Q.ueen of Saxony, and the Grand-duke 
 Michael. Sometimes they would call on the late 
 Queen of England, at that time installed at Cimiez, 
 or on the Empress Eugenie, their next neighbour. 
 It was like a miniature copy of the court of 
 Vienna, transferred to Cap Martin. 
 
 Francis Joseph, faithful to his habits, rose at 
 five o'clock in the morning and worked with his 
 secretaries. At half-past six, he stopped to take 
 a cup of coffee, and then closeted himself once 
 more in his study until ten. The wires were kept 
 working almost incessantly between Cap Martin 
 and Vienna : as many as eighty telegrams have 
 been known to be dispatched and received in the 
 course of a single morning. From ten to twelve, 
 the Emperor strolled in the gardens with the 
 Empress. Seen from a distance, they might 
 have been taken for a honeymoon couple, so 
 young did they both appear : she willowy, dainty 
 and fragile; he thin, brisk and elegant, having 
 retained the youthful figure of a cavalry subaltern, 
 
 21
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 which was accentuated by the cut of his blue- 
 serge suit and his knack of perching his black-felt 
 hat a little on one ear. 
 
 The Empress usually lunched alone, on account of 
 her special diet ; on the other hand, she often dined 
 at the imperial table. The dinners were marked 
 by a certain amount of formality. The Emperor 
 and the members of his suite sat down in evening- 
 dress and decorations; the ladies in low-necked 
 gowns. Francis Joseph drank nothing but dark 
 lager beer, and, after dinner, lit a cigarette in a 
 paper holder, which he subsequently threw away. 
 On rising from table, the Emperor and Empress 
 held a circle for a few minutes and then 
 retired to their apartments. The two suites, on 
 the other hand, stayed behind to chat; and, in 
 this cosmopolitan frame provided by the hotel 
 lounge, we were given a picture of the imperial 
 ante-rooms at Schonbrunn. Groups formed 
 among the wicker tea-tables and rocking-chairs. 
 Here, Prince Lichtenstein, master of the horse, and 
 Count Paar, principal aide-de-camp, laughed and 
 talked with the ever-charming Baroness Miczi 
 Sennyey, one of the prettiest women at the court 
 of Vienna. A little farther, General von Berzeviczy 
 sat talking with Dr. Kerzl, the Emperor's physi- 
 cian, while, near them. Countess Emsidel chatted 
 with Chevalier Claudi, the travelling equerry, and 
 Baron Weber von Ebenhoff and Baron Braun, the 
 Emperor's private secretaries. 
 
 Francis Joseph often had General Gebhardt, 
 the Governor of Nice, to dinner, and generally 
 22
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 took a keen interest in military affairs. When 
 he went to Mentone to return the visit which 
 President Faure had paid him at Cap Martin, the 
 French government sent a regiment of cuiras- 
 siers from Lyons to salute him. The Emperor, 
 struck by the men's fine bearing, reviewed them 
 and watched them march past. 
 
 It also occurred to me, during his stay in the 
 south in the spring of 1896, to obtain an oppor- 
 tunity for His Imperial Majesty to witness a 
 sham fight planned by the 87th battalion of 
 Alpine chasseurs on the heights of Roquebrune. 
 The manoeuvres opened one morning at dawn in the 
 marvellous circle of hills covered with olive-trees 
 and topped by the snowy summits of the Alps. 
 For two hours, the Emperor followed the incidents 
 of the fight with close attention, not forgetting 
 to congratulate the officers warmly at the finish. 
 
 On the next day, he invited the officer in com- 
 mand of the battalion, now General Baugillot, to 
 luncheon. The major was a gallant soldier who 
 was more accustomed to the language of the 
 camp than to that of courts, and he persisted in 
 addressing the Emperor as " Sire " and " Mon- 
 sieur " by turns. Francis Joseph smiled and was 
 greatly amused. At last, not knowing what to 
 do, the major cried : 
 
 " I beg everybody's pardon ! I am more used 
 to mess-rooms than to drawing-rooms ! " 
 
 The Emperor at once replied : 
 
 " Call me whatever you please. I much prefer 
 a soldier to a courtier." 
 
 23
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Francis Joseph, especially in his relations with 
 women, possessed an exquisite and delicate 
 courtesy that seemed to belong to a former 
 century. After his last stay with the Empress at 
 Cap Martin, they were both departing on the same 
 day, he returning to Vienna, where urgent affairs 
 of State required his presence, she going to Corfu, 
 where she was called by her eternal longing for 
 the land of the sun. They left the hotel together. 
 The carriage taking them to the station was passing 
 through the pines, when, suddenly, at a bend in 
 the road, outlined against the green background 
 of a palm-tree, appeared the figure of a woman in 
 mourning, standing very upright under her white 
 hair and still showing traces of sovereign beauty in 
 the refinement of her features and the dignity of 
 her stature. Leaning on her gold-knobbed 
 cane, she seemed to be waiting for them; in 
 fact, she made a sign to them. The Emperor 
 at once alighted from the carriage with the 
 Empress, took off his hat and, bowing very 
 low, kissed the lady's hand. Then they talked, 
 as they took a few steps in the heather. But 
 time was passing; it was necessary to drive on. 
 The Empress thereupon kissed her with every 
 mark of respectful affection ; the Emperor, greatly 
 moved, once more made her a very deep bow. 
 And the carriage drove off at a brisk trot with the 
 august travellers, while the stately lady stood 
 leaning on her tall stick and followed them with 
 her eyes until they disappeared from sight. 
 
 They had taken leave of the Empress Eugenie, 
 24
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 who little suspected that in the Empress Eliza- 
 beth's kiss there lay a last farewell. 
 
 Cap Martin and Aix were not the only places 
 visited by the Empress of Austria. In the 
 autumn of 1896, she was curious to see Biarritz ; 
 she returned there in the following year, when I 
 again had the honour of accompanying her. The 
 inclemency of the weather shortened the stay 
 which she had at first intended to make ; and yet 
 the rough and picturesque poetry of the Basque 
 coast had an undoubted attraction for her. She 
 spent her days, sometimes, on the steepest 
 points of the rocks, whence she would watch the 
 tide for hours, often returning soaked through 
 with spray ; at other times, she would roam about 
 the wild country that stretches to the foot of the 
 Pyrenees, talking to the Basque peasants and 
 interesting herself in their work. 
 
 She had a mania for buying a cow in every 
 country which she visited for the first time. She 
 chose it herself in the course of her walks, and 
 had it sent to one of her farms in Hungary. As 
 soon as she saw a cow the colour of whose coat 
 pleased her, she would accost the peasant, ask 
 the animal's price and tell him to take it to her 
 hotel. 
 
 One day, near Biarritz, she saw a magnificent 
 black cow, bought it then and there, gave her 
 name of Countess Hohenembs to its owner, and 
 
 25
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 sent him to the hotel with her purchase. When 
 he arrived, however, and asked for Countess 
 Hohenembs, the porter, who had not been pre- 
 pared, took him for a madman and tried to 
 turn him away. The peasant insisted, explained 
 what had happened, and ended by learning that 
 Countess Hohenembs was none other than the 
 Empress of Austria. An Empress ? But then 
 he had been cheated ! And he began to lament 
 and shout and protest and lose his temper : 
 
 " If I'd known it was a queen," he yelled, " I'd 
 have asked more money ! I must have a bigger 
 price ! " 
 
 The discussion lasted for two hours, and I had 
 to be called in to put a stop to it. 
 
 This was not the only amusing adventure that 
 occurred during the Empress's stay at Biarritz. 
 One day, returning from an excursion to Fuen- 
 terrabia, she stood waiting for a train on the 
 platform of the little frontier-station at Hendaye. 
 The reader, who was with her, had gone to ask a 
 question of the station-master. The conversa- 
 tion seemed never-ending and the train arrived. 
 The Empress, losing patience, called a porter : 
 
 " You see that gentleman in black ? " she said. 
 " Go and tell him to hurry, or the train will leave 
 without us." 
 
 The porter ran to the reader and exclaimed : 
 
 " Hurry up, or your wife will go without you ! " 
 
 The Empress, who rarely laughed, was much 
 amused at this incident. 
 
 The strange form of neurasthenia from which 
 26
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 she suffered, instead of decreasing with time, 
 seemed to become more persistent and more 
 painful as the years went on, and ended by 
 gradually impairing her health. Not that the 
 Empress had a definite illness : she simply felt an 
 infinite lassitude, a perpetual weariness, against 
 which she tried to struggle, with an uncommon 
 amount of energy, by pursuing her active life in 
 spite of it, her life of wandering and her long daily 
 walks. 
 
 She hated medicine, and believed that a sane 
 and simple plan of hygiene was far preferable 
 to any number of doctor's prescriptions. One 
 day, however, seeing her more tired than usual, 
 I begged her permission to present her with a few 
 bottles of Vin Mariani, of the restorative virtues 
 of which I had had personal experience. 
 
 " If it gives you any satisfaction," she replied, 
 with a smile, " I accept. But you must let me, 
 in return, send you some of our famous Tokay, 
 which is also a restorative and, moreover, very 
 nice to take." 
 
 A little while after. Count von Wolkenstein- 
 Trosburg handed me, on the part of the Empress, 
 a beautiful liqueur-case containing six little bottles 
 of Tokay; and I was talking of drinking it after 
 my meals, like an ordinary dessert-wine, when the 
 count said : 
 
 " Do you know that this is a very valuable 
 present ? . . . The wine comes direct from the 
 Emperor's estates. To give you an idea of what 
 it is worth, I may tell you that, recently, at a sale 
 
 27
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 in Frankfort, six small bottles fetched eleven 
 thousand francs. ... It stands quite alone." 
 
 I at once ceased to treat it as a common 
 Madeira. The proprietor of the hotel, hearing 
 of the gift which I had received, offered me 
 five thousand francs for the six bottles. I need 
 hardly say that I refused. I have four left, and 
 I am keeping them. 
 
 Towards the end of that same year, 1897, when 
 she was staying for the second time at Biarritz, 
 the Empress, feeling more restless and melan- 
 choly than ever, resolved to go for a cruise in the 
 Mediterranean on board her yacht Miramar. 
 But she wished first to spend a few days in Paris. 
 
 She had engaged a suite of rooms at an hotel 
 in the Rue Castiglione, and naturally desired to 
 preserve the strictest incognito. Still, it was 
 known that she was in Paris; and the protection 
 with which I surrounded her was even more 
 rigorous than before. She was out of doors 
 from morning till evening, went through the 
 streets on foot to visit the churches, monuments 
 and museums, and, at four o'clock, called regu- 
 larly at a dairy in the Rue de Surene, where she 
 was served with a glass of ass's milk, her favourite 
 beverage, after which she returned to the hotel. 
 
 One day, however, we had a great alarm : at 
 seven o'clock she was not yet back. I anxiously 
 sent to her sisters, the Queen of Naples and the 
 Countess of Trani, to whom she occasionally 
 paid surprise visits : she was not there. To 
 crown all, she had succeeded in eluding the vigil- 
 28
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 ance of the inspector who was charged to follow 
 her at a certain distance. We had lost the 
 Empress in the midst of Paris ! Picture our 
 mortal anxiety ! 
 
 I was about to set out in person in search of 
 her, when, suddenly, we saw her very calmly 
 appearing. 
 
 " I have been gazing at Notre-Dame by moon- 
 light," she said. " It was lovely. And I came 
 back on foot along the quays. I went among the 
 crowd and nobody took the least notice of 
 me." 
 
 Just as at Biarritz and at Cap Martin, she spent 
 her evenings alone and withdrew to her room at 
 a very early hour. She liked the members of 
 her suite, however, to take advantage of the 
 leisure which she gave them to amuse themselves. 
 
 I remember, in this connection, that her Greek 
 reader, at that time Mr. Barker, and her secretary, 
 Dr. Kromar, expressed a wish to see something of 
 the picturesque and characteristic side of Paris; 
 and I took them one evening to the Central 
 Markets. When we had finished our visit, I 
 invited them, in accordance with the traditional 
 custom, to come and have a plate of soupe a Voignon 
 in one of the little common eating-houses in the 
 neighbourhood. Delighted with this modest 
 banquet, they described their outing to the 
 Empress next day, and sang the praises of our 
 famous national broth, which she had never 
 tasted. 
 
 " M. Paoli," she said, enthusiastically, " I 
 
 29
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 must know what soupe a Voignon is like. Mr. 
 Barker has given me a most tantalizing descrip- 
 tion." 
 
 " Nothing is easier, ma'am : I will tell the 
 people of the hotel to make you some." 
 
 " Never ! They will send me up a carefully 
 prepared soup which won't taste in the least like 
 yours. And I must have it served in the identical 
 crockery : I want all the local colour." 
 
 Here I must make a confession : as I had it at 
 heart — it was a question of patriotism, no less 
 — that the Empress should not be disappointed, 
 I thought it more prudent to apply to the man- 
 ager of the hotel, who, kindly lending himself to 
 my innocent fraud, prepared the onion soup and 
 sent to the nearest bazaar for a plate and soup- 
 tureen of the '' local colour " in which the 
 imperial traveller took so great an interest. The 
 illusion was perfect. The Empress thought the 
 soup excellent and the crockery delightfully 
 picturesque : true, we had chipped it a little, 
 with that object in view ! 
 
 The Empress's only visit to Paris was a short 
 one : as I have said, she had decided that year to 
 air her melancholy on the blue waters of the 
 Mediterranean. The projected cruise embraced 
 a number of calls at different harbours along 
 the Cote d'Azur ; and she asked me to accompany 
 her. 
 
 We left Paris on the 30th of December for Mar- 
 seilles, where the imperial yacht lay waiting for us. 
 commanded by a very distinguished officer, Captain 
 80
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 Moritz Sacks von Bellenau ; and we were at sea, 
 opposite the sinister Chateau d'lf, on the 1st of 
 January of the year 1898, which was to prove so 
 tragic to EUzabeth of Austria. I offered her my 
 wishes for happiness and a long Hfe. The Empress 
 seemed to me sadder and more thoughtful that 
 morning than usual : 
 
 " I wish you also," she said, " health and 
 happiness, for you and yours." And she added, 
 with an expression of infinite bitterness, " As 
 for myself, I have no confidence left in the 
 future." 
 
 Had she already received a presentiment of 
 what the year held in store for her ? Who can 
 tell? 
 
 She gave us but little of her society during this 
 voyage. She spent her days on deck and inter- 
 ested herself in the silent activity, in the humble, 
 poetic life of the crew. The sailors entertained 
 a sort of veneration for her. They were con- 
 stantly feeling the effects of her discreet and 
 delicate kindness. Like ourselves, they respected 
 her melancholy and her love of solitude. And, 
 in the evenings, while the little court collected 
 in the saloon and amused itself with different 
 games, or else improvised a charming concert; 
 while, at the other end of the ship, the sailors, 
 seated under the poop, sang their Tyrolean or 
 Hungarian songs to an accordion accompani- 
 ment, the Empress, all alone on deck, with her 
 eyes staring into the distance, would dream of 
 the stars. 
 
 31
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 On leaving Marseilles, we went to Villefranche, 
 near Nice, skirting the coast. The Empress also 
 wished to stop at Cannes and to see once more, 
 from the sea, Monaco, Cap Martin, Mentone. 
 She next proposed to revisit Sicily, Greece and 
 Corfu : it was as though she felt a secret desire to 
 make a sort of pilgrimage to all the ephemeral 
 landmarks which her sad soul had erected in the 
 course of her wandering life. 
 
 However enjoyable this cruise might be to me, 
 I had to think of abandoning it. My service 
 with the Empress ended automatically as soon 
 as she had left French waters. 
 
 " Stay on, nevertheless." she said, kindly. 
 " You shall be my guest ; and I will show you 
 my beautiful palace in Corfu." 
 
 But my duties, unfortunately, summoned me 
 elsewhere. I had to return to Nice, to receive 
 the King and Queen of Saxony, who were ex- 
 pected there. It was decided, therefore, that I 
 should leave the Miramar at San Remo. When 
 the yacht dropped her anchor outside the little 
 Italian town, I said good-bye to the Empress 
 and to my charming travelling companions. 
 
 "It is not for long, for I shall come back 
 to France," said Elizabeth. 
 
 She leant over the bulwarks, as the yacht's 
 launch took me on shore, and I watched her 
 delicate and careworn features first outlined 
 against the disc of the setting sun and then 
 merging., little by little, in the distance and the 
 darkness. 
 32 

 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 Seven months had elapsed since the day when 
 I left the Empress at San Remo. I was in Paris 
 and read in the papers that she had just arrived 
 at Caux, a picturesque little place situated above 
 Montreux and overlooking the Lake of Geneva. I 
 hastened to write, on chance, to Mr. Barker, her 
 Greek reader, in order to receive her news. When 
 I came home, on the evening of the 9th of Sep- 
 tember, I was handed Mr. Barker's reply, which 
 ran as follows : — 
 
 " Caux, 8 September, 1898. 
 
 " My Dear M. Paoli, 
 
 " I was very pleased to receive your valued 
 letter of the 6th instant, for which accept my 
 best thanks. 
 
 " Her Majesty proposes to spend the month 
 of September at Caux, but I do not know what 
 Her Majesty will do after that. Her Majesty 
 commands me to say that she will be happy to 
 see you here if your business should bring you to 
 Geneva. At the same time. Her Majesty sends 
 you her best greetings. Her Majesty intends to 
 go to Nice (Cimiez) on the 1st of December, and 
 she hopes that the ministry will attach you to her 
 person. 
 
 " I must now thank you for all the news which 
 you have given me about yourself. As for me, 
 I am very well and am enjoying our stay at Caux. 
 D 33
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 " Her Majesty leaves to-morrow for Geneva, 
 where she will spend two days. Countess Sztaray 
 is going with Her Majesty. Dr. Kromar left 
 yesterday, to take rooms for Her Majesty at the 
 Hotel Beau Rivage. 
 
 " Field-marshal von Berzeviczy remains with 
 me at Caux. 
 
 " I do not know whether I wrote to you that the 
 general was created a field-marshal some time 
 ago. 
 
 " Pray remember me very kindly to your son, 
 and believe me, 
 
 " dear M. Paoli, 
 
 " yours most sincerely, 
 
 " Frederic G. Barker." 
 
 The Empress was to spend forty-eight hours at 
 Geneva. As I was on leave and had nothing to 
 keep me in Paris, why should I not go and pay 
 my respects to the august lady who had so 
 kindly expressed the hope of seeing me again ? 
 I at once made up my mind and, the next morning, 
 took the train for Geneva. I calculated that, 
 arriving in the evening, I had a chance of still 
 finding the Empress at the Hotel Beau Rivage; 
 besides, nothing need prevent me from going, 
 next day, to Caux, where I was sure to see her 
 and, at the same time, to have an opportunity 
 of shaking hands with Field-marshal von Berze- 
 viczy and Mr. Barker. Who would have thought 
 that the train which carried me through the plains 
 of Burgundy and Franche-Comte was taking me 
 34
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 straight to the scene of a sad and blood-stained 
 tragedy ? 
 
 When we drew into the station at Geneva, I 
 noticed an unwonted animation on the plat- 
 forms : groups of people stood engaged in excited 
 discussion, with a look of consternation on their 
 faces. I paid no particular attention, however, 
 for I was in a hurry. I hailed a fly and told 
 the man to drive to the Hotel Beau Rivage. 
 We had not gone twenty yards, when he turned 
 round on his box : 
 
 " What an awful crime ! " he said. 
 
 " What crime ? " 
 
 " Haven't you heard ? The Empress was 
 assassinated this afternoon." 
 
 " Assassinated ! " 
 
 Livid and scared, I could hardly listen to the 
 pitiful story of the tragedy. The Empress, it 
 seemed, had been stabbed to the heart by an 
 Italian anarchist, when about to embark on the 
 1.40 steamer for Territet; she sank down on the 
 Quai du Mont-Blanc; the people around her 
 thought that she had fainted and carried her on 
 board the boat : when they bent over her, she 
 was dead. 
 
 Dead ! It was true, it was really true ; if not, 
 what was that great silent, motionless crowd 
 doing on the Place Brunswick ? The crowd was 
 innumerable, increased incessantly during the 
 night and kept its eyes fixed unweariedly upon 
 two windows with closed shutters. I sprang 
 quickly from the carriage, when it stopped at 
 
 D2 35
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the hotel, rushed into the hall, which was full of 
 people, flew up the crowded staircase and along a 
 corridor in which English, German and Russian 
 travellers were hustling one another, with scared 
 faces, all anxious to see. At last, catching sight 
 of a servant : 
 
 " Countess Sztaray ? " I asked. 
 
 " In there," he replied, pointing to a door 
 standing ajar. 
 
 I knocked, the door opened and Countess 
 Sztaray, red-eyed, her features distorted with 
 grief, gave me a heart-broken look and, with a 
 sob, said : 
 
 " Our poor Empress ! " 
 
 " Where is she ? " 
 
 " Come with me." 
 
 Taking me by the hand, she led me and Field- 
 marshal von Berzeviczy, who had just arrived, 
 to the next room. There lay the Empress, stiff 
 and already cold, stretched on a little brass 
 bed under a thin white-gauze veil. Her face, lit 
 by the flickering flame of two tall candles, 
 showed no trace of suffering. A sad smile 
 seemed still to hover over her pale and lightly- 
 parted lips; two long tresses fell upon her slim 
 shoulders; the delicate features of her face had 
 shrunk; two purple shadows under her eyelids 
 threw into relief the sharp outline of her nose 
 and the pallor of her cheeks. She appeared as 
 though sleeping peacefully and happily. Her 
 tiny hands were crossed over an ivory crucifix; 
 some roses, now almost withered — roses which 
 36
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 she had picked that morning and which she 
 was carrying in her arms when she received 
 her death-blow — lay scattered at her feet. 
 
 I stood long contemplating the corpse. My 
 self-possession deserted me. In spite of myself, 
 the tears came to my eyes and I cried like a 
 child. 
 
 Why had fate decreed that the Empress should 
 go to Geneva ? Curiously enough, the idea came 
 to her suddenly, it appeared, on Thursday the 8th 
 of September. She had arranged to pay a visit 
 to her friend, Baronne Adolphe de Rothschild, 
 who was staying at her country-house, the 
 Chateau de Pregny, at the western end of the 
 lake. But it was a long excursion to make in a 
 single day; and the Empress, contrary to the 
 advice of Countess Sztaray, decided to sleep at 
 Geneva, after leaving Pregny, and not to return 
 to Caux until the following afternoon. She 
 arrived at the Hotel Beau Rivage in the evening 
 and went out after dinner. She was up, next 
 day, at five o'clock. After occupying a portion 
 of her morning with the complicated cares of 
 her toilet and her correspondence, she went for a 
 walk along the shady quays of the Rhone. 
 Returning to the hotel at one o'clock, she hur- 
 riedly drank a glass of milk. Then, accom- 
 panied by her lady-in-waiting, Countess Sztaray, 
 she hastened down to the steamboat-pier, in- 
 tending to take the Territet boat that started at 
 1.40. She had come to within two hundred 
 
 87
 
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 yards of the foot-plank connecting the steamer 
 with the Quai du Mont-Blanc, when Lucchini 
 flung himself upon her and struck her a blow 
 under the left breast with a three-cornered file 
 clumsily fitted to a wooden handle. The violence 
 of the blow broke her fourth rib. 
 
 Death was not instantaneous. She had the 
 strength to walk as far as the boat ; and for this 
 reason : the instrument, in its course, had pierced 
 the left ventricle of the heart from top to bottom. 
 But, the blade being very sharp and very thin, 
 the hemorrhage at first was almost insignificant. 
 The drops of blood escaped but slowly from the 
 heart and its action was not impaired so long as 
 the pericardium, in which the drops were collect- 
 ing, was not full. This was how she was able to 
 go a fairly long distance on foot with a stab in 
 her heart. When the bleeding increased, the 
 Empress sank to the deck. Had the weapon 
 remained in the wound, she could have lived 
 longer still. The Due de Berry, who was stabbed 
 in exactly the same manner as the Empress, 
 lived for four hours, because Louvel did not 
 draw the dagger from the wound. 
 
 The poor Empress, therefore, had the energy 
 to drag herself to the boat, where a band of 
 gipsies was playing Hungarian dances (a cruel 
 irony of chance) while the steamer began to 
 move away from the landing-stage. At that 
 moment, she fainted. Countess Sztaray, who 
 believed her to be stunned by a blow of the fist — 
 for no one had seen the weapon in the assassin's 
 38
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 hand — tried to bring her to with smelUng-salts. 
 The Empress recovered consciousness, spoke 
 a few words, cast a long look of bewildered 
 astonishment around her and then, suddenly, 
 fell back dead. The dismay and excitement 
 were intense. The boat at once put back to the 
 pier; and, as there was no litter at hand, the 
 body was carried to the hotel, shrouded in sails, 
 on an improvised bier of crossed oars. 
 
 Had the Empress received a presentiment of 
 her tragic end, which a gipsy at Wiesbaden and 
 a fortune-teller at Corfu had foretold her in the 
 past ? Two strange incidents incline one to 
 think so. On the eve of her departure for Geneva, 
 she asked Mr. Barker to read her a few chapters 
 of a book by Marion Crawford entitled Corleone, 
 in which the author describes the detestable 
 customs of the Sicilian Mafia. While the Empress 
 was listening to this harrowing story, a raven, 
 attracted by the scent of some fruit which she 
 was eating, came and circled round her. Greatly 
 impressed, she tried to drive it off, but in vain, 
 for it constantly returned, filling the echoes 
 with its mournful croaking. Then she rapidly 
 walked away, for she knew that ravens are 
 harbingers of death when their ill-omened wings 
 persist in flapping around a living person. 
 
 Again, Countess Sztaray told me that, on the 
 morning of that day, she went into the Empress's 
 room, as usual, to ask how she had slept, and 
 found her imperial mistress looking pale and 
 sad. 
 
 39
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 " I have had a strange experience," said 
 Elizabeth. " I was awakened in the middle of 
 the night by the bright moonbeams which filled 
 my room, for the servants had forgotten to draw 
 the blinds. I could see the moon from my bed 
 and it seemed to have the face of a woman weep- 
 ing. I don't know if it is a presentiment, but I 
 have an idea that I shall meet with misfortune." 
 
 During the three days that preceded the de- 
 parture of the remains for Vienna, I stayed and 
 shared the funeral watches with the little court, 
 once so happy and now so pitifully robbed of 
 its mistress. Field-marshal von Berzeviczy, 
 Countess Sztaray and I sat for long hours con- 
 juring up the memory of her who was now sleep- 
 ing her last sleep beside us. Countless anecdotes 
 were told, countless tiny and charming details. 
 It already seemed almost a distant past which 
 we were for the last time recalling, a bright and 
 exquisite past which the gracious Empress was 
 taking away with her. 
 
 I went to see the murderer in his cell. I found 
 a perfectly lucid being, boasting of his crime as 
 of an act of heroism. When I asked him what 
 motive had driven him to choose for his victim a 
 woman, a sovereign living as far removed as 
 possible from politics and the throne, one who had 
 always shown so much compassion for the humble 
 and the destitute : 
 
 " I struck at the first crowned head," he said, 
 " that came along. I don't care. I wanted to 
 make a manifestation and I have succeeded." 
 40
 
 THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH 
 
 The unhappy Empress's destiny was to be 
 strange and romantic until the end, until after 
 her death. Her body, carried to an hotel bed- 
 room, started for Austria without pomp or 
 display, amid an immense and silent crowd. 
 The Swiss government had not the time to levy 
 a regiment to show her the last honours. But 
 it was better so, for she had, as her escort, a 
 reverent and contemplative nation and, as her 
 salute, the bells of all the towns and all the 
 villages through which the funeral train passed. 
 And this, I am certain, was just the simple and 
 poetic homage which her heart would have 
 desired. 
 
 A few days after the tragedy, the Emperor 
 Francis Joseph deigned to remember my respect- 
 ful attachment to the consort whom he had 
 loved so well ; and I received the following 
 telegram : — 
 
 "WiENBURG, 15 September, 1898. 
 " To M. Paoli, Ministry of the Interior, Paris. 
 
 *' His Majesty the Emperor, greatly touched by 
 your sincere sympathy, remembers gratefully the 
 devoted care which you showed the late Empress 
 and thanks you again with all his heart. 
 
 "Paar, 
 
 " Principal Aide-de-camp to 
 
 H.I.M. the Emperor of Austria." 
 
 I also received from the archduchesses, the 
 daughters, a hunting-knife which their mother, 
 
 41
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the poor Empress, had valued very highly. I 
 keep it religiously in my little museum. Some- 
 times, I take it out and look at it ; and it invari- 
 ably summons up one of the saddest and most 
 touching ^memories of my life. 
 
 42
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 " You wanted me, to complete your collection, 
 did you not, M. Paoli ? " 
 
 The presidential train had left Hendaye; the 
 distant strains of the Spanish national anthem 
 still reached our ears through the silence and the 
 darkness. Leaning from the window of the sleep- 
 ing-car, I was watching the last lights of the little 
 frontier-town disappear one by one. 
 
 I turned round briskly at the sound of that gay 
 and clear voice. A tall, slim young man stood 
 at the door of the compartment, with a cigarette 
 between his lips and a soft felt hat on his head, 
 and gave me a friendly little wave of the hand. 
 His long, slender figure looked very smart and 
 supple in a pale-grey travelling-suit ; and a broad 
 smile lit up his bronzed face, his smooth, boyish 
 face, adorned with the large, hooked nose of the 
 Bourbons, planted like an eagle's beak between 
 two very dark eyes, full of fire and fun. 
 
 "Yes, yes, M. Paoli, I know you, though 
 
 perhaps you don't know me yet. My mother 
 
 has often spoken to me of you, and when she heard 
 
 that you had been appointed to watch over my 
 
 43
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 safety, she said, ' With Paoh, I feel quite at 
 ease.' " 
 
 " I am infinitely touched and flattered, Sir," 
 I replied, " by that gracious mark of confidence. 
 ... It is true that my collection was incomplete 
 without Your Majesty." 
 
 That is how I became acquainted with H.M. 
 Alfonso XIII. in the spring of 1905, at the time 
 of his first official visit to France. " The little 
 King," as he was still called, had lately completed 
 his nineteenth year. He had attained his 
 majority a bare twelvemonth before and was just 
 entering upon his monarchical career, if I may 
 so express myself. The watchful eyes of Europe 
 were beginning to observe, with sympathetic 
 interest, the first actions of this young ruler, who, 
 with the exuberant grace of his gloriously confi- 
 dent youth, supplied a startling and amusing 
 contrast with the somewhat constrained formality 
 of the gallery of sovereigns. Though he had no 
 history as yet, plenty of anecdotes were already 
 current about him and a number of morals were 
 drawn in consequence. 
 
 " He has a nature built up of impulse," said 
 one. 
 
 " He is full of character," said people who had 
 met him. 
 
 " He is like his father : he would charm the bird 
 from the tree," an old Spanish diplomatist 
 remarked to me. 
 
 " At any rate, there is nothing commonplace 
 about him," thought I, still perplexed by the 
 44
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 unconventional, amusing, jocular way in which 
 he had interrupted my nocturnal contemplations. 
 
 No, he was certainly not commonplace ! The 
 next morning, I saw him at early dawn at the 
 windows of the saloon-carriage, devouring with 
 a delighted curiosity the sights that met his eyes 
 as the train rushed at full speed through the 
 verdant plains of the Charente. Nothing escaped 
 his youthful enthusiasm : fields, forests, rivers, 
 things, people. Everything gave rise to sparkling 
 exclamations : 
 
 " What a lovely country yours is, M. Paoli ! " 
 he cried, when he saw me standing near him. " I 
 feel as if I were still at home, as if I knew every- 
 body : the faces all seem familiar. It's ' stun- 
 ning ! ' " 
 
 At the sound of this typical Parisian expression 
 (the French word which he employed was epatant) 
 proceeding from the royal lips, it was my turn to 
 be " stunned." In my innocence, I was not yet 
 aware that he knew all our fashionable slang 
 phrases and used them freely. 
 
 His spirits were as inexhaustible as his bodily 
 activity; and, upon my word, we were hard put 
 to it to keep up with him. Now running from 
 one window to another, so as to " miss nothing," 
 as he said, with a laugh; now leaning over the 
 back of a chair or swinging his legs from a table ; 
 now striding up and down the carriage, with his 
 hands in his pockets and the everlasting cigarette 
 between his lips, he questioned us without ceas- 
 ing. He wanted to know everything, though he 
 
 45
 
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 knew a great deal as it was. The army and navy 
 excited his interest in the highest degree; the 
 provinces through which we were passing, their 
 customs, their past, their administrative organ- 
 ization, their industries, suppUed him with the 
 subjects of an exhaustive interrogatory, to which 
 we did our best to reply. Our social laws, our 
 parliament, our politicians aroused his lively 
 curiosity as eagerly . . . and then came the turn 
 of Paris, that Paris which he was at last about to 
 see, whose splendours and peculiarities he already 
 knew from reading and hearsay, that Paris which 
 he looked upon as a fairy-land, a promised land ; 
 and the thought that he was to be solemnly 
 welcomed there sent a slight flush of excitement 
 to his cheeks. 
 
 " It must be wonderful ! " he said, his eyes 
 ablaze with pleasurable impatience. 
 
 He also insisted upon our giving him full details 
 about the persons who were to receive him : 
 
 " What is M. Loubet like ? And the prime 
 minister ? And the Governor of Paris ? " 
 
 When he was not putting questions, he was 
 telling stories, recalling his impressions of his 
 recent journeys in Spain: 
 
 " Confess, M. Paoli," he said, suddenly, " that 
 you have never had to look after a king as young 
 as I." 
 
 His conversation, jesting and serious by turns, 
 studded with judicious reflections, with smart 
 sallies, with whimsical outbursts and unexpected 
 digressions, revealed a young and keen inteUi- 
 46
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 gence, eager after knowledge, a fresh mind open 
 to effusive ideas, a quivering imagination, counter- 
 balanced, however, by a reflective brain. I re- 
 member the astonishment of the French officers 
 who had come to meet him at the frontier, on 
 hearing him discuss matters of military strategy 
 with the authority and the expert wisdom of an 
 old tactician; I remember also the surprise of a 
 high official who had joined the train mid-way 
 and to whose explanations the King was lending 
 an attentive ear when we crossed a bridge over 
 the Loire, in which some water-fowl happened to 
 be disporting themselves. 
 
 " Oh, what a pity ! " the King broke in. 
 " Why haven't I a gun ? " And, taking aim with 
 an imaginary fowling-piece, " What a fine shot ! " 
 
 Again, I remember the spontaneous and charm- 
 ing way in which, full of admiration for the 
 beauties of our Touraine, he tapped me on the 
 shoulder and cried : 
 
 " There's no doubt about it, I love France ! 
 France for ever ! " 
 
 What was not my surprise, afterwards, at 
 Orleans, where the first official stop was made, 
 to see him appear in his full uniform as captain- 
 general of the Spanish army, his features wearing 
 an air of singular dignity, his gait proud and 
 lofty, compelling in all of us a respect for the 
 impressive authority that emanated from his 
 whole person ! He found the right word for 
 everybody, was careful of the least shades of 
 etiquette, moved, talked and smiled amid the 
 
 47
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 gold-laced uniforms with a sovereign ease, show- 
 ing from the first that he knew better than 
 anybody how to play his part as a king. 
 
 There is one action, very simple in appearance, 
 but in reality more difficult than one would think, 
 by which we can judge a sovereign's bearing in a 
 foreign country. This is his manner of saluting 
 the colour. Some, as they pass before the 
 standard surrounded by its guard of honour, 
 content themselves with raising their hand to their 
 cap or helmet; others stop and bow; others, 
 lastly, make a wide and studied gesture which 
 betrays a certain, almost theatrical affectation. 
 Alfonso XIII. 's salute is like none of these : in 
 its military stiffness, it is at once simple and 
 grave, marked by supreme elegance and profound 
 deference. On the platform of the Orleans rail- 
 way-station, opposite the motionless battalion, 
 in the presence of a number of officers and civil 
 functionaries, this salute, which so visibly paid a 
 delicate homage to the army and the country, 
 this graceful and respectful salute moved and 
 flattered us more than any number of toasts and 
 speeches. And, when, at last, I went home, 
 after witnessing the young King's arrival in the 
 capital and noticing the impression which he had 
 made on the government and the people, I recalled 
 the old Spanish diplomatist's remark : 
 
 " The King would charm the bird from the 
 tree ! " 
 
 48
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 I saw little of King Alfonso during his first stay 
 in Paris. The protection of sovereigns who are 
 the official guests of the government did not come 
 within the scope of my duties. I therefore left 
 him at the station and was not to resume my 
 place in his suite until the moment of his de- 
 parture. The anarchist and revolutionary gentry 
 appeared to be unaware of this detail, for I daily 
 received a fair number of anonymous letters, 
 most of which contained more or less vague 
 threats against the person of our royal visitor. 
 One of them, which the post brought me as I was 
 on the point of proceeding to the gala performance 
 given at the Opera in his honour, struck me more 
 particularly because of the plainness of the warn- 
 ing which it conveyed, a warning devoid of any 
 of the insults that usually accompany this sort of 
 communication : — 
 
 " In spite of all the precautions that have been 
 taken," it read, " the King had better be careful 
 when he leaves the Opera to-night." 
 
 This note was written in a rough, disguised hand, 
 and was, of course, unsigned. I at once passed it 
 on to the right quarter. The very strict super- 
 vision that was being exercised no doubt excluded 
 the possibility of a successful plot. But there re- 
 mained the danger of an individual attempt, the 
 
 murderous act of a single person ; and I knew by 
 E 49
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 experience that, to protect one's self against that, 
 one must rely exclusively upon '' the police of 
 Heaven," to use the picturesque expression of 
 Senor Maura, the Spanish premier. 
 
 Haunted by a baneful presentiment, I never- 
 theless decided, on leaving the Opera, to remain 
 near the King's carriage (as a mere passer-by, of 
 course) until he had stepped into it with M. 
 Loubet and driven off, surrounded by his squadron 
 of cavalry. The attempt on his life took place at 
 the corner of the Rue de Rohan and the Rue de 
 Rivoli ; and both the King and M. Loubet enjoyed 
 a miraculous escape from death. My presenti- 
 ment, therefore, had not been at fault. 
 
 I need not here recall the coolness which the 
 young monarch displayed in these circumstances, 
 for it is still present in every memory, nor the 
 magnificent indifference with which he looked 
 upon the tragic incident. 
 
 " I have received my baptism of fire," he said 
 to me, a couple of days later, " and, upon my 
 word, it was much less exciting than I expected ! " 
 
 Alfonso XIII., in fact, has a fine contempt for 
 danger. Like the late King Humbert, he con- 
 siders that assassination is one of the little draw- 
 backs attendant on the trade of king. He gave 
 a splendid proof of this courage at the time of the 
 Madrid bomb, of which I shall speak later; and 
 I was able to see it for myself two days after the 
 attempted assassination in the Rue de Rohan. 
 
 On leaving Paris, our royal visitor went to 
 Cherbourg, where I accompanied him, to embark 
 50
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 on board the British royal yacht, which was to 
 take him to England. As we approached the 
 town in the early morning, the presidential train 
 was shunted to the special line that leads direct 
 to the dockyard. Suddenly, while we were 
 running pretty fast, a sharp stop took place, 
 producing a violent shock in all the carriages. 
 The reader can imagine the excitement. The 
 railway-officials, officers and chamberlains of the 
 court sprang out on the permanent way and rushed 
 to the royal saloon. 
 
 " Another attempt ? " asked the King, calmly 
 smiling, as he put his head out of the window. 
 
 We all thought so at the first moment. For- 
 tunately, it was only a slight accident : the rear 
 luggage-van had left the rails through a mistake 
 in the shunting. I hastened to explain the matter 
 to the King. 
 
 " You'll see," he at once replied, " they will 
 say, all the same, that it was an attempt upon 
 my life : I must let my mother know quickly, or 
 she will be frightened." 
 
 The King was right. Some one, we never 
 discovered who, had already found means to 
 telegraph to Queen Maria Christina that a fresh 
 attack had been made on her son. There are 
 always plenty of bearers of ill-news, even where 
 sovereigns are concerned . . . and especially 
 when the news is false ! 
 
 I took leave of the King at Cherbourg and 
 joined him, the week after, at Calais, whence I 
 was to accompany him to the Spanish frontier, 
 
 E2 5]
 
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 for he was returning straight to his own country. 
 This time, the official journey was over; and I 
 once more found the pleasant, simple young man, 
 in the pale-grey suit and the soft hat. The warm 
 welcome which he had received in England had 
 not wiped out his enthusiastic recollections of 
 France. 
 
 " By George," he declared, " how glad I am to 
 see this beautiful country again, even through 
 the windows of the railway-carriage ! " 
 
 A violent shower set in as we left Calais. The 
 train went along a line in process of repair and 
 had to travel very slowly. At that moment, 
 seeing some gangs of navvies working under the 
 diluvial downpour and soaked to the skin, the 
 King leant out of the window and, addressing 
 them : 
 
 " Wait a bit ! " he said. " This will warm 
 you. I'll give you something to smoke." 
 
 And the King, after emptying the contents of 
 his cigarette-case into their horny hands, took 
 the boxes of cigars and cigarettes that lay on 
 the tables, one after the other, and passed 
 them through the window, first to the delighted 
 labourers and then to the soldiers drawn up on 
 either side of the line. They had never known such 
 a windfall : it rained Upmanns, Henry Clays and 
 Turkish cigarettes. When none were left, the 
 King appealed to the members of his suite, whom 
 he laughingly plundered for the benefit of those 
 decent fellows. They, not knowing his quality, 
 shouted gaily : 
 52
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 " Thank you, sir, thank you ! Come back 
 soon ! " 
 
 We had but one regret, that of remaining 
 without anything to smoke until we were able, 
 at the next stop, to replenish our provisions of 
 tobacco which had been exhausted in so diverting 
 a fashion. 
 
 When, on the following morning, we reached 
 Hendaye, which is the frontier-station between 
 France and Spain, a very comical incident 
 occurred that amused the young traveller greatly. 
 By a purely fortuitous coincidence, a crowd was 
 waiting, as we pulled up, for the train of the late 
 King Carlos of Portugal, who was also about to 
 pay an official visit to France ; and the authori- 
 ties and troops had collected on the platform to 
 show the usual honours to this new guest. Our 
 sudden arrival, for which nobody was prepared, 
 as Alfonso XIII. was not now travelling officially, 
 utterly disconcerted the resplendent crowd. 
 Would the King of Spain think that they were 
 there on his account, and would he not be offended 
 when he discovered his mistake ? It was a 
 difficult position, but the prefect rose to the 
 occasion. As the King of Portugal's train was 
 not yet signalled, he gave orders to pay the 
 honours to Alfonso XIII. 
 
 The moment, therefore, that our train stopped, 
 the authorities and general officers hurried in our 
 direction and the band of the regiment, which 
 had been practising the Portuguese royal anthem, 
 briskly struck up the Spanish hymn instead. 
 
 53
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 But the King, who knew what was what, leant 
 from the window and, chaffingly, cried : 
 
 " Please, gentlemen, please ! I know that you 
 are not here for me, but for my next-door neigh- 
 bour ! " 
 
 At Irun, the first Spanish station, where I was 
 to take leave of our guest, a fresh surprise awaited 
 us. There was not a trace of police protection, 
 not a soldier, not a gendarme. An immense 
 crowd had freely invaded both platforms. And 
 such a crowd ! Thousands of men, women and 
 children shouted, sang, waved their hands, 
 hustled one another and fired guns into the air 
 for joy, while the King, calm and smiling, elbowed 
 his way from the presidential to the royal train, 
 patting the children's heads as he passed, paying 
 a compliment to their mothers, distributing 
 friendly nods to the men who were noisily cheer- 
 ing him. And I thought of our democratic 
 country, in which we imprison the rulers of States 
 in an impenetrable circle of police supervision, 
 whereas here, in a monarchical country, labouring 
 under a so-called reign of terror, the sovereign 
 walks about in the midst of strangers, unpro- 
 tected by any precautionary measures. It was a 
 striking contrast. 
 
 But my mission was at an end. Still laughing, 
 the King, as he gave me his hand, said : 
 
 " Well, M. Paoli, you can no longer say that 
 you haven't got me in your collection ! " 
 
 " I beg your pardon. Sir," I replied. " It's not 
 complete yet." 
 54
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, Sir, I haven't your portrait." 
 
 " Oh, we must see to that ! " And, turning to 
 the lord steward of his household, " Santo Mauro, 
 make a note : photo for M. Paoli." 
 
 A few days after, I received a photograph, 
 signed and dated by the royal hand. 
 
 Five months later, Alfonso XIII., returning 
 from Germany, where he had been to pay his 
 accession-visit to the court of Berlin, stopped to 
 spend a day incognito in Paris. I found him as 
 I had left him : gay, enthusiastic, full of good- 
 nature, glad to be alive. 
 
 " Here I am again, my dear M. PaoH," he said, 
 when he perceived me at the frontier, where, 
 according to custom, I had gone to meet him. 
 " But this time I shall not cause you any great 
 worry. I must go home, and I sha'n't stop in 
 Paris for more than twenty-four hours — worse 
 luck ! " 
 
 On the other hand, he wasted none of his time. 
 Jumping into a motor-car the moment he was 
 out of the train, he first drove to the Hotel 
 Bristol, where he remained just long enough to 
 change his clothes, after which he managed, 
 during his brief stay, to hear mass in the church 
 of St. Roch, for it was Sunday, to pay a visit 
 to M. Loubet, to make some purchases in the 
 principal shops, to lunch with his aunt, the 
 
 55
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Infanta Eulalie, to take a motor-drive, in the 
 pouring rain, to Saint-Germain and back, to dine 
 at the Spanish Embassy, and to wind up the 
 evening at the Theatre des Varietes. 
 
 " And it's Hke that every day, when he is 
 travelHng," said one of his suite. 
 
 The King, I may say, makes up for his daily 
 expenditure of activity with a tremendous appe- 
 tite. I have observed, for that matter, that the 
 majority of sovereigns are vahant trenchermen. 
 Every morning of his life, Alfonso XIII. has a 
 good rumpsteak and potatoes for his first break- 
 fast, often preceded by eggs and sometimes 
 followed by salad and fruit. On the other hand, 
 the King seldom drinks wine and generally con- 
 fines himself to a tumbler of water and zucharillos, 
 the national beverage, composed of white of egg, 
 beaten up with sugar. 
 
 In spite of his continual need of movement, 
 his passionate love of sport in all its forms and 
 especially of motoring, his expansive, rather 
 mad, but very attractive youthfulness, Alfonso 
 XIIL, even in his flying trips, never, as we have 
 seen, loses the occasion of improving his mind. 
 He is very quick at seizing a point, possesses a 
 remarkable power of assimilation, and, though he 
 does not read much, for he has not the gift of 
 patience, he is remarkably well-informed as re- 
 gards the smallest details that interest him. One 
 day, for instance, he asked me, point-blank : 
 
 " Do you know how many gendarmes there 
 are in France ? " 
 56
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 I confess that I was greatly puzzled what to 
 reply, for I have never cared for statistics. I 
 ventured, therefore, on the off-chance, to say : 
 
 " Ten thousand." 
 
 " Ten thousand ! Come, M. Paoli, what are 
 you thinking of ? That's the number we have 
 in Spain. It's more like twenty thousand." 
 
 This figure, as I afterwards learnt, was strictly 
 accurate. 
 
 As for business of State, I also noticed that the 
 King devoted more time to it than his restless 
 life would lead one to believe. Rising, winter 
 and summer, at six o'clock, he stays indoors and 
 works regularly during the early portion of the 
 morning and often again at night. In this 
 connection, one of his ministers said to me : 
 
 " He never shows a sign of either weariness or 
 boredom. The King's ' frivolity ' is a popular 
 fallacy. On the contrary, he is terribly pains- 
 taking. Just like the Queen Mother, he insists 
 upon clear and detailed explanations, before 
 signing the least document, and he knows quite 
 well how to make his will felt. Besides, he is 
 fond of work, and he can work no matter where : 
 in a motor-car, in a boat, in the train, as well as 
 in his study." 
 
 But it was especially on the occasion of the 
 event which was to mark an indelible date in 
 his life, a fair and happy date, that I had time to 
 observe him and to learn to know him better. 
 . . . The reader will have guessed that I am 
 referring to his engagement. The duties which I 
 
 57
 
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 fulfilled during a quarter of a century have some- 
 times involved difficult moments, delicate re- 
 sponsibilities, thankless tasks, but they have also 
 procured me many charming compensations ; 
 and I have no more delightful recollection than 
 that of witnessing, at first hand, that fresh and 
 touching royal idyll, that simple, cloudless 
 romance, wliich began one fine evening in London, 
 was continued under the sunny sky of tlic Basque 
 coast, and ended by leading to one of those rare 
 unions which satisfy the exigencies both of public 
 policy and of the heart. 
 
 Like his father before him, Alfonso XIIL, when 
 his ministers began to hint discreetly about 
 possible " alliances," contented himself with 
 replying : 
 
 " I shall marry a princess who takes my fancy 
 and nobody else. I intend to love my wife." 
 
 Nevertheless, diplomatic intrigues fashioned 
 themselves around tlie young sovereign. The 
 Emperor William would have liked to see a 
 German princess share the throne of Spain ; a 
 marriage with an Austrian archduchess would 
 have continued a time-honoured tradition ; the 
 question of a French princess was also mooted, 
 I believe. . . . But the political rapprochement 
 between Spain and England had just been accom- 
 plished under French auspices ; an Anglo-Spanish 
 marriage seemed to correspond with the interests 
 of Spain ; and it so happened that the Princess 
 Patricia of Connaught had lately been seen in 
 Andalusia. Her name was on all men's lips ; 
 58
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 already, in the silence of the palace, official circles 
 were preparing for this union. Only one detail 
 had been omitted, but it was a detail of the first 
 importance : that of consulting the two persons 
 directly interested, who did not even know each 
 other. 
 
 When the King went to England, no one 
 thought for a moment but that he would return 
 engaged . . . and engaged to Patricia of Con- 
 naught. The diplomatists, however, had reckoned 
 without a factor which was doubtless foreign 
 to them, but which was all-powerful in the eyes 
 of Alfonso XIII. : the little factor known as 
 love. 
 
 As a matter of fact, when the two young people 
 met, they did not attract each other. On the 
 other hand, at the ball given in the King's honour 
 at Buckingham Palace, Alfonso never took his 
 eyes off a young, fair-haired princess, whose 
 radiant beauty shed all the glory of spring around 
 her. 
 
 " Who is that ? " asked the King. 
 
 " Princess Ena of Battenberg," was the reply. 
 
 The two were presented, danced and talked 
 together, met again on the next day and on the 
 following days. And, when the King returned 
 to Spain, he left his heart in England. 
 
 But he did not breathe a word about it. His 
 little idyll, which took the form of an interchange 
 of letters and postcards, as well as of secret 
 negotiations with a view to marriage — negotia- 
 tions conducted with the English royal family 
 
 59
 
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 by the King in person — ^was pursued in the 
 greatest mystery. People knew, of course, that 
 the princess and the King Hked and admired each 
 other; but they knew nothing of the young 
 monarch's private plans. Moreover, he took a 
 pleasure in mystifying those about him : he, who 
 had once been so expansive, now became suddenly 
 contemplative and reserved. 
 
 Soon after his return, he ordered a yacht ; and, 
 when the time came to christen her, he made the 
 builders paint on the bows, in gold letters : 
 
 "PRINCESS . . ." 
 
 The comments aroused by those three little 
 dots may be easily imagined. 
 
 The moment, however, was at hand when the 
 name of the royal yacht's godmother and, there- 
 fore, of the future Queen of Spain was to be 
 revealed. One morning in January 1906, I 
 received a letter from Miss Minnie Cochrane, 
 Princess Henry of Battenberg's faithful lady-in- 
 waiting, telling me that the princess and her 
 daughter. Princess Ena, were leaving shortly for 
 Biarritz, to stay with their cousin, the Princess 
 Frederica of Hanover, and inviting me to accom- 
 pany them. This kind thought is explained by 
 the fact that I had known the princess and her 
 daughter for many years : I had often had 
 occasion to see Princess Beatrice with the late 
 Queen Victoria, to whom she showed the most 
 tender filial affection; I had also known Princess 
 Ena as a little girl, when she still wore short frocks 
 60
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 and long fair curls, and when she used to play with 
 her dolls under the fondly- smiling gaze of her 
 august grandmother. She was then a grave and 
 reflective child; she had great, deep, expressive 
 blue eyes; and she was a little shy, like her 
 mother. 
 
 When, at Calais, I beheld a fresh and beautiful 
 girl, unreserved and gay, a real fairy-princess, 
 whose face, radiant with gladness, so evidently 
 reflected a very sweet, secret happiness; when, 
 on the day after her arrival at Biarritz, I un- 
 expectedly saw King Alfonso arrive in a great 
 state of excitement and surprised the first glance 
 which they exchanged at the door of the villa . . . 
 then I understood. Nor was I in the least 
 astonished when Miss Cochrane, whom I had 
 ventured to ask if it was true that there was 
 a matrimonial project on foot between the King 
 and the princess, answered, with a significant 
 smile : 
 
 " I think so ... it is not officially settled yet ; 
 it will be decided here." 
 
 The Villa Mouriscot, where the princesses were 
 staying, was a picturesque Basque chalet, 
 elegantly and comfortably furnished. Standing 
 on a height, at two miles from Biarritz, whence 
 the eye commanded the magnificent circle of 
 hiUs, and buried in the midst of luxuriant and 
 fragrant gardens, intersected by shady and silent 
 
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 walks, it formed an appropriately poetic setting 
 for the romance of the royal betrothal. 
 
 The King came every day. Wrapped in a huge 
 cloak, with a motoring-cap and goggles, he would 
 arrive at ten o'clock in the morning, from San 
 Sebastian, in his double Panhard phaeton, which 
 he drove himself, except on the rare occasions 
 when he entrusted the steering-wheel to his 
 excellent French chauffeur, Antonin, who accom- 
 panied him on all his excursions. His friends the 
 Marques de Viana, the young Conde de Villalobar, 
 counsellor to the Spanish Embassy in London, 
 Senor Quinones de Leon, the charming attache 
 to the Paris embassy, the Conde del Grove, his 
 faithful aide-de-camp, or the Marques de Pacheco, 
 commanding the palace halberdiers, formed his 
 usual suite. As soon as the car had passed 
 through the gates and stopped before the door, 
 where Baron von Pawel-Rammingen, the Princess 
 Frederica's husband, and Colonel Lord William 
 Cecil, the Princess Henry of Battenberg's comp- 
 troller, awaited him, the King hurried to the 
 drawing-room, where the pretty princess sat 
 looking out for his arrival, as impatient for the 
 meeting as the King himself. 
 
 After the King had greeted his hosts at the villa, 
 he and the princess walked into the gardens and 
 exchanged much lively talk as they strolled about 
 the paths in which, as Gounod's song says, " lovers 
 lose their way." They returned in time for the 
 family lunch, a very simple repast, to which the 
 King's tremendous appetite did full honour. He 
 62
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 used often to send for Fraulein Zinska, the 
 Princess Frederica's old Hanoverian cook, and 
 congratulate her on her culinary capacities, a 
 proceeding which threw the good woman into an 
 ecstasy of delight. After lunch, the young people, 
 accompanied by Miss Cochrane as chaperon, went 
 out in the motor, not returning until nearly dark. 
 On rainy days, of course, there was no drive ; but 
 in the drawing-room of the villa the Princess 
 Frederica had thoughtfully contrived a sort of 
 " cosy corner," in which the engaged couple could 
 pursue their discreet flirtation at their ease. When 
 they took refuge there, young Prince Alexander of 
 Battenberg, who had joined his family at Biarritz, 
 used to tease them : 
 
 " Look out ! " he would cry to any one entering 
 the room. " Be careful ! Don't disturb the 
 lovers ! " 
 
 In the evening, at dinner, the suite were present. 
 The King changed into evening- clothes, with 
 the collar of the Golden Fleece. At half-past 
 ten, he left for the station and returned to San 
 Sebastian by the Sud-Express. 
 
 After a few days, although the pair were not 
 yet officially betrothed, no one doubted but that 
 the event was near at hand. 
 
 " She's charming, isn't she ? " the King asked 
 me, straight out. 
 
 A significant detail served to show me how far 
 things had gone. One day, the two young people, 
 accompanied by the Princesses Frederica and 
 Beatrice and the whole little court, walked to the 
 
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 end of the grounds, to a spot, near the lake, where 
 two holes had been newly dug. A gardener 
 stood waiting for them, carrying two miniature 
 fir-plants in his arms. 
 
 " This is mine," said the King. 
 
 " And this is mine," said the princess, in 
 French, for they constantly spoke French to- 
 gether. 
 
 " We must plant the trees side by side," 
 declared the King, " so that they may always 
 remind us of these never-to-be-forgotten days." 
 
 No sooner said than done. In accordance with 
 the old English custom, the two of them, each 
 laying hold of a spade, dug up the earth and heaped 
 it round the shrubs, with shouts of laughter that 
 rang clear through the silent wood. Then, when 
 the King, who, in spite of his strength of arm, is a 
 poor gardener, perceived that the princess had 
 finished her task first : 
 
 " There's no doubt about it," he said, " I am 
 very awkward ! I must put in a month or two 
 with the sappers ! " 
 
 On returning to the villa, he gave the princess 
 her first present : a heart set in brilliants. It was 
 certainly a day of symbols. 
 
 On the following day, things took a more 
 definite turn. The King came to fetch the prin- 
 cesses in the morning to take them to San Sebas- 
 tian, where they met Queen Maria Christina. 
 Nobody knew what happened in the course of 
 the interview and the subsequent private luncheon 
 at the Miramar Palace. But it was, beyond a 
 64
 
 KING ALFONSO XllI 
 
 doubt, a decisive day. At Fuenterrabia, the first 
 Spanish town through which they passed on 
 their way to San Sebastian in the morning, the 
 King said to the princess ; 
 
 " You are now on Spanish soiL" 
 
 " Oh," she said, " I am so glad ! " 
 
 " It will soon be for good." 
 
 And they smiled to each other. 
 
 The frantic cheering that greeted Princess Ena's 
 arrival at San Sebastian, the hail of flowers that 
 fell at her feet as she passed through the streets, 
 the motherly kiss with which she was received 
 at the door of Queen Maria Christina's drawing- 
 room, must have convinced her that all Spain had 
 confirmed its sovereign's choice and applauded 
 his good taste. 
 
 Twenty-four hours after this visit, the Queen 
 Mother, in her turn, went to Biarritz and took 
 tea at the Villa Mouriscot. The King had gone 
 on before her. Intense happiness was reflected 
 on every face. As the Queen stepped into her 
 carriage, after graciously sending for me to thank 
 me for the care which I was taking of her son, 
 she said to the princess, with a smile : 
 
 " We shall soon see you in Madrid." 
 
 Then, taking a white rose from the bouquet 
 with which the Mayor of Biarritz had presented 
 her, she gave it to the princess, who pressed it to 
 her lips before pinning it to her bodice. 
 
 That same evening, the King, beaming all over 
 his face, cried to me from a distance, the moment 
 that he saw me : 
 
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 *' It's all right, Paoli ; the official demand has 
 been granted. You see before you the happiest 
 of men ! " 
 
 The days that followed upon their betrothal 
 were days of enchantment for the young couplC; 
 now freed from all preoccupation and constraint. 
 One met them daily, motoring along the pictur- 
 esque roads of the Basque country or walking 
 through the streets of Biarritz, stopping before 
 the shop-windows, at the photographer's or at the 
 pastry-cook's. 
 
 " Do you know, Paoli," said the King to me 
 one day, " I've changed the princess's name ? 
 Instead of calling her Ena, which I don't like, I 
 call her Nini. That's very Parisian, isn't it ? " 
 
 The royal lover, as I have already said, prided 
 himself with justice on his Parisianism. 
 
 It will readily be imagined that the protection 
 of the King was not always an easy matter. 
 True, it was understood that I should invariably 
 be told beforehand of the programme of the day ; 
 but the plans would be changed an hour later; 
 and, when the young couple had once set out at 
 random, nothing was more difficult than to catch 
 them up. 
 
 I remember one morning when the King in- 
 formed me that he did not intend to go out that 
 day. I thereupon determined to give myself a 
 few hours' rest. I had returned to my hotel and 
 was beginning to enjoy the unaccustomed sense 
 of repose, when the telephone-bell rang : 
 
 " The King and the princess have gone out," 
 66
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 said the voice of one of my detectives. " It's 
 impossible to find them." 
 
 Greatly alarmed, I was hurrying to the Villa 
 Mom'iscot, when, at a bend in the road, I saw the 
 fugitives themselves before me, accompanied by 
 Princess Beatrice. 
 
 " I say ! " cried the King, in great glee. " We 
 gave your inspector the slip ! " 
 
 And, as I was venturing to utter a discreet 
 reproach : 
 
 " Don't be angry with us, M. Paoli," the 
 princess broke in, very prettily. " The King 
 isn't frightened ; no more am I. Who would 
 think of hurting us ? " 
 
 The great delight of Alfonso, who is very 
 playfully inclined, was to hoax people that did 
 not know who he was. One day, motoring 
 into Cambo, the delicious village near which 
 M. Edmond Rostand's property lies, he entered 
 the post-office to send off some cards. Seeing 
 the woman in charge of the office taking the air 
 outside the door : 
 
 " I beg your pardon, madame," he said, very 
 politely. " Could you tell me if the King of 
 Spain is expected here to-day ? " 
 
 " I don't know anything about it," said the 
 little post-mistress, in an off-hand manner. 
 
 " Don't you know him by sight ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Oh, really ! They say he's very nice : not 
 exactl)^ handsome, but quite charming, for all 
 that." 
 
 F2 67
 
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 The good lady, of course, suspected nothing; 
 but, when the King handed her his postcards, it 
 goes without saying that she at once read the 
 superscriptions and saw that they were addressed 
 to the Queen Mother at San Sebastian, to the 
 Infanta Dona Paz, to the Infanta Maria Teresa, 
 to tlie prime minister : 
 
 " Wliy, it's the King himself ! " she exclaimed, 
 quite overcome. 
 
 Alfonso XIII. was already far on his 
 road. 
 
 The most amusing adventure, however, was 
 that which he had at Dax. One morning, he 
 took it into his head to motor to the parched 
 and desolate country of the Landes, which stretch 
 from Bayonne to Bordeaux. After a long and 
 wearing drive, he decided to take the train back 
 from Dax. Accompanied by his friend Senor 
 Quihones de Leon, he made for the station, where 
 the two young men, tired out and streaming 
 with perspiration, sat down in the refreshment- 
 room. 
 
 " Give us some lunch, please," said the King, 
 who was ravenously hungry, to the lady at the 
 bar. 
 
 The refreshment-room, unfortunately, was very 
 scantily supplied. When the two travelling- 
 companions had eaten up the sorry fare repre- 
 sented by a few eggs and sandwiches, which had 
 probably been waiting more than a month for a 
 traveller to arrive and take a fancy to them, the 
 King, whose appetite was far from being satisfied, 
 68
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 called the barmaid, a fat and matronly Bearnaise, 
 with an upper lip adorned with a pair of thick 
 mustachios. 
 
 " Have you nothing else to give us ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " I have a pate de foie gras, but . . . it's very 
 expensive," said the decent creature, whose 
 perspicacity did not go to the length of seeing a 
 serious customer in this famished and dusty young 
 man. 
 
 " Never mind, let's have it," said the King. 
 
 The woman brought her pdtc\ which was none 
 too fresh ; but how great was her amazement when 
 she saw the two travellers devour not only the 
 liver, but the fat as well ! The pot was emptied 
 and scraped clean in the twinkling of an 
 eye. 
 
 Pleased with her successful morning's trade 
 and encouraged by the King's ebullient good- 
 humour, the barmaid sat down at the royal 
 table, began to tell the King her family affairs 
 and questioned him with motherly solicitude. 
 When, at last, the hour of departure struck, they 
 shook hands with each other warmly. 
 
 Some time afterwards, the King was passing 
 through Dax by rail and, as the train steamed 
 into the station, said to me : 
 
 " I have an acquaintance at Dax. I'll show 
 her to you : she is charming." 
 
 The buxom Bearnaise was there, more mus- 
 tachioed than ever. I will not attempt to 
 describe her comic bewilderment at recognizing 
 
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 her former customer in the person of the King. 
 He was delighted and, giving her his hand : 
 
 " You won't refuse to say how-do-you-do to 
 me, I hope ? " he asked, laughing. 
 
 The incident turned her head ; what was bound 
 to happen happened : she became indiscreet. 
 From that time onwards, she looked into every 
 train that stopped at Dax, to see if " her friend " 
 the King was among the passengers ; and, when, 
 instead of stepping on the platform, he satis- 
 fied himself with giving her a friendly little 
 nod from behind the pane, she felt immensely 
 disappointed : in fact, she was even a little 
 offended. 
 
 The Cambo post-mistress and the Dax bar- 
 maid are not the only people who can boast of 
 having been taken in by Alfonso XIII. His 
 waggery was sometimes let loose upon grave and 
 serious men. . . . Dr. Moure, of Bordeaux, who 
 attended the young monarch for his operation 
 on the nose, has a story to tell. He was sent 
 for, one day, to San Sebastian and was wait- 
 ing for his illustrious patient in a room at the 
 Miramar Palace, when the door opened quickly 
 and there entered a most respectable lady, dressed 
 in silk flounces and wearing a wig and spectacles. 
 Not having the honour of her acquaintance, the 
 doctor made a deep bow, to which she replied 
 with a stately curtsy. . 
 
 " It must be the camerera-major,''^ he thought 
 to himself. " She looks tremendously eighteenth- 
 century." 
 70
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 But suddenly a great burst of laughter shook 
 the venerable dowager's frame from head to foot, 
 her spectacles fell from her nose, her wig dropped 
 off likewise, and a clarion voice cried : 
 
 " Good-morning, doctor ! It's I ! " 
 
 It was the King. 
 
 The chapter of anecdotes is inexhaustible. 
 And it is not difficult to picture how this playful 
 simplicity, combined with a delicacy of feeling 
 and a knightly grace, to which, in our age of brutal 
 realism, we are no longer accustomed, made an 
 utter conquest of the pretty English princess. 
 When, after several days of familiar and daily 
 intimacy, it became necessary to say good-bye — 
 the princess was returning to England to busy 
 herself with preparations for her marriage, Alfonso 
 to Madrid for the same reason — when the moment 
 of separation had come, there was a pang at the 
 heart on both sides. And, as I was leaving with 
 the princess for Paris : 
 
 " You're a lucky man, M. Paoli, to be going 
 with the princess," said the King, sadly, as I 
 stepped into the railway-carriage. " I'd give 
 anything to be in your place ! " 
 
 While the court of Spain was employed in 
 fettling,, down to the smallest particular, the 
 ceremonial for the King's approaching wedding, 
 Princess Ena was absorbed, at one and the same 
 time, in the charming details of her trousseau 
 
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 and in the more austere preparations for her 
 conversion to Catholicism. This conversion, as 
 I have ah'eady said, was a sine qua non to the 
 consent of Spain to her marriage. 
 
 The princess and her mother, accompanied by 
 Miss Cochrane and Lord William Cecil, went and 
 stayed at an hotel at Versailles for the period 
 of religious instruction which precedes the ad- 
 mission of a neophyte within the pale of the 
 Roman Church ; and it was at Versailles, on a 
 cold February morning, that she abjured her 
 Protestantism in one of the smaller chapels of 
 the cathedral. 
 
 The last months of the winter of 1906 were 
 spent by the engaged pair in eager expectation 
 of the great event that was to unite them for 
 good and in the manifold occupations which this 
 event involved. The date of the wedding was 
 fixed for the 31st of May. A few days before 
 that, I went to Calais to meet the princess. It 
 was as though Nature, in her charming vernal 
 awakening, was smiling upon the royal bride and 
 had hastily decked herself in her best to greet the 
 young princess. But the princess saw nothing : 
 she had bidden a last farewell to her country, her 
 family, and her home ; and, despite the happiness 
 that called her, the fond memory of all that she 
 was quitting oppressed her heart. 
 
 "It is nothing, M. Paoli," she said, when I 
 asked the cause of her sadness, "it is nothing; 
 I cannot help feeling a little touched when I 
 think that I am leaving the country where I 
 72
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 have spent so many liappy years to go towards 
 the unknown." 
 
 She did not sleep that night. ... At three 
 o'clock in the morning, she was up and dressed, 
 ready to appear before her future husband, 
 before the nation that was waiting to welcome 
 her, while the King, at the same hour, was striding 
 up and down the platform at Irun, in a fever of 
 excitement, peering into the night so as to be the 
 first to see the yellow gleams of the train and 
 nervously lighting cigarette upon cigarette to 
 calm his impatience. 
 
 Then came the whirlwind of festivals, at which 
 the King invited me to be present ; the sumptuous 
 magnificence of the marriage ceremony in the 
 ancient church of Los Geronimos. ... It was 
 as though the old court of Spain had regained 
 its pomp of the days of long ago. Once more, 
 the streets, all dressed with flags, were filled with 
 antiquated chariots, with heraldic costumes, with 
 glittering uniforms; from the balconies, draped 
 with precious stuffs, flowers fell in torrents ; cheers 
 rose from the serried ranks of the crowd ; an in- 
 tense, noisy, mad gaiety reigned in all men's 
 eyes, on all men's lips, while, from behind 
 the windows of the state-coach that carried 
 her to the church, the surprised and delighted 
 princess, forgetting her fleeting melancholy, now 
 smiled her acknowledgments of this mighty 
 welcome. 
 
 A tragic incident was fated brutally to interrupt 
 her fair young dream, 
 
 73
 
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 Finding no seat in the church of Los Geronimos, 
 the dimensions of whicli are quite small, I took 
 refuge in one of the Court stands erected along 
 the route taken by the sovereigns; and I was 
 watching the procession pass, on its return to the 
 palace, when my ears were suddenly deafened by 
 a tremendous explosion. ... At first no one 
 realized where it came from ... we thought 
 that it was the report of a cannon-shot fired to 
 announce the end of the ceremony. . . . But 
 suddenly loud yells arose, people hustled one 
 another and rushed away madly, shouting : 
 
 " It's murder ! It's murder! The King and 
 Queen are killed ! " 
 
 Terrified, I tried to hasten to the street from 
 which the cries came. A file of soldiers, drawn 
 up across the roadway, stopped me. I then ran 
 to the palace, where I arrived at exactly the same 
 moment as the royal coach, from which the King 
 and the young Queen alighted. They were pale, 
 but calm. The King held his wife's hand tenderly 
 in his own and stared in dismay at the long white 
 train of her bridal dress, stained with great 
 splashes of blood. Filled with horror, I went up 
 to Alfonso XIII. : 
 
 "Oh, Sir," I cried, "at least, both of you are 
 safe and sound ! " 
 
 " Yes," he replied. Then, lowering his voice, 
 he added, "But there are some killed. Poor 
 people ! . . . What an infamous thing ! " 
 
 Under her great white veil, the Queen, standing 
 between Queen Maria Christina and the Princess 
 74
 
 KING ALFONSO XIII 
 
 Henry of Battenberg, still both trembling, 
 wept silent tears. Then the King, profoundly 
 moved, drew nearer to her and kissed her 
 slowly on the cheek, whispering these charming 
 words : 
 
 " I do hope that you are not angry with me for 
 the emotion which I have all involuntarily caused 
 you ? " 
 
 What she replied I did not hear : I only saw a 
 kiss. 
 
 Notwithstanding the warm manifestations of 
 loyalty which the people of Spain lavished upon 
 their sovereigns on the following day, Queen 
 Victoria is said to have been long haunted by the 
 horrible spectacle which she had beheld and to 
 have retained an intense feeling of terror and 
 sadness arising from that tragic hour. But, God 
 be praised, everything passes. . . . When, later, 
 I had the honour of again finding myself in attend- 
 ance upon the King and Queen, at Biarritz and 
 in Paris, I recognized once more the happy and 
 loving young couple whom I had known at the 
 time of their engagement. Alfonso XIII. had 
 the same gaiety, the same high spirits as before ; 
 and the Queen's mind seemed to show no trace of 
 painful memories. 
 
 In the course of the first journey which I took 
 with them, a year after the murderous attempt in 
 Madrid, the King himself acquainted me with the 
 real cause of this happy equanimity so promptly 
 recovered. Walking into the compartment where 
 I was sitting, he lifted high into the air a pink and 
 
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 chubby child and, holding it up for me to look at, 
 said, with more than a touch of pride in his 
 
 voice : 
 
 " There ! What do you think of him ? Isn't 
 
 he splendid ? " 
 
 76
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 Must I confess it ? When I heard, a few weeks 
 before the opening of the International Exhibition 
 of 1900, that I was to have the honour of being 
 attached to the person of Muzaffr-ed-Din, King 
 of Kings and Shall of Persia, during the whole 
 length of the official visit which he contemplated 
 paying to Paris, I did not welcome the news 
 with the alacrity which it ought perhaps to have 
 provoked. 
 
 And yet I had no reason to be prejudiced 
 against this monarch : I did not even know him. 
 My apprehensions were grounded on more remote 
 causes : I recalled the memories which a former 
 Shah, his predecessor, had left among us. Nasr- 
 ed-Din was a strange and capricious sovereign, 
 who had never succeeded in making up his mind, 
 when he came to Europe, to leave the manners 
 and customs of his native land behind him or 
 to lay aside the troublesome fancies in which his 
 reckless despotism delighted to indulge. Was it 
 not related of him that, while staying in the 
 country, in France, he caused a sheep or two 
 
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 to be sacrificed every morning in his bedroom, 
 in order to ensure the prophet's clemency until 
 the evening ; and that he had the amiable habit 
 of buying anything that took his fancy, but 
 neglecting to pay the bill ? 
 
 Lastly, this very delicious story was told 
 about him. The Shah had asked whether he 
 could not, by way of amusement, be present at 
 an execution of capital punishment during one 
 of his stays in Paris. It so happened that an 
 occasion offered. He was invited to go, one 
 morning, to the Place de la Roquette, where the 
 scaffold had been erected. He arrived with his 
 diamonds and his suite; but, the moment he saw 
 the condemned man, his generous heart was filled 
 with a sudden tenderness for the murderer : 
 
 " Not that one . . . the other ! " he ordered, 
 pointing to the public prosecutor, who was 
 presiding over the ceremony. 
 
 Picture the magistrate's face, while the Shah 
 insisted and thought it discourteous of them not 
 at once to yield to his wishes. 
 
 I asked myself, therefore, with a certain dismay 
 what unpleasant surprises his successor might 
 have in store for me. He seemed to me to come 
 from the depths of a very old and mysterious 
 form of humanity, travelling from his capital to 
 the shores of Europe, slowly, by easy stages, as 
 in the mediaeval times, across deserts and moun- 
 tains and blue-domed cities of the dead, escorted 
 by a fabulous baggage-train of rare stuffs, of 
 praying- carpets, of marvellous jewels, an army of 
 78
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 turbaned horsemen, a swarm of officials, a harem 
 of dancing girls and a long file of camels. 
 
 I asked myself whether I, too, should be obliged 
 to assist at sacrifices of heifers and to console un- 
 paid tradesmen, only to end by being pointed out 
 by His Majesty as a " substitute " under the knife 
 of the guillotine. 
 
 However, I was needlessly alarmed : in Persia, 
 thank goodness, the Shahs succeed, but do not 
 resemble one another. I became fully aware of 
 this when I was admitted into the intimacy of 
 our new guest. Muzaffr-ed-Din had nothing in 
 common with his father. He was an overgrown 
 child, whose massive stature, great bushy mous- 
 tache, very kind, round eyes, prominent stomach 
 and general adiposity formed a contrast with his 
 backward mental condition and his sleepy in- 
 telligence. He had, in fact, the brain of a twelve- 
 year-old schoolboy, together with a schoolboy's 
 easily-aroused astonishment, candour and curio- 
 sity. He busied himself exclusively with small 
 things, the only things that excited and interested 
 him. He was gentle, good-natured, an arrant 
 coward, open-handed at times and extremely 
 capricious; but his whims never went so far as 
 to take pleasure in the suffering of others. He 
 loved life, was enormously attached to it, in fact ; 
 and he liked me, too, with a real affection, which 
 was spontaneous and, at times, touching : 
 
 " Paoli, worthy Paoli," he said to me one day, 
 in an expansive mood, fixing his round pupils 
 upon me, " you . . . my good, my dear domestic ! " 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 When I appeared surprised and even a little 
 offended at the place which he was allotting me 
 in the social scale : 
 
 " His Majesty means to say," explained the 
 grand vizier, " that he looks upon you as belong- 
 ing to the family. ' Domestic ' in his mind 
 means a friend of the house, according to the 
 true etymology of the word, which is derived 
 from the Latin domus.'^ 
 
 The intention was pretty enough; I asked no 
 more, remembering that Muzaffr-ed-Din spoke 
 French with difficulty and employed a sort of 
 nigger jargon to express his thoughts. 
 
 At the time of his first stay in Paris, he had the 
 privilege of inaugurating the famous Sovereigns' 
 Palace, which the government had fitted up in 
 the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne for the enter- 
 tainment of its royal visitors. The house was 
 a comparatively small one; on the other hand, 
 it was sumptuously decorated. The national 
 furniture- repository had sent some of the finest 
 pieces to be found in its historic store-rooms. 
 In fact, I believe that the Shah slept in the bed 
 of Napoleon I. and washed his hands and face 
 in the Empress Marie-Louise's basin : things that 
 interested him but little. Great memories were 
 a matter of indifference to him; he infinitely 
 preferred futile realities in the form of useless 
 objects, whose glitter pleased his eye, and of 
 80
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 more or less harmonious sounds, whose vibra- 
 tions tickled his ears. 
 
 His taste in such matters was proved on the day 
 of his arrival, by two immediate decisions : he 
 ordered the grand piano which adorned his draw- 
 ing-room to be packed up for Teheran, together 
 with the motor-car which awaited his good pleasure 
 outside, after hearing the one, trying the other, 
 and lavishly paying for both. He would not be 
 denied. 
 
 His amazement was great when he visited the 
 exhibition for the first time. The wonderful 
 cosmopolitan city that seemed to have leapt 
 into existence in the space of one of the thousand 
 and one nights of the Persian legend stirred his 
 eastern imagination, strive though he might to 
 conceal the fact. The splendour of the exotic 
 display exercised an irresistible attraction upon 
 him; the glass-cases of jewellery also fascinated 
 his gaze, although he himself, doubtless without 
 realizing it, was a perambulating shop-window 
 which any jeweller would have hankered to possess. 
 On his long Persian tunic, with its red border 
 and its wide, pleated skirt, he wore a regular 
 display of precious stones ; and one did not know 
 which to admire most : the gleaming sapphires 
 that adorned his shoulder-straps, the splendid 
 emeralds, the exquisite turquoises that studded 
 the baldrick and the gold scabbard of his sword, 
 the four enormous rubies that took the place 
 of buttons on his uniform, or the dazzling and 
 formidable diamond, the famous Daria-Nour, 
 G 81
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 or Sea of Light, fastened to his khola, the 
 traditional head-dress, whence a quivering aig- 
 rette in brilhants sprang hke a fountain of hght. 
 Thus decked out, Muzaffr-ed-Din was valued at 
 thirty-four million francs net ; and, even then, he 
 was far from carrying the whole of his fortune 
 upon his person : I have in fact been assured 
 that, in the depths of the iron trunk of which four 
 vigilant Persians had the keeping, there slumbered 
 as many precious stones again, no less fine than 
 the others and content to undergo the rigour of a 
 temporary disgrace. At all events, in the guise in 
 which he showed himself in public, he was enough 
 to excite the admiring curiosity of the crowd. 
 
 In his solemn walks through the various 
 sections of the exhibition, where my modest 
 frock-coat looked drab and out of place among 
 the glittering uniforms, he was attended by the 
 grand vizier, the only dignitary entitled, by the 
 etiquette of the Persian court, to carry a cane 
 in the presence of his sovereign, who himself 
 always leant upon a stick made of some precious 
 wood. Nothing could damp his eagerness to 
 know, to see, and to buy things. He bought 
 everything indifferently : musical instruments, 
 old tapestries, a set of table-cutlery, a panorama, 
 a " new art " ring, a case of pistols. He looked, 
 touched, weighed the thing in his hand and then, 
 raising his forefinger, said, " Je prends,^^ while 
 the delighted exhibitor, greatly touched and 
 impressed, took down the order and the address. 
 
 Nevertheless, Muzaffr-ed-Din was not so rich 
 82
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 as one would be inclined to think. Each time, 
 in fact, that he came to Europe, where he 
 spent fabulous sums, he procured the money 
 needed for his journey, not only by raising a 
 loan, generally in Russia, but also by a method 
 which was both ingenious and businesslike. 
 Before leaving his possessions, he summoned his 
 chief officers of State — ministers, provincial 
 governors and the like — and proposed the fol- 
 lowing bargain to them : those who wished to 
 form part of his suite must first pay him a sum 
 of money which he valued in accordance with 
 the importance of their functions. It varied be- 
 tween 50,000 and 300,000 francs. In return, he 
 authorized them to recoup themselves for this 
 advance in any way they pleased. Here we find 
 the explanation of the large number of persons 
 who accompanied the Shah on his travels and the 
 quaint and unexpected titles which they bore, 
 such as that of " minister of the dock-yard," 
 though Persia has never owned a navy, and one 
 still more extraordinary, that of " attorney-general 
 to the heir-apparent." Although these gentry 
 sometimes had romantic souls, they invariably pos- 
 sessed terribly practical minds. Eager to recover 
 as quickly as possible the outlay to which their 
 ambition to behold the west had induced them 
 to consent, they practised on a huge scale and 
 without scruple or hesitation what I may de- 
 scribe as the bonus or commission system. Not- 
 withstanding my long experience of human 
 frailties, I confess that this proceeding, cynically 
 
 G2 83
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 raised to the level of an institution, upset 
 all my notions, while it explained how the 
 Shah was able to spend eight to twelve million 
 francs in pocket-money on each of his trips 
 to France. 
 
 As soon as the people about him knew what 
 shops His Majesty proposed to visit in the course 
 of his daily drives, a bevy of courtiers would 
 swoop down upon each awestruck tradesman 
 and imperiously insist upon his promising them 
 a big commission, in exchange for which they 
 undertook to prevail upon His Majesty graciously 
 to honour the establishment with his custom. 
 The shopkeeper, as a rule, raised no objection : 
 he was quite content to increase the price in 
 proportion ; and, when the good Shah, accom- 
 panied by his vizier, presented himself a few 
 hours later in the shop, his suite praised the 
 goods of the house so heartily that he never 
 failed to let fall the time-honoured phrase, " Je 
 prends,'^ so as to give no one even the slightest 
 pain or trouble. Nor, for that matter, did any of 
 those round him dream of making a secret of 
 the traffic in which they indulged behind their 
 sovereign's back : it was a right duly acquired 
 and paid for. 
 
 I am bound to say, however, that the grand 
 vizier — no doubt because he was already too 
 well-off — appeared to be above these sordid and 
 venal considerations. This important personage, 
 whose name on the occasion in question was His 
 Highness the Sadrazani Mirza Ali Asghar Khan 
 84
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 Emin es Sultan, combined an acute understanding 
 with a superior cast of mind ; the Shall showed 
 him the greatest affection and treated him as a 
 friend. These marks of special kindness were 
 due to curious causes, which an amiable Persian 
 was good enough to reveal to me. It appears 
 that, when the late Shah Nasr-ed-Din was shot 
 dead at the mosque where he was making a 
 pilgrimage, the grand vizier of the time, who 
 was none other than this same Mirza Ali Asghar 
 Khan, pretended that the Shah's wound was not 
 serious, had the corpse seated in the carriage and 
 drove back to the palace beside it, acting as if 
 he were talking to his sovereign, fanning him 
 and asking at intervals for water to quench his 
 thirst, as though he were still alive. 
 
 The death was not acknowledged till some days 
 later. In this way, the vizier gave the heir- 
 apparent, the present Shah, time to return from 
 Tauris and avoided the grave troubles that would 
 certainly have arisen had the truth been known. 
 Muzaffr-ed-Din owed his crown and perhaps his 
 life to his grand vizier : small wonder that he 
 showed him some gratitude. 
 
 His court minister, Mohamed Khan, could 
 also have laid claim to this gratitude, for he 
 gave proof of remarkable presence of mind 
 at the time of the attempted assassination 
 of Muzaffr-ed-Din during his stay in Paris in 
 1900. 
 
 The incident is perhaps still in the reader's 
 recollection. The Shah, with the court minister 
 
 85
 
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 seated by his side, and General Parent, the chief 
 French officer attached to his person, facing him, 
 had just left the Sovereigns' Palace to drive to 
 the exhibition, when a man sprang on the step 
 of the open landau, drew a revolver and took 
 aim at the monarch's chest. Before he had 
 time, however, to pull the trigger, a hand of iron 
 fell upon his wrist and clutched it with such 
 force that the man was compelled to drop his 
 weapon, which fell at the feet of the sovereign, 
 while the would-be murderer was arrested by 
 the police. Mohamed Khan, by this opportune 
 and energetic interference, had prevented a shot 
 the consequences of which would have been 
 disastrous for the Shah and very annoying for 
 the French government, all the more inasmuch 
 as the author of this attempt was a French 
 subject, a sort of fanatic from the south, to whom 
 tlie recent assassination of King Humbert of 
 Italy had suggested this fantastic plan of making 
 away with the unoffending Muzaffr-ed-Din. 
 
 Here is a curious detail : I had that very morn- 
 ing received an anonymous letter, dated from 
 Naples, but posted in Paris, in which the sovereign 
 was warned that an attempt would be made on his 
 life. Although this kind of communication was a 
 very frequent one, I ordered the supervision to be 
 redoubled inside the palace ; as a matter of fact, 
 I did not much fear a surprise outside, as the Shah 
 never drove out but his carriage was surrounded 
 by a detachment of cavalry. Now ill-luck would 
 have it that he took it into his head, that day, 
 86
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 to go out before the time which he himself had 
 fixed and without waiting for the arrival of the 
 escort : I have shown the result. 
 
 During the whole of this tragic scene, which 
 lasted only a few seconds, he did not utter a 
 single word; the pallor which overspread his 
 cheeks alone betrayed his emotion : nevertheless, 
 he ordered the coachman to drive on. When, at 
 last, they reached the Champs Elysees and he 
 perceived numerous groups waiting to cheer him, 
 he emerged from his stupor : 
 
 "Is it going to happen again ? " he cried, in 
 accents of terror. 
 
 He was, in fact, given to easy and strange fits 
 of alarm. He always carried a loaded pistol in 
 his trousers-pocket, though he never used it. On 
 one of his journeys in France, he even took it 
 into his head to make a high court-official walk 
 before him when he left the theatre, carrying a 
 revolver pointed at the peaceable sightseers who 
 had gathered to see him come out. As soon as 
 I perceived this, I ran up to the threatening 
 bodyguard : 
 
 " Put that revolver away," I said. "It's not 
 the custom here." 
 
 But I had to insist pretty roughly before he 
 consented to sheathe his weapon. 
 
 The Shah, for that matter, was no less dis- 
 
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 trustful of his own subjects; in fact I observed 
 that, when the Persians were in his presence, 
 they adopted a uniform attitude, which con- 
 sisted in holding their hands crossed on their 
 stomachs, no doubt as evidence of their harmless 
 intentions. 
 
 For the rest, his " alarms " displayed them- 
 selves under the most diverse aspects and in the 
 most unexpected circumstances. For instance, 
 there was no persuading him ever to ascend the 
 Eiffel Tower. The disappointment of his guides 
 was increased by the fact that he would come as 
 far as the foot of the pillars ; they always thought 
 that he meant to go up. But no : once below 
 the immense iron framework, he gazed up in the 
 air, examined the lifts, flung a timid glance at 
 the staircase, then suddenly turned on his heels 
 and walked away. They told him in vain that 
 his august father had ascended as far as the 
 first floor; nothing could induce him to do as 
 much. 
 
 Again, I remember a day — it was at the time 
 of his second stay in Paris — when, on entering 
 his drawing-room, I found him wearing a very 
 careworn air. 
 
 " Paoli," he said, taking my hand and leading 
 me to the window, " look ! " 
 
 Look as I might, I saw nothing out of the way. 
 Down below, three bricklayers stood on the 
 pavement, talking quietly together. 
 
 " What ! " said the Shah. " Don't you see 
 those men standing still, down there ? They have 
 88
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 been there for an hour, talking and watching my 
 window. Paoli, they want to kill me! " 
 
 Repressing a strong desire to laugh, I resolved 
 to reassure our guest with a lie : 
 
 " Why, I know them ! " I replied. " I know 
 their names : they are decent working-men." 
 
 Muzaffr-ed-Din's face lit up at once : 
 
 " You seem to know everybody," he said, 
 giving me a grateful look. 
 
 The most amusing incident was that which 
 happened on the occasion of an experiment with 
 radium. I had described to the sovereign, in 
 the course of conversation, the wonderful dis- 
 covery which our great savant, M. Curie, had 
 just made, a discovery that was likely to revolu- 
 tionize science. The Shah was extremely inter- 
 ested in my story and repeatedly expressed a 
 desire to be shown the precious magic stone. 
 Professor Curie was informed accordingly and, in 
 spite of his stress of work, agreed to come to the 
 filysee Palace Hotel and give an exhibition. 
 As, however, complete darkness was needed for 
 radium to be admired in all its brilliancy, I had 
 with endless trouble persuaded the King of Kings 
 to come down to one of the hotel cellars arranged 
 for the purpose. At the appointed time, His 
 Majesty and all his suite proceeded to the under- 
 ground apartment in question. Professor Curie 
 closed the door, switched off the electric light and 
 uncovered his specimen of radium, when sud- 
 denly a shout of terror, resembling at one and 
 the same time the roar of a bull and the yell of 
 
 89
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 a man who is being murdered, rang out, followed 
 by hundreds of similar cries. . . . Amid general 
 excitement and consternation, we flung ourselves 
 upon the electric switches, turned on the lights 
 and beheld a strange sight : in the midst of the 
 prostrate Persians stood the Shah, his arms 
 clinging to the neck of his howling grand vizier, 
 his round pupils dilated to their rims, while he 
 shouted, at the top of his voice, in Persian : 
 
 " Come away ! Come away ! " 
 
 The switching on of the light calmed this mad 
 anguish as though by magic. Realizing the 
 disappointment which he had caused M. Curie, he 
 tried to offer him a decoration by way of com- 
 pensation ; but the austere man of science thought 
 fit to decline it. 
 
 The instinctive dread of darkness and solitude 
 was so keen in the Persian monarch that he 
 required his bedroom to be filled during the 
 night with light and sound. Accordingly, every 
 evening, as soon as he had lain down and closed 
 his eyes, the members of his suite gathered 
 round his bed, lit all the candles and exchanged 
 their impressions aloud, while young nobles of 
 the court, relieving one another in pairs, con- 
 scientiously patted his arms and legs with little 
 light, sharp, regular taps. The King of Kings 
 imagined that he was in this way keeping death 
 at a distance, if perchance it should take a fancy 
 to visit him in his sleep . . . and the extraordinary 
 thing is that he did sleep, notwithstanding all 
 this massage, light and noise. 
 90
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 The need which he felt of having people con- 
 stantly around him, and of reproducing the 
 atmosphere of his distant country wherever he 
 fixed his temporary residence, was reflected in 
 the picturesque and singularly animated aspect 
 which the hotel or palace at which he elected 
 to stay assumed soon after his installation. It 
 was promptly transformed into a vast, exotic 
 caravanserai, presenting the appearance of a 
 French fair combined with that of an eastern 
 bazaar. The house was taken possession of by 
 its new occupants from the kitchens, ruled over 
 by the Persian master-cook, who prepared the 
 monarch's dishes, to the attics, where the lower 
 servants were accommodated. One saw nothing 
 but figures in dark tunics and astrakhan caps, 
 squatting in the passages and leaning over the 
 staircases; along the corridors and in the halls, 
 the shopkeepers had improvised stalls as at 
 Teheran, in the hope that the monarch would 
 let fall from his august lips in passing the " Je 
 prends " that promised wealth. ... In the 
 uncouth crowd which the desire of provoking and 
 hearing that blissful phrase attracted to the 
 waiting-rooms of the hotel, all the professions 
 rubbed shoulders promiscuously : curiosity- 
 dealers, unsuccessful inventors, collectors of 
 autographs and postage-stamps, ruined finan- 
 ciers, charlatans, unknown artists. 
 
 91
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Their numbers had increased so greatly, on the 
 faith of the legend that the Shah's treasures 
 were inexhaustible, that a radical step had to be 
 taken : when Muzaffr-ed-Din returned to Paris in 
 1902 and 1905, the applicants for favours were 
 forbidden to resume their little manoeuvre. 
 Thereupon they changed their tactics : they sat 
 down and wrote. 
 
 I have kept these letters, which the Shah never 
 read and which his secretary handed me regularly 
 without having read them either. They arrived 
 by each post in shoals. One could easily make 
 a volume of them which would provide psycho- 
 logists with a very curious study of the human 
 soul and mind. Among those poor letters are 
 many obscure, touching, comic, candid and 
 cynical specimens ; some also are absurd ; others 
 imprudent or sad. Most of them are signed ; and 
 among the signatures of these requests for assist- 
 ance are names which one is surprised to find 
 there. ... I must be permitted to suppress these 
 names and limit myself, in this mad orgy of 
 epistolary literature, to reproducing the most 
 typical of the letters that fell under my eyes. 
 
 First, a few specimens of the " comic " note : 
 
 *' To His Majesty Muzaffr-ed-Din, Shah of 
 Persia. 
 " Your Majesty, 
 
 " Knowing that you look kindly upon 
 French requests, I venture to address these few 
 lines to you. I am expecting my sister, Mile. 
 92
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 Grampel, who has a situation in Russia; as she 
 is ill, I would like her to remain in France. For 
 us to live together, I should have to start a 
 business with a capital of 3,000 to 5,000 francs, 
 which I do not possess and which I cannot 
 possibly hnd. I am 58 years of age. 
 
 " In the hope that you will lend a favourable 
 ear to my request, I am, 
 
 " Your Majesty's most humble servant, 
 
 " Madame M. 
 
 " P.S. — In gratitude, with Your Majesty's per- 
 mission, I would place a sign representing Your 
 Majesty over the shop-front." 
 
 " Sire, 
 
 " The feeling that prompts me to write to 
 you, O noble King, is the love which I feel for 
 your country. I will come straight to the point : 
 I will ask you, O Majesty, if I, a plain French 
 subject, may have a post of some kind in your 
 ideal kingdom. 
 
 " Dentist I am ; a dentist I would remain, in 
 Your Majesty's service. All my life long, you 
 would be assured of my complete devotion. 
 
 " A future Persian dentist to his future king. 
 
 " P. J. L. 
 
 " Pray, Sire, address the reply to the poste 
 restante at Post-office No. 54." 
 
 " Great Shah, 
 
 " This missive which I have the honour 
 
 93
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 of addressing to Your Majesty is to tell you that I 
 and my friends Messieurs Jules Brunei and Abel 
 Chenet have the honour of offering you four 
 bottles of champagne and two bottles of claret. 
 
 " In exchange, may we beg for the Order of 
 the Sun and Lion, which it would give us great 
 pleasure to receive and which we hope that Your 
 Majesty will confer upon us ? We are French 
 citizens and old soldiers. 
 
 " We wish you constant good health and 
 prosperity for your country, Persia. You can 
 send your servant to fetch the bottles. 
 
 '' We have the honour to greet you, and we 
 remain your very humble servants, crying : 
 
 " ' Long live H.M. Muzaffr-ed-Din and long live 
 Persia ! ' 
 
 " A. W." 
 
 Thorigny (on my way home), 27 August, 1902. 
 
 " Your Majesty, 
 
 " Yesterday, Tuesday, I was in Paris, 
 waiting to have the pleasure of seeing you leave 
 your hotel. That pleasure was not vouchsafed me. 
 
 " But, on the other hand, a ring set with a 
 diamond, which I was taking to be repaired, was 
 stolen from me by a pickpocket. 
 
 " This ring was the only diamond which my 
 wife possessed. In consequence of the theft, she 
 now possesses none. 
 
 " I put myself the question whether I could 
 not indict you before a French court, as being the 
 direct cause of the theft. 
 94
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 " I find nothing in our French law-books hkcly 
 to decide in my favour. 
 
 " And so I prefer to come and beseech you to 
 redress the involuntary injury which you have 
 done me. 
 
 " A choice stone, which I should have set as a 
 ring, would make good all the damage which I 
 have suffered. 
 
 " I am well aware that you must have numerous 
 and various requests for assistance. This is 
 not one of them. 
 
 " But I should be infinitely grateful to you if 
 you would understand tliat, but for your coming 
 to Paris, I should not have been robbed, and if 
 you would kindly send me a choice stone to 
 replace the one stolen from me. 
 
 " Will Your Majesty pray receive the homage 
 of my most profound respect ? 
 
 "G. P., 
 " attorney -at-law, 
 "Barbezieux {Gironde), France.'^ 
 
 " To His Majesty Muzaffr-ed-Din, Shah of 
 Persia, Elysee Palace Hotel, Paris. 
 
 " I eagerly congratulate His Majesty on 
 the great honour which he has paid the French 
 people by making a long stay in the great inter- 
 national city. And I take advantage of this 
 occasion to beg His Majesty to initiate a general 
 convocation of all the sovereigns of the whole world 
 for next month, in order to open a subscription 
 list for the construction of an unprecedented 
 
 95
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 fairy-palace (new style and copying some of its 
 details from planetary nature and its marvels), to 
 be known as the Sovereign Palace of the Universal 
 Social Congress, symbolizing the whole universe 
 by States, containing the apartments of every 
 sovereign in the world, and situated near the Bois 
 de Boulogne. 
 
 " I consider that His Majesty would thus have 
 a good opportunity of securing a great page in 
 history. 
 
 " Hoping for a just appreciation and entire 
 success, I send His Majesty the Shah of 
 Persia, the assiu'ance of my greatest respect, 
 together with my perfect consideration, and 
 I am 
 
 " the most humble Architect-general of the 
 Universal Confederation of Social Peace, 
 
 " at His Majesty's service, 
 
 " C. M." 
 
 Now comes the " touching " note : 
 
 " A little provincial work-girl, who has not 
 the honour of being known to His Majesty, 
 kneels down before him and, with her hands 
 folded, entreats him to make her a present 
 of a sum of 1,200 francs, which would enable 
 her to marry the young man she loves. . . . Oh, 
 what blessings he would receive, day after day, 
 for that kind action ! 
 
 " I beg the Shah to forgive me for any offence 
 that this letter may commit against etiquette, 
 96
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 with which I am not acquainted. I kiss His 
 Majesty's hands and I am 
 
 " his most humble and obedient Httle servant, 
 
 " A. C." 
 
 Lastly, is not the following letter an exquisitely 
 candid specimen of the proper art of " sponging " ? 
 
 " Your Majesty, 
 
 " As you are a friend of France, I propose 
 to write to you as a friend ; you will permit me 
 to do so, I hope. 
 
 " The question is this : I have the greatest 
 longing to set eyes on the sea; my husband has 
 a few days' holiday in the course of October; I 
 should like to make the most of it and to go away 
 for a little while. 
 
 " Our means are very small indeed : my 
 husband has only 105 francs a month; and I 
 could not do what I wish without encroaching 
 on my housekeeping-money, which is calculated 
 down to the last centime. 
 
 " I therefore remembered your generosity and 
 thought that you might be touched by my request. 
 
 " You would not like a little Paris woman to be 
 prevented from enjoying the sight of the sea, 
 which you have doubtless often admired. 
 
 " You are very fond of travelling ; you will 
 understand my curiosity. 
 
 " Will Your Majesty deign to accept the ex- 
 pression of my most respectful and distinguished 
 sentiments ? 
 
 " Mme. a. a." 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 A worthy woman sent this note : 
 
 " To His Majesty the King of Persia, 
 
 " My name is the Widow Bressoy, aged 82. 
 I have lost my husband and two of my daughters, 
 I am unable to walk and I owe a quarter's rent. 
 My grandmother washed for His Majesty King 
 Louis-Philippe of France ; H.R.H. the Due 
 d'Aumale used to help me with my rent ; show 
 your kind heart and do as he did. Should you 
 come to the church of Ste. Elisabeth du Temple 
 on Sunday next, I should be very glad to see you. 
 "I am 
 
 " Your Majesty's most respectful servant, 
 " Widow Bressoy." 
 
 The following original proposal came from a 
 well-known business-house : 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " After the Monza crime and the attempt 
 of which you were the object yesterday, and in 
 view of the solemnities during which you might 
 be too much exposed to danger, I consider it 
 my duty to bring to your notice certain particu- 
 lars which might be of the greatest use to you and 
 those about your person. 
 
 " I refer to secret waistcoats of my own 
 manufacture, which I am able to offer to you and 
 which are absolutely warranted. 
 
 " The waistcoat which I am offering is proof
 
 / 
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 against a revolver-bullet and, of course, against 
 a sword or dagger. 
 
 " As an absolute guarantee, I can assure you 
 as follows by experiment : the fabric consists of 
 a very close and solidly-riveted coat of steel mail ; 
 the shape of the links has been specially studied 
 so as to allow of great suppleness, while preserving 
 the greatest solidity. 
 
 " It resists the 12 mm. bullet of the regulation 
 revolver, 1874 pattern. 
 
 " I have specimens at which bullets were fired 
 at a distance of four yards; they give an exact 
 idea of the resisting-power. 
 
 " The coat of mail is covered with silk or satin, 
 which gives the appearance of an ordinary 
 garment and does not for a moment suggest its 
 special object. 
 
 " The waistcoat protects the back, the chest, 
 the stomach and is continued down to the 
 abdomen. 
 
 " I must add that the waistcoat is very easy 
 to wear and in no way inconvenient, on condition 
 that I be supplied with the necessary measure- 
 ments or, better still, with an ordinary day- 
 waistcoat of the wearer's, fitted to his size. 
 
 " Hoping in the circumstances to be of some 
 use to you, I beg Your Majesty to accept the 
 expression of my most profound respect. 
 
 " R. G." 
 
 Let us pass to the children. Less unreasonable 
 
 than their parents, they content themselves with 
 H2 " 99
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 asking for postage-stamps, bicycles or auto- 
 graphs. 
 
 First comes a public schoolboy, quite proud of 
 incidentally showing that he knows his classics : 
 
 '' Sire, 
 
 " When you first set foot on French soil, 
 you were pleased to take notice, at Maubeuge 
 railway-station, of a young public schoolboy, 
 who, not knowing your quality, was only able to 
 give you a very respectful greeting. That young 
 schoolboy was myself. 
 
 " I realized the extent of the signal honour 
 which Your Majesty did me, when I learnt that 
 I had received it from the sovereign of Persia, the 
 country of Xerxes and Darius, the land whose 
 children have filled the world with the fame of 
 their exploits. And, descending the course of 
 the ages, reverting to the lessons of my masters, 
 I hailed in you ' the wise and enlightened monarch 
 whose reign holds forth so many hopes.' 
 
 " Sire, I shall never forget that moment, 
 which will probably be the only one of its kind 
 in my life ; but, if I were permitted to express a 
 wish, I would humbly confess to Your Majesty 
 that my greatest happiness would be to possess 
 a collection of Persian postage-stamps, as an 
 official token of the honour which you conde- 
 scended to do me. 
 
 " Deign, Sire, etc. 
 
 " R. W., 
 
 " pupil at the Lycee Faidherbe, Lille 
 " {on my holidays).^^ 
 100
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 The next has not yet learnt the beauties of 
 literary style; he has less notions of form, but 
 his ambition is more far-reaching : 
 
 " Your Majesty, 
 
 " I begin by begging your pardon for my 
 presumption; but I have heard everybody say, 
 and I read in the paper, that Your Majesty is 
 greatly interested in motor-cars. I therefore 
 thought that you must also have ridden the 
 bicycle, which you now, no doubt, care less for; 
 and it occurred to me that, if you happened to 
 have an old one put by, Your Majesty might do 
 me the honour to give it to me. 
 
 " Papa and my big brother Jean go out riding 
 on their bicycles and I am left at home with 
 mamma, because I have not a machine and they 
 cannot afford to buy me one. 
 
 " I should be so proud to have a bicycle given 
 me by Your Majesty. 
 
 " I shall not tell papa that I am writing to 
 Your Majesty, because he would laugh at me, and 
 I shall take three sous from my purse for the 
 stamp on this letter. 
 
 " I pray God not to let those wicked anarchists 
 attack Your Majesty, to whom I offer my pro- 
 found respect. 
 
 " Maurice Lelandais, 
 " aged 9 J years, 
 " living with his family. Faubourg Bizienne, 
 
 Guerande {Loire-injerieure)y 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Another schoolboy : 
 
 " Verviers, 3 September. 
 
 " Great King of Persia in France, 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I have read in the paper that you are 
 very rich and have lots of gold. 
 
 " My father promised to give me a gold watch 
 for my first communion next year, if I worked 
 hard at school. 
 
 " I did study, Sir, for I was second ; and the first 
 is thirteen years old ; and I am only eleven and a 
 half. To prove this to you, here is my prize-list. 
 Now, when I ask if I shall have my watch, my 
 father answers that he has no money and he 
 wants it all for bread. It is not right. Sir, to 
 deceive me like that. But I hope that you will 
 give me what they refuse. Do me that great 
 pleasure. I will pray for you. 
 
 " I love you very much. 
 
 " M. J." 
 
 Here is an artless request from a little English 
 girl : 
 
 " Your Majesty, 
 
 " I hear that you are taking a holiday in 
 Paris and I think that this must be the best time 
 to write to you, for you will not be so busy as in 
 your own kingdom. 
 
 " First of all, I want to tell you that I am an 
 EngUsh girl, fourteen years of age, and my name 
 X02
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 is Mary. I love collecting autographs and so 
 far I have been very lucky and have some of 
 celebrities, but I have none of a king, except 
 Menelik, who is a black majesty. 
 
 " Now, I should ever so much like to have a 
 few lines in your handwriting. 
 
 " Do be so very kind as to write to me. 
 
 " Mary St. J." 
 
 All these efforts of the imagination, all these 
 prodigies of ingenuity were wasted. ... As I have 
 said, the Shah took no notice whatever of the 
 six hundred and odd begging letters of different 
 kinds addressed to him during his visits to 
 France. Pleasure-loving and capricious, careful 
 of his own peace of mind, he dreaded and avoided 
 emotions of all kinds. . . . Nevertheless, he was 
 not wholly insensible to pity nor indifferent to 
 the charms of the fair sex. At certain times, 
 he was capable of sudden movements of magnifi- 
 cent generosity : he would readily give a diamond 
 to some humble workwoman whom he met on 
 his way; he would, of his own accord, hand a 
 bank-note to a beggar; he freely distributed 
 Persian gold-pieces stamped with his effigy. 
 
 He would also fall a victim to sudden amatory 
 fancies that sometimes caused me moments of 
 cruel embarrassment. I remember that, one 
 afternoon, when we were driving in the Bois de 
 Boulogne, near the lakes, Muzaffr-ed-Din noticed 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 a view which he admired, ordered the carriages 
 to stop and expressed a desire to take some 
 snapshots of the charming spot. We at once 
 ahghted. A Uttle farther, a group of smart ladies 
 sat engaged in animated conversation, without 
 taking the smallest heed of our presence. The 
 Shah, seeing them, asked me to beg them to 
 come closer, so that he might photograph them. 
 Although I did not know them, I went up and 
 spoke to them and, with every apology, explained 
 the sovereign's whim to them. Greatly amused, 
 they consented with a good grace. The Shah 
 took the photograph, smiled to the ladies and, 
 when the operation was over, called me to him 
 again : 
 
 ^' Paoli," he said, " they are very pretty, very 
 nice ; go and ask them if they would like to come 
 back with me to Teheran." 
 
 Imagine my face ! I had to employ all the 
 resources of my eloquence to make the King of 
 Kings understand that you cannot take a woman 
 to Teheran as you would a piano, a cinemato- 
 graph or a motor-car, and that you cannot say 
 of her, as of an article in a shop, " Je prends.^' 
 
 I doubt whether he really grasped the force of 
 my arguments, for, some time after, when we 
 were at the Opera^ in the box of the President of 
 the Republic, we perceived with dismay that His 
 Persian Majesty, instead of watching the perform- 
 ance on the stage — consisting of that exquisite 
 ballet Coppelia, with some of our prettiest 
 dancers taking part in it — kept his opera-glass 
 104
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 obstinately fixed on a member of the audience 
 in the back row of the fourth tier, giving signs 
 of manifest excitement as he did so. I was 
 beginning to wonder with anxiety whether he 
 had caught sight of some " suspicious face," 
 when the court minister, in whose ear he had 
 whispered a few words, came over to me and said, 
 with an air of embarrassment : 
 
 " His Majesty feels a profound admiration for 
 a lady up there . . . Do you see ? . . . The fourth 
 seat from the right. . . . His Majesty would be 
 obliged if you would enable him to make her 
 acquaintance. . . . You can tell her, if you like, 
 as an inducement, that my sovereign will invite 
 her to go back with him to Teheran." 
 
 Again ! 
 
 Although this sort of errand did not fall 
 within the scope of my instructions, I regarded 
 the worthy Oriental's idea as so comical that I 
 asked one of my detectives, who, dressed to the 
 nines, was keeping guard outside the presidential 
 box, whether he would care to go upstairs and, 
 if possible, convey the flattering invitation to the 
 object of the imperial flame. My Don Juan by 
 proxy assented and set out on his mission. 
 
 The Shah's impatience increased from moment 
 to moment. The last act had begun, when I saw 
 my inspector return alone and looking very 
 sheepish : 
 
 *' Well," I asked, " what did she say ? " 
 
 " She boxed my ears ! " 
 
 The sovereign, when the grand vizier conveved 
 
 105
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 this grievous news to him, knitted his bushy 
 eyebrows, declared that he was tired and ordered 
 his carriage. 
 
 The days of Muzaffr-ed-Din were full of engage- 
 ments. Rising very early in the morning, he 
 devoted long hours to his toilet, to his prayers, 
 and to his political conversations with the grand 
 vizier. He worked as little as possible, but saw 
 many people; he liked giving audiences to 
 doctors and purveyors. He always had his meals 
 alone, in accordance with Persian etiquette, and 
 was served at one time with European dishes, 
 which were better suited to his impaired digestive 
 organs, and at another with Persian fare, con- 
 sisting of slices of Ispahan melon, with white 
 and flavoursome flesh; of the national dish 
 called pilaf tiohab, in which meat, cut up and 
 mixed with delicate spices, lay spread on a bed 
 of rice just scalded, underdone and crisp; of 
 hard-boiled eggs and young marrows; or else 
 of stilo grill, represented by scallops of mutton 
 soaked in aromatic vinegar and cooked over a 
 slow fire of pinewood embers ; lastly, of aubergine 
 fritters, of which he was very fond. I am bound, 
 for that matter, to say that Persian cooking, 
 which I had many opportunities of tasting, is 
 delicious and that the dishes which I have 
 named would have done honour to any Parisian 
 bill of fare. 
 
 After rising from table, Muzaffr-ed-Din 
 generally devoted an hour to taking a nap, after 
 which we went out either for a drive round 
 106
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 the Bois or to see the shops or the Paris 
 sights. To tell the truth, we hardly ever knew 
 beforehand what the sovereign's plans were. 
 He seemed to take a mischievous delight in 
 altering the afternoon programme and route 
 which I had worked out, with his approval, in 
 the morning. Thanks to his whims, I lived in a 
 constant state of alarm. 
 
 " I want to see some museums to-day," he 
 would say at eleven o'clock. " We will start at 
 two." 
 
 I at once informed the minister of fine-arts, who 
 told off his officials to receive him ; I telephoned 
 to the military governor of Paris to send an escort. 
 
 At three o'clock, we were still waiting. At 
 last, just about four, he appeared, with a look 
 of indifference and care on his face, and told me 
 that he would much prefer to go for a drive in the 
 Bois de Boulogne. 
 
 One day, after he had spent the morning in 
 listening to a chapter of the life of Napoleon I., 
 he beckoned to me on his way to lunch : 
 
 " M. Paoli," he said, " I want to go to the 
 Chateau de Fontainebleau to-day." 
 
 " Well, Sir, you see . . ." 
 
 " Quick, quick ! " 
 
 There was no arguing the matter. I rushed to 
 
 the telephone, warned the panic-stricken P.L.M, 
 
 Co. that we must have a special train at all costs, 
 
 and informed the keeper of the palace and the 
 
 dumbfoundered sub-prefect of our imminent 
 
 arrival at Fontainebleau. 
 
 107
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 When the Shah, still under the influence of 
 his morning's course of reading, stepped from the 
 carriage, two hours later, before the gate of the 
 palace, he was seized with a strange freak : he 
 demanded that the dragoons who had formed 
 his escort from the station should dismount and 
 enter the famous Cour des Adieux after him. 
 Next, he made them fall into line in the middle 
 of the great quadrangle, leant against the steps, 
 looked at them long and fondly, muttered a few 
 sentences in Persian and then disappeared inside 
 the palace. 
 
 Greatly alarmed, we thought at first that he 
 had gone mad ; at last we understood : he had 
 been enacting the scene in which the Emperor 
 takes leave of his grenadiers. It may have been 
 very flattering for the dragoons; I doubt if it 
 was quite so flattering for Napoleon. 
 
 His visit to the Louvre also lingers in my 
 memory among the more amusing episodes of his 
 stay in Paris. M. Leygues, who was at that time 
 minister of fine-arts and in this capacity did the 
 honours of the museum to the Shah, had resolved 
 carefully to avoid showing our guest the Persian 
 room, fearing lest the King of Kings, who perhaps 
 did not grasp the importance of the priceless 
 collection which Mme. Dieulafoy and M. Morgan 
 had brought back with them, shovild show a keen 
 vexation at finding himself in the presence of 
 jewels and mosaics which he might have preferred 
 to see in his own country. 
 
 The minister, therefore, conducted him through 
 108
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 the picture- and sculpture-galleries, trying to 
 bewilder his mind and tire his legs, so that he 
 might declare his curiosity satisfied as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 Lo and behold, however, the Shah suddenly 
 said : 
 
 " Take me to the Persian room ! " 
 
 There was no evading the command. M. 
 Leygues, obviously worried, whispered an oxder 
 to the chief attendant and suggested to the Shah 
 that he should take a short rest before continuing 
 his inspection. The Shah agreed. 
 
 Meantime, in the Persian room, keepers and 
 attendants hurriedly cleared away the more 
 valuable ornaments and mosaics, so that Muzaffr- 
 ed-Din should not feel any too cruel regrets ; and, 
 at last, the King of Kings, far from revealing any 
 disappointment, declared himself delighted to 
 find in Paris so well-arranged a collection of 
 curious remains of ancient Persian architecture 
 and art. And he added, slyly : 
 
 " When I have a museum at Teheran, I shall 
 see that we have a French room." 
 
 For that matter, he was often capable of ad- 
 ministering a sort of snub when we thought that 
 we were providing him with a surprise. For 
 instance, one day, when, with a certain self- 
 conceit, I showed him our three camels in the 
 Jardin d'Acclimatation : 
 
 " I own nine thousand ! " he replied, with a 
 scornful smile. 
 
 Our zoological gardens did not interest him : 
 
 109
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 he only twice really enjoyed himself there to my 
 knowledge. The first time was when, at his own 
 request, he was allowed to witness the repugnant 
 sight of a boa-constrictor devouring a live rabbit. 
 This produced, the next morning, the following 
 letter from " a working milliner," which I print 
 " with all faults " : 
 
 " Monsieur Le Chah, 
 
 " You have been to the Jardin d'Aclima- 
 tation (sic) and watched the boa-constrictor 
 eating a live rabbit. This was very interesting, 
 so you said. Ugh ! How could the King of 
 Kings, an excellency, a magesty (sic), find pleasure 
 in the awful torments of that poor rabbit ? I hate 
 people who like going to bull-fights. Cruelty and 
 cowardice go hand in hand. Are you one of the 
 company, monsieur le Chah ? " 
 
 The second time that he seemed to amuse 
 himself was on the occasion of a wedding-dance 
 that was being held in a room next to that in 
 which he had stopped to take tea. On hearing 
 the music, he suddenly rose and opened the door 
 leading to the ball-room. The appearance of the 
 devil in person would not have produced a 
 greater confusion than that of this potentate, 
 wearing his high-peaked astrakhan cap and 
 covered with diamonds. But he, without the 
 least uneasiness, went the round of the couples, 
 shook hands with the bride and bridegroom, gave 
 them pieces of Persian gold money and made his 
 110
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 excuses to the bride for not having a necklace 
 about him to offer her. ... I was waiting for him 
 to invite her to accompany him to Teheran : 
 the husband's presence no doubt frightened 
 him ! 
 
 He seldom left his rooms at night. Sometimes, 
 he went to circus-performances or an extrava- 
 ganza or musical play; he preferred, however, 
 to devote his evenings to more domestic enjoy- 
 ments ; he loved the pleasures of home life : 
 sometimes, he played with his little sons, " the 
 little shahs," as they were called, nice little boys 
 of seven to thirteen ; at other times, he indulged 
 in his favourite games, chess and billiards. He 
 played these with his grand vizier, his court 
 minister, or myself. The stakes at billiards were 
 generally twenty francs, sometimes a hundred. 
 We did our best to lose, for, if we had the bad 
 luck to win, he would show his ill-temper by 
 throwing up the game and retiring into a corner, 
 where his servants lit his great Persian pipe for 
 him, the kaljan, a sort of Turkish narghileh, 
 filled with a scented tobacco called tombeki. 
 Often, also, to console himself for his mortification 
 at billiards, he called for music. I then heard 
 songs behind the closed hangings, harsh, strange, 
 and also very sweet songs, accompanied on the 
 piano or the violin : it was a sort of evocation 
 of the east in a modern frame ; and the contrast, 
 I must say, was rather pleasing. 
 
 Ill
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 6 
 
 The Shah and I grew accustomed to each other, 
 Httle by Httle, and became the best of friends. . . 
 He refused to go anywhere without me; I took 
 part in the drives, in the games at bilhards, in 
 the concerts, in all the journeys. We went to 
 Vichy, to Vittel, to Contrexeville. It was here, 
 at Contrexeville, where he had come for the cure, 
 that I saw him for the last time. His eccentri- 
 cities, his whims and his diamonds had produced 
 the usual effect on the peaceful population of 
 the town. 
 
 A few days after his arrival, hearing that H.I.H. 
 the Grand-duchess Vladimir of Russia had taken 
 up her quarters at an hotel near his own, he 
 hastened to call and pay his respects and de- 
 parted from his habits to the length of inviting 
 her to luncheon. 
 
 On the appointed day, the grand-duchess, 
 alighting from her carriage before the residence 
 of her host, found the Shah waiting for her on 
 the threshold in a grey frock-coat, with a rose in 
 his button-hole. He ceremoniously led her by 
 the hand to the dining-room, making her walk 
 through his rooms, the floors of which he had 
 had covered with the wonderful Kashan carpets 
 that accompanied him on all his journeys. The 
 princess, charmed with these delicate attentions 
 on the great man's part, was beginning to con- 
 gratulate herself on the pleasant surprise which 
 Persian civilization had caused her, when — we 
 112
 
 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 
 
 had hardly sat down to table — a chamberlain 
 went up to the King of Kings, bowed low and 
 handed him a gold salver, on which lay a queer- 
 looking and, at first, indescribable object. . . . 
 The Shah, without blinking, carelessly put out 
 his hand, took the thing between his fingers and, 
 with an easy and familiar movement, inserted 
 it in his jaw : it was a set of false teeth ! Imagine 
 the consternation ! 
 
 The grand-duchess, as may be imagined, re- 
 tained an unforgettable memory of this lunch, 
 the more so as the Shah, perhaps in order to wipe 
 out any unpleasant impression that might linger 
 in her mind, did a very gallant thing : the next 
 day, the Princess Vladimir received a bale of 
 Persian carpets of inestimable value, accompanied 
 by a letter from the grand vizier begging her, 
 in the name of his sovereign, to accept this 
 present. His Majesty having declared that he 
 would allow no other feet to tread carpets on 
 which Her Imperial Highness' s had rested. 
 
 I, less fortunate than the grand-duchess, never, 
 alas, succeeded in obtaining possession of the 
 one and only carpet which Muzaffr-ed-Din had 
 deigned — quite spontaneously — ^to offer me. 
 
 " My ministers will see that you get it," he 
 said. 
 
 When the day of his departure for Persia drew 
 near, I thought that it would be wise to ask the 
 court minister for my carpet in my most respectful 
 manner. 
 
 " Oh," he repHed, " does it belong to you ? 
 I 113
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 The only thing is that it has been packed up, by 
 mistake, with the others. If you want it, they 
 can give it to you in the train." 
 
 As I was to accompany our guest as far as the 
 German frontier, I waited until we had left 
 Vichy and discreetly repeated my request at the 
 first stop. 
 
 " Certainly," said the minister, " you shall have 
 it at the next station." 
 
 I was beginning to feel uneasy. At the follow- 
 ing stopping-place, there was no sign of a carpet. 
 We were approaching the frontier, where my 
 mission ended. I therefore resolved to apply 
 to the minister of public works. 
 " Your excellency . . ." 
 
 " Your carpet ? " he broke in. " Quite right, 
 my dear M. Paoli. The orders have been given ; 
 and you shall have it when you leave us at the 
 other station." 
 
 But here again, alas, nothing ! And, as I 
 complained to a third excellency of this strange 
 piece of neglect : 
 
 " It's an omission. Come with us as far as 
 Strassburg, where you will receive satisfaction." 
 At this rate, they would have carried me, by 
 easy stages, to Teheran. ... I therefore gave up 
 all hopes of my carpet. And, taking leave of 
 these amiable functionaries, I heard the good 
 Shah's voice crying in the distance : 
 
 " Good-bye, Paoli, worthy Paoli ! Till our 
 next meeting ! " 
 
 I never saw him again. 
 114
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE TSAR NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 ALEXANDRA FEODOROVNA 
 
 I HAD just reached the Ministry of the Interior 
 and was entering my office, when a messenger 
 came up to me and said, solemnly : 
 
 "The prime minister would like to speak to 
 you at once, sir." 
 
 When a public official is sent for by his chief, ^ 
 the first thought that flashes across his brain is 
 that of disgrace; and he instinctively makes a 
 rapid and silent examination of conscience to 
 quiet his anxious mind, unless indeed he but 
 ends by alarming it. Nevertheless, I admit 
 that, when I received this message, I took it 
 philosophically. The prime minister, at that 
 time, was M. Waldeck-Rousseau. It is not my 
 business here to pass judgment on the politician; 
 and I have retained a most pleasant recollection 
 of the man. To attractions more purely intel- 
 lectual he added a certain geniality of disposition. 
 He looked upon events and upon life itself from 
 
 ^ In France, the premiership is very often held in con- 
 junction with the portfolio of the Interior or Home Office* 
 — Translator's Note. 
 
 12 115
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the point of view of a more or less disillusionized 
 dilettante ; and this made him at once satirical, 
 indulgent and obliging. He honoured me with a 
 kindly friendship, notwithstanding the fact that 
 he used to reproach me, in his jesting way, with 
 becoming too much of a reactionary from my 
 contact with the monarchs of Europe, and that I 
 once took his breath away by telling him that 
 I had dined with the Empress Eugenie at Cap 
 Martin. 
 
 " A republican official at the Empress's table ! " 
 he cried. " You're the only man, my dear Paoli, 
 who would dare to do such a thing. . . . And 
 you're the only one," he added, slyly, "in whom 
 we would stand it ! " 
 
 For all that, when I entered his room on this 
 particular morning, I was struck with his 
 thoughtful air; and my surprise increased still 
 further when I saw him, after shaking hands 
 with me, carefully shut the door and give a 
 glance to make sure that we were quite alone. 
 
 " You must not be astonished at these pre- 
 cautions," he began. " I have some news to 
 tell you which, for reasons which you will under- 
 stand as soon as you hear what the news is, must 
 be kept secret as long as possible . . . and you 
 know that the walls of a ministerial office have 
 very sharp ears. . . . This is the news : I have 
 just heard from the Russian ambassador and 
 from Delcasse that the negotiations which have 
 been on foot between the two governments in 
 view of a second visit of the Tsar and Tsaritsa 
 116
 
 NICHOLAS 11. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 are at last completed. Their Imperial Majesties 
 will pay an ofBcial visit of three days to France. 
 They may come to Paris; in any case, they 
 will stay at the Chateau de Compiegne, where 
 the sovereigns will take up their quarters, 
 together with the President of the Republic 
 and all of us. They will arrive from Russia 
 by sea; they will land at Dunkirk on the 
 18th of September; and from there they will go 
 straight by rail to Compiegne. The festivities 
 will end with a visit to Rheims and a review of 
 our eastern frontier troops at Betheny Camp." 
 The minister paused, and then continued : 
 " And now I must ask you to listen to me very 
 carefully. I want no accident nor unpleasant 
 incident of any kind to occur during this visit. 
 The Tsar has been made to believe that his safety 
 and the Tsaritsa's run the greatest risks through 
 their coming to France. It is important that we 
 should give the lie in a striking fashion — as we 
 did in 1896 — ^to the bad reputation which our 
 enemies outside are trying to give us. They are 
 simply working against the alliance ; and we have 
 the greatest political interest in defeating their 
 machinations. We must, therefore, take every 
 necessary measure accordingly; and I am en- 
 trusting this task to Cavard, the chief of the 
 detective- service, Hennion, his colleague, and 
 yourself. You are to divide the work among 
 you. Cavard will control the whole business and 
 settle the details ; Hennion, with his remarkable 
 activity, will see that they are carried out and 
 
 117
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 devote himself to the protection of the Tsar; 
 and I have reserved for you the most enviable 
 part of the task : I entrust the Empress to your 
 special care." 
 
 The Emperor Nicholas II. and the Empress 
 Alexandra were very nearly the only members 
 of the Russian imperial family whom I did not 
 yet know. At the time when they made their 
 first journey to Paris, to celebrate the conclusion 
 of the Franco-Russian alliance, I was in Sweden 
 as the guest of King Oscar, His Majesty having 
 most graciously invited me to spend a period of 
 sick-leave with him; and it was on the deck of 
 his yacht, at the end of a dinner which he gave 
 me in the Bay of Stockholm, that the news of the 
 triumphal reception of the Russian sovereigns 
 had come to gladden my patriotism and his 
 faithful afiection for the country which, through 
 his Bernadotte blood, was also his. 
 
 On the other hand, I had repeatedly had the 
 honour of attending the grand-dukes ; and I was 
 attached to the person of the Tsarevitch George 
 at the time of his two stays on the Cote d'Azur, 
 in the villa which he occupied at the Cap d'Ail, 
 facing the sea, among the orange-trees and 
 thymes. I had beheld the sad and silent tragedy 
 enacted in the mind of that pale and suffering 
 young prince, heir to a mighty empire, whom 
 death had already marked for its own . . . and 
 who knew it ! He knew it, but submitted 
 to fate's decree without a murmur. Resigning 
 himself to the inevitable, he strove to enjoy the 
 118
 
 THK TSAK, THK TZAK1T>.\. AXll THK T>AR1- \ ITCH. 
 
 IPagC Il8.
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 few last pleasures that life still held for him : 
 the sunlight, the flowers and the sea; he sought 
 to beguile the anxiety of his suite and of 
 his doctors by assuming a mask of playful good- 
 humour and an appearance of youthful hope and 
 zest. Lastly, at the same Villa des Terrasses, 
 I had known the Dowager-Empress Marie Feodo- 
 rovna, whom her great green-and-gold railway- 
 train had brought from Russia with her children, 
 the Grand-duchess Xenia and the Grand-duke 
 Michael, at the first news of a slight relapse on 
 the part of the illustrious patient. 
 
 For two long months, I took part in the inner 
 life of that little court; and, more than once, I 
 detected the anguish of the mother stealthily 
 trying to read the secret of her son's hectic eyes, 
 peering at his pale face, watching for his hoarse, 
 hacking cough, as he walked beside her, or dined 
 opposite her, or played at cards with his sister, 
 or, with his long and too-white hands, stroked 
 the head of his lively and slender Russian 
 hound, Moustique. 
 
 These memories were already four years old. 
 .... How much had happened since ! . . . . 
 The Tsarevitch George had gone to the Caucasus 
 to die ; the Franco-Russian alliance, the realiza- 
 tion of which was contemplated in the interviews 
 at the Cap d'Ail between the Dowager- Empress 
 and Baron de Mohrenheim, the Russian ambas- 
 sador in Paris, had become an accomplished 
 fact. 
 
 This new visit of the allied sovereigns rcpre- 
 
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 sented an important trump in the game of our 
 policy as against the rest of Europe : it suppUed 
 the answer which we felt called upon to 
 make, from time to time, to those who were 
 anxiously awaiting the least event capable of 
 disturbing the Franco-Russian alliance, with a 
 view to exploiting any such event in favour 
 of a rupture. 
 
 The reader, therefore, will easily imagine the 
 importance which M. Waldeck-Rousseau attached 
 to his watchword, " No accident nor incident of 
 any kind ! " 
 
 The measures of protection with which a sove- 
 reign is surrounded when he happens to be 
 Emperor of Russia are of a more complicated and 
 delicate character than those adopted in the case 
 of any other monarch. Fiercely guarded by his 
 own police, whose almost brutal zeal, tending as it 
 often does to offend and exasperate, may prove 
 a danger rather than a protection, the Tsar is, 
 unknown to himself, enveloped by the majority 
 of those who hover round him in a network of 
 silent intrigues which keep up a latent spirit of 
 distrust and dismay. 
 
 It does not fall within my present scope nor 
 do I here intend to frame an indictment against 
 the Russian police. For that matter, tragic 
 incidents and regrettable scandals enough have 
 revealed the sinister and intricate underhand 
 methods of that occult force in such a way 
 as to leave no doubt of its nature in men's 
 minds. I will content myself with confessing 
 120
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 that, although the numberless anonymous letters 
 which we received at the Ministry of the Interior 
 before the Tsar's arrival mostly failed to excite 
 us, the appearance, on the other hand, of certain 
 obnoxious persons, who came to concert witli us 
 as to " the measures to be taken," nearly always 
 resulted in awakening secret terrors within us. 
 ... I became acquainted, in this way, with some 
 of the celebrated figures of the Russian secret 
 police : the famous Harting was one of their 
 number; and it is also possible that I may have 
 consorted, without knowing it, with the mysterious 
 Azeff. My clearest recollection of my relations 
 with these gentry — always excepting M. Raskow- 
 sky, the chief of the Russian police in Paris — is 
 that we thought it wise to keep them under 
 observation and to hide from them, as far as 
 possible, the measures which we proposed to 
 adopt for the safety of their sovereigns ! 
 
 As I have shown above, the responsibility of 
 organizing those measures on the occasion of the 
 Tsar's journey in 1901 was entrusted to M. Cavard, 
 the head of the French political police ; but the 
 honour of ensuring their proper performance 
 was due above all to M. Hennion, his chief lieu- 
 tenant, who has now succeeded him. In point of 
 fact, M. Cavard's long and brilliant administrative 
 career had not prepared him for such rough and 
 tiring tasks. An excellent official, this honest 
 man, whose high integrity it is a pleasure to me to 
 recognize, had a better grasp of the sedentary 
 work of the offices. Hennion, on the contrary, 
 
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 " 1^, 
 
 knew his business " and possessed its special 
 qualifications. Endowed with a remarkable spirit 
 of initiative and an invariable coolness, eager, 
 indefatigable and shrewd, fond of fighting, with a 
 quick scent of danger, he was always seen in the 
 breach and he knew how to be everywhere when 
 wanted. This was an invaluable quality when 
 the zone to be protected extended, as it did in this 
 case, over a length of several hundred miles and 
 embraced almost half France. 
 
 Our measures consisted, first of all, in doubling 
 the watch kept on foreigners living in France 
 and notably on the Russian anarchists. The 
 copious information which we possessed about 
 their antecedents and their movements made 
 our task an easy one. Paris, like every other 
 large city in Europe, contains a pretty active 
 focus of nihilism. This is made up mainly of 
 students and of young women, who are generally 
 more formidable than the men. Still, these revo- 
 lutionary spirits always prefer theory to action; 
 and they were consequently less to be feared 
 than others who, on the pretext of seeing the 
 festivities, might come from abroad charged 
 with a criminal mission. 
 
 We had, therefore, established observation- 
 posts in all the frontier-stations, posts composed 
 of officers who lost no time in shadowing the 
 steps of any suspicious traveller. But, however 
 minute our investigations might be, it was still 
 possible for the threads of a plot to escape us; 
 and we had to prepare ourselves against possible 
 122
 
 NICHOLAS IT. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 surprises at places where it was known that the 
 sovereigns were likely to be. A special watch had 
 to be kept along the railways over which the 
 imperial train would travel and in the streets 
 through which the procession would pass. For 
 this purpose, as usual, we divided the line from 
 Dunkirk to Compiegne and from Compiegne to 
 the frontier into sections and sub-sections, each 
 placed under the command of the district commis- 
 sary of police, who had under his orders the local 
 police force and gendarmery, reinforced by the 
 troops stationed in the department. Posted at 
 intervals on either side of the line, at the entrance 
 and issue of the tunnels, on and under the bridges, 
 sentries, with loaded rifles, prevented any one 
 from approaching and had orders to raise an 
 alarm if they saw the least suspicious object 
 lying on or near the rails. 
 
 We also identified the tenants of all the houses 
 situated either along the railway-line or in the 
 streets through which our guests were likely to 
 drive. As a matter of fact, what we most feared was 
 the traditional outrage perpetrated or attempted 
 from a window. On the other hand, we refused 
 (contrary to what has been stated) to adopt the 
 system employed by the Spanish, German and 
 Italian police on the occasion of any visit from a 
 sovereign, the system which consists in arresting 
 all the " suspects " during the period of the royal 
 guest's stay. This proceeding not only appeared 
 to us needlessly vexatious, for it constitutes a 
 flagrant attempt upon the liberty of the individual, 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 but we thought that, with our democracy, there 
 was a danger of its aUenating the sympathies of 
 our population from our illustrious visitors. We 
 had, therefore, to be content to forestall any 
 possible catastrophes by other and less arbitrary 
 means. 
 
 Our vigilance was naturally concentrated with 
 the greatest attention upon Compiegne. We 
 sent swarms of police to beat the forest and search 
 every copse and thicket; and the chateau itself 
 was inspected from garret to basement by our 
 most trusted detectives. These precautions, how- 
 ever, seemed insufficient to our colleagues of the 
 Russian police. A fortnight before the arrival 
 of the sovereigns, one of them, taking us aside, 
 said ; 
 
 " The cellars must be watched." 
 
 " But it seems to us," we replied, " that we 
 cannot very well do more than Ave are doing : 
 they are visited every evening ; and there are men 
 posted at all the doors." 
 
 " Very good : but how do you know that your 
 men will not be bribed and that the ' terrorists ' 
 will not succeed, unknown to you, in placing an 
 explosive machine in some dark corner ? " 
 
 " Then what do you suggest ? " 
 
 " Put men upon whom you can rely, here and 
 now, in each cellar, with instructions to remain 
 there night and day until Their Majesties' 
 departure. And, above all, see that they hold 
 124
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 no communication with the outside. They must 
 prepare their own meals." 
 
 The solution may have been ingenious, but we 
 dechned to entertain it : we considered, in point 
 of fact, that it was unnecessary, two weeks before 
 the coming of the Emperor and Empress, to 
 condemn a number of respectable men to under- 
 ground imprisonment, a form of torture which 
 had not been inflicted on even the worst criminals 
 for more than a century past. 
 
 On the other hand, we mixed detectives 
 
 with the large staff of workmen who were 
 
 engaged in restoring the old chateau to its ancient 
 
 splendour. The erstwhile imperial residence, 
 
 which had stood empty since the war, now rose 
 
 again from its graceful and charming past as 
 
 though by the stroke of a fairy's wand. The 
 
 authorities hastily collected the most sumptuous 
 
 remains of the former furniture now scattered 
 
 over our museums. Gradually, the deserted halls 
 
 and abandoned bedrooms were once more filled, in 
 
 the same places, with the same objects that had 
 
 adorned them in days gone by. The apartments 
 
 set aside for the Tsar and Tsaritsa were those 
 
 once occupied by the Emperors Napoleon I. and 
 
 Napoleon III. and the Empresses Marie-Louise 
 
 and Eugenie. As we passed through them, our 
 
 eyes were greeted by the wonderful Beauvais 
 
 tapestries, of which the King of Prussia one day 
 
 said that " no king's fortune was large enough 
 
 to buy them;" we hesitated before treading on 
 
 the exquisite Savonnerie carpets, with which 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Louis XIV. had covered the floors of Versailles; 
 in the Tsaritsa's boudoir we admired Marie- 
 Louise's cheval-glass; in her bedroom we found 
 the proud arch-duchess's four-poster ; in Nicholas 
 II. 's bedroom we discovered a relic : the bed of 
 Napoleon I., the beautifully-carved mahogany 
 bedstead in which the man whom a great his- 
 torian called " that terrible antiquarian " and 
 whom no battle had wearied, dreamt of the empire 
 of Charlemagne. . . . Was it not a striking irony 
 of fate that thus awarded the conqueror's pillow 
 to the first promoter of peaceful arbitration ? 
 
 While upholsterers, gardeners, carpenters, lock- 
 smiths and painters were producing this amazing 
 metamorphosis, the ministry was drawing up 
 the programme of the rejoicings and calling in the 
 aid of the greatest poets, the most illustrious 
 artists, the prettiest and most talented ballet- 
 dancers. . . . Rehearsals were held in the theatre 
 where, years ago, the Prince Imperial had made 
 his first appearance; the carriages were tried in 
 the avenues of the park; a swarm of butlers and 
 footmen were taught court etiquette in the 
 servants' hall; and certain ministers' wives, 
 trusting to the discreet solitude of their boudoirs, 
 took lessons in solemn curtseying. All spent 
 days and weeks of feverish expectation, during 
 which everything had to be improvised for the 
 occasion; for this was the first time since its 
 advent that the republic was entertaining her 
 guests outside Paris. 
 
 And then the great day came. One morning, 
 126
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 on the platform of the Gare du Nord, a gentleman 
 dressed in black, with beard neatly trimmed, 
 followed by ministers, generals and more persons 
 in black, including myself, stepped into a special 
 train. He had been preceded by a valet carrying 
 three bags. The first — is it not a detective's 
 duty to know everything ? — was a dressing-case 
 containing silver-stopped crystal fittings; the 
 second, which was long and fiat, held six white 
 shirts, twelve collars, three night-shirts, a pair 
 of slippers and two broad ribbons, one red, the 
 other blue; and in the third were packed a 
 brand-new dress-suit, six pairs of white gloves 
 and three pairs of patent-leather boots. M. 
 Loubet, calm and smiling, was starting for 
 Dunkirk to meet his guests. 
 
 My first impression of the young sovereigns 
 was very different from that which I expected. 
 To judge by the fantastic measures taken in 
 anticipation of their arrival and by the atmosphere 
 of suspicion and mystery which people had been 
 pleased to create around them, we were tempted 
 to picture them as grave, solemn, haughty, 
 mystical and distrustful; and our thoughts 
 turned, in spite of ourselves, to the court of Ivan 
 the Terrible rather than to that of Peter the 
 Great. 
 
 Then, suddenly, our ideas were changed. 
 When we saw them close at hand, we beheld a 
 
 127
 
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 very united couple, very simple and kindly, 
 anxious to please everybody and to fall in with 
 everybody's wishes, obviously hating official 
 pomp and ceremony and regretting to be continu- 
 ally separated by impenetrable barriers from the 
 rest of the world. We perceived that they loved 
 to throw aside reserve, that they were capable of 
 endless delicacy of thought, especially for their 
 humbler fellow-creatures. We detected in the 
 laughter in his eyes a frank and youthful gaiety 
 that itched at restraint ; and we suspected in the 
 melancholy of hers the secret tragedy of an 
 ever-anxious affection, of a destiny weighed down 
 by the burden of a crown in which there were 
 all too many thorns and too few roses. 
 
 I think, besides, that an erroneous opinion has 
 been generally formed of the Tsar's character. 
 He has been said and is still said to be a weak man. 
 Now I should be inclined, on this point, to agree 
 with M. Loubet that Nicholas II. 's " weakness " 
 is more apparent than real, and that in him, as 
 formerly in our Napoleon III., there is " a gentle 
 obstinate " who has strong notions of his own, 
 a being conscious of his power and proud of the 
 glory of his name. 
 
 128
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 It is true that the rectihnear horizontal slant 
 of the letters composing the signature reveals a 
 loving, imaginative, intuitive disposition, which 
 feels a subtle need of sympathy and affection. 
 On the other hand, observe the strong and pro- 
 tecting pride of the N, the stubbornness of the 
 hook that ends it, the vigour of realization 
 denoted by the dot on the i, the force of the bold 
 flourish pointing to justice and generosity and 
 an implacable will. 
 
 Nicholas II. had met M. Loubet before the 
 time of this second visit. When the Emperor 
 first came to France, in 1896, the future President 
 of the Republic was president of the Senate 
 and, in this capacity, had not only been pre- 
 sented to the sovereign, but had received a visit 
 from him. In this connection, the late M. Felix 
 Faure used to tell an amusing story, which he 
 said that he had from the Tsar in person. 
 
 It was after a luncheon at the filysec. Nicholas 
 II. had told President Faure that he would like 
 to call on the president of the Senate and expressed 
 a wish to go to the Palais du Luxembourg, if 
 possible, incognito. A landau was at once pro- 
 vided, without an escort; and the Emperor 
 stepped in, accompanied by General de Bois- 
 deffre. At that hour, the peaceful Luxembourg 
 quarter was almost deserted. The people in 
 the streets, expecting the Tsar to drive back 
 to the Russian Embassy, had drifted in that 
 direction to cheer him. 
 
 Wishing first to find out if M. Loubet was there, 
 K 129
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 General de Boisdeffre had ordered the coachman 
 to stop a few yards from the palace, opposite 
 the gate of the Luxembourg gardens. He then 
 alighted to enquire and to tell the president of 
 the Senate that an august visitor was waiting 
 at his door. 
 
 The Tsar, left alone in his carriage and de- 
 lighted at feeling free and at his ease, looked out 
 of the window with all the zest of a schoolboy 
 playing truant. He saw before him one of those 
 picturesque street Arabs who seem to sprout 
 between the paving-stones of Paris. This par- 
 ticular specimen, seated against the railings, was 
 whistling the refrain of the Russian national 
 hymn, with his nose in the air. Suddenly their 
 eyes met. The wondering street-boy sprang to 
 his feet : he had never seen the Emperor, but he 
 had seen his photograph; and the likeness was 
 striking. 
 
 " Supposing it is Nicholas," he said to himself, 
 greatly puzzled. 
 
 And, as he was an inquisitive lad, he resolved 
 to make sure without delay. He took an heroic 
 decision, walked up to within a yard of the car- 
 riage and there, bobbing down his head, shouted 
 in a hoarse voice to the unknown foreigner : 
 
 " How's the Empress ? " 
 
 Picture his stupefaction — for he really only 
 thought that he was having a good joke — when 
 he heard the stranger reply, with a smile : 
 
 " Thank you, the Empress is very well and is 
 delighted with her journey." 
 130
 
 NICHOLAS 11. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 The boy, then and there, lost his tongue. He 
 stared at the speaker in dismay; and then, after 
 raising his cap, stalked away slowly . . . very 
 slowly, to mark his dignity. 
 
 Nicholas U. retained a delightful recollection 
 of this private interview with a true-born Parisian, 
 and long amused himself by scandalizing the 
 formal set around him with the story of hit: 
 adventure. 
 
 If, on his second stay, he did not have the 
 occasion of coming into contact with the people, 
 he none the less enjoyed the satisfaction of being 
 admirably received. 
 
 The incidents of the first day of this memorable 
 visit, from the moment when, on the deck of 
 the Standart, lying off Dunkirk, the sovereigns, 
 according to custom, received the salute of the 
 sailors and the blessing of the old pope in his 
 violet cassock : these incidents have been too 
 faithfully chronicled in the press for me to 
 linger over them here. It was a magnificent 
 landing, amid the thunder of the guns and 
 the hurrahs of the enthusiastic populace. Then 
 came the journey from Dunkirk to Compiegne, 
 a real triumphal progress, in which the cheers 
 along the line seemed to travel almost as fast 
 as the train, for they were linked from town 
 to town, from village to village, from farm to 
 farm. ... At last came the arrival, at nightfall, 
 
 K2 131
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 in the little illuminated town, followed by the 
 torchlight procession, in which the fantastic 
 figure of the red cossack stood out as he clung 
 to the back of the Empress's carriage ; the 
 entrance into the courtyard of the chateau, all 
 ablaze with light; the slow ascent of the stair- 
 cases lined by motionless cuirassiers, with swords 
 drawn, and powdered footmen, in their blue 
 liveries a la franraise ; ^ and, lastly, the pre- 
 sentations, enlivened, at a given moment, by 
 the artless question which a minister's wife, in 
 a great state of excitement and only anxious 
 to please, addressed to the Empress : 
 " How are your little ones ? " 
 
 Although I had taken up my duties, which, 
 as the reader knows, consisted more particularly 
 in ensuring the personal safety of the Empress, 
 at the time of leaving Dunkirk, I had as yet 
 caught but a glimpse of that gracious lady. A 
 few hours after our arrival at the chateau, chance 
 made me come across her; and she deigned to 
 speak to mc. I doubt whether she observed my 
 state of flurry ; and yet, that evening, without 
 knowing it, she was the cause of a strange 
 hallucination in my mind. 
 
 I had left the procession at the entrance to the 
 
 1 The habit a la fran<^aise, once a military coat, now used 
 purely for livery, is a heavily embroidered coat, similar to 
 that of an English flunkey, but of a less voluminous cut 
 and shorter. — Translator's Note. 
 132
 
 
 I H
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 State drawing-rooms, in order to ascertain if 
 our orders had been faithfully carried out in 
 and around the imperial apartments. Gradually, 
 as I penetrated the maze of long and silent 
 corridors, filled with my own officers, impassive 
 in their footmen's liveries, a crowd of confused 
 memories rose in my brain. I remembered a 
 certain evening, similar to the present, when the 
 palace was all lit up for a celebration. I, at that 
 time still a young student, had come to see my 
 kinsman, Dr. Conneau, physician to the Emperor 
 Napoleon III. We were going along the same 
 corridors together, when, suddenly holding me 
 back by the sleeve and pointing to a proud 
 and radiant fair-haired figure that passed through 
 the vivid brightness of a distant gallery, he 
 said : 
 
 " The Empress ! " 
 
 Now, at the same spot, forty years after, 
 another voice, that of one of my inspectors, came 
 and whispered in my ear : 
 
 " The Empress ! " . 
 
 I started. ... In front of me, at the end of the 
 gallery, a figure, also radiant and also fair, had 
 suddenly come into view. She continued her 
 progress, proceeding to her apartments, followed 
 by her ladies-in-waiting. When she was at a 
 few yards from the place where I stood motion- 
 less, her eyes fell upon me ; then she came up to 
 me and, holding out her white and slender 
 hand : 
 
 " I am glad to see you, M. Paoli," she said.
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 " for I know how highly my dear grandmother, 
 Queen Victoria, used to think of you." 
 
 What slie did not know was how often Queen 
 Victoria had spoken of her to me. That great 
 sovereign, in fact, cherished a special affection 
 for the child of her idolized daughter, the Grand- 
 duchess Alice of Hesse. The child reminded her 
 of the happy time when the princess wrote to 
 her from Darmstadt, on the day after the birth 
 of the future Empress of Russia : 
 
 " She is the personification of her nickname, 
 * Sunny,' much like Ella, but a smaller head, and 
 livelier, with Ernie's dimple and expression." 
 
 Then, a few days later : 
 
 " We think of calling her Alix (Alice they 
 pronounce too dreadfully in Germany) Helena 
 Louisa Beatrice ; and, if Beatrice may, we would 
 like to have her for godmother." 
 
 And these charming and touching letters 
 continued through the years that followed. The 
 baby had grown into a little girl, the little girl 
 into a young girl; and her mother kept Queen 
 Victoria informed of the least details concerning 
 the child. She was anxious, fond and proud by 
 turns; and over and over again she asked for 
 advice : 
 
 " I strive to bring her up totally free from 
 pride of her position, which is nothing save what 
 her personal merit can make it. I feel so entirely 
 134
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 as you do on the difference of rank and how all 
 important it is for Princes and Princesses to 
 know that they are nothing better or above 
 others save through their own merit, and that 
 they have only the double duty of living for 
 others and of being an example, good and 
 modest." 
 
 Next come further charming details. Princess 
 Alice, returning to her children at Darmstadt 
 after a visit to England, writes to the Queen : 
 
 " They eat me up ! They had made wreaths 
 over the doors and had no end of things to tell me. 
 
 " We arrived at three, and there was not a 
 moment's rest till they were all in bed and I had 
 heard the different prayers of the six, with all the 
 different confidences they had to make." 
 
 Elsewhere, interesting particulars about the 
 education of Princess Alix, an exclusively English 
 education, very simple and very healthy, the 
 programme of which included every form of 
 physical exercise, such as bicycling, skating, 
 tennis and riding, and allowed her, by way of 
 pocket-money, fifty Pfennigs a week between the 
 ages of four and eight; one Mark from eight to 
 twelve ; and two Marks from twelve to sixteen. 
 
 In the twenty-nine years that had passed since 
 the first of these letters was written, what a 
 number of events had occurred ! Princess Alice, 
 that admirable mother, had died from kissing 
 her son Ernie, who was suffering from diph- 
 
 135
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 theria; the royal grandmother, in her turn, 
 had died quite recently. Of the seven children 
 whose gaiety brightened the domestic charm 
 of the little court at Darmstadt, two had 
 perished in a tragic fashion : Prince Fritz first, 
 killed by an accidental fall from a window, while 
 playing with his brother; and Princess May, 
 carried off in twenty-four hours, she, too, by 
 diphtheria caught at the bedside of her sister 
 '' Aliky," the present Empress of Russia. As for 
 the other " dear little ones," as Queen Victoria 
 called them, they had all been dispersed by fate. 
 " Ella " had become the Grand-duchess Serge 
 of Russia; " Ernie " had succeeded his father on 
 the throne of Hesse ; two of his three remaining 
 sisters had married, one Prince Henry of Prussia, 
 the other Prince Louis of Battenberg; and the 
 youngest had become the wearer of the heaviest 
 of all crowns. And now chance placed her here, 
 before me. 
 
 I looked at her with, in my mind, the memory 
 of the letters which an august and kindly con- 
 descension had permitted me to read and of the 
 gentle emotion with which the good and great 
 Queen used to speak of the Princess Alice and of 
 her daughter, the present Empress of Russia. 
 Her features had not yet acquired, under the 
 imperial diadem, that settled air of melancholy 
 which the obsession of a perpetual danger was 
 to bestow upon her later : in the brilliancy of her 
 full-blown youth, which set a glad pride upon 
 her tall, straight forehead; in the golden sheen 
 136
 
 NICHOLAS TL AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 of her queenly hair ; in her grave and limpid blue 
 eyes, through which flashed gleams of sprightly 
 fancy ; in her smile, still marked by the dimples 
 of her girlish days, I recognized her to whom the 
 fond imagination of a justly-proud mother had 
 awarded, in her cradle, the pretty nickname of 
 " Sunny." 
 
 She stood talking to me for a few moments. 
 Before moving away, she said : 
 
 " I believe you are commissioned to ' look 
 after ' me ? " 
 
 " That is so, Ma'am," I replied. 
 
 " I hope," she added, laughing, " that I shall 
 not give you too much worry." 
 
 I dared not confess to her that it was not only 
 worry, but perpetual anguish that her presence 
 and the Tsar's were causing us. 
 
 6 
 
 We had to be continually on the watch, to 
 have safe men at every door, in every passage, 
 on every floor ; we had to superintend the smallest 
 details. I remember, for instance, standing by 
 for nearly two hours while the Empress's dresses 
 were being unpacked, so great was our fear lest 
 a disguised bomb might be slipped into one 
 of the sovereign's numerous trunks while the 
 women were arranging the gowns in the special 
 presses and cupboards intended to receive them. 
 Lastly, day and night, we had to go on constant 
 rounds, both inside and outside the chateau. 
 
 137
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 On the occasion of one of these minute investi- 
 gations, I met with a rather interesting adventure. 
 Not far from the apartments reserved for the 
 Empress Alexandra's ladies was an unoccupied 
 room, the door of which was locked. It appeared 
 that, during the Empire, this room had been 
 used by Mme. Bruat, the Prince Imperial's 
 governess, widow of Admiral Bruat. At a time 
 when every apartment in the chateau was 
 thrown open for the visit of our imperial guests, 
 why did this one alone remain closed ? I was 
 unable to say. In any case, my duty obliged 
 me to leave no corner unexplored; and, on the 
 first evening, I sent for a bunch of keys. After 
 a few ineffectual attempts, the lock yielded, the 
 door opened . . . and imagine my bewilderment ! 
 In a charming disorder, tin soldiers, dancing-dolls, 
 rocking-horses and beautiful picture-books lay 
 higgledy-piggledy in the middle of the room, 
 around a great big ugly plush bear ! 
 
 I enquired and found that they were the Prince 
 Imperial's toys : they had been left there and 
 forgotten for thirty years. And an interesting 
 coincidence was that the big bear was the last 
 present made by the Tsar Alexander II. to the 
 little prince. 
 
 I softly closed the door which I had opened 
 upon the past : I resolved to respect those play- 
 things; there are memories which are better 
 left unawakened. 
 
 The next morning, chance allowed me to assist 
 at a sight which many a photographer would 
 138
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 have been glad to " snap." The Tsar and the 
 Tsaritsa, who are both very early risers, had gone 
 down to the garden, accompanied by their great 
 greyhound, which answered to the name of 
 Loiki. The Tsar was expected to go shooting 
 that morning, in anticipation of which intention 
 the keepers had spent the night in filling the 
 park with pheasants, roedeer and hares. Their 
 labours were wasted : Nicholas II. preferred to 
 stroll round the lawns with the Empress. She 
 was bare-headed and had simply put up a 
 parasol against the sun, which was shining with 
 dazzling brightness ; she carried a camera slung 
 over her shoulder. The young couple, whom 
 I followed hidden behind a shrubbery, turned 
 their steps towards the covered walk of 
 hornbeams which Napoleon I. had had made 
 for Marie-Louise. They hoped, no doubt, to 
 find, in the shade of this beautiful leafy vault, 
 which autumn was already decking with its 
 copper hues, a discreet solitude suited to the 
 billing and cooing of the pair of lovers that they 
 were. . . . But the departments of public ceremon 
 and public safety were on the look-out : already, 
 inside the bosky tunnel, fifty soldiers, commanded 
 by a lieutenant, were presenting arms ! 
 
 The sovereigns had to make the best of a bad 
 job. The Emperor reviewed the men with a 
 serious face and the Empress photographed them 
 and promised to send the lieutenant a print as 
 soon as the plate was developed. Thereupon the 
 Tsar and Tsaritsa walked away in a different 
 
 139
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 direction. A charming little wood appeared 
 before their eyes. Lofki was running ahead of 
 them. Suddenly, a furious barking was heard; 
 and lour gendarmes emerged from behind a 
 clump of fir-trees and gave the military salute ! 
 
 There was nothing to be done; and the 
 sovereigns gaily accepted the situation. With a 
 merry burst of laughter, they turned on their heels 
 and resolved to go back to the chateau. By way 
 of consolation the Tsaritsa amused herself by 
 photographing her husband, who, in his turn, 
 took a snapshot of his wife. 
 
 They showed no bitterness on account of the 
 disappointment which their walk must have 
 caused them. In fact, to anybody who asked 
 him, on his return, if he had enjoyed his stroll, 
 Nicholas II. contented himself with saying : 
 
 " Oh yes, the grounds are beautiful ; and I 
 now know what you mean by ' a well-minded 
 property ! ' " 
 
 While life was being arranged in the great 
 palace and every one settling down as if he were 
 to stay there for a month, instead of three days ; 
 while the head of the kitchens, acting under 
 the inspiration of the head of the ceremonial 
 department, was cudgelling his brains to bring 
 his menu into harmony with politics by intro- 
 ducing subtle alliances of French and Russian 
 dishes; while the musicians were tuning their 
 violins for the " gala " concert of the evening, 
 and Mme. Bartet, that divine actress, preparing 
 to speak M. Edmond Rostand's famous lines 
 140
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 beginning, ""Oh! Oh ! Void une imperatrice / " ' 
 while the Tsaritsa, at first a little lost amid 
 these new surroundings, found a friend in 
 the Marquise de Montebello, our agreeable am- 
 bassadress in St. Petersburg, of whom people 
 used to say that she justified Turguenieff's 
 epigram when he declared that, wherever you see 
 a Frenchwoman, you see all France; while the 
 most complete serenity seemed to reign among the 
 inhabitants of the chateau, a solemn question 
 was stirring all men's minds. Would the Tsar 
 go to Paris ? As it was, the people of Paris were 
 disappointed because the reception had not been 
 held in the capital, as in 1896. Would he give 
 it the compensation of a few hours' visit ? A 
 special train was waiting, with steam up, in the 
 station at Compiegne; long confabulations took 
 place between the Emperor and M. Waldeck- 
 Rousseau; luncheon was prepared at the 
 Elysee, with a view to the entertainment of 
 an illustrious guest; secret orders were given 
 to the police. In short, nobody doubted but 
 that Nicholas II. intended to carry out a plan 
 which everybody ascribed to him. 
 
 Nothing came of it. The Tsar did not go to 
 Paris. 
 
 This sudden change of purpose was interpreted 
 in different ways. Some people pretended that 
 the prime minister was at the bottom of it, M. 
 Waldeck-Rousseau having declared that he could 
 not answer for the Emperor's safety in view of 
 
 1 " Oho ! Ah empress comes this way ! " 
 
 141
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the inadequate nature of the preparations. In 
 reahty, we never learnt the true reasons; and I 
 have often asked myself whether this regrettable 
 decision should not be attributed to the influence 
 of " Philippe." 
 
 " Philippe " was a strange, disconcerting being, 
 who had something of the quack about him and 
 something of the prophet, and who followed the 
 Tsar like a shadow. 
 
 His story was an astounding one from start 
 to finish. He was a native of Lyons — a French- 
 man, therefore — who pretended, with the aid 
 of mystic practices and of inner voices which 
 he called forth and consulted, to cure maladies, 
 to forestall dangers, to foresee future events. . . . 
 He gave consultations and wrote prescriptions, 
 for he did not reject the aid of science. And, 
 as he came within the law which forbids the 
 practice of medicine by unqualified persons, 
 he hit upon the expedient of marrying his 
 daughter to a doctor, who acted as his man of 
 straw. His waiting-room was never empty from 
 the day when the Grand-duke Nicholas Michaelo- 
 vitch, chancing to pass through Lyons and to 
 hear of this mysterious personage, thought that 
 he would consult him about his rheumatism. 
 What happened ? Nobody knows exactly ; but 
 this much is certain, that the grand- duke, on 
 returning to Russia, declared that Philippe 
 had cured him as though by magic, and 
 that he possessed the power not only of 
 driving out pain, but of securing the fulfilment 
 142
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 of every wish. . . The Emperor, at that time, was 
 longing for an heir. Greatly impressed by his 
 cousin's stories and by his profound conviction, 
 he resolved to summon the miracle-monger to 
 St. Petersburg. This laid the foundation of 
 Philippe's fortunes. Admirably served by his 
 lucky star, highly intelligent, gifted with the 
 manners of an apostle and an appearance of 
 absolute disinterestedness, he gradually succeeded 
 in acquiring a considerable hold not only on 
 the imperial family, but on the whole court. 
 People began to believe very seriously in his 
 supernatural powers. Made much of and re- 
 spected, he had free access to the sovereigns and 
 ended by supplanting both doctors and advisers. 
 He also treated cases at a distance, by auto- 
 suggestion. Whenever he obtained leave to go 
 home on a visit, he kept up with his illustrious 
 clients an exchange of telegrams that would 
 tend to make us smile, if they did not stupefy 
 us at the thought of so much credulity. Thus, 
 a given person of quality would wire : 
 
 " Suffering violent pains head ; entreat give 
 relief." 
 
 Whereupon Philippe would at once reply : 
 
 " Have concentrated thought on pain ; expect 
 cure between this and four o'clock to-morrow." 
 
 This is not an invention. I have seen the 
 telegrams. 
 
 For people to have so blind a faith in his 
 
 143
 
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 mediation, he must obviously have effected a 
 certain number of cures. As a matter of fact, I 
 beheve that the power of the will is such that, in 
 certain affections which depended partly upon 
 the nervous system, he succeeded in suggesting 
 to a patient that he was not and could not be ill. 
 
 However, what was bound to happen happened. 
 His star declined from the day when people 
 became persuaded that he was not infallible. 
 The Tsar's set precipitated his disgrace, when 
 the Tsaritsa brought another daughter into the 
 world, instead of the promised son. One fine 
 day, Philippe went back to Lyons for good ; he 
 died there a few years ago. And, in the following 
 year, the mighty empire had an heir ! 
 
 At the time of the visit of the sovereigns to 
 Compiegne, he was still at the height of his 
 favour. He accompanied our imperial hosts; 
 and his presence at the chateau surprised us as 
 much as anything. In fact, like the Doge of 
 Venice who came to Versailles under Louis XIV., 
 Philippe himself might have said : 
 
 " What astonishes me most is to see myself 
 here ! " 
 
 But Philippe was astonished at nothing. 
 Anxious to retain his personality in the midst 
 of that gold-laced crowd, he walked about the 
 apartments in a grey suit and brown shoes : on 
 the first day, he was within an ace of being 
 arrested ; we took him for an anarchist ! 
 
 Our extreme distrust, to which the unfortunate 
 Philippe nearly fell a victim, was onlv too well 
 144
 
 NICHOLAS II. AND THE TSARITSA 
 
 justified. I believe that I am not guilty of an 
 indiscretion — for the memorable events of 1901 
 are now a matter of history — when I say to-day 
 that there was an attempt, an attempt of which 
 our guests never heard, because a miraculous 
 accident enabled us to defeat its execution in the 
 nick of time. 
 
 It was in the cathedral of Rheims that the 
 criminal effort was to be accomplished during 
 the visit of the sovereigns, who had expressed a 
 desire to see the inside of that exquisite fabric. 
 On learning of Their Majesties' intention, our 
 colleagues of the Russian police displayed the 
 greatest nervousness : 
 
 " Nothing could be easier," they told us, a few 
 days before the visit, "than for a terrorist to 
 deposit a bomb in some dark place, under a chair, 
 behind a confessional, or at the foot of a statue. . . 
 The interior of the cathedral must be watched 
 from this moment, together with the people who 
 enter it." 
 
 Although we had already thought of this, they 
 decided, on their part, to entrust this task to an 
 " informer " — in other words, a spy — of Belgian 
 nationality, who had joined the Russian detective- 
 service. Hcnnion, who was always prudent, 
 hastened, in his turn, to set a watch on the 
 " informer." Twenty-four hours later, one of 
 his men came to see him in a great state of 
 fright : 
 
 " M. Hennion," he said, " I have obtained 
 
 proofs that the ' informer ' is connected with a 
 L 145
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 gang of terrorists. They are preparing an attack 
 in the cathedral ! " 
 
 Hennion did not hesitate for a moment. He 
 hastened to Rlieims, instituted a poHce-search 
 in a room which the " informer " had secretly 
 hired under a false name and seized a correspond- 
 ence which left no doubt whatever as to the 
 existence of the plot. The " informer " himself 
 was to do the dirty work ! 
 
 He was at once arrested and pressed with 
 questions : 
 
 " I swear that I know nothing about it," he 
 exclaimed, " and that's the plain truth ! " 
 
 " Very well," said Hennion, who held absolute 
 proofs. " Take this man to prison, since he's 
 telling the truth, and bring him back when he 
 decides to tell a lie." 
 
 The next day, the man confessed. 
 
 This was the only tragic episode that occurred 
 during the imperial visit. Nevertheless, in spite 
 of the satisfaction which we had felt at receiving 
 the Tsar and Tsaritsa, we heaved a sigh of relief 
 when, on the following day, we saw the train 
 that was to take them back to Russia steam out 
 of the station. 
 
 They were still alive, God be praised, but 
 that was almost more than could be said of us ! 
 
 146
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 1 
 
 I HAVE always harboured a vagrant spirit under 
 my frock-coat of office. I find my pleasure and 
 relaxation in travelling. And I took advantage 
 of a few weeks' leave of absence, allowed me 
 after the departure of the Russian sovereigns, to 
 pay a visit to Italy. 
 
 Shortly after my arrival at Milan, I was 
 strolling, one afternoon, in the well-known 
 Galleria Vittorio-Emmanuele — that favourite 
 Milanese and cosmopolitan resort, whose inces- 
 sant and picturesque animation presages the 
 gaiety, if not the charm of Italy — when the 
 window of a glove-shop caught my eye and 
 reminded me that I had left my gloves in the 
 railway-carriage. I thought I might as well buy 
 myself a new pair; and I entered the shop. A 
 customer had gone in before me. It was a 
 lady, young, tall and slender, quietly but 
 elegantly dressed in a plain, dark travelling- 
 frock. Through the long blue motor-veil that 
 close-shrouded her head and face, a pair of 
 eyes gleamed, black and, as I thought, large 
 and beautiful; her hair was dark and, as far as 
 L2 147
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 I could see, there were masses of it ; the features 
 seemed refined and pretty. Leaning on the 
 counter, she tried on the gloves which a young 
 shop-assistant handed her. None of them 
 fitted. 
 
 " They are too large," she said, shyly. 
 "That is because the signora has so small a 
 hand," replied the young assistant, gallantly. 
 
 She smiled and did not answer; an elderly 
 lady who was with her gave the youth an indig- 
 nant and scandalized glance. After patiently 
 allowing the measure to be taken of her hand, 
 open and closed — it was indeed a very small 
 one — she ended by finding two pairs of gloves to 
 suit her, paid for them and went out. 
 
 Just then, the owner of the shop returned. 
 He looked at the lady, gave a bewildered start, 
 bowed very low and, as soon as she was gone, 
 shouted to his assistant : 
 
 " Have you the least idea whom you have been 
 serving ? " 
 
 '' A very pretty woman, I know that ! " 
 " Idiot ! It was the Queen ! " 
 The Queen ! It was my turn to feel be- 
 wildered. The Queen, alone, unprotected, in 
 that arcade full of people ! I was on the point 
 of following her, from professional habit, for- 
 getting that I was at Milan not as an official, 
 but as a private tourist. A still more important 
 reason stopped my display of zeal ; it was too 
 late ; the charming vision was lost in the 
 crowd. 
 148
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 The next evening, I was dining at a friend's 
 house, where the guests belonged, for the most 
 part, to the official and political world. When I 
 related my adventure and expressed my astonish- 
 ment at having met the sovereign making her own 
 purchases in town, accompanied by a stern-faced 
 lady-in-waiting : 
 
 " Did that surprise you ? " I was asked. " It 
 does not surprise us at all. One of our haughty 
 princesses of the House of Savoy has said, sarcas- 
 tically, that we have gone back to the times when 
 kings used to mate with shepherdesses. That 
 was merely a disrespectful sally. The truth 
 is that both our King and Queen have very 
 simple tastes and like to live as ordinary people, 
 in so far as their obligations permit them. Let 
 me give you an instance in point : whenever 
 they come to Milan — and they never stay here for 
 longer than two or three days — they go to the 
 royal palace, of course, but, instead of living in 
 the State apartments and bringing a large number 
 of servants with them, they prefer to occupy 
 just a few rooms, have their meals sent in 
 from the Ristorante Cova and order the dishes 
 all to be brought up at the same time and 
 placed on a sideboard. Then they dismiss the 
 servants, shut the doors and wait upon them- 
 selves." 
 
 In our sunny countries — I can speak for them, 
 
 as a Corsican — we love pomp and ceremonv. I 
 
 ' 149
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 seemed to observe in the friends who gave me this 
 striking illustration of the royal simplicity a 
 touch of bitterness, perhaps of regret. Remarks 
 that reached my ears later made me come to the 
 conclusion that the aristocracy, if not the people, 
 disapproved of their sovereign's democratic 
 tendencies, which contrasted with the ways of 
 the old court, of which Queen Margherita had 
 been the soul and still remained the living and 
 charming embodiment. 
 
 No doubt, Queen Helena's " manner " was 
 entirely different from that of Margherita of 
 Savoy, whose highly-developed and refined 
 culture, whose apposite wit, whose engaging mode 
 of address, built up of shades that appealed to 
 delicate minds, had attracted to the Quirinal the 
 pick of intellectual, artistic and literary Italy 
 and held it bound in fervent admiration. Edu- 
 cated at tlie court of her father. Prince Nicholas, 
 Helena of Montenegro had grown up amid the 
 austere scenery of her native land, in constant 
 contact with the rugged simplicity of the Monte- 
 negrin highlanders ; her wide-open child-eyes had 
 never rested on other than grave and manly 
 faces; her girlhood was decked not with fairy- 
 tales, but with the old, wild legends of the 
 mountains, or else with epics extolling the heroism 
 of those who, in the days of old, had driven the 
 foreign invader from the valleys of Antivari and 
 the lofty uplands of Cettinje. At the age of 
 twelve, she was sent to St. Petersburg to finish 
 her studies. There, in the promiscuous intercourse 
 150
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 of a convent confined to young ladies of gentle 
 birth, she had known the charm of friendships that 
 removed all differences of social rank between her 
 fellow-pupils and herself, while her mind opened 
 out to the somewhat melancholy beauties of 
 Slav literature. On returning to her country, 
 she enjoyed, in the fulness of an independence 
 wholly undisturbed by the demands of etiquette, 
 the healthy delights of an open-air life, which she 
 divided between water-colour drawing, in which 
 she excelled, and sport, in whicli she showed 
 herself fearless. 
 
 She saw Italy for the first time in 1895 and 
 saw it through the gates of Venice, where her 
 father had taken her on the occasion of an 
 exhibition. One evening, in the midst of the 
 novel and fairy-like scene of the lagoon arrayed 
 in its holiday attire, she beheld the homage of 
 a glowing admiration in the eyes of the then 
 Prince of Naples ; and it will readily be conceived 
 that she was flurried and not a little dazzled. 
 In the following year, she bade farewell to her 
 craggy mountains and to the proud highlanders, 
 the companions of her childhood ; and it will be 
 understood that, when she saw the gay and 
 enthusiastic nation of Italy hastening to welcome 
 her, the twenty-year-old bride, with all the hopes 
 and all the promises which she brought with her, 
 she at first experienced a sense of shyness and 
 confusion. 
 
 The shyness, I am told, has never completely 
 worn off. On the other hand, in the absence of 
 
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 more brilliant outward qualities, Queen Helena 
 has displayed admirable domestic virtues; she 
 has known how to show herself a queen in 
 all that regards the noble and delicate missions 
 of devotion and goodness to the poor and 
 lowly. And she has done better than that : 
 she has realized her engrossing duties as wife 
 and mother; and these are sweet and dear to 
 her. 
 
 Had things been otherwise, the king's temper, 
 which is quick to take offence, and his jealous 
 fondness would have suffered cruelly. He too is 
 shy, he too is a man of domestic habits, who has 
 always avoided society and pleasure. Possessing 
 none of the physical qualities that attract the 
 crowd, endowed with an unimaginative, but, 
 on the other hand, a reflective and studious mind, 
 remarkably well-informed, highly-intelligent and 
 passionately interested in social problems and 
 the exact sciences, none was readier than he to 
 enjoy the charm of a peaceful home which he 
 had never known during his youth. Great 
 though the attachment between the son 
 and mother was, they nevertheless remained 
 separated by differences in character, tempera- 
 ment and ideas. Whereas Queen Margherita 
 kept all her enthusiasm for art and literature, 
 the Prince of Naples displayed, if not a 
 repugnance, at least a complete indifference 
 to such matters. When he was only ten years 
 of age, he said to his piano-mistress, Signora 
 Cerasoli, who was appointed by his mother and 
 152
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 who vainly struggled to instil the first principles 
 
 of music into his mind : 
 
 " Don't you think that twenty trumpets are 
 
 more effective than that piano of yours ? " 
 
 To make amends, lie showed from his earliest 
 
 youth a marked predilection for military science. 
 
 He had the soul of a soldier and submitted, 
 
 without a murmur, to the strict discipline imposed 
 
 upon him by his tutor, Colonel Osio. He is still 
 
 fond of relating, as one of the pleasantest 
 
 memories of his life, the impression which he 
 
 felt on the day when King Humbert first entrusted 
 
 him with the command of a company of foot at 
 
 the annual review of the Roman garrison : 
 
 " The excitement interfered so greatly with 
 
 my power of sight," he says, " that the only 
 
 people I recognized in the cheering crowd were 
 
 my dentist and my professor of mathematics." 
 
 ' His keen love of the army became manifest 
 
 when, as heir apparent, he received the command 
 
 of the army-corps of Naples. Frivolous and 
 
 light-headed Neapolitan society looked forward 
 
 to receiving a worldly-minded prince and rejoiced 
 
 accordingly ; but it soon discovered its mistake : 
 
 the prince, scorning pleasure, devoted himself 
 
 exclusively to his profession and left his barracks 
 
 only to go straight back to the Capodimonte 
 
 Palace, where he spent his spare time in perfecting 
 
 himself in the study of military tactics. 
 
 When, at last, the tragedy of Monza called 
 
 him suddenly to the throne, the manliness of his 
 
 attitude, the firmness of his character and the 
 
 153
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 soberness of his mind impressed the uneasy and 
 disunited world of poHtics. He insisted upon 
 drawing up his first proclamation to the Italian 
 people with his own hand and in it proved himself 
 a man of the times, thoroughly acquainted with 
 the needs and aspirations of modern Italy. 
 
 " I know," he said to Signor Crispi, a few days 
 after his accession, " I know all the responsi- 
 bilities of my station and I would not presume 
 to think that I can remedy the present difficulties 
 with my own unaided strength. But I am 
 convinced that those difficulties all spring from 
 one cause. In Italy, there are few citizens who 
 perform their duty strictly : there is too much 
 indolence, too much laxity. Italy is at a serious 
 turning-point in her history : she is eaten up with 
 politics; she must absolutely direct her energies 
 towards the development of her economic re- 
 sources. Her industries will save her by improv- 
 ing her financial position and employing all the 
 hands at present lying idle in an inactivity that 
 has lasted far too long. I shall practise what I 
 preach by scrupulously following my trade as 
 king, by encouraging initiative and especially by 
 encouraging the social and economic evolution of 
 the country." 
 
 Let me do him this justice : he has kept his 
 promises. A powerful will soon made itself con- 
 spicuous under that frail exterior. He applied to 
 the consideration of every subject the ardour 
 of an insatiable curiosity and his wish to know 
 things correctly and thoroughly. He studied the 
 154
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 confused conditions of Italian parliamentary life 
 with as much perseverance as the social question. 
 It is possible that, by democratizing the monarchy, 
 he has forestalled popular movements which, 
 in a country so passionate in its opinions and so 
 exuberant in their manifestation as Italy, might 
 have caused irreparable disorders and delayed 
 the magnificent progress of the nation. 
 
 Pondering over these serious problems, his 
 vigilant and studious mind sought relaxation 
 and, at times, consolation and encouragement 
 for its rough task in the ever-smiling intimacy of 
 the home. It resolved that this home should be 
 impenetrable to others, so impenetrable that it 
 excluded the sovereign and a fortiori his official 
 "set " : the husband and father alone are admitted. 
 This is the secret of that close union which has 
 made people say of the Italian royal couple that 
 they represent the perfect type of a middle-class 
 household which has found its way by accident 
 into a king's palace. 
 
 I have tried to give a psychological picture of 
 the two sovereigns, arising from the impressions 
 which I picked up in the course of my trip to Italy. 
 Their visit to Paris was destined to confirm its 
 accuracy and to complete its details. 
 
 3 
 
 I little thought, on the afternoon when I caught 
 
 so unexpected a glimpse of Queen Helena in a 
 
 Milan glove-shop, that, two years later, I was to 
 
 155
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 have the honour of attending both Her Majesty 
 and the King during their journey to France. 
 It was their first visit to Paris in state ; and our 
 government attached considerable importance 
 to this event, which accentuated tlie scope of 
 what Prince von Billow, at that time chancellor 
 of the German Empire, called, none too good- 
 humouredly, Italy's " little waltz " with France. 
 
 The letter of appointment which I received at 
 the beginning of October 1903 directed me to go 
 at once and await our guests at the Italian fron- 
 tier and to bring them safely to Paris. It was 
 pitch-dark, on a cold, wet night, when the royal 
 train steamed out of the Mont-Cenis tunnel and 
 pulled up at the platform of the frontier- station 
 of Modane, where I had been pacing up and down 
 for over an hour. My curiosity was stimulated, 
 I must confess, by the recollection of the episode 
 in the Galleria Vittorio-Emmanuele at Milan. 
 Amused by the chance which was about to bring 
 me face to face with " the lady of the gloves," 
 I was longing to know if my first impressions were 
 correct and if the features which I had conjec- 
 tured, rather than perceived, behind the blue veil 
 were really those which I should soon be able to 
 view in the full light. 
 
 The blinds of the eight royal railway-carriages 
 were lowered ; not a sign betrayed the presence 
 of living beings in the silent train. After a 
 long moment, a carriage-door opened and a 
 giant, in a long, pale-grey cavalry cloak and 
 a blue forage-cap braided with scarlet piping 
 15G
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 and adorned with a gold tassel, stepped out softly 
 and, making straight for me, said : 
 
 " Hush ! They are asleep." 
 
 It was two o'clock in the morning. The first 
 official reception had been arranged to take place 
 at Dijon, where we were due to arrive at nine 
 o'clock. I took my seat in the train and we 
 started. Not everybody was asleep. In the last 
 carriage, which was reserved for the servants, a 
 number of maids, wrapped in those beautiful red 
 shawls which you see on the quays at Naples, 
 were chattering away, with the greatest ani- 
 mation, in Italian. The echoes of that musical 
 and expressive language reached the compart- 
 ment in which I was trying to doze and called up 
 memories of my childhood in my old Corsican 
 heart. 
 
 It was broad daylight and we were nearing 
 Dijon, when Count Guicciardini, the King's 
 master of the horse, came to fetch me to present 
 me to the sovereigns. 
 
 Two black, grave, proud and gentle eyes; a 
 forehead framed in a wealth of dark hair ; beauti- 
 ful and delicate features; a smile that produced 
 two little dimples on either side of the mouth; 
 a tall, slight figure : I at once recognized the lady 
 of Milan in the charming sovereign, stately and 
 shy, who came stepping towards me. It was the 
 same little white hand that she put out again, 
 this time, however, that I might press upon it 
 the homage of my respectful welcome. Should 
 
 I recall the incident of the gloves ? I had it on 
 
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 my lips to do so. ... I was afraid of appearing 
 ridiculous : of course, she would not remember. 
 ... I said nothing. 
 
 " Delighted, M. Paoli, delighted to know you ! " 
 exclaimed the King, fixing me with his piercing 
 eyes and shaking me vigorously by the hand. 
 
 " Sir . . ." 
 
 " But stay : Paoli is an Italian name ! " 
 
 " Very nearly, Sir : I am a Corsican." 
 
 " A fellow-countryman of Napoleon's, then ? 
 I congratulate you ! " 
 
 Our conversation, that morning, was confined 
 to these few words. From Dijon onwards, the 
 journey assumed an ofBcial character; and I lost 
 sight of the King and Queen amid the crowd of 
 glittering uniforms. However, a few minutes 
 before our arrival at Paris, I surprised them both 
 standing against a window-pane, the Queen in an 
 exquisite costume of pale-grey velvet and silk, 
 the King in the uniform of an Italian general, 
 with the broad ribbon of the Legion of Honour 
 across his chest. While watching the landscape, 
 they exchanged remarks that appeared to me to 
 be of an affectionate nature. 
 
 Meanwhile, a sedate footman entered and dis- 
 creetly placed upon the table, behind the sove- 
 reigns, an extraordinary object that attracted my 
 eyes. It looked like an enormous bird buried 
 in its feathers : it was at one and the same time 
 resplendent and voluminous. I came closer and 
 then saw that it was a helmet, just a helmet, 
 covered with feathers of fabulous dimensions. 
 158
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 And, indeed, I was not the only one to be 
 astonished at the imposing proportions of this 
 head-dress : whenever the King donned it in 
 Paris, it achieved a huge success ; it towered above 
 the crowds, the Hvery-servants' cockades, the 
 soldiers' bayonets ; it became the target of every 
 kodak. 
 
 The Queen's shyness ? The occasion soon 
 offered to observe it; in fact, that solemn entry 
 into Paris was enough to make any young woman, 
 queen or no queen, shy. The authorities wished 
 to make the greatest effect possible and sent the 
 procession down the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne 
 and the Champs-filysees. No doubt, the charm- 
 ing sovereign was deeply impressed and a little 
 bewildered ; but the warmth of the welcome, the 
 heartiness of the cheering afforded her, as well 
 as her consort, a visible pleasure ; and, from that 
 very first day, she was full of pretty thoughts 
 and he of generous movements. At a certain 
 moment, she took a rose from a bouquet of roses 
 de France which she was carrying and gave it to 
 a little girl who had thrust herself close to the 
 carriage. He, on the other hand, walked straight 
 to the colours of the battalion of zouaves who- 
 were presenting arms in the courtyard of the 
 Foreign Office and raised to his lips the folds of 
 the standard on which were inscribed two names 
 dear to Italian hearts and French memories 
 alike : Magenta and Solferino. 
 
 The Foreign Office was turned into a royal 
 palace for the occasion of this visit. While the 
 
 159
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 government had endeavoured to decorate in the 
 most sumptuous possible style the apartments 
 which the King and Queen of Italy were to 
 occupy on the first floor, Mme. Delcasse, the 
 wife of the foreign minister, on her side, did 
 her best to relieve the somewhat cold and solemn 
 appearance of the rooms. With this object, she 
 procured photographs of the little Princesses 
 Yolanda and IMafalda and placed them in hand- 
 some frames on the Queen's dressing-table. The 
 Queen was greatly touched by the delicate atten- 
 tion. On entering the room, she uttered a spon- 
 taneous exclamation that betrayed all a mother's 
 fondness : 
 
 " Oh, the children ! How delightful ! " 
 
 The children ! How often those words returned 
 to her lips during her stay in Paris ! She spoke 
 of them incessantly, she spoke of them to every- 
 body, to Madame Loubet, to Madame Delcasse, 
 to the Italian ambassadress, even to the two 
 French waiting-maids attached to her service : 
 
 " Yolanda, the elder, with her black hair and 
 her black eyes is like me," she would explain. 
 " Mafalda, on the other hand, is the image of her 
 father. They both have such good little hearts." 
 
 Her maternal anxiety was also manifested in 
 the impatience with which she used to wait for 
 news of the princesses. Every evening, when she 
 returned to the Foreign Office after a day of drives 
 and visits in different parts of Paris, her first 
 words were : 
 
 " My wire ? " 
 160
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 And, a little nervously, she opened the telegram 
 that was dispatched to her daily from San 
 Rossone, where " the children " were, and 
 greedily read the bulletin of reassuring news 
 which it contained. 
 
 On the morning of her arrival, she rang for 
 a maid as soon as she woke up : 
 
 " I have an old friend in Paris," she said, 
 "whom I want to see; it is my old French 
 
 mistress. Mile. E . She lives on the Quai 
 
 Voltaire : please have her sent for." 
 
 An attache hastened off at once and, in 
 half-an-hour, returned triumphantly with Mile. 
 
 E , a charming old lady who had once 
 
 been governess to Princess Helena of Montenegro 
 at Cettinje. She had not seen her for ten 
 years; and the reader can imagine her surprise 
 and her confusion. The mistress and pupil threw 
 themselves into each other's arms. And, when 
 
 Mile. E persisted in addressing the Queen as 
 
 " Your Majesty," the latter interrupted her and 
 said : 
 
 " Why ' Your Majesty ' ? Call me Helena, as 
 you used to do." 
 
 The authorities, conforming to royal usage, had 
 considered it the proper thing to prepare two 
 distinct suites of rooms, one for the King and one 
 for the Queen, separated by an enormous drawing- 
 room. Great was our surprise when, on the 
 following morning, the rumour ran through the 
 passages of the Foreign Office that the King's 
 
 bedroom had remained untenanted. Had he 
 M 161
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 found it uncomfortable ? Did he not like the 
 room ? Every one began to be anxious and it 
 was felt that the mystery must be cleared up. 
 I therefore went to one of the officers of the royal 
 suite, took him aside and, while talking of " other 
 things," tried to sound him as to the King's 
 impressions : 
 
 " Is His Majesty pleased with his apart- 
 ments ? " 
 
 " Delighted." 
 
 " Was there anything wrong with the heating 
 arrangements ? " 
 
 " No, nothing." 
 
 " Perhaps the King does not care for the bed 
 provided for His Majesty's use ? I hear it is 
 very soft and comfortable, in addition to being 
 historic." 
 
 " Not at all, not at all; I believe His Majesty 
 thought everything perfect." 
 
 Alas, I felt that my hints were misunderstood ! 
 I must needs speak more directly. Without 
 further circumlocution, therefore, I said : 
 
 " The fact is, it appears that the King did not 
 deign to occupy his apartments." 
 
 The officer looked at me and smiled : 
 
 " But the King never leaves the Queen ! " he 
 exclaimed. " With us, married couples seldom 
 have separate rooms, unless when they are on 
 bad terms. And that is not the case here ! " 
 
 The pair were never parted, in fact, except at 
 early breakfast. The King was accustomed to take 
 cafe au lait, the Queen chocolate : the first was 
 162
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 served in the small sitting-room where the King, 
 already dressed in his general's uniform, went 
 through his letters; the second in the boudoir, 
 where the Queen, in a pink-surat dressing-gown 
 trimmed with lace, devoted two hours, after her 
 toilet, each morning, to her correspondence, or 
 to the very feminine pleasure of trying on frocks 
 and hats. 
 
 I twice again had the honour of seeing her 
 shopping, as on a former famous occasion; but 
 this time I accompanied her in the course of 
 my professional duties. She bought no gloves, 
 but made up for it by purchases of linen, jewels, 
 numerous knick-knacks and toys ; and one would 
 have thought that she was buying those china 
 dolls, with their tiny sets of tea-things, for herself, 
 so great was the child-like joy which she showed 
 in their selection : 
 
 " This is for Yolanda, this is for Mafalda," she 
 said, as she pointed to the objects that were to 
 be placed on one side. 
 
 I saw her for the first time grave and thoughtful 
 at the palace at Versailles, which she and the 
 King visited in the company of M. and Mme. 
 Loubet. I think that she must have retained a 
 delightful recollection of this excursion to the 
 palace of our kings, an excursion which left a 
 lively impression on my own mind. It seemed 
 as though Nature herself had conspired to 
 accentuate its charm. The ancestral park was 
 shrouded in the soft rays of the expiring autumn : 
 the trees crowned their sombre tops with a few 
 M2 163
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 belated leaves of golden brown; the distances 
 were mauve, like lilac in April; and the breeze 
 that blew from the west scattered the water of 
 the fountains and changed it into feathery tufts 
 of spray. 
 
 The sovereigns, escorted by the keeper of the 
 palace, first visited the State apartments, stopping 
 for some time before the portraits of the princes 
 and princesses of the House of France. And, 
 in those great rooms filled with so many precious 
 memories, Queen Helena listened silently and 
 eagerly to the keeper's explanations. She lingered 
 more particularly in the private apartments of 
 Marie- Antoinette, where the most trifling objects 
 excited her curiosity : obviously her imagination 
 as a woman and a queen took pleasure in this 
 feminine and royal past. Sometimes, obeying a 
 discreet and spontaneous impulse, when the 
 overpowering memory of some tragic episode 
 weighed too heavily upon our silent thoughts, 
 she pressed herself timidly against the King, as 
 a little girl might do. And once we heard her 
 whisper : 
 
 " Ah, if ' things ' could speak ! " 
 
 4 
 
 And the King ? The King, while appreciating, 
 as an expert, the archaeological beauties which we 
 had to show him and the imperishable evidences 
 of our history, did not share the Queen's enthu- 
 siasm for our artistic treasures. When coming 
 164
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 to Paris, he had looked forward to two principal 
 pleasures : seeing our soldiers and visiting the 
 Musee Monetaire, or collection of coins at our 
 national mint. 
 
 As is well known, Victor Emanuel is considered 
 — and rightly so — an exceedingly capable numis- 
 matist. He is very proud of his title as honorary 
 president of the Italian Numismatical Society 
 and, in 1897, undertook the task of drawing up 
 the catalogue of the authentic old coinages of 
 Italy. He derived the necessary materials for 
 his work from his own collection, which at that 
 time consisted of about forty thousand pieces. 
 Of the two hundred and sixty types of Italian 
 coinage known, barely one half could lay 
 claim to absolute genuineness; and the work 
 which he had to perform in bringing them to- 
 gether, completing and authenticating them 
 was no light one. 
 
 A rather interesting story is told of the manner 
 in which the King, when still little more than a 
 child, acquired a taste for the science of numis- 
 matics. One day, he received a soldo bearing the 
 head of Pope Pius IX., which he kept. A little 
 later, finding another, he added it to the first; 
 and, in this way, he ended by collecting fifteen. 
 Meanwhile, his father. King Humbert, had pre- 
 sented him with some sixty pieces of old copper 
 money; and he thus formed the nucleus of his 
 collection. 
 
 Thenceforward, at every anniversary, on his 
 birthday, at Christmas, at Easter, the different 
 
 165
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 members of the royal family, who used to chaff 
 him about his new passion, gave him coins or 
 medals. He made important purchases on his 
 own account; and, finally, in 1900, he doubled 
 the dimensions of his collection at one stroke by 
 buying the inestimable treasure of coins belonging 
 to the Marchese Marignoli, which was on the point 
 of being dispersed. 
 
 He admits, nevertheless, that the piece that 
 represents the highest value in his eyes is a gold 
 Montenegrin coin struck in the early days of the 
 Petrovich dynasty and presented to him by 
 Princess Helena of Montenegro at the time of 
 their engagement. This coin is so rare that only 
 one other specimen is known to exist: it is in 
 the numismatical gallery at Vienna. 
 
 The King, moreover, has lately enriched his 
 collection with an exceedingly rare series of coins 
 of the Avignon popes. They were sold at auction 
 at Frankfort; and a spirited contest took place 
 between buyers acting respectively on behalf of 
 King Victor Emanuel, the Pope and the director 
 of our own gallery of medals. 
 
 It was, therefore, with a very special interest 
 that he visited our mint, whose collection is famed 
 throughout Europe. The director, knowing that 
 he had to do with a connoisseur, had taken a great 
 deal of trouble ; in fact, I believe that he intended 
 to " stagger " the King with his erudition. But 
 he reckoned without his host, or rather his guest ; 
 and, instead of the expert dazzling the King, it 
 was the King who astonished the expert. He 
 166
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 surprised him to such good purpose, with the 
 accuracy and extent of his information on the 
 subject of coins, that the learned director had to 
 own himself beaten : 
 
 " We are schoolboys beside Your Majesty," he 
 confessed, in all humility. 
 
 And I think that this was something more than 
 a courtier's phrase. 
 
 The King, as I have said, takes a keen interest 
 in military matters. He displayed it on the 
 occasion of the review of the Paris garrison. 
 He had appeared bored at the concert at the 
 filysee on the previous evening, but made up 
 for it now by his obvious enjoyment of the 
 impressive spectacle which we were able to 
 provide for him on the drill-ground at Vincennes. 
 He wished to ride along the front of the 
 troops on horseback and had brought with him 
 from Italy, for this purpose, his own saddle, 
 a very handsome and richly-caparisoned military 
 saddle. The Governor of Paris having lent him 
 a charger, he proved himself a first-rate horse- 
 man, for the animal, unnerved at having to carry 
 a harness heavier than that to which it was 
 accustomed, could hit upon nothing better than 
 to make a show of ill- temper, regardless of the 
 august quality of its rider. It was the worst 
 day's work that that horse ever did in its life ; and 
 it had to recognize that it had found its master. 
 
 After making a thorough inspection of the 
 troops, by the side of the minister for war, the 
 King expressed a desire to examine the outfit of 
 
 167
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 one of the soldiers ; and a private was ordered to 
 fall out of the ranks. Victor Emanuel took up the 
 soldier's knapsack, handled it, looked through it 
 and made a movement as though to buckle it to 
 the man's shoulders again himself, whereat the 
 worthy little pioupiou, quite scared and red with 
 dismay, cried : 
 
 " Oh, no, thanks, mon . . . mon.'' 
 
 But the poor fellow, who had never even spoken 
 to a general, had no notion how to address a 
 king. 
 
 Thereupon the King, greatly amused, made a 
 charming reply : 
 
 " Call me what your forbears, the French 
 soldiers in 1859, called my grandfather on the 
 night of the battle of Palestro; call me mon 
 caporal ! " 
 
 Victor Emanuel has too practical and matter- 
 of-fact a mind to be what is called a man of 
 sentiment. Nevertheless, I saw him betray a 
 real emotion when he was taken, on the following 
 day, to visit the tomb of Napoleon I. The tomb 
 was surrounded by six old pensioners carrying 
 lighted torches. There were but few people 
 there; the fitful flames of the torches cast their 
 fantastic gleams upon the imperial sarcophagus ; 
 and the invisible presence of the Great Conqueror 
 hovered over us : it seemed as though he would 
 suddenly rise bodily out of that yawning gulf 
 that coffin of marble, dressed in his grey overcoat 
 and his immemorial hat. 
 
 During a long silence, the King stood and 
 168
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 dreamt, with bowed head. When we left the 
 chapel, he was dreaming still. 
 
 I had another striking picture of Victor 
 Emanuel III. during the day's shooting with 
 which M. Loubet provided him in the preserves 
 at Rambouillet. The King, whose love of sport 
 equals his passion for numismatics, is a first-rate 
 shot. He aims at a great height, is careful of his 
 cartridges and rarely misses a bird. According 
 to custom, he was followed at Rambouillet by a 
 keeper carrying a second gun, ready loaded, of 
 course. 
 
 Now it happened that the King, seeing a flight 
 of pheasants, began by discharging both barrels 
 and bringing down a brace of birds. He then 
 took the other gun, which the keeper held ready 
 for him, put it to his shoulder and pulled the 
 trigger : both shots missed fire. The keeper had 
 forgotten to load the gun! Picture the rage of 
 the sovereign, who, disconsolate at losing his 
 pheasants, began to rate the culprit soundly ! 
 The unfortunate keeper, feeling more dead than 
 alive, did not know what excuse to make; and 
 he looked upon his place as fairly lost. 
 
 Then the King, guessing the man's unspoken 
 fears, abruptly changed his tone : 
 
 " Never mind," he said. " There's no forgiv- 
 ing you; but I shall not say anything about 
 it." 
 
 The King was obviously delighted with his 
 day's sport. Yet, among the many attentions 
 which we paid our guests during their brief stay 
 
 169
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 in Paris, one surprise which we prepared for them 
 was, if I am not mistaken, more acceptable to 
 them — and especially to the Queen — ^than any 
 other. This surprise consisted in the recital 
 before Their Majesties, by our great actress, 
 Mme. Bartet, of the Comedie Fran9aise, of an 
 unpublished poem from the pen of . . . the 
 Queen herself. 
 
 Helena of Montenegro had been a poet in 
 her leisure hours. At the time of her engage- 
 ment, she wrote a fragment in Russian which 
 she sent to a St. Petersburg magazine, under 
 the pseudonym of " Blue Butterfly " ; and the 
 magazine printed it without knowing the author's 
 real name. It was written in rhythmical prose; 
 and I was fortunate enough to secure a copy of 
 the translation : 
 
 " VISION 
 
 " The mother said to her daughter : 
 " ' Wouldst know how the world is made ? 
 Open thine eyes.' 
 
 " And the little maid opened her eyes. She 
 saw lordly and towering mountains, she saw 
 valleys full of delights, she saw the sun which 
 shines upon and gilds all things, she saw twinkling 
 stars and the deep billows of the sea, she saw tor- 
 rents with foaming waters and flowers with varied 
 perfumes, she saw light-winged birds and the 
 golden sheaves of the harvest. Then she closed 
 her eyes. 
 170
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 " And then she saw, she saw the fairest thing 
 upon this earth : the image of the beloved who 
 filled her heart, the image of the beloved who 
 shone within her soul, the image of the beloved 
 who gave his love in return for the love that 
 was hers." 
 
 This charming fragment had been discovered 
 by a collector of royal poetry some time before 
 the visit of the Italian sovereigns. It was 
 transposed into French verse; and M. Loubet 
 delicately caused it to be recited to our hosts 
 in the course of a reception given in their 
 honour at the Elysee. That evening, the beauti- 
 ful Queen enjoyed a twofold success, as a 
 woman and a poet. 
 
 The unpretending affability of the royal couple 
 was bound to win the affections of the French 
 people. The cheers that greeted them in their 
 drives through Paris increased in enthusiasm 
 from day to day and proved that they had 
 conquered all hearts. 
 
 " It is astonishing," said an Italian official to 
 me, " but they are even more popular here than 
 at home ! " 
 
 " That must be because they show themselves 
 
 more," I replied. 
 
 171
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 At the risk of disappointing the reader, I am 
 bound to confess that no tragic or even un- 
 pleasant incident came to spoil their pleasure 
 or their peace of mind. It appeared that the 
 anarchist gentry were allowing themselves a 
 little holiday. 
 
 In the absence of the conventional plot, we had, 
 it is true, the inevitable shower of anonymous 
 letters and even some that were signed. The 
 Queen, alas, had done much to encourage epis- 
 tolary mendicants by announcing her wish that 
 replies should be sent to all letters asking for 
 assistance and that, in every possible case, satis- 
 faction should be given to the writers. The result 
 was that all the poverty-stricken Italians with 
 whom Paris teems gave themselves free scope, to 
 their hearts' content ; and the usual fraternity of 
 French begging-letter-writers — those who had 
 formerly so artlessly striven to excite the com- 
 passion of the Shah of Persia — also tried what 
 they could do. 
 
 But what reply was it possible to send to such 
 letters as the following ? — 
 
 " To Her Majesty the Queen of Italy. 
 
 " Madam, 
 
 " We are a young married couple, 
 honest, but poor. We were unable to have a 
 honeymoon, for lack of money. It would be 
 our dream to go to Italy, which is said to be the 
 172
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 land of lovers. We thought that Your Majesty, 
 loving your husband as you do and, therefore, 
 knowing what love means, might consent to help 
 us to make this little journey. We should want 
 five hundred francs : we entreat Your Majesty 
 to lend it to us. When my husband has a better 
 situation — he is at present an assistant in a curio- 
 sity-shop — he will not fail to repay Your Majesty 
 the money. 
 
 " Pray, Madam, accept the thanks of 
 " Your Majesty's respectful and grateful servant, 
 
 " Marie G , 
 
 " Poste Restante 370, Paris." 
 
 " To His Majesty the King of Italy. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I am a young painter full of ambition 
 and said to be not devoid of talent. I am very 
 anxious to see Rome and to study its artistic 
 masterpieces. Not possessing the necessary 
 means, I am writing to ask if you would not give 
 me an employment of any kind, even in the 
 service of the royal motor-cars (for I know how 
 to drive a motor), so that I may be enabled, 
 in my spare time, to visit the monuments and 
 picture-galleries and to perfect myself in my 
 art. 
 
 " Pray accept, etc., 
 
 " Louis S , 
 
 ''at the Cafe du Capitole, Toulouse." 
 
 173
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 Here is a letter of another description : 
 
 " To Her Majesty Queen Helena. 
 
 " Madam, 
 
 " You are the mother of two pretty 
 babies : for this reason, I have the honour of 
 sending you herewith two boxes of lacteal fari- 
 naceous food, of my own invention, for infants of 
 tender years. It is a wonderful strengthening 
 and tonic diet, and I feel that I am doing Your 
 Majesty a service in sending you these samples. 
 You are sure to order more. 
 
 " In the hope of receiving these orders, I am, 
 " Your Majesty's respectful servant, 
 " Dr. F. J., 
 " Eue de la Liberie, NImes." 
 
 These few specimens of correspondence will 
 suffice to give an idea of the harmless and some- 
 times comical literature that found its way every 
 morning into the royal letter-bag. I must not, 
 however, omit to mention, among the humorous 
 incidents that marked the sovereign's journey, 
 an amusing mistake which occurred on the day of 
 their arrival in Paris. 
 
 It was about half-past six in the evening. Our 
 royal guests had that moment left the Foreign 
 Office, to pay their first official visit to the Presi- 
 dent of the Republic, when a cab stopped outside 
 the strictly-guarded gate. An old gentleman, 
 very tall, with a long white beard and very simply 
 174
 
 THE KING AND QUEEN OF ITALY 
 
 dressed, alighted and was about to walk in with a 
 confident step. 
 
 Three policemen rushed to prevent him : 
 
 " Stop ! " they cried. " No one is allowed in 
 here." 
 
 "Oh," said the stranger, " but I want to see 
 the King of Italy ! " 
 
 " And who may you be ? " 
 
 " The King of the Belgians." 
 
 They refused to believe him. When he per- 
 sisted, however, they went in search of an official, 
 who at once came and proffered the most abject 
 apologies. Picture the faces of the policemen ! 
 
 As I have said, the King and Queen of Italy 
 stayed only three days in Paris. 
 
 " We will come back again," the Queen pro- 
 mised, when she stepped into the train, radiant at 
 the reception which had been given her. 
 
 They have not returned so far. 
 
 175
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 1 
 
 In one of the drawers of my desk lies a bundle 
 of letters which I preserve carefully, adding to 
 it, from time to time, as each fresh letter arrives. 
 They are written in a neat and dainty hand, 
 almost like a woman's; the paper is of very 
 ordinary quality and bears no crown nor mono- 
 gram ; and the emblem stamped on the red wax 
 with which the envelopes are sealed looks as 
 though it had been selected on purpose to baffle 
 indiscreet curiosity : it represents a head of 
 Minerva wearing her helmet. 
 
 And yet this correspondence is very interesting ; 
 and I believe that an historian would set great 
 store by it, not only because it would supply 
 him with valuable particulars concerning certain 
 events of our own time, but also because it 
 reveals the exquisite feeling of one of the most 
 attractive of sovereigns, the youthfulness of his 
 mind, and the reasons why a royal crown may 
 sometimes seem heavy even under the radiant 
 skies of Greece. 
 
 It is nearly twenty years since I first met the 
 176
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 writer of those letters, the King of the Hellenes ; 
 and, since then, I have watched over his safety 
 on the occasion of most of his visits to 
 France. This long acquaintance enabled me to 
 win his gracious kindness, while he has my affec- 
 tionate devotion. I often take the liberty of 
 writing to him, when he is in his own dominions ; 
 he never fails to reply with regularity; and 
 our correspondence forms, as it were, a sequel to 
 our familiar talks, full of good-humour and 
 charm, begun at Aix-les-Bains, in Paris, or in the 
 train. 
 
 It would be making a childish remark to say 
 that King George loves France : the frequency 
 of his visits makes the fact too obvious. He 
 does more than evince a warm admiration 
 for our country : this Danish prince, who 
 has worn the Greek crown for over eight- 
 and-forty years, is, as was his late brother- 
 in-law. King Edward VII., the most Parisian of 
 our foreign guests. His Parisianism shows itself 
 not only in the elegant ease with which he 
 speaks our language : it is seen in his turn of 
 mind, which is essentially that of the man-about- 
 town, and in his figure, which is slender and 
 strong, tall and graceful, like that of one of our 
 cavalry-officers. The quick shrewdness that 
 lurks behind his fair, military moustache is also 
 peculiarly French ; and the touch of fun which 
 is emphasized by a constant twitching of the 
 eyes and lips, and which finds an outlet in 
 felicitous phrases and unexpected sallies, is just 
 N 177
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 of the sort that makes people say of us that we 
 are the most satirical people on the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 King George's " fun," at any rate, is never 
 cruel; and, if his chaff sometimes becomes a 
 little caustic, at least it is always, if I may say so, 
 to the point. 
 
 For instance, at the commencement of his 
 reign, when he found himself grappling with the 
 first internal difficulties, one of the leaders of the 
 parliamentary opposition, which was very anxious 
 for the fall of the ministry so that it might itself 
 take office, came to him and said, with false and 
 deceitful melancholy : 
 
 *' Ah, Sir, if you only had a minister ! " 
 
 *' A minister ? " replied the King, with feigned 
 surprise. " Why, I have seven at least ! " 
 
 The King was brought up in the admirable 
 school of simplicity, rectitude and kindness of 
 his father. King Christian, and familiarized, 
 from his early youth, with all the tortuous paths 
 of the political maze. When the fall of King 
 Otho placed him, by the greatest of accidents, 
 on the throne of Greece, he brought with him 
 not only the influence of his numberless illustrious 
 alliances and the fruits of a timely experience 
 gained in that marvellous observation-post which 
 the court of Denmark supplies : he also brought 
 the qualities of his frigid and well-balanced 
 northern temperament to that nation which does 
 not require the stimulant of its Patras wine to 
 become hot-headed. 
 178
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 And what difficult times the King has passed 
 through ! 
 
 The King of Saxony, visiting Corfu one day, 
 said to him, the next morning : 
 
 " Upon my word, it must be charming to be 
 king of this paradise ! " 
 
 " You must never repeat that wish," repHed 
 King George, without hesitation. " I have been 
 its king for thirty years ; and I speak as one 
 who knows ! " 
 
 Events that have followed since have amply 
 justified the bitterness of this outburst, which I 
 find renewed in the King's letters. And yet, 
 grave though the situation has been of recent 
 years, I do not believe that the Greek crown is 
 in danger. The Greeks, without distinction of 
 party, recognize the great services their ruler has 
 rendered to the national cause, which he has 
 guarded for the past ten years in the European 
 chancelleries with indefatigable zeal and eloquence. 
 
 " I never met a more persuasive nor an abler 
 diplomatist," said M. Clemenceau, last year, after 
 a visit which he had received from George I. 
 
 His ability has not only consisted in guarding 
 
 his country against the ambitious projects of 
 
 Turkey by placing her under the protection of 
 
 the Powers interested in preserving the status quo 
 
 in the east; it has been proved by the ease with 
 
 which he effects his ends amid the party quarrels 
 
 that envenom political life in Greece. Guided 
 
 by his native common-sense and a remarkable 
 
 knowledge of mankind, he has made it his study, 
 N2 179
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 in governing, to let people do and say what they 
 please, at least to an extent that enables him 
 never to find himself in open opposition to the 
 love of independence and the easily-offended self- 
 respect of his subjects ; and he has realized that 
 what was required was an uncommon readiness 
 to give way, rather than inflexible principles. 
 
 For the rest, it must be admitted that, although 
 the Greek nation is sometimes tiresome and 
 endowed with faults and weaknesses which are 
 purely racial and temperamental, on the other 
 hand it is generous and impulsive to a degree ; 
 and its touchy pride is only the effect of an 
 ardent patriotism which is sometimes manifested 
 in the most amusing ways. 
 
 For instance, when Greece, not long ago, 
 revived an ancient and picturesque tradition 
 and decided to restore the Olympic Games and 
 when it became evident that these would draw 
 large numbers of foreigners to Athens, the pick- 
 pockets held a meeting and pledged themselves, 
 one and all, to suspend hostilities as long as the 
 games lasted, in order to protect the reputation 
 of the country. They even took care to inform 
 the public of the resolution which they had 
 passed; and they did more: they kept their 
 word, with this unprecedented result, that the 
 police had a holiday, thanks to the strike of the 
 thieves ! 
 
 A year or two ago, Mme. Jacquemaire, a 
 daughter of M. Clemenceau, then prime minister 
 of France, made a journey to Greece. Returning 
 180
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 by rail from Athens to the Piraeus, where she was 
 to take ship for Trieste, she missed her travelHng- 
 bag, containing her jewels. This valuable piece 
 of luggage had evidently been stolen; and she 
 lost no time in lodging a complaint with the 
 harbour-police, although she was convinced of 
 the uselessncss of the step. The quest instituted 
 was, in fact, vain. But, meanwhile, the press had 
 seized upon the incident and stirred up public 
 opinion, which was at that time persuaded that 
 M. Clemenceau, whose Philhellenic leanings are 
 notorious, had promised the Greek government 
 his support in its efforts to obtain the annexation 
 of Crete. The daughter of the man upon whom 
 the Greeks based such hopes as these must not, 
 people said, be allowed to take an unfavour- 
 able impression of Greek hospitality away with 
 her. The newspapers published strongly- worded 
 articles, entreating the unknown thief, if he was 
 a Greek, to give up the profits of his larceny and 
 to perform a noble and unselfish act; placards 
 posted on the walls of Athens and the Piraeus 
 made vehement appeals to his patriotism. 
 Twenty-four hours later, the police received the 
 bag and its contents untouched; and they were 
 restored to Mme. Jacquemaire on her arrival at 
 Trieste. 
 
 The pilot's trade is a hard one when you have 
 
 to steer through continual rocks, to keep a 
 
 constant eve upon a turbulent crew, and to look 
 ^ 181
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 out for the " squalls " which are perpetually 
 beating from the always stormy horizon in 
 the east. It is easily understood that King 
 George should feel a longing, when events permit, 
 to go to other climes in search of a short diversion 
 from his absorbing responsibilities. 
 
 " You see," King Leopold of the Belgians said 
 to me, one day, " our real rest lies in forgetting 
 who we are." 
 
 And yet it cannot be said the distractions and 
 the rest which King George knew that he would 
 find among us were the only object of the journeys 
 across Europe which he made annually until 
 the year before last. He always carried a diplo- 
 matist's dispatch-box among his luggage; he is 
 one of those whose believe that a sovereign can 
 travel for his country while travelling for pleasure : 
 
 " I am my own ambassador," he often said to 
 me. 
 
 The King used to come to us generally at the 
 beginning of the autumn, on his way to and from 
 Copenhagen, where he never omitted to visit his 
 father, King Christian, and his sisters. Queen 
 Alexandra and the Empress Marie Feodorovna. 
 He delighted in this annual gathering, which 
 collected round the venerable grandsire, under the 
 tall trees of Fredensborg, the largest and most 
 illustrious family that the world contains, a 
 family over which the old King's ascendancy and 
 authority remained so great that his children, 
 were they emperors or kings, dared not go into 
 Copenhagen without first asking his leave. 
 182
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 " When I am down there, I feel as if I were 
 still a little boy," King George used to say, 
 laughing. 
 
 In France, he was a young man. He divided 
 his stay between Aix-les-Bains and Paris; and 
 in Paris, as at Aix, he had but one thought in his 
 head : to avoid all official pomp and ceremony. 
 He would have been greatly distressed if he had 
 been treated too obviously as a sovereign; and, 
 when he accepted the inevitable official dinner to 
 which the President of the Republic always 
 invited him, he positively refused the royal 
 salute. When at Aix, he used to yield to the 
 necessity of attending the festivities which the 
 authorities of that charming watering-place, 
 where he was very popular, arranged in his 
 honour; but only because he did not wish to 
 wound any one's feelings, however slightly. And, 
 when invited to go to some display of fireworks : 
 
 " Come ! " he would sigh. " Another party in 
 my honour ! " 
 
 Other business detained me; and I had not the 
 privilege of being attached to his person during 
 his first stay at Aix. The French government 
 sent two commissaries from Lyons to watch 
 over his safety; and these worthy functionaries, 
 who had never been charged with a mission of 
 this kind before, lived in a continual state of 
 alarm. To them, guarding a king meant never 
 to lose sight of him, to follow him step by step 
 like a prisoner, to spy upon his movements as 
 though he were a felon. They ended by driving 
 
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 our guest mad : no sooner had he left his bed- 
 room than two shadows fastened on his heels 
 and never quitted him ; if he went to a restaurant, 
 to the casino, to the theatre, two stern, motionless 
 faces appeared in front of him, four suspicious 
 eyes peered into his least action. It was of no 
 avail for him to try to throw the myrmidons off 
 the scent, to look for back-doors by which to 
 escape them : there was no avoiding them ; 
 they were always there. He made a discreet 
 complaint and I was asked to replace them. 
 
 " You are very welcome," he said, when I 
 arrived. " Your colleagues from Lyons made such 
 an impression on me that I ended by taking 
 myself for an assassin ! " 
 
 To my mind, the mission of guarding this 
 particularly unaffected and affable king was 
 neither a very absorbing nor a very thankless 
 task. At Aix, where he walked about from 
 morning to night like any ordinary private per- 
 son, everybody knew him. There was never the 
 least need for me to consult the reports of my 
 inspectors; the saunterers, the shopkeepers, the 
 peasants made it their business to keep me 
 informed : 
 
 " Monsieur le Roi," they would say, " has 
 just passed this way; he went down that 
 turning." 
 
 Then I would see a famiUar form twenty yards 
 ahead, stick in hand, Homburg hat on one ear, 
 the slim, brisk figure clad in a light-grey suit, 
 strolling down the street, or looking into a shop- 
 184
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 window, or stopping in the midst of a group of 
 workmen. It was " Monsieur le Roi." 
 
 " Monsieur le Roi " had even become " Mon- 
 sieur Georges " to the pretty laundresses whom 
 he greeted with a pleasant "Good-morning" when 
 he passed them at their wash-tubs on his way 
 to the bathing establishment. For he carefully 
 followed the cure of baths and douches which 
 his trusty physician, Dr. Guillard, prescribed for 
 his arthritis. He left the hotel early every 
 morning and walked to the baths, taking a road 
 that leads through one of the oldest parts oi Aix. 
 The inhabitants of that picturesque corner came 
 to know him so well by sight that they ended by 
 treating him as a friendly neighbour. Whenever 
 he entered the Rue du Puits-d'Enfer, the street- 
 boys would stop playing and receive him with 
 merry cheers, to which he replied by flinging 
 handfuls of coppers to them. The news of his 
 approach flew from door to door till it reached 
 the laundry. . . Forthwith, the girls stopped the 
 rhythmic beat of their " dollies " ; the songs 
 ceased on their lips; they quickly wiped the 
 lather from their hands on a corner of their 
 skirts or aprons and came out of doors, while 
 their fresh young voices gave him the familiar 
 greeting : 
 
 " Good-morning, M. Georges ! Three cheers 
 for M. Georges ! " 
 
 They chatted for a bit; the King amused 
 
 himself by asking questions, joking, replying; 
 
 then, touching the brim of his felt hat, he went 
 
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 his way, with the bright voices calhng after him, 
 prettily : 
 
 '''' Au revoir, M. Georges ! . . . Till to-morrow ! " 
 
 He enjoyed this morning call before getting 
 into the " deep bath " reserved for him; and he 
 himself was popular in and around the laundr}^ 
 in the Rue du Puits-d'Enfer, not only because of 
 his good-nature and good-humour, but because 
 the girls had more than once experienced the 
 benefits of his unostentatious generosity. 
 
 His days at Aix, as in Paris, were regulated 
 with mathematical precision : George I. is a 
 living chronometer. After making his daily 
 pilgrimage to the baths, he returned to the hotel, 
 read his telegrams, dipped into the French and 
 English newspapers and worked with his master 
 of the household, Count Cernovitz, or with his 
 equerry. General de Reineck. or else with M. 
 Delyanni, the deeply-regretted Greek minister to 
 Paris, whom he honoured with a great affection 
 and who always joined his royal master at 
 Aix-les-Bains. 
 
 From eleven to twelve in the morning, he 
 generally gave audiences, either to the authorities 
 of Aix, with whom he maintained cordial rela- 
 tions, oi to strangers of note who were presented 
 to him during his stay. Wlien he kept a few 
 people to lunch — which often happened — they 
 had to resign themselves to leaving their appetite 
 unsatisfied. The King ate very little in the day- 
 time and not only ordered a desperately frugal 
 
 menu, but himself touched nothing except the 
 186
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 hors-d'oeuvre. His visitors naturally thought 
 themselves obliged, out of deference, to imitate 
 his example, the more so as, otherwise, they ran 
 the risk of having their mouths full at the 
 moment when they had to reply to the King's 
 frequent questions. His regular guests, there- 
 fore, the prefect and the mayor, knowing by 
 experience what was in store for him, had 
 adopted a system which was both practical and 
 ingenious : whenever they were invited to the 
 royal table, they lunched before they came. 
 
 In the evening, on the other hand, His Majesty 
 made a hearty meal. He always dined in the 
 public room of the restaurant of the Casino, with 
 his medical adviser and some friends ; and, when 
 Dr. Guillard cried out against the excessive 
 number of courses which the royal host was fond 
 of ordering : 
 
 " Don't be angry with me," he replied. " I 
 don't order them for myself, but for the good of 
 the house : if the restaurant didn't make a profit 
 out of me, where would it be ? " 
 
 After dinner, he took us with him either to the 
 gaming-rooms or to the theatre. Although the 
 King did not play himself, it amused him to stroll 
 round the tables, to watch the expression of the 
 gamblers and to observe the numberless typical 
 incidents that always occur among such a cosmo- 
 politan crowd as that consisting of the frequenters 
 of our watering-places. He also loved to hear 
 the gossip of the place, to know all about the 
 petty intrigues, the little domestic tragedies 
 
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 Lastly, he liked making the acquaintance of any 
 well-known actor or actress who happened to be 
 passing through Aix. 
 
 But our guest did more than show his liking 
 for the shining lights of the profession : he 
 numbered friends also among the humbler per- 
 formers at the Grand Theatre. Sabadon, the 
 good, jolly, indescribable Sabadon, who for 
 twenty years had sung first " heavy bass " at the 
 theatre of the town, was one of them. This is 
 how I discovered the fact : when the King came 
 to Aix, some years ago, Sabadon shouldered his 
 way to the front row of the spectators who were 
 waiting outside the station to see His Majesty 
 arrive. The enthusiastic crowd kept on shouting, 
 " Long live King George ! " and Sabadon, with 
 his powerful voice — his " heavy bass " voice — 
 which had filled all the " grand theatres " in the 
 provinces, Sabadon, with his southern accent 
 (he was from Toulouse), shouted louder than all 
 the rest and, so that he might shout more freely, 
 had taken a step forward. 
 
 But a policeman was watching; and fearing 
 lest the royal procession should be disturbed by 
 this intrusive person, he walked up to him and, 
 in a bullying tone, said : 
 
 " Get back ; and look sharp about it. You 
 don't imagine that you're going to stand in the 
 King's road, do you ? " 
 
 Sabadon, who is a hot-blooded fellow, like all 
 
 the men from his part of the country, was about 
 
 to reply with one of those forcible and pungent 
 188
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 outbursts which are the very salt of the Gascon 
 speech : 
 
 " You low, rascally ..." he began. 
 
 But he had no time to finish. The King 
 appeared at the entrance to the railway-station, 
 came across and, as he passed, said : 
 
 " Hullo, M. Sabadon ! How do you do, M. 
 Sabadon ? Are they ' biting ' this year ? " 
 
 " Yes, Sir, Your Majesty. And your family ? 
 Keeping well, I hope ? That's right ! " 
 
 Then, when the King had disappeared, Sabadon 
 turned to the astounded policeman : 
 
 " What do you say to that, my son ? Flabber- 
 gasts you, eh ? " 
 
 How did the King come to know the singer ? 
 And why had he asked with so much interest if 
 " they were ' biting ' this year ? " One of the local 
 papers reported the incident and supplied the 
 explanation, which I did not trouble to verify, 
 but which is so amusing and, at the same time, 
 so probable that I give it for what it is worth. 
 
 The King, it seems, who often walked to the 
 Lac du Bourget, a few miles from Aix, thought 
 that he would try his hand at fishing, one after- 
 noon. Taking the necessary tackle with him, 
 he sat down on the shore of the lake and cast his 
 line. Ten minutes, twenty minutes passed. Not 
 a bite. The King felt the more annoyed as, 
 thirty yards from where he was, a man — a 
 stranger like himself — was pulling up his line at 
 every moment, with a trout or a bream wriggling 
 
 at the end of it. 
 
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 The disheartened King ended by deciding to go 
 to the angler and ask him how he managed to 
 catch so many fish ! But, before he was able to 
 say a word, the man stood up, bowed with great 
 ceremony and, in a stentorian voice, said : 
 
 " Sir, Your Majesty ..." 
 
 " Wiat ! Do you know me ? " asked the 
 King. 
 
 " Sir, Your Majesty, let me introduce myself : 
 Sabadon, second heavy bass at the Theatre du 
 Capitole of Toulouse, at this moment first chorus- 
 leader at the Theatre Municipal of Aix-les-Bains. 
 ... I have seen you in the stage-box." 
 
 " Ah ! " said the King, taken aback. " But 
 please explain to me why you get so many fish, 
 whereas ..." 
 
 *' Habit, Sir, Your Majesty, a trick of the hand 
 and personal fascination ; it needs an education : 
 I got mine at Pinsaquel, near Toulouse, at the 
 junction of the Ariege and the Gavonne. . . . Ah, 
 Pinsaquel ! " 
 
 And Sabadon's voice was filled with all the 
 pangs of home-sickness : 
 
 " Have you never been to Pinsaquel ? You 
 ought to go : it's the angler's paradise." 
 
 " Certainly, I will go there one day. But, 
 meanwhile, I shall be returning with an empty 
 basket." 
 
 " Never, not if I know it ! Take my place, Sir, 
 Your Majesty, each time I say ' Hop ! ' pull up 
 your line . . . and tell me what you think of it ! " 
 
 The King, mightily amused by the adven- 
 190
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 ture, followed his instructions. In three minutes 
 Sabadon's tremendous voice gave the signal : 
 
 " Hop ! " 
 
 It was a trout. And the fishing proceeded, in 
 an almost miraculous manner. 
 
 As they walked back to the town together, an 
 hour later, Sabadon took the opportunity to 
 expound to the King the cause of his grudge 
 against Meyerbeer, the composer : 
 
 " You must understand. Sir, Your Majesty, 
 that, at the Toulouse theatre, it was I who used 
 to play the night-watchman in the Huguenots. 
 I had to cross the stage with a lantern; and, 
 as I am very popular at Toulouse, I used to 
 receive a wonderful ovation : ' Bravo, Sabadon ! 
 Hurrah for Sabadon ! ' Just as when you came 
 to Aix, Sir, Your Majesty. . . . Well, in spite of 
 that, the manager absolutely refused to let me 
 take a call, because the music didn't lend itself 
 to it I I ask you. Sir, Your Majesty, if that lout 
 of a Meyerbeer couldn't have let me cross the 
 stage a second time ! " 
 
 King George, who, like most reigning sove- 
 reigns, is an indefatigable walker, used to start 
 out every day in the late afternoon and come 
 back just before dinner-time. He nearly always 
 took a member of his suite with him ; one of my 
 inspectors would follow him. All the peasants 
 round Aix knew the King by sight and raised 
 
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 their caps as he passed. He is very young in 
 mind — in this respect, he has remained the mid- 
 shipman of his boyhood — and he sometimes 
 amused himself by playing a trick on the com- 
 panion of his walk. For instance, as soon as he 
 saw that his equerry, after covering a reasonable 
 number of miles, was beginning, if I may so 
 express myself, to hang out signals of distress, 
 the King suggested that they should turn into a 
 roadside public-house for a drink : 
 
 " They keep a certain small wine of the country 
 here," he said, " which has a flavour all of 
 its own; but you must drink it down at a 
 draught." 
 
 The other, whether he were thirsty or not, 
 dared not refuse. They therefore entered the 
 inn and the King had a tumbler filled with the 
 famous nectar and handed it to his equerry, 
 taking good care not to drink any himself. It 
 was, in point of fact, a piquette, or sour wine, with 
 a taste " all of its own " and resembling nothing 
 so much as vinegar; and the King's guest, when 
 he had emptied his glass, could not help pulling 
 a frightful face. He dared not, however, be so 
 disrespectful as to complain ; and, when the King, 
 who had enjoyed the scene enormously, asked, 
 in a very serious voice : 
 
 " Delicious, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Oh, delicious ! " the equerry replied, with an 
 air of conviction. 
 
 You must not, however, think that the King's 
 practical jokes were always inhuman. Most often, 
 192
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 they bore witness, under a superficial appearance 
 of mischief, to his discriminating kindness of 
 heart. 
 
 I remember, in this connection, once going to 
 meet him at the frontier-station of Culoz, through 
 which he was passing on liis way from Geneva 
 to Aix. The members of his suite and I had left 
 him alone, for a few moments, while we went to 
 buy some books and newspapers which he had 
 asked for. As he was walking up and down the 
 platform, he saw a good woman at the door of a 
 third-class railway-carriage, a plump, red-faced 
 sort of peasant-woman, who was making vain 
 efforts to open the door and fuming with anger 
 and impatience. Suddenly catching sight of the 
 King, who stood looking at her : 
 
 " Hi, there, Mr. Porter ! " she cried. " Come 
 and help me, can't you ? " 
 
 The King ran up, opened the carriage-door and 
 received the fat person in his arms. Next, she 
 said : 
 
 " Fetch me out my basket of vegetables and 
 my bundle." 
 
 The King obediently executed her commands. 
 At that moment we appeared upon the platform 
 . . . and, to our amazement, saw King George 
 carrying the basket under one arm and the 
 bundle under the other. He made a sign to me 
 not to move. He carried the luggage to the 
 waiting-room, took a ticket for the fair traveller, 
 who was changing her train, and refused to accept 
 
 payment for it, in spite of her insistence. . . . 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 What a pleasant recollection she must have of the 
 porters at Culoz Station ! 
 
 Here is another adventure, which happened at 
 Aix. The King had the habit, on leaving the 
 Casino in the evening, to go back with me in the 
 hotel omnibus, which was reserved for his use : 
 he found this easier than taking a cab. One 
 evening, just as we were about to step in, a 
 visitor staying at the hotel, a foreign lady, not 
 knowing that tlie omnibus was reserved exclu- 
 sively for the King, went in before us, sat down 
 and waited for the 'bus to start. As I was about 
 to ask her to get out : 
 
 " Let her be," said the King. " She's not in 
 our way." 
 
 We got inside, in our turn ; I sat down opposite 
 the King; the omnibus started; the lady did 
 not move. Suddenly, the King broke silence 
 and spoke to me; I replied, using, of course, 
 the customary forms of " Sire " and " Your 
 Majesty." 
 
 Thereupon the lady looked at us in dismay, 
 flung herself against the window, tapped at it 
 and called out : 
 
 " What have I done ? Heavens, what have I 
 done ? " she cried. " I am in the King's omni- 
 bus ! Stop ! Stop ! " 
 
 And, turning to the King, with a theatrical 
 gesture : 
 
 " Pardon, Sire." 
 
 The King was seized with a fit of laughter, in 
 the midst of which he did his best to reassure her : 
 194
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 " I entreat you, madam, calm yourself ! You 
 have nothing to fear : a king is not an epidemic 
 disease ! " 
 
 The good lady quieted down; but we reached 
 the hotel without being able to extract a word 
 from her paralyzed throat. 
 
 In this respect, she did not resemble the 
 
 majority of her sisters of the fair sex, before whose 
 
 imperious and charming despotism we have 
 
 bowed since the days of our father Adam. As 
 
 a matter of fact, no sovereign that I know of ever 
 
 aroused more affectionate curiosity in female 
 
 circles than King George. The glamour of 
 
 his rank had something to say to this, no 
 
 doubt; but I have reason to believe that the 
 
 elegance of his person, the affability of his 
 
 manners, and the conquering air of his moustache 
 
 were not wholly unconnected with it. Whether 
 
 leaving his hotel, or entering the restaurant or 
 
 one of the rooms of the Casino, or appearing in 
 
 the paddock at the races, which he attended 
 
 regularly, he was at once the cynosure of every 
 
 pair of beaming eyes and the object of cunning 
 
 manoeuvres on the part of their fair owners, 
 
 who were anxious to approach him and to find 
 
 out what a king is made of when you see him at 
 
 close quarters. No man is quite insensible to 
 
 such advances. At the same time, George I. 
 
 was too clever to be taken in : he was amused at 
 
 the homage paid him and accepted it in his usual 
 
 spirit of bantering, but polite, coyness. 
 
 For the rest, he led a very quiet, very methodi- 
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 cal and rather monotonous life, both at Aix and 
 in Paris; for to the character of this sovereign, 
 as to that of most others, there is a " middle- 
 class " side that displays itself in harmless 
 eccentricities. For instance, King George, when 
 he travels abroad, always goes to the same hotel, 
 occupies the same rooms, and is so averse to 
 change that he likes every piece of furniture to 
 be in exactly the same place where he last left 
 it. I shall never forget my astonishment when, 
 entering the King's bedroom a few moments after 
 his arrival at the Hotel Bristol in Paris, I caught 
 him bodily moving a heavy Louis XV. chest of 
 drawers, which he carried across the room with 
 the help of his physician : 
 
 " You see," he said, " it used to stand by the 
 fire-place and they have shifted it to the window, 
 so I am putting it back." 
 
 I have spoken of my duties with regard to this 
 monarch as an agreeable sinecure. But I was 
 exaggerating. Once, when I was with him at 
 Aix, I had a terrible alarm. I was standing 
 beside him, in the evening, in the petits-chevaux 
 room at the Casino, when one of my inspectors 
 slipped a note into my hand. It was to inform 
 me that an individual of Roumanian nationality, 
 a rabid Grecophobe, had arrived at Aix, with, it 
 was feared, the intention of killing the King. 
 There was no further clue. 
 196
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 I was in a very unpleasant predicament. I 
 did not like to tell the King, for fear of spoiling 
 his stay. To go just then in search of further 
 details would have been worse still : there could 
 be no question of leaving the King alone. How 
 could I discover the man ? For all I knew, he 
 was quite near; and, instinctively, I scrutinized 
 carefully all the people who crowded round us, 
 kept my eyes fixed on those who seemed to be 
 staring too persistently at the King and watched 
 every movement of the players. 
 
 At daybreak the next morning, I set to work 
 and started enquiries. I had no difficulty in 
 discovering my man. He was a Roumanian 
 student and had put up at a cheap hotel ; he was 
 said to be rather excitable in his manner, if not 
 in his language. I could not arrest him as long 
 as I had no definite charge to bring against him. 
 I resolved to have him closely shadowed by the 
 Aix police ; and I myself arranged never to stir 
 a foot from the King's side. Things went on 
 like this for several days : the King knew nothing 
 and the Roumanian neither; but I would gladly 
 have bought him a railway-ticket to get rid of him. 
 
 Presently, however, one of my inspectors came 
 to me, wearing a terrified look : 
 
 " We've lost the track of the Roumanian ! " he 
 declared. 
 
 " You are mad ! " I cried. 
 
 " No, would that I were ! He has left his 
 
 hotel unnoticed by any of us ; and we don't know 
 
 what has become of him." 
 
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 I flew into a rage and at once ordered a search 
 to be made for him. It was labour lost : there 
 was not a trace of him to be found. 
 
 For once, I was seriously uneasy. I resolved 
 to tell the whole story to the King, so that he 
 might allow himself to be quietly guarded. But 
 he merely shrugged his shoulders and laughed : 
 
 " You see, Paoli," he said, " I am a fatalist. 
 
 If my hour has come, neither you nor I can avoid 
 
 it; and I am certainly not going to let a trifle 
 
 of this kind spoil my holiday. Besides, it is not 
 
 the first time that I have seen danger close at 
 
 hand ; and I assure you that I am not afraid. 
 
 Look here, a few years ago, I was returning one 
 
 day with my daughter to my castle of Tatoi, near 
 
 Athens. We were driving without an escort. 
 
 Suddenly, happening to turn my head, I saw a 
 
 rifle-barrel pointed at us from the roadside, 
 
 gleaming between the leaves of the bushes. I 
 
 leaped up and instantly flung myself in front of 
 
 my daughter. The rifle followed me. I said 
 
 to myself, ' It's all over ; I'm a dead man.' And 
 
 what do you think I did ? I have never been 
 
 able to explain why, but I began to count aloud — 
 
 ' One, two, three ' — it seemed an age ; and I 
 
 was just going to say, 'Four,' when the shot was 
 
 fired. I closed my eyes. The bullet whistled 
 
 past my ears. The startled horses ran away, we 
 
 were saved and I thought no more about it. So 
 
 do not let us alarm ourselves before the event, 
 
 my dear Paoli ; we will wait and see what 
 
 happens." 
 
 198
 
 GEORGE I. KING OF THE HELLENES 
 
 I admired the King's fine coolness, of course ; 
 but I was none the easier in my mind, for all that. 
 . . . Still, the King was right, this time, and I was 
 wrong : we never heard anything more about the 
 mysterious Roumanian. 
 
 George I. has preserved none but agreeable 
 recollections of his different visits to Aix. In 
 evidence of this, I will only mention the regret 
 which he expressed to me, in one of his last 
 letters, that the Greek crisis prevented him from 
 making his usual trip to France in 1909 : 
 
 " Here, where duty keeps me — nobody knows 
 for how long — I often think of my friends at 
 Aix, of my friends in France, whom I should so 
 much like to see again ; of that beautiful country, 
 of our walks and talks. . . . But life is made up of 
 little sacrifices : they do not count, if we succeed 
 in attaining the object which we pursue; and 
 mine is to ensure for my people the happiness 
 which they deserve." 
 
 The King has depicted his very self in those 
 few words : I know no better portrait of him. 
 
 199
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 1 
 
 I CANNOT open this chapter without a feeling 
 of the saddest emotion. Little did I think, when 
 I was preparing to write it, that I should have to 
 speak in the past tense of the sovereign of whom 
 it treats ! 
 
 King Edward was still at Biarritz. He had 
 made only a short stay, of twenty-four hours, in 
 Paris on his way to the Basque coast; and I did 
 not have time to call and pay my respects to 
 His Majesty, in accordance with my habit. I 
 therefore ventured to write and tell him that it 
 was my intention to devote a few pages of my 
 Memoirs to him, if he authorized me to do so. 
 With his usual kindness, he at once sent a reply 
 to say that he would be pleased to read what I 
 had written, when he returned through Paris, 
 and to point out any inaccuracies that might have 
 slipped in unawares, even as he had read my book 
 on Queen Victoria and corrected it with his own 
 hand. Alas ! He was never to visit Paris again ; 
 politics summoned him hastily back to London, 
 where death awaited him. 
 
 The void which he leaves behind him in Europe 
 200
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 and, I may safely say, in the whole world is so 
 great that I doubt if it can ever be filled in the 
 French hearts which he had conquered by the 
 charm of his easy good-nature, by the absolutely 
 Latin quickness of his intellect, and by the con- 
 stant and faithful friendship which he had shown 
 us. His death came upon France almost in the 
 light of a family loss; and it was felt as such 
 especially by myself, for I had transferred to the 
 son the respectful attachment which I had always 
 borne to the mother. 
 
 When I begin to consult my reminiscences of 
 the regretted sovereign, one memory, a very 
 distant one, crops up at the sound of Edward 
 VII. 's name as though it dated back to yesterday, 
 instead of to 1877. I had just been appointed 
 special commissary at Nice and had entered 
 upon my functions, one morning in April, on the 
 station platform, by watching the arrival of the 
 express from Paris. Suddenly my attention was 
 attracted to a traveller, followed by a great, 
 tall footman, who was trying to reach the exit 
 in the midst of a noisy, hurrying, cosmopolitan 
 crowd. 
 
 The traveller was a powerfully-built, broad- 
 shouldered man, with an expansive face tapering 
 into a short fair beard. His features were open 
 and prepossessing. His gait was supple and his 
 bearing one of supreme ease under the faultless 
 cut of his navy-blue serge suit. Everything 
 about him pointed to a love of sober elegance and 
 subtle refinement in dress : his skilfully-tied 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 sailor's knot; his rich silk handkerchief, pro- 
 truding slightly from the pocket of his jacket; 
 the gold-knobbed malacca under his arm and the 
 fragrant havana between his lips ; the very pale- 
 grey felt hat, which he wore a little to the left 
 side of his head ; his yellow-suede gloves sewn with 
 black stitching on the backs. But what struck 
 me most of all was the clearness of the blue-grey 
 eyes, which were very prominent, under their 
 heavy lids. 
 
 " You know who that is, of course ? " asked the 
 station-master. 
 
 " I do not," said I. 
 
 " Take a good look at him, then. You will see 
 him very often : it is the Prince of Wales." 
 
 And, as I was going to step forward to clear a 
 road for His Royal Highness to his carriage : 
 
 " Don't do that," said the station-master, 
 " don't do that. Your display of zeal would 
 only annoy him. Besides, he knows everybody 
 at Nice and everybody adores him." 
 
 I was presented to the prince the next day. 
 The first remark he made to me was : 
 
 " We have the tomb of General Paoli, the 
 celebrated outlaw, in Westminster Abbey, among 
 our famous dead. He fought against England 
 long before Corsica belonged to France. Are you 
 a relation ? " 
 
 " He was one of my ancestors, sir." 
 
 " As you see, we have honoured his great 
 memory. I am very glad to meet one of his 
 descendants." 
 202
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 I did not suspect, at that time, that I should 
 one day become " the official guardian of the 
 kings," to use the expression of the King of the 
 Hellenes. Until then, my various detective duties 
 had been limited to keeping anarchists and other 
 more or less suspicious persons under observation. 
 Since the advent of the Republic, the sovereigns of 
 Europe had forgotten their way to France; the 
 grand-dukes had not yet taken to visiting us; 
 princes in general were distrustful. Our patriotic 
 self-esteem was all the more indebted to the heir 
 to the British crown for the frequency of his 
 visits. He had been our friend in need; and we 
 were duly grateful to him. And we also appre- 
 ciated his wonderful tact, thanks to which he was 
 the only prince who could allow himself to lunch 
 at the Jockey Club and dine at the filysee, to pay 
 calls in the Faubourg Saint-Germain and receive 
 the visits of Gambetta, without wounding sus- 
 ceptibilities ever ready to take offence. 
 
 The fact is that no one possessed the art of 
 
 differentiation and the true sense of proportion 
 
 to the same extent as the Prince. It was a 
 
 keyboard on which he played with incomparable 
 
 skill. His way of taking off his hat, of 
 
 shaking hands, his smile, the intonation of 
 
 his voice, his acts, his words : all these were, 
 
 if I may so express myself, accommodated with 
 
 infinite delicacv to the person whom he was 
 
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 addressing, to the surroundings in which he found 
 himself, to the exact meaning which he wished a 
 given act or a given word to bear. He was more 
 than the right man in the right place : he was the 
 right man in every place. A fine gentleman in 
 the strictest sense of the word, he knew how to 
 remain a prince while stooping to intimacy and 
 even familiarity, and to make those who might 
 have been tempted to forget the fact remember 
 it. 
 
 I have an evening in my mind when he was 
 chatting in the green-room of the Comedie 
 Fran9aise with Sara Bernhardt and Frederic 
 Febvre, the famous comedian. A stranger 
 walked up to the group and, without being 
 presented to the prince, asked him what he 
 thought of the play. The Prince of Wales 
 turned round quietly and, with his most pleasant 
 smile ; 
 
 " I don't think I spoke to you," he replied. 
 
 The stranger turned first red and then pale and 
 hastened to apologize. 
 
 The Prince of Wales hated affectation, was 
 always natural and was glad to come into touch 
 with any one who could teach him something 
 new, who could give him a fresh view of life, 
 which he loved with an eager curiosity, or 
 of society, which he studied incessantly and 
 from which he derived an immense amount of 
 amusement. 
 
 Respecting established institutions as he did, 
 he never allowed himself to comment on the 
 204 '
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 government or policy of a country; and none 
 knew better than he how to turn the conversa- 
 tion the moment it was entering on dangerous 
 ground. 
 
 He had retained a lively affection for our 
 imperial family and always spoke of the Em- 
 peror Napoleon III. and the Prince Imperial 
 in terms of emotion. He also showed the most 
 respectful attachment for the Empress Eugenie : 
 each time that he went to the Mediterranean 
 when she was staying there, or if he knew her to 
 be in Paris while he was there, he never failed to 
 pay her one or more long visits. The majesty 
 of that inconsolable and silent grief filled him with 
 the deepest sympathy. 
 
 Whether or not he had a more marked predi- 
 lection for the Bonapartes, this did not prevent 
 him from keeping up a regular intercourse with 
 the Orleans family and notably with the Due 
 d'Aumale : 
 
 " You see, Paoli," he said, one day, " the Due 
 d'Aumale is a grandee of the past who has lingered 
 on into our own age : he represents the flower of 
 exquisite French politeness ; and his learning is so 
 extensive and his recollection of things so accurate 
 that, every time I talk to him, I feel as if I were 
 having a lesson in French history." 
 
 But, though he sometimes liked to revive the 
 charms of the past, he was better able than any- 
 body to appreciate the interest of the present. 
 He neglected no opportunity of becoming 
 
 acquainted with the statesmen and orators of 
 
 205
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the Third Republic. He held Gambetta in high 
 esteem : 
 
 " The first time that I saw him," he said to me, 
 one day, " he struck me as so vulgar in his manner 
 and so careless of his appearance that I asked 
 myself if this was really the man who had dis- 
 covered the means of exercising an irresistible 
 fascination over the minds of crowds. Then we 
 talked. Gambetta expounded his ideas and his 
 plans ; and the captivating charm of his eloquence 
 made me forget the physical repulsion with which 
 he inspired me : I was ' carried away ' in my turn, 
 like the others. I wanted to see him again; I 
 invited him to come to England for Ascot. 
 Events prevented him from doing so and he died 
 the year after. I was sorry. He was a great 
 politician and a wonderful master of words." 
 
 On the other hand, our public men, whatever 
 their shade of opinion, found the greatest pleasure 
 in talking to the prince. He was not of a com- 
 municative temperament, but he was fond of 
 discussion and he argued ably and shrewdly, 
 contributing to his judgment of men and things 
 a soundness of appreciation, a perspicacity and a 
 certain attitude of philosophic doubt which are 
 characteristic of men who, like himself, have 
 long had the habit of seeing, learning and reason- 
 ing for themselves. Wherever he might be — 
 in a political drawing-room, at the theatre, at 
 the club, at the races, at a restaurant — his curi- 
 osity was always on the alert; he was eager to 
 
 gather men's views, to observe their attitudes; 
 206
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 he spoke little, but he was very clever at making 
 others speak; his gracious simplicity put you at 
 your ease ; his loud, jovial laugh inspired you with 
 confidence, even as his clear eyes, when he fixed 
 them on you with a cold stare, were enough to 
 call you to order if you ventured to divert the 
 conversation to too slippery a ground. 
 
 I was never attached to his service, properly 
 speaking, until after his accession. He hated 
 to have people bothering about him; besides, 
 he used to arrive in Paris or at Cannes un- 
 announced ; and the police supervision exercised 
 about his person was so discreet that he did not 
 perceive it at all. I can remember only one 
 attempt made against his life : this was when the 
 famous anarchist Sipido fired a revolver at him, 
 through the window of his railway-carriage, in 
 Brussels, while he was passing through the 
 station with the Princess of Wales. 
 
 In the following year, I was with the prince in 
 the selfsame carriage — one of the berlines which 
 he was in the habit of using for his journeys on 
 the Continent — and he showed me the mark left 
 by the bullet in a corner of the ceiling : 
 
 "Look, Paoh," he explained. "The bullet 
 
 entered just here, on the right, smashing the 
 
 window-pane, and, before burying itself in the 
 
 wood, passed across the compartment and nearly 
 
 grazed my hat. I was in serious danger that 
 
 day." And, tapping me on the shoulder, he 
 
 added, gracefully, " Now that would never have 
 
 happened if you had been with me ! " 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 His very noticeable partiality for the south of 
 France was due not only to the country and the 
 climate, though he appreciated their charm, but 
 also to the life of society and sport, which offered 
 him more satisfaction and more amusement in 
 that exquisite setting than anywhere else. He 
 was, in a certain sense, King of the Cote d'Azur, 
 where nothing was decided in the matter of 
 festivities without his approval and consent. 
 He made Cannes his headquarters and the Cercle 
 Nautique at Cannes his favourite residence; but 
 his kingdom of fashion and pleasure extended 
 beyond Nice, as far as Mentone; and all those 
 winter-resorts competed for the honour of his 
 visits. As a matter of fact, he contributed largely 
 towards developing their prosperity by attracting 
 an enormous British colony in that direction. 
 
 He even attracted Queen Victoria to the 
 Riviera. In the course of the stays which that 
 august sovereign made at Nice, Cannes and 
 Mentone, I often saw the Prince of Wales. 
 Although he did not live in the same town as the 
 Queen, he came pretty regularly to call upon her 
 and the other members of the royal family. I 
 have many a time been in a position to observe 
 the attentions which he lavished upon Queen 
 Victoria, the very respectful deference which he 
 showed her on all occasions and the scrupulous 
 care with which, even on his holiday trips abroad, 
 he fulfilled his duties as heir apparent. It 
 208
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 became incumbent upon him, for instance, to 
 return the visits which foreign sovereigns and 
 princes, staying on the Riviera, never failed to 
 pay the venerable Queen. And, as these royal 
 visitors were very numerous, the Prince of Wales's 
 official drudgery often took up a great deal of his 
 time. 
 
 The King absolutely worshipped the memory 
 of Queen Victoria, for whom, as a mother, he had 
 felt a profound affection, and, as a queen, an 
 intense admiration : 
 
 " My mother," he once said to me, " is one of 
 the most remarkable politicians of the day." 
 
 For instance, he always had opposite him, on 
 his writing-desk, a large photograph representing 
 the Queen seated at her table, reading a document. 
 This photograph accompanied him wherever he 
 went, up to the day of his death : when he stayed 
 at an hotel, even for four-and-twenty hours, it 
 was the first object which he himself took out of 
 his dressing-case and placed on his writing-table. 
 On the day after the great sovereign's funeral, 
 to which I had the honour of being invited, 
 the prince, who had just been proclaimed king, 
 said to me, with true emotion, taking both my 
 hands : 
 
 " My dear Paoli, I know all the affection which 
 
 my dear mother felt for you and the faithful 
 
 attachment which you have always shown her; 
 
 and I shall never forget it. This memory will be 
 
 a new reason why you may always be sure of my 
 
 sympathy and that of my family." 
 
 p 209
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 I had imagined that, from the day of his 
 ascending the throne, I should have no further 
 opportunity of seeing him. But he did not 
 sacrifice to his new responsibihties either his 
 old friends or his taste for travelling. It is 
 true that, when staying on the Continent, he led 
 a more sedentary, a more retired life than before ; 
 but he knew everything, saw everything and 
 kept in touch with everybody whose personality 
 interested him. He worked prodigiously, whether 
 in the train, on board his yacht, or at the hotel ; 
 and he was remarkably skilful in combining 
 serious matters with amusement, even as he 
 knew how to mingle the most exquisite simplicity 
 with that sense of professional and royal dignity 
 with which he was so profoundly imbued. 
 
 I may say that it is during these last nine years 
 that I have most often had the occasion and the 
 opportunity to live in the immediate circle of 
 Edward VII. As a matter of fact, I accompanied 
 him on all his journeys on French soil; and I will 
 now try to recall these more recent memories. 
 
 The King, although fond of travelling, liked 
 to have everything arranged and settled before- 
 hand. He had inherited his mother's methodical 
 mind. He was very particular about the details 
 of his journeys and extraordinarily clever at 
 ensuring their comfort. As soon as he had 
 decided upon going to the Continent — and he 
 210
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 generally fixed the date two months in advance — 
 he began by sending for his courier, M. Fehr. 
 M. Fehr was the great organizer of the King's 
 travels. He was a Swiss by birth and had begun 
 by being a courier in the firm of Thomas Cook & 
 Son. In this capacity, he was often entrusted 
 with the arrangements for the journeys of the 
 Prince of Wales, and he had the good luck to secure 
 the prince's favour. This was the starting-point 
 of his fortunes. The prince took him into his 
 own service; and, when, at last, King Edward 
 ascended the throne, M. Fehr, whose ambition 
 had never aimed at a higher title than that of 
 " Cook's courier," found himself raised to that of 
 " the King's courier." 
 
 He did not lose his head in consequence of his 
 promotion. He was a highly-intelligent, very 
 active and wonderfully able man ; and he knew how 
 to arrange all the particulars of a journey, settle 
 the whole programme, assume the entire respon- 
 sibility and look after his royal master's in- 
 terests, without neglecting a single detail. It came 
 within his province, in fact, to choose the royal 
 residences, to make terms with the railways, to 
 engage the King's rooms at the hotels and to 
 pay the bills. He was quite ready to fight the 
 hotel-keepers when he thought that the charges 
 had been " laid on too thick " ; for the matter of 
 that, he did not hesitate to insist on reductions 
 that sometimes came to as much as fifty per cent. 
 His rough appearance and loud way of talking 
 
 made resistance difficult. 
 
 P2 211
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 The King's suite, when travelhng, was com- 
 paratively small. It usually consisted of two 
 equerries and a physician. General Stanley 
 Clarke long formed part of this little peripatetic 
 court in his capacity of chief equerry to the 
 King; he was latterly appointed to the office of 
 clerk-marshal. The equerries-in-ordinary, who 
 took it in turns to accompany His Majesty, were 
 Colonel " Fritz " Ponsonby, the son of General 
 Sir Henry Ponsonby, who used always to travel 
 with Queen Victoria, Colonel Sir Arthur David- 
 son, Captain the Hon. Seymour J. Fortescue 
 and the Hon. John H. Ward. As for the doctor, 
 he was invariably that good Sir James Reid, 
 who, with the inexhaustible gaiety that delighted 
 the whole court, was the very personification of 
 the jovial frankness and blunt loyalty of the 
 Scot. 
 
 The staff of servants included two valets and 
 two footmen. The first valet, M. Meidinger, 
 was an Austrian by birth : he filled, to a certain 
 extent, the offices of groom of the chambers and 
 butler of the sovereign's household whenever 
 His Majesty was travelling incognito. The King, 
 whom he had served for eighteen years, was very 
 much attached to him and allowed him certain 
 familiarities. It was he who woke His Majesty 
 every morning; and, when he entered the room, 
 the King, still half asleep, regularly asked him the 
 same question : 
 212
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 " What's the weather doing to-day, Meidinger?" 
 Meidinger also put out the King's things, 
 brought him the newspapers and made sure that 
 his royal master had everything that he wanted, 
 for the King always dressed alone and even tied 
 his own tie, with special care. 
 
 Hawkins, the second valet, was an English- 
 man : he looked after all the details to which the 
 dignity of the first valet did not allow him to 
 stoop. One of his chief duties was to make the 
 royal bed. He was better acquainted than 
 any one with the King's habits and tastes : he 
 knew, for instance, that His Majesty's mattress 
 must never be turned on a Friday. This was a 
 curious superstition of the King's : it was the only 
 one I ever knew him to cherish and he made no 
 secret of it. By a strange coincidence, I hear 
 that, on the morning of his death, which occurred 
 on a Friday, the doctors, forgetting his expressed 
 wishes amid the grave cares occasioned by the 
 sudden alteration for the worse in his condi- 
 tion, ordered his mattress to be turned, hoping 
 that this would give him a little rest after a 
 night of pain : a few minutes before midnight, he 
 drew his last breath. ... I hasten to say that I 
 have had no opportunity of checking the correct- 
 ness of this particular ; but I have it from a trust- 
 worthy source. On the other hand, I have 
 ascertained — and his superstition about the 
 mattress confirms it — that the King always had a 
 presentiment that Friday would be a fatal day 
 
 for him. 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 The two footmen who accompanied the King 
 when traveUing also had settled duties. One of 
 them, Hoepfner, was a German and owed his 
 brilliant career to his fine carriage. After being 
 enlisted in the grenadiers of the guard of the 
 Emperor William II., because of his tall stature, 
 he soon passed into the service of the Grand-duke 
 Michael of Russia, who was in want of a " show " 
 footman and did not hesitate to rob the Kaiser's 
 army of Hoepfner. When King Edward noticed 
 his gigantic height and the correctness of his 
 bearing, he took him into his service in his turn. 
 Hoepfner waited on the sovereign at table and 
 opened the door of the royal apartments, whereas 
 the other footman, a British subject called Wel- 
 lard, was charged exclusively with the care of 
 His Majesty's clothes, boots and dog, an absorbing 
 duty when we reflect that the King travelled with 
 seventy pieces of luggage, including a countless 
 number of Gladstone bags, and that he took with 
 him some forty suits of clothes and over twenty 
 pairs of boots and shoes. 
 
 There was also the dog. 
 
 Caesar was a person of importance. This 
 long-haired, rough-coated, white fox-terrier, with 
 the black ears, w^as not exactly distinguished 
 for the aristocratic elegance that marks Queen 
 Alexandra's dogs, whose acquaintance I have 
 also had the opportunity of making. Caesar 
 had rather what we Frenchmen call la heaute du 
 diable : he had a strong personality and a quick 
 intelligence. He was very independent in his 
 214
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 ways, a little mischievous and playful and deeply 
 attached to his royal master, who pampered him 
 as one would a child. When the King was 
 travelling, Caesar went with him everywhere and 
 did not leave him day or night, for he slept in an 
 easy-chair to the right of his bed. He was 
 present at all the King's meals and willingly 
 accepted any bits of meat or sugar which the 
 guests offered him. I succeeded in winning his 
 good graces and we became first-rate friends. On 
 the other hand, once he was out of doors, he cut 
 all his acquaintances. Whether on the beach at 
 Biarritz or in the Rue de la Paix in Paris, he was 
 always seen at the King's heels, proudly dis- 
 playing a collar that bore the legend, " I am 
 Caesar, the King's dog." And it was as though 
 he knew it. 
 
 When Wellard, the second footman, had 
 brushed the King's clothes and cleaned the 
 King's boots, he proceeded to groom Caesar; 
 for the high favour which the terrier enjoyed com- 
 pelled him to be always scrupulously clean. Every 
 morning, he was washed and combed with care. I 
 will not go so far as to swear that he liked it. 
 Nevertheless, he submitted to it with resignation. 
 
 The staff of the royal journeys furthermore 
 included the motor-mechanic. Stamper, and three 
 chauffeurs in charge of the three motor-cars 
 which the King took with him on the Continent. 
 Lastly, I must not forget to mention the post- 
 master, whose functions consisted first of all in 
 translating into cipher the telegrams written 
 
 215
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 out by the King and, conversely, in transcribing 
 the cipher dispatches received from London. 
 
 He, moreover, received and prepared the govern- 
 ment dispatch-boxes which, every other day, 
 brought papers for His Majesty to read or sign 
 and in which the official documents were carried 
 back to London; he also deUvered the letters 
 addressed to the members of the royal suite and 
 staff. 
 
 I have already said that the King was in the 
 habit of using his own railway-carriages on all 
 the European lines. These carriages were three 
 in number and were built, a few years ago, in the 
 workshops of the International Sleeping Car 
 Company. They are marked by sober elegance 
 and refined comfort : there are no gildings or 
 carvings or showy upholstery, as in most of the 
 royal railway-carriages which I have known; on 
 the other hand, there are plenty of soft easy- 
 chairs, thick carpets and spacious cupboards. 
 The King's smoking-carriage, fitted in Spanish 
 leather, is a model of simple good taste. King 
 Edward, when not travelling officially or with the 
 Queen, generally used only one of these berlines, 
 which was placed in the front of the special 
 train. 
 
 6 
 
 I used, of course, to go to Calais to meet him. 
 As soon as he caught sight of me, he never failed 
 to say : 
 216
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 " Still young and flourishing as ever, M. 
 Paoli ? " 
 
 The King was full of indulgence for my grey 
 hairs. 
 
 For all those whom he was accustomed to see 
 on landing from the boat he had a pleasant word, 
 a smile, a shake of the hand. He felt himself at 
 home; and this sense obviously afforded him 
 the liveliest satisfaction. During the run in the 
 train from Calais to Paris, he nearly always sent 
 for me to his carriage and questioned me about a 
 number of minute facts connected with Paris life, 
 which proved how well-informed he was of all 
 that went on in the capital. He even knew the 
 " takings " of certain plays which were reputed 
 successes or " frosts." 
 
 The moment he arrived at the Hotel Bristol, 
 where he occupied the same suite of rooms on 
 each of his trips, he sent for the proprietor 
 and asked him the names of the visitors staying 
 at the hotel, so that he might see if there were 
 any among them whom he knew. He also had 
 the leading Paris newspapers brought to him 
 and at once ran his eye down the " Dramatic 
 Notes " column before settling on the theatre 
 which he proposed to visit that same evening. 
 He then informed the hotel, which promptly 
 telephoned for two boxes, on the pit tier, nearest 
 the stage, to be thrown into one and reserved for 
 the King's use. The hotel also generally sent 
 down an armchair for His Majesty to sit in ; for 
 the King looked upon the chairs in our theatres 
 ^ ^ 217
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 as uncomfortable and was one of those who very 
 rightly think that, to enjoy a performance 
 properly, it is essential that one should be 
 comfortably seated. 
 
 Edward VII. did not care much for tragedies 
 or plays written in verse. He preferred musical 
 comedy and, above all, modern society-pieces 
 containing plenty of subtle and caustic psy- 
 chology. One of his favourite playhouses was 
 the Theatre des Varietes, where, as Prince of 
 Wales, he had so often applauded Mme. Jeanne 
 Granier in Offenbach's operas. The last time 
 that he went there was in 1909, to attend a 
 performance of Le Roi, that amusing satire by 
 MM. Emmanuel Arene, Robert de Flers and 
 Gaston de Caillavet. There was even a brief 
 reference to himself in the play ; and his photo- 
 graph figured prominently on a table. Accord- 
 ingly, when the King announced his visit, the 
 manager and the authors were thrown into a 
 great state of excitement. Would the King not 
 be annoyed at seeing himself introduced on the 
 stage, although the allusion made to him was 
 an entirely complimentary one ? It was pru- 
 dently resolved to replace his photograph with 
 that of another monarch and his name with that 
 of an imaginary sovereign. But the King, on 
 hearing of this little subterfuge, resisted it 
 forcibly. They were obliged to yield to his 
 wishes; and, when the famous scene came on, 
 he was the first to laugh at it, while the spectators 
 applauded this thoroughly Parisian sense of 
 218
 
 KING KDWAKD VII. AT THE ELYSEE. 
 
 KING KUWAl^IJ VII. WALKlXCi IX I'ARI- 
 
 Wage 218.
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 humour displayed by the most Parisian of our 
 visitors* 
 
 Edward VII. always retained a small circle ol 
 friends whom he saw regularly during his visits 
 to Paris. Those whom he gathered round his 
 table on these occasions included the Marquis du 
 Lau, the Marquis and Marquise de Breteuil, 
 the Marquis and Marquise de Ganay, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Standish, General the Marquis de Gallifet, 
 M. fidouard Detaille, the great painter, whose 
 studio he never failed to visit, and others. For 
 General Gallifet, in particular, he cherished a 
 most indulgent fellow-feeling. I say indulgent, 
 because he allowed the general that liberty of 
 language and frankness of opinion which con- 
 stituted one of the most picturesque features 
 in the personality of that gallant knight-errant, 
 who was a living and most attractive personifica- 
 tion of the heroic times and glorious idylls of 
 old. The King loved his sparkling wit and his 
 chivalrous character. I remember that, when 
 he came to Paris a few months after General 
 de Gallifet's death, he said to me, sadly : 
 
 " You see, Paoli, Gallifet's disappearance means 
 a great deal to me. It leaves a blank. I have 
 lost a friend whom I shall never replace." 
 
 And yet there were lively discussions between 
 them, in 1905, in connection with Morocco. The 
 general considered that our policy in Morocco 
 was dangerous from the moment that our minds 
 were not frankly made up to go to war with 
 Germany. It is not my business to express an 
 
 219
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 estimate of this opinion : I am content simply to 
 record it. The King, I may say, never men- 
 tioned his views on the Morocco question in my 
 presence ; but his acts, in their silent and methodi- 
 cal development, were infinitely plainer and 
 more eloquent than any number of words. His 
 official journey to France, at the beginning of 
 our difficulties with Germany, and his cruise in 
 Moorish latitudes and along the Algerian coast, 
 immediately after the German Emperor's visit 
 to Tangiers, were deliberate demonstrations the 
 significance of which was at once grasped by 
 public opinion in France and roused the gratitude 
 of the whole nation. 
 
 For the rest, I have often remarked that the 
 King was thoroughly acquainted with the French 
 character and sometimes knew even better than 
 our own statesmen how to appreciate the real 
 importance of things that happened in our 
 country. I remember that, in a certaili year — 
 it was in 1907, I believe — Edward VII., who had 
 just finished his annual cruise in the Mediter- 
 ranean, announced his arrival in Paris on the 
 1st of May. Now the socialist unions were 
 preparing great demonstrations in the streets 
 for that very day. The police authorities feared 
 that there might be disturbances in the capital. 
 The government thereupon informed the King 
 that it would perhaps be advisable for him to 
 delay his coming by twenty-four hours ; but the 
 King would not hear of it. 
 
 When I went to meet him at the frontier- 
 220
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 station of Pontarlier, with instructions to make 
 a last effort to induce him to " avoid " Paris, 
 he gave me a quizzical glance and said : 
 
 " So it's true, Paoli ? You don't want me in 
 Paris ? " 
 
 " The fact is, Sir," I replied, " that we are 
 afraid lest Your Majesty should be troubled by 
 manifestations." 
 
 " In that case, you can be quite easy. There 
 will be nothing of the sort. Threatened manifes- 
 tations never take place : at the most, the people 
 will go and picnic in the Bois de Boulogne, with 
 their wives and families. You see, Paoli, I know 
 your fellow-countrymen better than you do. 
 This is not the time for revolutions and bloodshed. 
 People shout, threaten,, sing songs and go home 
 to bed. I shall, therefore, arrive quietly in 
 Paris and no one will pay the smallest attention 
 to me, unless it be the journalists." 
 
 He was right and we were wrong. While the 
 anarchists and socialists refrained from disturbing 
 his tranquillity, the reporters, on the other hand, 
 clung to his footsteps with the most provoking 
 determination. 
 
 This habit of the newspaper men was pushed 
 to such a pitch, at the time of his first private 
 visit to Paris after his accession, that he lost his 
 patience one day and said to me : 
 
 "As it appears that I can't have my incognito 
 
 respected, I shall be obliged, to my great regret, 
 
 to deprive myself of the pleasure of coming to 
 
 Paris in future." 
 
 221
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 I was very much annoyed. Do what I could, 
 it was impossible to throw those gentlemen of 
 the press off the scent ! I found them wherever 
 the King went, trotting behind his carriage, 
 waiting outside his door. In my despair, I 
 thought of resorting to an expedient which, at 
 first, struck me as rather ingenious. It consisted 
 in discovering a double for the King, a double 
 whom I would dress in the latest fashion and send 
 to the right when our guest went to the left, to 
 the Gymnase when the King was at the Varietes. 
 As it happened, I knew a retired detective- 
 inspector whose resemblance to Edward VII. 
 was so striking that he was nicknamed 
 " Edouard " in his family-circle and among his 
 friends. Feeling convinced that he would be 
 useful to me in emergencies, I sent for him to 
 come to my office. My memory had not deceived 
 me. He was more like the King than ever; 
 the same face, the same clear eyes, the same 
 neatly-trimmed beard and the same stoutness. 
 
 But, alas, there the resemblance ceased ! 
 When it became a matter of bowing, walking or 
 smiling, he had nothing whatever in common 
 with His Majesty. I realized that I must 
 abandon the notion of which I had been so 
 proud ! I then hit upon a simpler solution : 
 calling together the journalists whose daily task 
 it was to report on the King's movements, I 
 made an appeal to their sense of courtesy and 
 patriotism and besought them to be more discreet 
 in the performance of their duties. Lastly, I 
 222
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 offered myself to hand them, every evening, a 
 written account of " the King's day." They 
 accepted. From that moment the King was 
 free . . . and everybody was contented. 
 
 Eclectic in his tastes, interested in every 
 manifestation of the thoughts of others, careful 
 of his prestige, which he considered one of the 
 necessary attributes of his profession as a king, 
 admiring intensely every ornament of the mind, 
 even as he admired every form of beauty, 
 affable or distant as the occasion demanded, 
 looking at men and life as they passed before his 
 eyes with the same amused curiosity with which 
 he would watch a race from the royal stand, this 
 elegant, fashionable sovereign was profoundly 
 alive, not only to his rights, but also to his duties. 
 In this respect, he forgot nothing and neglected 
 nothing. No court, family or historical anni- 
 versary was ever known to slip his memory. He 
 maintained a thoughtful and touching cult of 
 those who had gone before : for instance, his first 
 visit, on arriving at Biarritz, was always paid to 
 the graves of the English soldiers buried in the 
 little cemetery at Bayonne. 
 
 He inherited his mother's instinct of the family : 
 in the privacy of his rooms at the hotel, even if 
 he were making a stay of only twenty-four hours, 
 the faithfulness of his thought for his kindred 
 was shown by the promptness with which he 
 
 223
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 instructed his valet, Meidinger, to adorn his 
 mantelpiece and his tables with photographs of 
 the princes and princesses of England, amid 
 which the delicate features and graceful figure of 
 Queen Alexandra stood out in a large silver 
 frame. Lastly, he devoted a regular hour, every 
 day, to his private correspondence. 
 
 I confess, however, that what struck me most 
 in the course of the many weeks which I had 
 occasion to pass in his environment was the 
 immense amount of work which he succeeded in 
 transacting in the midst of his brilliant life of 
 sport and society; and this without showing or 
 feeling the least fatigue. He took the same 
 active part in affairs of State when travelling as 
 when in London. He was admirably methodical 
 and exacted from his equerries a daily tribute of 
 labour which was considerable, but in no way 
 disagreeable, thanks to the good-humour and 
 genial courtesy which he showed in his relations 
 with them. 
 
 As soon as the government messenger arrived 
 from London, bringing the three large canvas 
 bags, each sealed with a red seal and each bearing 
 a badge inscribed with the simple words " Post 
 Office," after the postmaster had sorted the 
 many envelopes which they contained, the King 
 examined all the dispatches, studied them, anno- 
 tated them, wrote to the prime minister with his 
 own hand, himself treated all the important 
 questions, directed how the others were to be 
 dealt with and divided the work between his 
 224
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 equerries. These two gentlemen had separate 
 files for each government department, which 
 were kept with the greatest fastidiousness; and 
 it was marvellous to see the speed and accuracy 
 with which they were able to obtain information 
 on any subject likely to interest the King. There 
 was never any confusion, never any mistake. 
 However oppressive their task might be at times, 
 they accomplished it with the same smiling, 
 silent imperturbability as though they were 
 sitting down to a rubber of bridge. 
 
 Naturally it was at Biarritz that I saw most of 
 the King and those about him. His Majesty, as 
 everybody knows, had given up his former habit 
 of spending a part of the winter on the Riviera : 
 
 " I no longer go to Cannes and Nice," he said 
 to me, one day, " because you meet too many 
 princes there. I should be obliged to spend all 
 my time in paying and receiving visits, whereas 
 I come to the Continent to rest." 
 
 As a matter of fact, I have noticed that kings 
 and princes prefer to " avoid " one another when 
 they are abroad, as witness the following incident, 
 of which I was a bewildered and amused specta- 
 tor. It was in the spring of 1908. The King of 
 England had just arrived in Paris and had taken 
 a box for the same evening at the Theatre des 
 Capucines. I went with His Majesty. Leaving 
 the box to take a glance at the tiny house, I was 
 surprised to see the King of the Belgians seated 
 in the stalls. 
 
 I went back and told King Edward. 
 
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 " I am delighted to hear it," he repUed. 
 
 And, from that moment, he carefully refrained 
 from looking in the direction where his brother 
 sovereign was sitting. 
 
 When the King of England had left the theatre, 
 I waited for the King of the Belgians at the 
 entrance. After paying him my respects : 
 
 " We had a houseful of kings to-night. Sir," I 
 said. " Do you know that the King of England 
 was at the play, too ? " 
 
 " You don't mean to say so ! " he said, with an 
 air of the greatest surprise. " I am sorry not 
 to have seen him : I should have been pleased 
 to go and shake hands with him." 
 
 After King Leopold had gone : 
 
 " He knew all about it ! " said M. Michel 
 Mortier, the manager of the theatre, in my ear, 
 " I told him myself ! " 
 
 And yet there was no " coolness " of any kind 
 between the two kings, a fact of which I was 
 able to convince myself when they met at the 
 Salon the next morning and chatted pleasantly 
 for a quarter of an hour. 
 
 8 
 
 At Biarritz, strictly mapped-out though his 
 days were, what King Edward called " rest " 
 nevertheless admitted of a singularly active life. 
 Rising regularly at seven o'clock in the morning, 
 he began by taking a warm bath and drinking a 
 glass of milk, after which he proceeded to dress. 
 226
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 This he always did by tiimself, having first named 
 the different suits of clothes which he proposed 
 to wear during the day. 
 
 At ten o'clock, breakfast was served, consisting 
 of boiled eggs, grilled bacon and fried fish, with 
 a marked preference for smelts and small trout, 
 washed down with a large cup of coffee and milk. 
 He next sat down at his writing-table, which he 
 did not leave until a quarter-past twelve for his 
 daily walk, which lasted until lunch-time, one 
 o'clock. Lunch invariably included plovers' eggs, 
 hard-boiled, with a touch of paprika pepper, 
 which were followed by trout, salmon or grilled 
 soles, a meat dish and stewed fruit. Plovers' 
 eggs, asparagus and strawberries were his pet 
 fare; on the other hand, he hated butcher's 
 meat and could endure nothing heavier than 
 chicken, except an occasional slice of lamb. 
 
 The evening meal, which was fixed at a quarter 
 past eight, was generally pretty copious; and 
 the King enjoyed having people whom he 
 honoured with his friendship to dinner; but 
 covers were never laid for more than ten. The 
 King, at his meals, drank chablis and Perrier 
 water, dry champagne and occasionally claret, 
 with a glass of " Napoleon " brandy at dessert. 
 His favourite drink between meals was whisky 
 and soda. 
 
 I noticed also that he was a quick eater and 
 
 did not allow lunch to last more than thirty 
 
 minutes nor dinner to stretch over more than 
 
 forty to forty-five. Also, he would not let any 
 
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 servants but his own appear in the dining-room. 
 The waiters of the hotel brought the dishes to the 
 door of the royal suite, where the King's footman, 
 Hoepfner, took them and handed them back as 
 each course was finished. 
 
 The King, lastly, was a gieat smoker. In his 
 cigar-case, which his valet filled for him every 
 morning, Henry Clays, of the brand known as 
 " Tsar," lay side by side with Corona y Coronas. 
 His favourite cigarettes were Royal Derbies and 
 Laurens. He wore on his watch-chain a tiny 
 gold match-box engraved with the royal crown. 
 I ventured one day to admire it, whereupon 
 he at once took it from his chain: 
 
 " Accept it, my dear Paoli," he said, " as a 
 souvenir. I should like you to have it." 
 
 And he very graciously obliged me to fasten 
 it to my own chain, where I have worn it ever 
 since. 
 
 The King also possessed a remarkable collection 
 of walking-sticks, all of which were adorned 
 with his monogram in biilliants : an " E " 
 surmounted by a crown. There was one, in 
 particular, to which he was greatly attached : it 
 used to belong to Queen Victoria and was said 
 to come from a branch of the oak in which King 
 Charles II. took shelter when fleeing from 
 Cromwell's troopers after the battle of Worcester. 
 It was handed down by the descendants of the 
 Stuarts and bore their monogram, until the 
 Queen had this replaced by an exquisite little 
 figure of a Hindoo goddess discovered, in the 
 228
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 course of some excavations, on the banks of the 
 Ganges. The King, of course, never used this 
 precious stick, at least not when travelHng. 
 
 There was another peculiarity which I had 
 occasion to observe : all the King's overcoats had 
 a little white silk cross stitched on the lining, 
 just beneath the collar. It appears that this 
 was the compulsory badge worn by the knights 
 of Malta, whose traditions were respected by the 
 King in his capacity as grand master of the 
 order. 
 
 During his stay at Biarritz, the King went for 
 a drive every afternoon in his motor-car. The 
 superintendent of the English police and I used 
 to follow in a second car. He liked stopping at 
 the Basque villages, visiting the churches, watch- 
 ing a game of pelota; and he never went away 
 without leaving a token of his generosity behind 
 him for the poor. 
 
 When they heard of his presence at Biarritz, 
 numbers of needy people imagined that Heaven 
 had sent them an unexpected windfall ; and a 
 regular swarm of beggars came down upon the 
 town. Fearing lest the sovereign should be 
 importuned, I had them all sent away, with the 
 exception of two old blind * beggars, whose 
 character was known to me and who were worthy 
 of all pity. Regularly, whatever the weather, 
 they posted themselves daily, at the time of 
 
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 the King's walk, on the road that led to the 
 beach. As soon as they heard Caesar barking — 
 the dog could never bring himself to tolerate 
 them ! — they held out their bowls and each of 
 them, with the sleeve of his coat, dusted the 
 placard on his chest, inscribed, in big clumsy 
 letters, with the time-honoured formula, " Pity 
 the poor blind." The King walked up to them, 
 dropped a handsome alms in their respective 
 trays and said, as he passed : 
 " Till to-morrow ! " 
 
 Now it happened that, one morning, he saw 
 only one of the blind men at the usual spot. 
 Startled and fearing lest some accident had 
 befallen the other — for he had gradually become 
 accustomed to the sight of those faithful sentries 
 — he made enquiries about the absentee. No 
 one had seen him. The next day, the second 
 blind man was at his post again. 
 
 " Were you ill yesterday ? " asked the King. 
 " No, monsieur le Roi." 
 " Then you were late ? " 
 
 " Excuse me, monsieur le Roi, I beg your 
 pardon," the old man answered, not knowing 
 what to say. " You were early ! " 
 
 " A thousand apologies ! " replied the King, 
 laughing heartily. 
 
 Edward VII., as I have already implied, had 
 an immense sense of humour. He was once at 
 Biarritz during the elections for the municipal 
 council and he took a playful pleasure in stopping 
 in front of the candidates' posters and reading 
 230
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 them, like any ordinary elector. One day, when 
 he was looking at a newly-posted placard, a 
 rough sort of fellow by his side, calling his mate's 
 attention to the sovereign, said : 
 
 " I'll bet you that cove there, in the grey 
 overcoat, is a royalist ! " 
 
 King Edward heard him, turned round and 
 answered, with a smile : 
 
 " So I wear my opinions on my clothes ? " 
 
 He also enjoyed talking to poor people and 
 visiting their humble dwellings. I remember an 
 incident that happened during a brief stay which 
 he made at Marseilles, before embarking on his 
 Mediterranean cruise. We were returning from 
 Aix-en-Provence, where we had been for a motor- 
 drive. It came on to rain very heavily and the 
 royal cars stopped at the village of Tholouet, 
 where the King rested for a few minutes in a way- 
 side shanty kept by a peasant called Thome and 
 his wife. Thome was out; and his wife served 
 the sovereign and the members of his suite as 
 though they were ordinary customers. The 
 rain soon brought M. Thome home. He entered 
 his inn, placidly puffing at a great long pipe : 
 
 " What filthy weather ! " he said. " And to 
 think that people go motoring in a rain like 
 this ! " 
 
 He next opened the door of the room in which 
 the King was, and shouted : 
 
 " Hullo, Gravary, what are you doing here ? 
 You're looking as fine as a fresh-scraped carrot 
 
 to-day ! " 
 
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 He had only caught sight of the King's back 
 and took him for one of his own friends, dressed 
 out in his Sunday best. His Majesty's aide-de- 
 camp, Captain Seymour Fortescue, recalled him 
 to a sense of the reality of things by whispering 
 to him to hold his tongue : 
 
 " You're speaking to the King of England," he 
 said. 
 
 " To the King ! " The wretched Thome 
 turned pale. " Mon Dieu, que m'arriba .' " he 
 exclaimed, in his native patois. 
 
 He has since religiously preserved the poor 
 cane-bottomed chair in which Edward VII. sat 
 and the glass from which His Majesty took a sip 
 of brandy from a bottle marked with two stars. 
 
 The fact is that the spell which Edward VII. 
 cast over all those who had the honour to ap- 
 proach him was so great that any one was anxious 
 to preserve a lasting memorial of the favour 
 received. His simple geniality and his discreet 
 kindliness won the heart of the crowds as readily 
 as his intellectual superiority conquered the 
 deferential esteem of the cream of society. In 
 the cottage homes of France people said, " That's 
 a good man;" and in the political drawing- 
 rooms people thought, " That is a great king." 
 
 I do not know if these notes will help history 
 to preserve a picture of his powerful personality 
 in the charm of its intimacy. This, at any rate, 
 has not been my ambition. I simply wish them 
 to recall to the memory of those who have come 
 into contact with him the man whom they have 
 232
 
 KING EDWARD VII 
 
 known in the sovereign ; the man with the great 
 heart and the great mind that stamped all his 
 thoughts, all his acts, all his attitudes with a 
 fascinating individuality; the friend who under- 
 stood us Frenchmen better than any one who- 
 soever, and who lavished upon us the most 
 delicate tokens of his admiration and of his 
 affectionate regard. 
 
 233
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA OF THE NETHERLANDS 
 
 1 
 
 I HAD the honour of presenting myself to 
 Queen Wilhelmina, on the 1st of November 
 1895, at Geneva, the city where, a year earlier, 
 I had gone to meet the tragic and charming 
 Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and where, three 
 years later, I was fated to see her lying on a bed 
 in an hotel, stabbed to death. The official 
 instructions with which I was furnished stated 
 that I was to accompany Their Majesties the 
 Queen and Queen Regent of the Netherlands 
 from Geneva to Aix-les-Bains, and to ensure their 
 safety during their stay on French soil. 
 
 I have preserved a pleasant recollection of this 
 presentation, which took place on the station- 
 platform on a dull, wintry morning. I remember 
 how, while I was introducing myself to General 
 Du Monceau, the Queen's principal aide-de-camp, 
 there suddenly appeared on the foot-board of the 
 royal carriage a young girl with laughing eyes, 
 her face agleam and pink under her flaxen 
 tresses, very simply dressed in a blue tailor-made 
 skirt and coat, with a big black boa round her 
 neck. And I remember a fresh, almost childish 
 234
 
 yUKEX WILHELMIXA (>¥ THE XETHEKLANUS. 
 
 [Pa^t- 234.
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 voice that made the general give a brisk half-turn 
 and a courtly bow : 
 
 " General," it said, " don't forget to buy me 
 some postcards I ' 
 
 This pink, fair-haired girl, with the clear voice, 
 was Queen Wilhelmina, who at that time was the 
 very personification of the title of " the little 
 Queen " which Europe, with one accord, had 
 bestowed upon her, a title suggestive of fragile 
 grace, touching familiarity and affectionate 
 deference. She was just sixteen years of age. 
 It was true that, as a poet had written : 
 
 " A pair of woman's eyes already gazed 
 Above her childish smile;" 
 
 and that her apprenticeship in the performance 
 of a queen's duties had already endowed her 
 mind with a precocious maturity. Nevertheless, 
 her prompt astonishment, her spontaneity, her 
 frank gaiety, her reckless courage showed that 
 she was still a real girl, in the full sense of the 
 word. She hastened, happy and trusting, to the 
 encounter of life ; she blossomed like the tulips of 
 her own far fields; she was of the age that gives 
 imperious orders to destiny, that lives in a palace 
 of glass ! I doubt whether she really understood 
 — although she never made a remark to me on 
 the subject — that the French government had 
 thought itself obliged to appoint a solemn func- 
 tionary — even though it were only M. Paoli ! — 
 whose one and only mission was to protect her 
 against the dagger of a possible assassin. The 
 sweet little Queen could not imagine herself to 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 possess an enemy; and the people who had ap- 
 proached her hitherto had learnt nothing from her 
 but her gentle kindness. 
 
 As for Queen Emma, she was as simple and as 
 easy of access as her daughter, although more 
 reserved. She fulfilled her double task as regent 
 and mother, as counsellor and educator, with 
 great dignity, bringing to it the virile authority, 
 the spirit of decision and the equability of char- 
 acter which we so often find in women summoned 
 by a too-early widowhood to assume the responsi- 
 bilities of the head of a family. And nothing 
 more edifying was ever seen than the close union 
 that prevailed between those two illustrious 
 ladies, who never left each other's side, taking all 
 their meals alone, though they were accompanied 
 by a numerous suite, and living in a constant 
 communion of thought and in the still enjoyment 
 of a mutual and most touching affection. 
 
 Their suite, as I have said, was a numerous one. 
 In fact, it consisted, in addition to Lieutenant- 
 general Count Du Monceau, of two chamber- 
 lains : Colonel (now Major-general) Jonkheer 
 Willem van de Poll and Jonkheer Rudolph van 
 Pabst van Bingerden (now Baron van Pabst van 
 Bingerden) ; a business secretary : Jonkheer P. J. 
 Vegelin van Claerbergen ; two ladies-in-waiting : 
 " Mesdemoiselles les Baronnes" (as they were 
 styled in the Dutch protocol) Ehsabeth van 
 Ittersum and Anna Juckema van Burmania 
 Rengers ; a reader : Miss Kreusler ; five waiting- 
 women; and five footmen. Compared with the 
 236
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 tiny courts that usually accompanied other 
 sovereigns when travelling, this made a rather 
 imposing display ! Nevertheless and notwith- 
 standing the fact that this sixteen-year-old Queen 
 appeared to me decked in all the glory of a fairy 
 princess, I am bound to admit that the royal 
 circle presented none of the venerable austerity 
 and superannuated grace so quaintly conjured 
 up in Perrault's Tales. The jonkheers ^ were 
 not old lords equipped with shirt frills and snuff- 
 boxes; mesdemoiselles les haronnes were not stern 
 duennas encased in stiff silk gowns : the court 
 was young and gay, with that serene and healthy 
 gaiety which characterizes the Dutch tempera- 
 ment. 
 
 Why was it going to Aix ? The choice of this 
 stay puzzled me. Aix-les-Bains is hardly ever 
 visited in November. The principal hotels are 
 closed, for, in that mountainous region, winter 
 sets in with full severity immediately after the 
 end of autumn. 
 
 I put the question to General Du Monceau, who 
 explained to me that the doctors had recom- 
 mended Queen Wilhelmina to take a three-weeks' 
 cure of pure, keen air ; and that was why they had 
 selected Aix, or rather the Corbieres, a spot 
 situated at 2,000 feet above Aix, on the slope of 
 the Grand Revard. 
 
 It goes without saying that there was no hotel 
 there; and the only villa in the neighbourhood 
 
 1 Jonkheer is a Dutch hereditary title of nobility, ranking 
 below that of baron. — Translator's Note. 
 
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 had to be hired for the Queen's use. This was a 
 large wooden chalet, standing on the edge of a 
 pine-forest, close to the hamlet. The wintry 
 wind whistled under the doors and howled down 
 the chimneys; there was no central heating- 
 apparatus and huge fires were lit in every room. 
 From the windows of this rustic dwelling, the eye 
 took in the amphitheatre of the mountains of 
 Savoy and their deep and beautiful valleys ; and, 
 above the thatched roofs ensconced among the 
 trees, one saw little columns of blue smoke rise 
 trembling to the sky. 
 
 Snow began to fall on the day after our arrival. 
 It soon covered the mountains all around with a 
 cloak of dazzling white, spread a soft carpet over the 
 meadows before the house and powdered the long 
 tresses of the pines with hoar-frost. And a great 
 silence ensued ; and I seemed to be living more and 
 more in the midst of a fairy-tale. 
 
 The court settled down as best it could. The 
 two Queens occupied three unpretending rooms 
 on the first floor ; the royal suite divided the other 
 apartments among them; some of the servants 
 were lodged in a neighbouring farm-house. As 
 for myself, I was bound to keep in daily tele- 
 graphic touch with Paris and with the prefect of 
 the department; and I found it more convenient 
 to sleep at Aix. I went up to the Corbieres every 
 morning by the funicular railway, which had been 
 reopened for the use of our royal guests, and went 
 down again, every evening, by the same route. 
 
 The two Queens, who appeared to revel in this 
 238
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 austere solitude, had planned out for themselves 
 a regular and methodical mode of life. They 
 were up by eight o'clock in the morning and 
 walked to the hamlet, chatted with the peasants 
 and cow-herds and, after a short stroll, returned 
 to the villa, where Queen Emma, who, at that 
 period, was still exercising the functions of regent, 
 dispatched her affairs of State, while little Queen 
 Wilhelmina employed her time in studying or 
 drawing, for she was a charming and gifted 
 draughtswoman. She loved nothing more than 
 to jot down from life, so to speak, such rustic 
 scenes as offered : peasant-lads leading their cows 
 to the fields, or girls knitting or sewing on the 
 threshold of their doors. The people round about 
 came to know this; they also knew that Her 
 Majesty was in the habit of generously rewarding 
 her willing models. And so, as soon as she had 
 installed herself with her sketch-book and pencils, 
 by the roadside, or in her garden, cows or little 
 pigs, accompanied by their owners, would spring 
 up as though by magic ! 
 
 I have said that the Queens were in the habit 
 of taking their meals alone. Nevertheless, out- 
 side meals, they mingled very readily with the 
 members of their suite, whom they honoured with 
 an affectionate familiarity. 
 
 The afternoons — whatever the weather might 
 be — were devoted to long walks, on which Queen 
 Wilhelmina used to set out accompanied generally 
 by one or two ladies-in-waiting and a chamber- 
 lain; sometimes I would go with her myself. 
 
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 Queen Emma, knowing her daughter's inde- 
 fatigable venturesomeness, had given up accom- 
 panying her on her expeditions. We often returned 
 covered with snow, our faces blue with the cold, 
 our boots soaked through ; but it made no differ- 
 ence : the little Queen was delighted. She dusted 
 her gaiters, shook her skirt and her pale golden 
 hair that hung over her shoulders and said : 
 
 " I wish that it were to-morrow and that we 
 were starting out again ! " 
 
 Queen Wilhelmina was very expansive in her 
 manner and yet very thoughtful. Trained 
 in the strictest principles by a watchful and 
 inflexible mother, she had learnt from childhood 
 to shirk neither work nor fatigue, to brave the 
 inclemencies of the weather, to distinguish herself 
 alike in bodily and in mental exercises, in short, 
 to prepare herself in the most serious fashion for 
 her duties as queen and to realize all the hopes that 
 were centred on her young head. 
 
 I often had occasion, during my stay at the 
 Corbieres, to notice the thoroughness of her 
 education. She already spoke four languages, 
 in addition to her mother-tongue, fluently : 
 French, Russian, English and German. She 
 interested herself in agricultural matters and was 
 not unacquainted with social questions : for 
 instance, she often made me talk to her about the 
 condition of the workmen in France and the 
 240
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 organization of our administrative systems; nay 
 more, she was beginning to study both judicial 
 and constitutional law. I would not, however, 
 go so far as to say that this study aroused her 
 enthusiasm : she preferred, I believe, to read 
 historical books; she took a great interest in the 
 Napoleonic idyll, and, knowing me to be a fellow- 
 countryman of Bonaparte : 
 
 " You must feel very sorry," she said to me, one 
 day, *' that you came too late to see him ! " 
 
 She also liked to talk to me about her ponies : 
 
 " I have four," she told me, " and I drive them 
 four-in-hand." 
 
 I was often invited to share the meals of the 
 miniature court and to take my seat at the table 
 of the chamberlains and ladies-in-waiting, which 
 was presided over, with charming courtesy and 
 geniality, by my excellent friend Count Du 
 Monceau, who, although a Dutch general, was of 
 French origin, as his name shows.^ 
 
 At one of these dinners, I met with a little mis- 
 hap which gave a great shock both to my patriot- 
 ism and to my natural gluttony. The cook of 
 the villa, M. Perreard, was a native of Marseilles 
 and owned an hotel at Cannes, where I had made 
 his acquaintance. In his twofold capacity as a 
 Marseillese and a cook, he was a great hand at 
 making bouillabaisse, the national dish of the 
 people of the south. Now, as he knew that I was 
 
 1 The family of Dumonceau is of Belgian origin and 
 derives from an ancestor in the parish of Saint-Gery, 
 Brussels. — Translator's Note. 
 
 R 241
 
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 very fond of this dainty, he said to me, one day, 
 with a great air of mystery : 
 
 " M. PaoH, I have a pleasant surprise in store 
 for you at lunch this morning. I have sent to 
 Marseilles for fish and shell-fish so as to give you 
 a bouillabaisse cooked in the way you know of. 
 Not another word ! But they'll have a good time 
 up there, I can tell you, those people from the 
 north who have never tasted it ! " 
 
 As soon as we had sat down, I saw with delight 
 the great soup-tureen, whence escaped a delicious 
 fragrance of bouillabaisse. The members of the 
 royal suite cast inquisitive glances at this dish, 
 unknown to them, and prepared to do honour to 
 it with a good grace. Before tasting it myself, 
 I watched the expression of their faces. Alas, a 
 grievous disappointment awaited me ! Hardly 
 had they touched their spoons with their lips, 
 when they vented their disgust in different ways. 
 Baroness van Ittersum made a significant grimace, 
 while Jonkheer van Pabst pushed away his plate 
 and Baroness Rengers suppressed a gesture of 
 repugnance. 
 
 However, out of consideration for my feelings, 
 they were silent; so was I. They waited in all 
 kindness for me to enjoy my treat; but one act 
 of politeness deserves another : there was nothing 
 for me to do, in my turn, but to forgo my share, 
 all the more so as I did not feel inclined to present 
 the ridiculous spectacle of a man eating, by him- 
 self, a dish which all his neighbours loathe and 
 detest. 
 242
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 The bouillabaisse, therefore, disappeared 
 straightway, untouehed and still steaming, 
 beating, as it were, a silent retreat. But I will 
 not attempt to describe the rage which M. Per- 
 reard subsequently poured into my ears. 
 
 When the Queen had explored all the woods 
 and ravines close at hand, she naturally wished 
 to extend the radius of her excursions. She was 
 a fearless walker and was not to be thwarted by 
 the steepest paths, even when these were filled 
 with snow in which one's feet sank up to the 
 ankles. I urgently begged the young sovereign 
 never to venture far afield without first informing 
 me of her intentions. As a matter of fact, I 
 knew how easy it was to lose one's self in the maze 
 of mountains, where one misses the trace of any 
 road ; and I was also afraid of unpleasant meet- 
 ings, for Savoy is often infested with strangers 
 from beyond the Piedmontese frontier who come 
 to France in search of work. 
 
 Lastly, there was " the black man." The 
 legend of this black man was current throughout 
 the district, where it spread a secret terror. 
 Stories were told in the hamlet of a man dressed 
 in black from head to foot, who roamed at night- 
 fall through the neighbouring forests. He had 
 eyes of fire and was frightfully lean. 
 
 The peasants were convinced that it was a 
 
 ghost, for he never answered when spoken to and 
 
 R2 248
 
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 disappeared as soon as any one drew near. I 
 did not, of course, share the superstitious terrors 
 of the inhabitants of the Corbieres; but I 
 thought that the ghost might be some tramp or 
 marauder and I did not care for the Queens to 
 come across him. Imagine my alarm, therefore, 
 when, one afternoon, after I had gone down to 
 Aix, I was handed the following laconic telegram : 
 
 " Queen gone walk without notice late returning." 
 
 To jump into the funicular railway and go back 
 to the Corbieres was for me the work of a few 
 minutes. There I heard that Queen Wilhelmina 
 had gone out with her two ladies-in-waiting, 
 saying that she meant to take a little exercise, 
 as she had not been out all day, and that she would 
 be back in an hour. Two hours had elapsed, 
 the Queen had not returned and Queen Emma 
 was beginning to feel seriously alarmed. 
 
 I at once rushed out in search of Her Majesty, 
 questioning the people whom I met on my way. 
 No one had seen her. I ran into the forest, where 
 I knew that she was fond of going ; I called out : 
 no reply. Growing more and more anxious, I was 
 about to hunt in another direction, when my eyes 
 fell upon traces of feet that had left their imprint 
 on the snow. I examined them : the foot-prints 
 were too small to belong to a man; they had 
 evidently been made by women's shoes. I 
 therefore followed the trail as carefully as an 
 Indian hunter. Nor was I mistaken : after half- 
 244
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 an-hour's walk, I heard clear voices call out and 
 soon I saw the little Queen arrive, happy and 
 careless, followed by her two companions : 
 
 " Well, M. Paoli, you were running after us, I 
 will bet you were ! . . . Just think, we got lost 
 without knowing and were looking for our way. 
 It was great lun ! " 
 
 I did not venture to admit that I was far from 
 sharing this opinion, and I confined myself to 
 warning the Queen that her mother was anxious 
 about her. 
 
 " Then let us hurry back as fast as we can," she 
 said, her face suddenly becoming overcast. 
 
 And I have no doubt that Her Majesty, on 
 her return, received a sound scolding. 
 
 Strangely enough, I was able to lay my hand 
 upon " the black man " on the evening of the 
 very same day. It was a bright night, with the 
 moon shining on the snow-clad mountains, and I 
 resolved to go down to Aix on foot, instead of 
 using the funicular railway. I therefore took the 
 path that led through the wood ; and, on reaching 
 a glade at a few yards from the royal villa, I 
 perceived a shadow that appeared to be hiding 
 behind the trees : 
 
 " There's the famous black man," I thought. 
 
 But, as the shadow had all the air of an animal 
 of the human species, I also contemplated the 
 possible presence of an anarchist charged to watch 
 the approaches to the royal residence. I took 
 out my revolver and shouted : 
 
 " ^^Oio goes there ? " 
 
 245
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 " I, monsieur le commissaire ! " replied a 
 familiar voice, while the shadow took shape, 
 emerged from the trees, stepped forward and gave 
 the military salute. 
 
 I then recognized one of my own inspectors, 
 whom I had instructed to go the rounds of the 
 precincts of the Queens' chalet nightly. He was 
 the individual who had been taken for " the 
 black man." However, he seemed none the worse 
 for it. 
 
 4 
 
 When the Queen had visited all the places in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of the Corbieres 
 and tasted sufficiently of the pleasure of looking 
 upon herself as a new Little Red Riding-hood in 
 her wild solitudes, or a new Sleeping Beauty 
 (whose Prince Charming was not to come until 
 many years later), she expressed a wish to go 
 on the longer excursions which the country-side 
 afforded. We therefore set out, one fine morning, 
 for the Abbey of Hautecombe, situated on the 
 banks of the poetic Lac du Bourget, which 
 inspired Lamartine with one of his most beautiful 
 meditations. 
 
 Although standing on French territory, the old 
 abbey occupied by the Cistercian monks con- 
 tinues to belong to Italy, or, at least, remains 
 the property of the royal house, by virtue of an 
 agreement made between the two governments at 
 the time of the French annexation of Savoy in 
 1860. It contains forty -three tombs of princes 
 246
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 and princesses of the House of Savoy. All the 
 ancestors of King Victor Emanuel, from Amadeus 
 V. to Humbert III., lie under the charge of the 
 White Fathers in this ancient monastery full of 
 silence and majesty. Their mausoleums are 
 carved, for the most part, by the chisels of illus- 
 trious sculptors ; they stand side by side in the 
 great nave of the chapel, which is in the form of 
 a Latin cross, with vaults painted sky-blue and 
 transepts peopled with upwards of three hundred 
 statues in Carrara marble. These, crowded to- 
 gether within that narrow fabric, form as it were 
 a motionless and reflective crowd watching over 
 the dead. 
 
 The visitor bends over the tombs and reads 
 the names inscribed upon them; and all the 
 adventurous, chivalrous, heroic and gallant 
 history of the House of Savoy comes to life again. 
 Here lie Amadeus, surnamed the Red Count, 
 and Philibert I., the Hunter; further on, we come 
 to Maria Christina of Bourbon-Savoy, Joan of 
 Montfort and Boniface of Savoy, the prince who 
 became Archbishop of Canterbury ; ^ further still 
 is the tomb of the young and charming Yolande 
 of Montferrat, who sleeps beside her father, 
 Aymon the Peaceful. Lastly, at the entrance 
 of the church, in the chapel of Our Lady of the 
 Angels, stands the sarcophagus of Charles Felix 
 
 1 Boniface of Savoy was nominated to the Archbishopric 
 of Canterbury, in 1241, by King Henry III. of England, who 
 had married Boniface's niece Eleanor, daughter of Raymond 
 Berengar Count of Provence and Beatrix of Savoy. — 
 Translator^ s Note, 
 
 247
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 King of Sardinia, who restored Hautecombe in 
 1842. 
 
 This fine historical lesson within a monastic 
 sanctuary interested the two Dutch Queens 
 greatly. It made Queen Wilhelmina very 
 thoughtful, especially at a given moment when 
 the monk who acted as her guide said, with a 
 touch of pride in his voice : 
 
 " The House of Savoy is a glorious house ! " 
 
 After a second's pause, the little Queen replied : 
 
 " So is the House of Orange ! " 
 
 A few days after our excursion to Hautecombe, 
 we went to visit the Cascade de Cresy, a sort of 
 furious torrent in which Marshal Ney's sister, 
 the Baronne de Broc, was drowned in 1818 before 
 the eyes of Queen Hortense, the mother of 
 Napoleon III. We also drove to the Gorges du 
 Fier, in which no human being had dared to 
 venture before 1869. Queen Wilhelmina, ever 
 eager for emotional impressions, insisted on 
 penetrating at all costs through the narrow 
 passage that leads into the gorges. The Queen 
 Mother lived through minutes of agony that day, 
 although I did my best to persuade Her Majesty 
 that her daughter was not really incurring any 
 danger. But there is no convincing an anxious 
 mother ! 
 
 Stimulated by these various excursions, the 
 little Queen said to me, one morning : 
 
 " M. Paoli, I have formed a great plan. My 
 mother approves. I want to go and see the 
 Grande Chartreuse." 
 248
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 " That is easily done," I replied, " but it will 
 take a whole day, for the monastery is a good 
 distance from here." 
 
 *' Well, M. Paoli, arrange the excursion as you 
 think best : with the snow on the ground, it will be 
 magnificent ! " 
 
 I wrote to the Father Superior to tell him of the 
 Queen's wish. He answered by return that, to 
 his regret, he was unable to open the doors of the 
 monastery to women, even though they were 
 queens, without the express authorization of the 
 Pope. And indeed I remembered that the same 
 objection had arisen some years earlier, when I 
 wanted to take Queen Victoria to the Grande 
 Chartreuse : I had to apply to Rome on that 
 occasion also. 
 
 I therefore hastened to communicate the answer 
 to General Du Monceau, who at once telegraphed 
 to Cardinal RampoUa, at that time Secretary of 
 State to the Holy See. Cardinal Rampolla 
 telegraphed the same evening that the Pope 
 granted the necessary authority. 
 
 These diplomatic preliminaries gave an ad- 
 ditional zest to our expedition. For it was a 
 genuine expedition. We left Aix-les-Bains at 
 eight o'clock in the morning, by special train, for 
 Saint-Beron, which was then the terminus of the 
 railway, before entering the great mountain. 
 Here, two landaus with horses and postilions 
 awaited us. The two Queens and their ladies 
 stepped into one of the carriages; General Du 
 Monceau, the officers of the suite and I occupied 
 
 249
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the other ; and we started. It was eleven o'clock 
 in the morning and we had a three-hours' drive 
 before us. Notwithstanding the intense cold, a 
 flood of sunshine fell upon the immense frozen 
 and deserted mountain-mass and lit up with a 
 blinding flame the long sheets of snow that lay 
 stretching to the horizon, where they seemed to 
 be merged in the deep blue of the sky. No sign 
 of life appeared in that sea of mountains, amid 
 the throng of dissimilar summits, some blunt, 
 some pointed, but all girt at their base with huge 
 pine-forests. Only the rhythmical tinkling of our 
 harness-bells disturbed the deep silence. 
 
 We began to feel the pangs of hunger after an 
 hour's driving. I had foreseen that we should 
 find no inn on the road and had taken care to have 
 baskets of provisions stored in the boot of each 
 carriage at Saint-Beron. 
 
 " That's a capital idea," said Queen Wilhel- 
 mina, " You shall lunch with us. I will lay the 
 cloth ! " 
 
 The carriages had stopped in the middle of the 
 road, in the vast solitude, opposite the prodigious 
 panorama of white mountains and gloomy 
 valleys. The little Queen spread a large table- 
 napkin over our knees. From the depths of a 
 hamper, she produced a cold chicken, rolls and 
 butter and solemnly announced : 
 
 " Luncheon is served." 
 
 Served by a queen, in a carriage, on a moun- 
 tain-top : that was an incident lacking to my 
 collection, as King Alfonso would have said ! 
 250
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 I need hardly add that this picturesque luncheon 
 was extremely lively and that not a vestige of it 
 remained when, at two o'clock, we approached 
 the Grande Chartreuse. 
 
 We caught sight first of the square tower, then 
 of the great slate roofs, then of the countless 
 steeples, until, at last, in the fold of a valley, the 
 impressive block of buildings came into view, all 
 grey amid its white setting and backed by the 
 snow-covered forests scrambling to the summit 
 of the Col de la Ruchere. Perched amidst this 
 immaculate steppe, among those spurs bristling 
 with contorted and threatening rocks, as though 
 in some apocalyptic landscape, the cold, stern, 
 proud convent froze us with a nameless terror : 
 it seemed to us as though we had reached the 
 mysterious regions of a Wagnerian Walhalla; 
 the fairy-tale had turned into a legend, through 
 which the flaxen-haired figure of the little Queen 
 passed like a light and airy shadow. 
 
 All the inhabitants of the monastery stood 
 awaiting the Queens on the threshold of the gate- 
 way. The monks were grouped around their 
 superior; their white frocks mingled with the 
 depths of the huge corridor, the endless perspective 
 oi which showed through the open door. 
 
 The father superior stepped forward to greet 
 the two Queens. Tall in stature, with the grace 
 of an ascetic, a pair of piercing eyes, an harmoni- 
 ous voice and a cold dignity combined with an 
 exquisite courtesy, he had the grand manner of 
 a well-bred man of the world : 
 
 251
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 " Welcome to Your Majesties," he said, slowly, 
 with a bow. 
 
 The Queens, a little awe-struck, made excuses 
 for their curiosity; and the inspection began. 
 The monks led their royal visitors successively 
 through the cloister, the refectories, the fine library, 
 which at that time contained over twenty 
 thousand volumes, and the rooms devoted to work 
 and meditation, each of which bore the name of 
 a country or province, because formerly they 
 served as meeting-places for the priors of the 
 charter-houses of each of those countries or 
 provinces. They showed their kitchen, with its 
 table formed of a block of marble nine yards 
 long and its chimney of colossal proportions. 
 They threw open the great chapter-house, decor- 
 ated with twenty-two portraits of the generals 
 of the order from its foundation and furnished 
 with lofty stalls, in which the monks used to come 
 and sit when, twice a year, they held their secret 
 assembly. They showed their exiguous cells, 
 with their tiled floors and whitewashed walls, 
 each containing a truckle-bed, a praying-chair, a 
 table, a crucifix, and a window opening upon the 
 vast and splendid horizon of the fierce mountains 
 beyond. Lastly, they showed their church, with 
 its Gothic carvings surmounted by a statue of 
 death, and their desolate and monotonous 
 cemetery, in which only the graves of the priors 
 are distinguished by a wooden cross. But they 
 did not show their relics and their precious sacred 
 252
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 books. I expressed my astonishment at this; 
 and one of the fathers repUed, coldly : 
 
 " That is because the Queens are heretics. We 
 only show them to Catholics," 
 
 Queen Wilhelmina, who had gradually recovered 
 her assurance, plied the superior with questions, 
 to which he replied with a perfect good grace. 
 Wlien, at last, the walk through the maze of 
 passages and cloisters was finished, the Queen 
 hesitated and asked : 
 
 " And the chartreuse ? Don't you make that 
 here ? " 
 
 " Certainly, Ma'am," said the prior, " but we 
 did not think that our distillery could interest 
 Your Majesty." 
 
 " Oh, but it does ! " answered the Queen, with a 
 smile. " I want to see everything." 
 
 We were then taken to the " Mill," situated at 
 an hour's distance from, the monastery, where 
 the Carthusians, with their sleeves turned back, 
 prepared the delicious liqueur the secret of which 
 they have now taken with them in their exile. 
 The Queens put their lips to a glass of yellow 
 elixir offered to them by the superior and accepted 
 a few bottles as a present. The visit had 
 interested them prodigiously. 
 
 Half-an-hour later, we had left the monastery far 
 behind us in its stately solitude and were driving 
 down the other slope of the mountain to Grenoble, 
 where we were to find a special train to take us 
 back to Aix-les-Bains. When we approached the 
 
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 old Dauphine capital, the day had turned into a 
 night of black and icy darkness; in front of us, 
 in the depths of the valley, all the lamps of the 
 great town displayed their thousands of twinkling 
 lights ; and Queen Wilhelmina kept on exclaim- 
 ing : 
 
 " How beautiful ! How delighted I am ! " 
 She was not so well pleased — nor was I — when, 
 at the gate of the town, we saw cyclists who 
 appeared to be on the look-out for the carriages 
 and who darted off as scouts before our landaus, 
 as soon as they perceived us. These mysterious 
 proceedings puzzled me all the more inasmuch as 
 I had taken care not to inform the authorities of 
 Grenoble that the Queens intended to pass through 
 their city, knowing as I did, on the one hand, that 
 the municipal council was composed of socialists, 
 and, on the other, that Their Majesties wished to 
 preserve the strictest incognito. But I had 
 reckoned without the involuntary indiscretion of 
 the railway-staff, who had allowed the fact to 
 leak out that a special train had been ordered 
 for the sovereigns ; and, as no one is more anxious 
 to receive a smile from royalty than the stern, 
 uncompromising adherents of Messrs. Jaures & 
 Co., the first arm that was respectfully put out 
 to assist Queen Wilhelmina to alight from the 
 carriage was that of the socialist senator who, 
 that year, was serving as mayor of Grenoble. 
 He was all honey ; he had prepared a speech ; he 
 had provided a band. Willy-nilly, we had to 
 
 submit to an official reception. True, we were 
 254
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 amply compensated, as the train steamed out 
 of the station, by hearing cries of " Long Hve the 
 Queens ! " issuing from the throats of men who 
 spent the rest of the year in shouting, " Down 
 with tyrants ! " 
 
 Such is the eternal comedy of politics and 
 mankind ! 
 
 The Queens' stay at the Corbieres was drawing 
 to a close. We had exhausted all the walks and 
 excursions; the cold was becoming daily more 
 intense ; the icy wind whistled louder than ever 
 under the ill-fitting doors. At the royal chUlet, 
 the little Queen was growing tired of sketching 
 young herds with their flocks or old peasant- 
 women combing wool. One morning, General Du 
 Monceau said to me : 
 
 " Their Majesties have decided to go to Italy. 
 They will start for Milan the day after to-morrow." 
 
 Two days later, I parted from them at the 
 frontier ; and, as I was taking leave of them : 
 
 " We shall meet again," said Queen Wilhelmina, 
 " I am longing to see Paris." 
 
 She did not realize her wish until two years 
 later. It was in the spring of 1898 — a year made 
 memorable in her life because it marked her 
 political majority and the commencement of her 
 real reign — ^that, accompanied by her mother, she 
 paid her first visit to Paris on her way to Cannes 
 for the wedding of Prince Christian of Denmark 
 
 255
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 (the present Crown-prince) and the Grand- 
 duchess Mary of Mecklenburg- Strelitz. 
 
 " Do you remember the day when we went to 
 the Grande Chartreuse ? " were her first words on 
 seeing me. 
 
 She still had her bright, childish glance, but she 
 now wore her pretty hair done up high, as befitted 
 her age, and her figure had filled out in a way 
 that seemed to accentuate her radiant air of 
 youth. 
 
 Anecdotes were told of her playfulness that 
 contrasted strangely with her sedate appearance. 
 Chief among them was the well-known story 
 according to which she loved to tease her English 
 governess. Miss Saxton Winter ; all Holland had 
 heard how, one day, when drawing a map of 
 Europe, she amused herself by enlarging the 
 frontiers of the Netherlands out of all proportion 
 and considerably reducing the limits of Great 
 Britain. Another story was that, having regret- 
 fully failed to induce the postal authorities to alter 
 her portrait on the Dutch stamps, which still 
 represented her as a little girl, with her hair 
 down, she never omitted with her own pen to 
 correct the postage-stamps which she used for 
 her private correspondence ! 
 
 These childish ways did not prevent her from 
 manifesting a keen interest in poetry and art. 
 Her favourite reading was represented by Sir 
 Walter Scott and Alexandre Dumas the Elder; 
 but she also read books on history and painting 
 with the greatest pleasure. She had acquired a 
 256
 
 QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 remarkable erudition on these subjects in the 
 course of her studies, as I had occasion to learn 
 during our visits to the museums, especially the 
 Louvre. She was as familiar with the Italian and 
 French schools of painting as with the Dutch and 
 Flemish, although she maintained a preference 
 for Rembrandt : 
 
 " I should like him to have a statue in every 
 town in Holland ! " she said. 
 
 I need hardly say that the artistic treasures of 
 Paris did not absorb her attention to the extent 
 of causing her to disregard the attractions and 
 temptations which our capital offers to the 
 curiosity of a young and elegant woman who 
 does not scorn the fascination of dress. Queen 
 Wilhelmina used to go into ecstasies over the 
 beauty and luxury of our shops; and Queen 
 Emma had the greatest difficulty in dragging her 
 from the windows of the tradesmen in the Rue 
 Royale and the Rue de la Paix. It nearly 
 always ended with a visit to the shop and the 
 making of numerous purchases. 
 
 The little Queen won the affection of all with 
 whom she came into contact by her simplicity, 
 her frankness and the charming innocence with 
 which she indulged in the sheer delight of living. 
 Although possessed of an easy and ready power 
 of admiration, she remained Dutch at heart and 
 professed a proud and exclusive patriotism. 
 
 *' I can understand," said President Felix 
 
 Faure to me, on the day after the visit which he 
 
 paid to the two Queens, " that the Dutch nation 
 
 8 257
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 shows an exemplary loyalty to Queen Wilhelmina : 
 it recognizes itself in her." 
 
 Indeed, nowhere is the sovereign more securely 
 installed than in Holland, nor does the work of 
 government proceed anywhere more smoothly. 
 In Holland, constitutional rule performs its 
 functions automatically, while the budget 
 balances regularly, year by year, thanks to the 
 profitable colonies and trade. Happy country ! 
 What other State can say as much to-day ? 
 
 A week after their arrival in Paris, the two 
 Queens left for Cannes. I had been called south 
 by my service in waiting on Queen Victoria, who 
 had just gone to Cannes herself, and I was obliged 
 to leave a few days before Their Majesties. But 
 I met them again at the Danish wedding; and 
 I saw Queen Wilhelmina for the last time shortly 
 before her departure for Holland. It was in the 
 late afternoon, at the moment when the sun 
 was on the point of disappearing behind the 
 palm-trees in the garden of the hotel where the 
 Queen of England had taken up her residence. 
 Queen Wilhelmina had come to say good-bye : 
 she was standing in an attitude of timid deference 
 before the old sovereign seated in her bath-chair. 
 Both Queens were smiling and talking merrily. 
 Then Wilhelmina stooped, kissed Queen Victoria 
 on the forehead and tripped away lightly in the 
 golden rays of the setting sun. 
 
 She has not returned to France since then. 
 
 258
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 Of all the sovereigns with whom I have been 
 connected in the course of my career, Leopold II. 
 is perhaps the one whom I knew best, with the 
 circumstances of whose private life I was most 
 intimately acquainted, and whose thoughts and 
 soul I was, nevertheless, least able to fathom, 
 for the simple reason that his thoughts were 
 impenetrable and his soul ever closed. Was 
 this due to excessive egotism or supreme in- 
 difference ? To both, perhaps. He was as 
 baffling as a puzzle, carried banter occasionally 
 to the verge of insolence and cynicism to that 
 of cruelty; and, if, at times, he yielded to fits 
 of noisy gaiety, if, from behind the rough 
 exterior, there sometimes shot an impulse of 
 unexpected kindness, these were but passing 
 gleams. He promptly recovered his wonderful 
 self-control; and those about him were too 
 greatly fascinated by his intelligence to seek to 
 understand his habit of mind or heart. And yet, 
 though fascinating, he was as uncommunicative 
 as it is possible to be ; he possessed none of those 
 external attractions of the intellect which capti- 
 8 2 259
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 vate and charm; but, whenever he deigned to 
 grant you the honour of an interview, however 
 brief, you at once discovered in him a prodigious 
 brain, a luminous perspicacity and critical powers 
 of amazing subtlety and keenness. 
 
 No sovereign used — and abused — all the springs 
 of his physical and moral activity to a greater 
 extent than did Leopold II. to his dying day. 
 An everlasting traveller, passing without cessa- 
 tion from a motor-car into a train, from a train 
 on to a boat, caring little for the delights of sleep, 
 he worked continuously, whether in the presence 
 of some fine view, or at sea, or at meals, or in the 
 train, or in his hotel, or on a walk ; the place and 
 the hour mattered to him but little. 
 
 *' Monsieur I'officier, take down ! " he would 
 say to his equerry, at the most unexpected 
 moment. 
 
 And " monsieur I'officier " — his only form of 
 address for the officers of his suite — drew out a 
 note-book, seized a pencil and took down, "by 
 way of memorandum," to the slow, precise and 
 certain dictation of the King, the wording of a 
 letter, a report or a scheme relating to the 
 multifarious operations in which Leopold II. 
 was interested. Contrary to the majority of 
 monarchs, who take with them on their holidays 
 a regular arsenal of papers and a very library of 
 records, Leopold carried in the way of reference 
 books nothing but a little English-French 
 dictionary, which he slipped into the pocket of 
 his overcoat and consulted for the purpose of the 
 260
 
 THK I.ATK KlXi; OF THE HELGIAXS, 
 
 [P(ii;V 260.
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 voluminous correspondence which he conducted 
 in connection with Congo affairs : 
 
 " It is no use my knowing EngHsh thoroughly," 
 he confessed to me, one day. "Those British 
 officials sometimes employ phrases of which I 
 do not always grasp the full meaning and scope. 
 I must fish out my lexicon ! " 
 
 On the other hand, he needed no assistance 
 to work out his complicated and gigantic 
 financial combinations. He possessed, if I may 
 say so, the bump of figures. For hours at a time, 
 he would indulge in intricate calculations; and 
 his accounts never showed a hesitation or an 
 erasure. In the same way, when abroad, he 
 treated affairs of State with a like lucidity. If 
 he thought it useful to consult a specialist in 
 certain matters, he would send for him to come 
 to where he was, question him and send him away, 
 often after teaching the expert a good many 
 things about his own profession which he did not 
 know before. And the King thereupon made up 
 his mind in the full exercise of his independent 
 and sovereign will : 
 
 " My ministers," he would say, with that 
 jeering air of his, " are often idiots. But they 
 can afford the luxury : they have only to do as 
 I tell them." 
 
 Leopold II. did not always, however, take this 
 view of the constitutional monarchy. For in- 
 stance, a few months before his death, one of his 
 ministers was reading a report to him in the 
 presence of the heir presumptive — now King 
 
 261
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Albert — when the wind, blowing through the 
 open window of the royal writing-room, sent a 
 bundle of papers, on the King's desk, flying 
 over the carpet. The minister was rushing 
 forward to pick them up, when the King caught 
 him by the sleeve and, turning to his nephew, 
 said : 
 
 " Pick them up yourself." 
 
 And, when the minister protested : 
 
 " Leave him alone," whispered Leopold. " A 
 future constitutional sovereign must learn to 
 stoop ! " 
 
 An autocrat in his actions, he affected to be a 
 democrat in his principles. 
 
 It matters little whether his methods were 
 reprehensible or not : history will say that 
 Leopold II. was to Belgium the artisan of an 
 unequalled prosperity, although it is true that 
 he was nearly always absent from his country. 
 The fact is that he loved France at least as well 
 as Belgium. He loved the Riviera and, above 
 all, he loved the capital. He had the greatest 
 difficulty in dragging his white beard away from 
 the Paris radius; and, when, by chance, it was 
 eclipsed for a week or two, it continued to figure 
 in the magazines, in the illustrated and comic 
 papers and on the posters that advertised cheap 
 tailors, tonic pills or recuperative nostrums. 
 
 Leopold 11. , therefore, was a Parisian person- 
 ality in the full glory of the word. True, he 
 never achieved the air of elegance that dis- 
 tinguished Edward VII. You would have looked 
 262
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 for him in vain on the balcony of the club, on the 
 asphalt of the boulevards, in a stage-box at the 
 theatre, in the paddock at Longchamp. But, 
 should you happen to meet in the Tuileries 
 Gardens, in the old streets of the Latin Quarter, 
 or, more likely still, along the quays a man 
 wrapped in a long dark ulster, wearing a pair of 
 goloshes over his enormous boots and a black 
 bowler on his head, carrying in his hand an 
 umbrella that had seen better days and under his 
 arm a bundle of yellow-backed books or a knick- 
 knack of some sort packed up anyhow in a news- 
 paper ; should you catch sight of a lean and lanky 
 Ghent burgess rooted in silent contemplation of 
 the front of the Louvre, or the porch of Saint- 
 Germain-l'Auxerrois, or the gates of the ficole des 
 Beaux- Arts ; should you perceive him haggling for 
 a musty old tome at the corner of the Pont des 
 Saints-Peres and counting the money twice over 
 before paying, then you could safely go home 
 and say : 
 
 " I have seen the King of the Belgians." 
 I often accompanied him on these strolls, in the 
 course of which the artist and book-lover that 
 lay hidden in him found many an occasion for 
 secret and silent joys; for the King, who hated 
 music, who bored himself at the theatre, and who 
 despised every manifestation of the art of to-day, 
 had a real passion for old pictures, fine architec- 
 ture, rare curiosities and . . . flowers. 
 
 '' Monsieur le commissaire," he would often 
 
 say, with his fondness for official titles, in his 
 
 263
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 strong Belgian accent, " we will go for an excur- 
 sion to-day with monsieur I'officier." 
 
 And the " excursion " nearly always ended by 
 taking us to some old curiosity-shop, or to the 
 Musee Carnavalet, or to the flower-market on 
 the Quai de la Tournelle. 
 
 In the later years of his life, however, he had to 
 give up his walks in town : he was attacked by 
 sciatica, which stiffened his left leg and prevented 
 him from walking except with the aid of two 
 sticks or leaning on his secretary's arm. 
 
 So familiar a figure did he become that he was 
 ridiculed in the music-halls and in the scandal- 
 mongering press; caricatures of him were dis- 
 played in all the newsvendors' windows. This 
 stupid and sometimes spiteful interest in his 
 movements was a positive affliction to him. We 
 did our best, of course, to prevent his seeing the 
 satirical drawings in which he figured in attitudes 
 unbecoming to the dignity of a king ; but we did 
 not always succeed. Fortunately, his sense of 
 humour exceeded any annoyance which he may 
 have felt. Remembering that he possessed an 
 astonishing double in the person of an old Parisian 
 called M. Mabille, he never failed to exclaim 
 when, by some unlucky chance, his ey>es fell upon 
 a caricature of his royal features : 
 
 '' There, they're teasing that unfortunate M. 
 Mabille again I And how like me he is I Lord, 
 how like me he is ! " 
 
 His habit of icy chaff made one feel perpetually 
 264
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 ill at ease when he happened to be in a conver- 
 sational vein. One never knew if he was serious 
 or joking. This tall, rough-hewn old man had 
 a trick of stinging repartee under an outward 
 appearance of innocent good-nature, and, better 
 than any one that I have ever met, understood 
 the delicate art of teaching a lesson to those who 
 ventured upon an unseemly familiarity in his 
 presence. 
 
 One evening, at a reception which he was giving 
 to the authorities in his chalet at Ostend, the 
 venerable rector of the parish came up to him 
 with an air of concern and, drawing him respect- 
 fully aside, said : 
 
 " Sir, •! feel profoundly grieved. There is a 
 rumour, I am sorry to say, that Your Majesty's 
 private life is not marked by the austerity suited 
 to the lofty and difficult task which the Lord 
 has laid upon the monarchs of this earth. Re- 
 member, Sir, that it behoves kings to set an 
 example to their subjects." 
 
 And the worthy rector, taking courage from 
 the fact that he had known Leopold II. for thirty 
 years, preached him a long sermon. The peni- 
 tent, adopting an air of contrition, listened to the 
 homily without moving a muscle. When, at 
 last, the priest had exhausted his eloquence : 
 
 " What a funny thing, monsieur le cure ! '* 
 
 murmured the King, fixing him with that cold 
 
 glance of his from under his wrinkled eyelids. 
 
 " Do you know, people have told me exactly the 
 
 265
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 same thing about you ! . . . Only I refused to 
 believe it, you know ! " ^ 
 
 That was a delicious sally, too, in which he 
 indulged at the expense of a certain Brazilian 
 minister who was paying his first visit to court, 
 and who appeared to be under the impression 
 that the King was hard of hearing. At any rate, 
 he made the most extraordinary efforts to speak 
 loud and to pronounce his words distinctly. 
 The King maintained an impassive countenance, 
 but ended by interrupting him : 
 
 " Excuse me, monsieur le ministre," he said, 
 with an exquisite smile. " I'm not deaf, you 
 know : it's my brother ! " 
 
 Picture the diplomatist's face ! • 
 
 Lastly, let me recall his caustic reply to one of 
 our most uncompromising radical deputies who 
 was being received in audience, and who, falling 
 under the spell of King Leopold's obvious 
 intelligence, said to him, point-blank : 
 
 " Sir, I am a republican. I do not hold with 
 monarchies and kings. Nevertheless, I recognize 
 your great superiority and I confess that you 
 would make an admirable president of a 
 republic ! " 
 
 " Really ? " replied the King, with his most 
 ingenuous air. " Really ? Do you know, I 
 think I shall pay a compliment in your style to 
 my physician. Dr. Thirier, who is coming to see 
 
 ^ The late King of the Belgians shared the national 
 peculiarity of interlarding his French with a succession of 
 savez-vous. — Translator'' s Note. 
 266
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 me presently. I shall say, ' Thirier, you are 
 a great doctor and I think you would make an 
 excellent veterinary surgeon ! ' " 
 
 The poor opinion which he entertained of the 
 republic, as this story would appear to show, 
 did not prevent him from treating it with the 
 greatest respect. Of all the foreign sovereigns, 
 Leopold II. was certainly the one who kept up 
 the most cordial relations with our successive 
 presidents. At each of his visits to Paris, he 
 never failed to go to the filysee. He called as a 
 neighbour, as a friend, without even announcing 
 his visit beforehand. When M. Fallieres was 
 elected president at the Versailles congress, the 
 first visit which he received, on his return to the 
 Senate, where he was then living, was that of 
 Leopold II. 
 
 Nevertheless, whatever personal sympathy he 
 may have felt for France, the King of the Belgians 
 always turned a deaf ear to sentimental con- 
 siderations ; and there is no reason why we should 
 ascribe to such considerations the very marked 
 courtesy which he showed to the official republi- 
 can world. In my opinion, this attitude is due 
 to several causes. In the first place, he reckoned 
 that France was a useful factor in the develop- 
 ment of Belgian prosperity, and that it was wise 
 to increase the economic links that united the 
 two countries. On the other hand, what would 
 have become of his colonial enterprise in the 
 Congo, if France had taken sides with England, 
 which was displaying a violent hostility against 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 him ? Lastly, this paradoxical monarch, who 
 always governed through Catholic ministries at 
 home, because that was the wish expressed by the 
 majority of votes, was, I firmly believe, a free- 
 thinker at heart and was pleased to find that our 
 rulers entertained views which corresponded with 
 his own secret tendencies. 
 
 The fact is that Leopold II. looked at every- 
 thing from two points of view : that of practical 
 reality and that of his own selfishness. The 
 King had in his veins the blood of the Coburgs 
 mixed with that of the d'Orleans, two highly 
 intelligent families, but utterly devoid of senti- 
 ment or sensibility; and he treated life as an 
 equation which it was his business to solve by 
 any methods, no matter which, so long as the 
 result corresponded with that which he had 
 assigned to it beforehand. 
 
 He had an extraordinarily observant mind, 
 was marvellously familiar with the character 
 of his people, its weaknesses and its vanities, and 
 played upon these with the firm, yet delicate 
 touch of a pianist who feels himself to be a 
 perfect master of his instrument and of its 
 effects. His cleverness as a constitutional sove- 
 reign consisted in appearing to follow the move- 
 ments of public opinion, whereas, in reality, he 
 directed and sometimes even provoked them. 
 
 Thus, in 1884, when the violent reaction of 
 the Catholics against the anti-clerical policy of 
 M. Frere-Orban culminated in the return of the 
 conservatives to power, one might have thought 
 268
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 that the crown, which until then had supported 
 the hberal poUcy and favoured the secularization 
 of the scliools, would find itself in a curiously 
 difficult position, and that the check administered 
 to M. Frere-Orban would amount to a check 
 administered to the King himself. Not at all. 
 Leopold IL, sheltering himself behind his duties 
 as a constitutional sovereign, became, from one 
 day to the next, as firm a supporter of the 
 Catholic party as he had been, till then, of the 
 liberals. Nay more, I have learnt since that he 
 had a hand in the change of attitude on the part 
 of parliament and the nation. As I have hinted 
 above, his personal sympathies lay on the side 
 of the liberal party; but, with the perspicacity 
 that was all his own, he was not slow in per- 
 ceiving the spectre of budding socialism which 
 was beginning to loom behind Voltairean liberal- 
 ism. He suspected its dangers; and he did not 
 hesitate to give a sudden turn to the right to the 
 ship of State of which he looked upon himself 
 as the responsible pilot. And this position he 
 maintained until the end of his days, without, for 
 a moment, laying aside any of his personal 
 preferences. 
 
 My first meeting with Leopold II. dates back 
 to 1896. The King had gone to the Riviera, 
 accompanied by his charming daughter, Princess 
 C16mentine, now Princess Napoleon, who, from 
 that time onward, filled in relation to her father 
 
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 the part of the Antigone of a tempestuous old 
 age. I shall never forget my surprise when the 
 King, who had made the long rail way- journey 
 from Brussels to Nice without a stop, said to his 
 chamberlain. Baron Snoy, as they left the 
 station : 
 
 " Send away the carriage, monsieur le cham- 
 bellan. We'll go to the hotel on foot. I want 
 to stretch my legs a bit ! " 
 
 We walked down the Avenue Thiers, followed 
 by an inconvenient little crowd of inquisitive 
 people. Just as we were about to cross a street, 
 a landau drove up and obliged us to step back 
 to the pavement. As it passed us, the King 
 solemnly took off his hat : he had recognized 
 Queen Victoria sitting in the carriage and 
 api^arently astounded at this unexpected meeting. 
 When we reached the Place Massena, again 
 the King's hat flew off : this time it was the 
 Dowager Empress of Russia entering a shop. 
 
 " The place seems crammed with sovereigns," 
 he said, with his mocking air. " Whom am I 
 going to meet next, I wonder ? " 
 
 I saw little of him during this first short stay 
 which he made at Nice, for I was at that time 
 attached to the person of the Queen of England 
 and had to transfer the duty of protecting King 
 Leopold to one of my colleagues. I used to 
 meet him occasionally — always on foot — on the 
 Cimiez road ; I would also see him, in the after- 
 noon, taking tea at Rumpelmayer's with his 
 
 two daughters, the Princesses Clementine and 
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 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 Louise, and his son-in-law, Prince Philip of Saxe- 
 Coburg-Gotha. 
 
 These family-meetings around a five o'clock tea- 
 table marked the last auspicious days of peace, 
 which was more apparent than real, among those 
 illustrious personages. When Leopold II. returned 
 to the Riviera, two years later, he had quarrelled, 
 in the meanwhile, with his daughter Louise, who 
 herself had quarrelled with her husband ; he had 
 ceased to see his daughter Stephanie, who had 
 married Count Lonyay; and he met his wife. 
 Queen Marie-Henriette, as seldom as he possibly 
 could. Princess Clementine was the only one who 
 still found favour with this masterful old man, 
 who was so hard upon others and so indulgent to 
 himself; and she continued, with admirable de- 
 votion and self-abnegation, to surround him with 
 solicitous care and to accompany him wherever 
 he went. 
 
 I never met a more smiling resignation than 
 that of this princess, who took a noble pride 
 in the performance of her duty. Nothing was 
 able to discourage her in the fulfilment of her 
 filial mission : not the rebuffs and caprices which 
 she encountered on her father's side, nor the 
 frequently delicate and sometimes humiliating 
 positions which he forced upon her, nor even 
 the persistency with which, until his dying day, 
 he thwarted the secret inclinations of her 
 heart. 
 
 It has been said that at one time he thought 
 of giving her the Prince of Naples — now King of 
 
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 Italy — for a husband, and that he abandoned the 
 idea in consequence of the stubborn opposition 
 which the plan encountered on the part of exalted 
 political personages. I do not know if he ever 
 entertained this plan; on the other hand, I feel 
 pretty sure that, some years ago, he would have 
 liked the Count of Turin for a son-in-law, and 
 that negotiations were opened to this effect 
 with the Italian court. But the most invincible 
 of arguments — the only one that had not been 
 taken into account — was at once opposed to this 
 project : the princess's affections were engaged 
 elsewhere. She loved Prince Victor Napoleon 
 and had resolved that she would never marry 
 another man. Of course I was not present at 
 the scene which the plain expression of this wish 
 provoked between father and daughter; but I 
 understand that it was of a violent character. 
 From that day, the prince's name was never 
 mentioned between them. The princess con- 
 tinued, as in the past, to fill the part of an 
 attentive and devoted daughter; she continued 
 scrupulously to perform her duties as " the 
 little Queen," as the Belgians called her after 
 1904, the year of her mother's death, when she 
 began to take Marie-Henriette's place at public 
 functions; she continued to succour the poor 
 and nurse the sick with greater solicitude than 
 ever; and she was seen, as before, driving her 
 pony-chaise in the Bois de la Cambre. Only, in 
 the privacy of her boudoir, the moment she had 
 a little time to herself, slie would immerse her- 
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 [Page- 272.
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 self in the study of historical memoirs of the 
 Napoleonic period. 
 
 To tell the truth, I believe that, if Prince Victor 
 had not possessed the grave fault, in Leopold's 
 eyes, of being a pretender to the French throne, 
 the King would have ended by giving to the 
 daughter whom he adored the consent for which 
 she vainly entreated during six long years. But 
 the King was an exceedingly selfish man ; he was 
 eager, for the reasons explained above, to preserve 
 good relations with the French Republic; and 
 he refused at any price to admit the heir of the 
 Bonapartes into his family. The result was that 
 he ended by conceiving against the prince the 
 violent antipathy which he felt for any person 
 who stood in his way and interfered with 
 his calculations. I remember realizing this one 
 morning at the station at Bale, where I had gone 
 to meet him. The King was waiting on the 
 platform for the Brussels train, when I suddenly 
 caught sight of Prince Victor leaving the refresh- 
 ment-room. I thought it my duty to tell the 
 King. 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! " he said. " Let's go and look 
 at the engines." 
 
 And he strode away. 
 
 Can it have been because he was sure of 
 meeting neither Prince Victor nor the members of 
 his own family on the Riviera that he resolved, at 
 the end of his life, to fix one of his chief residences 
 in the south of France ? I will not go so far as 
 that. I am more inclined to believe that the 
 T 273
 
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 old King, who was a passionate lover of sunshine, 
 flowers and freedom, found in that charming and 
 easy-going country the environment most in 
 harmony with his moods and tastes. 
 
 As early as 1898, he resolved to lay out for 
 himself a paradise in the wonderful property, 
 known as Passable, which he had purchased near 
 Nice, with its gardens sloping down to the Gulf 
 of Villefranche. He devoted all his horticultural 
 and architectural knowledge, all his sense of the 
 beautiful and picturesque, to its embellishment. 
 Tiberius achieved no greater success at Capri. 
 Year after year, he enlarged it, for he had a 
 mania for building and pulling down. He also 
 had the soul of a speculator. None knew 
 better than he how to bargain for a piece of 
 land; he would bully, threaten and intimidate 
 the other side until he invariably won the day. 
 Thereupon he used to indulge in childish 
 delight : 
 
 " It's all right," he would say, with a great fat 
 chuckle. " I have done a capital stroke of 
 business ! " 
 
 And I am bound to admit that he spared neither 
 time nor energy when he scented what he called 
 " a capital stroke of business." I can still see him, 
 one afternoon, leaving M. Waldeck-Rousseau's 
 villa at the Cap d'Antibes, near Cannes, where 
 he had gone to pay the prime minister a visit, and 
 perceiving, on the road leading to the station, a 
 magnificent walled-in park that looked as if it 
 were abandoned. 
 274
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 " Who owns that property ? " he asked 
 suddenly. 
 
 " An EngHshman, Sir, who never comes near 
 it." 
 
 " We have time to look over it," said the 
 King, " before the train leaves for Nice. Some- 
 body fetch the gardener ! " 
 
 The gardener was not to be found, but the gate 
 was open. Leopold II. walked in without hesita- 
 tion, followed by Baron Snoy, my colleague, 
 M. Olivi, and myself, hurried along the deserted 
 paths and praised the beauty of the vegetation; 
 but, when it became time to go, we discovered, to 
 our dismay, that some one had locked the gate 
 while we were inside. There was no key, no 
 possibility of opening it. We called and shouted 
 in vain. Nobody appeared. The train was due 
 before long ; the King began to grow impatient. 
 What were we to do ? Olivi had a flash of 
 genius. He ran to a shed, the roof of which 
 showed above the nearest thicket, and returned 
 with a ladder : 
 
 " If Your Majesty does not mind, you will be 
 able to get over the wall." 
 
 The King accepted impassively and the ascent 
 began. Baron Snoy went up first, then I ; and the 
 King, in his turn, climbed the rungs, supported 
 by Olivi. Baron Snoy and I, perched on the 
 top of the wall, hoisted the King after us. We 
 were joined by Olivi; and then a dreadful thing 
 happened : the ladder swayed and fell ! There 
 we were, all four of us, astride the wall, swinging 
 T2 275
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 our legs, without any means of getting down on 
 the other side^ 
 
 " We look like burglars," said the King, with a 
 forced laugh. 
 
 There was nothing for it but to jump. The 
 distance from the top of the wall to the 
 roadside slope was not great; and Baron Snoy, 
 Olivi and I succeeded in falling on our feet without 
 great difficulty. The King, however, who limped 
 in one leg and lacked agility, could not think of it. 
 
 Then Olivi, who certainly proved himself a 
 most resourceful man that day, solved the prob- 
 lem. He suggested that the King should climb 
 down upon our shoulders. The King accord- 
 ingly let himself slide on to the shoulders of 
 Baron Snoy, who passed him on to Olivi's back, 
 while I caught hold of his long legs and deposited 
 his huge feet safely on the ground ! 
 
 Some years later, seeing Olivi at the station at 
 Nice : 
 
 " I remember you, M. Olivi," said Leopold II. 
 " You took part in our great gymnastic display 
 at Antibes." 
 
 " I did. Sir." 
 
 " Well, do you know, M. Olivi, there is no need 
 for me to climb the wall now. I have the key; 
 the property is mine." 
 
 The whole man is pictured in this anecdote. 
 Even as he gave numberless signs of avarice 
 and meanness in the material details of life, so he 
 displayed an almost alarming extravagance once 
 it became a question of satisfying a whim, 
 276
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 although he would carefully calculate the advan- 
 tages of any such whim beforehand. And to 
 increase the number of his landed properties 
 was with him a genuine monomania, a sort of 
 methodical madness. 
 
 At the bottom of his character lay certain 
 precepts which belonged to the great middle class 
 of 1840, and which had survived from the middle- 
 class education imparted to him in his youth. 
 It was thus that he was brought to think that the 
 amount of a man's wealth is to be measured by 
 the amount of real estate which he possesses. 
 He fought shy of stocks and shares, because of the 
 frequent fluctuations to which they are subjected. 
 On the other hand, he felt a constant satisfaction 
 — I was almost saying a rapturous delight — in the 
 acquisition of land, in turning his cash into acres 
 of soil and investing his fortune in marble or bricks 
 and mortar, because he looked upon these as 
 more solid and lasting. 
 
 It goes without saying that, during his long 
 visits to the south, he escaped as much of the 
 official and social drudgery as he could. He saw 
 very little of his illustrious cousins staying on the 
 Riviera; avoided dinners and garden-parties; 
 and, when not at work, spent his time in long and 
 interminable walks, or else went and sat on a 
 bench in some public garden or by the sea, and 
 there steeped himself in his reflections. Some- 
 times, when he was in a hurry to get back, he 
 would take the tram or hail a fly, always picking 
 
 out the oldest and shabbiest, 
 
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 One day, at his wish, I beckoned to a driver on 
 the rank at Nice. 
 
 " No, no, not that one," he said. " Call the 
 other man, over there : the one with the horse 
 that looks half -dead." 
 
 " But the carriage seems very dirty, Sir," I 
 ventured to remark. 
 
 " Just so : as he drives such an uninviting 
 conveyance, he must be doing bad business ; we 
 must try and help him." 
 
 Leopold II. had a knack of performing these 
 sudden and unexpected acts of kindness. 
 
 He was a sceptic to the verge of indifference 
 and yet entertained odd antipathies and aversions. 
 For instance, he hated the piano and was terrified 
 of a cold in the head. Whenever he had to select 
 a new aide-de-camp, he always began by asking 
 two questions : 
 
 " Do you play the piano ? Do you catch cold 
 easily ? " 
 
 If the officer replied in the negative, the King 
 said, " That's all right," and the aide-de-camp 
 was appointed; but, if, by ill-luck, the poor 
 fellow returned an evasive answer, his doom was 
 told : he went straight back to his regiment. 
 
 This inexplicable dread of the corizza had 
 attained such proportions that, during the last 
 years of the King's life, the people about him — 
 including the ladies — discovered a simple and 
 ingenious expedient for obtaining a day's leave 
 when they wanted it : they simply sneezed with- 
 out stopping. At the third explosion, the old 
 278
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 sovereign gave a suspicious look at the sneezer 
 and said : 
 
 " I sha'n't want you to-day." 
 
 And the trick was done. 
 
 He had his idiosyncrasies, Hke most mortals. 
 For instance, he used to have four buckets of 
 sea-water dashed over his body every morning, 
 by way of a bath ; he expected partridges to be 
 served at his meals all the year round; and he 
 had his newspapers ironed like pocket-handker- 
 chiefs before reading them : he could not endure 
 anything like a fold or crease in them. Lastly, 
 when addressing the servants, he always spoke 
 of himself in the third person. Thus he would 
 say to his chauffeur, " Wait for ^?'m," instead of 
 " Wait for m^." Those new to his service, who 
 had not been warned, were puzzled to know what 
 mysterious person he referred to. 
 
 A strange eccentric, you will say. No doubt; 
 although these oddities are difficult to under- 
 stand in the case of a man who displayed the 
 most practical mind, the most lucid intelligence 
 and the shrewdest head for business, the moment 
 he was brought face to face with the facts of 
 daily life. But, I repeat, to those who knew him 
 best he appeared in the light of a constant and 
 bewildering puzzle ; and this was shown not only 
 in the peculiarity of his manners, but in the 
 incongruity of his sentiments. How are we to 
 explain why this King should feel an infinite 
 love for children, this stern King who was so hard 
 and sometimes so cruel in his treatment of those 
 
 2T9
 
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 to whom by rights he ought never to have closed 
 his heart nor refused his indulgence ? Yet the 
 tall old man worshipped the little ones. They 
 were almost the only creatures whose greetings 
 he returned; and he would go carefully out of 
 his way, when strolling along a beach, rather 
 than spoil their sand-castles. How are we to 
 explain the deep-seated, intense and jealous 
 delight which he, so insensible to the softer 
 emotions of mankind, felt at the sight of the 
 fragile beauty of a rare flower ? How are we 
 to explain why he reserved the kindness and 
 gentleness which he so harshly refused to his wife 
 and daughters for his unfortunate sister, the 
 Empress Charlotte, whose mysterious madness 
 had kept her for forty-two years a lonely prisoner 
 within the high walls of the Chateau de Bou- 
 chout ? And yet, every morning of those forty- 
 two years, he never failed, when at Laeken, to 
 go alone across the park to that silent dwelling 
 and spend two hours in solitary converse with the 
 tragic widow. Each da}^ with motherly solici- 
 tude, he personally supervised the smallest details 
 of that shattered existence. 
 
 The King never allowed any outsider to inter- 
 fere in his affairs, whether public or private. He 
 discussed none of his schemes before it was com- 
 pleted and before he had drawn up his plan of 
 execution down to the minutest details : 
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 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 '* It shall be so," he used to declare; and no 
 one ever dreamt of opposing his will so plainly 
 expressed. 
 
 It was in this way that he conducted his 
 enormous Congo enterprise entirely by himself. 
 The different phases of this business are too well 
 known for me to recapitulate them here. One 
 of them, however — the first phase — has been very 
 seldom discussed and deserves to be recalled, for 
 it throws a great light not only upon the King's 
 conceptive genius, but also upon his diplomatic 
 astuteness and his amazing cynicism. 
 
 In 1884, Leopold IL, who had for years been 
 obsessed by the longing to lay hands upon the 
 Congo territory, promoted an international con- 
 ference in order to spoil the West- African treaty 
 which had lately been concluded between Great 
 Britain and Portugal, and which hindered the 
 realization of his secret ambitions. He now 
 conceived the subtle and intelligent idea of 
 inducing the congress to proclaim the Congo 
 an independent State, with himself as its 
 recognized sovereign. 
 
 There was only one person in Europe possessed 
 of sufficient authority to bring about the adoption 
 of this daring plan; and that was Bismarck. 
 Bismarck was the necessary instrument; but 
 how was he to be persuaded ? Faced with this 
 difficulty, Leopold II. hit upon the idea of send- 
 ing to Berlin a journalist, whom he knew to be a 
 clever and talented man, with instructions to cap- 
 ture the Iron Chancellor's confidence. Leopold 
 
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 coached this journaHst, a gentleman of the name 
 of Gantier, to such good purpose that, as the 
 result of a campaign directed from Brussels 
 by the King himself, M. Gantier managed 
 within a few months to insinuate himself into 
 Bismarck's immediate surroundings, to interest 
 him in the Congo question, and to prove to him 
 that Germany would derive incomparable benefits 
 from proclaiming the independence of the Congo 
 and entrusting its administration to a neutral 
 sovereign like the King of the Belgians. 
 
 The stratagem was successful from start to 
 finish. The Congress of Berlin, on the motion 
 of the chancellor, proclaimed the Congo an in- 
 dependent territory with Leopold II. for its 
 sovereign. We know the result : the Congo is 
 at this day a Belgian colony. Leopold, in a 
 word, had " dished " Prince Bismarck. 
 
 Unfortunately for the King's memory, whereas 
 the masterly fashion in which he succeeded in 
 forcing the hand of Europe in this matter is 
 bound to meet with unreserved praise, history 
 will be less inclined to congratulate him upon 
 the means which he employed to impose his 
 sovereign authority and his colonizing schemes 
 upon the Congo. 
 
 I will not take upon myself either to justify 
 or to criticize his policy in the " Free State." It 
 is a question outside my province. Neverthe- 
 less, I consider that I am in duty bound to tell 
 what I know about the matter with the impar- 
 tiality of a chronicler who has confined himself 
 382
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 to hearing and observing the things that were 
 said and done around him. 
 
 I was with the King at the time, following upon 
 the revelations of the missionaries, when the 
 campaign was started in England against the 
 atrocities committed by the Belgian authorities 
 in the Congo. He affected an attitude of the 
 most utter indifference to these attacks. I knew, 
 however, that they bothered him and caused him 
 a certain uneasiness, because of the prejudice 
 which they might rouse against his enterprise. 
 
 While he refrained from communicating his 
 impressions to me, he opened his mind to certain 
 political personages whom he honoured with his 
 confidence : 
 
 " When a man has accepted the task of 
 civilizing a country," he would say to them, 
 " and has devoted his intelligence, his work and 
 his fortune to it, as I have done, surely he is 
 entitled to some credit." 
 
 It was a poor argument, I admit, in reply to 
 the terrible accusations which had been hurled 
 against the administration of the Congo. 
 
 To tell the truth, Leopold 11. made no en- 
 deavour to defend himself. When his represent- 
 atives in the Congo Free State were reproached 
 with employing Draconian measures, tending 
 towards the gradual extermination of the natives, 
 his answer was that these methods were indis- 
 pensable in dealing with a race which refused 
 to allow the wealth of its country to be 
 developed, and which offered a systematic oppo- 
 
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 sition, in every conceivable way, to the work 
 of civilization ! And the King would quote 
 precedents in favour of his theory. Thus, one 
 day, he said to a French journalist who was 
 interviewing him on the subject : 
 
 " The Americans are uniting with the English 
 in accusing me of cruelty to the natives of the 
 Congo, all because I consider it expedient to 
 reduce them to impotence and because I wish to 
 throw open to civilization their magnificent 
 territories, which have remained uncultivated far 
 too long. Now I am only following the example 
 of the Americans themselves, when they gradually 
 expelled the Indians from the United States, and 
 of the English, when they made themselves 
 masters of India." 
 
 Leopold II., as the reader sees, made no 
 attempt to meet the accusations with a positive 
 denial : he simply sought to explain his methods. 
 The fact is that, as I have said before, he was 
 inaccessible to humanitarian considerations in 
 matters of politics. He kept his eyes fixed 
 exclusively on the object which he proposed to 
 attain : the means, as long as they were effective, 
 left him indifferent. 
 
 Is this equal to saying that he approved of all 
 that was done in his name ? I do not think so. 
 The measures which he had enacted gave 
 the Belgian concessionaries the right to exact 
 labour from the natives without remuneration, 
 thus instituting a sort of slavery, and granted 
 
 unlimited powers to the officials. They were 
 
 284
 
 THE LATE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
 
 necessarily bound to lead to intolerable abuses, 
 abuses also prompted, in the case of both officials 
 and concessionaries, by the fear of solitude and 
 by the intoxication that results from the exercise 
 of absolute power. Nevertheless, I must add, in 
 defence of the King, that it was difhcult, if not 
 impossible, for him to know precisely what acts 
 were being committed in the Congo in his name. 
 The impartial elements which were indispensable, 
 if he was to be kept informed with exactitude, 
 were entirely lacking. The English reports, 
 which he was naturally inclined to charge with 
 exaggeration, were contradicted by the Belgian 
 reports submitted to him, which evidently ex- 
 tenuated facts of which they were not able to 
 deny the reality. 
 
 The reproach that might be levelled against 
 him with the greatest amount of justice was that 
 he did not at the very outset appoint the com- 
 mittee of enquiry whose conclusions, as everybody 
 knows, recognized the necessity of immediate 
 reforms in the administration of the Congo. But 
 Leopold II., as I have said, did not believe in 
 advice or advisers. He had to feel threatened 
 in his security before he would consent to allow 
 any outside interference in this matter of the 
 Congo, which he looked upon as a purely personal 
 matter. 
 
 As he drew nearer the tomb, his worries and 
 activities increased. It was as though he had 
 received a mysterious warning to tell him that 
 his years were now numbered and that he must 
 
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 hasten the reahzation of his numerous and 
 immense schemes. Apart from his work on the 
 Congo, which was violently attacked both by poli- 
 ticians of all parties abroad and by the opposition 
 at home, his other vast undertakings also became 
 the object of fierce criticism on the part of his 
 adversaries, who considered that he was neglect- 
 ing the political evolution of the country in order 
 to devote himself entirely to his plans for trans- 
 forming the town of Brussels. He was so well 
 aware of this state of opinion that, when the 
 burgomaster of the capital, his friend and fellow- 
 worker M. Mott, came to congratulate the King 
 on his last birthday, Leopold said : 
 
 " Let us hope that I shall have time to com- 
 plete my work." 
 
 " Why not. Sir ? " replied M. Mott. " You 
 and I are of the same age ; and you are stronger 
 and haler than I am." 
 
 " Never mind, monsieur le bourgmestre : 
 remember that, when one of us closes his eyes, 
 the other will have to keep his open ! " 
 
 It was written, in fact, that Leopold II. should 
 be called away before fully realizing his colossal 
 dreams and settling his intricate personal affairs. 
 He was working up to the very moment of his 
 death; as everybody knows, his mind remained 
 clear to the end, nor did his hostility towards his 
 family waver for an instant. He died as he had 
 lived, inaccessible, haughty and sceptical. 
 
 286
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 While compiling these recollections, I have 
 more than once had occasion, in passing, to 
 mention different " faces " belonging to the Royal 
 Family of England. They occur at most of the 
 sovereign courts ; for it was no empty phrase that 
 used to describe Queen Victoria as " the grand- 
 mother of Europe." There was never a truer 
 saying. Even as, in whichever direction beyond- 
 seas we turn our eyes, we behold the British 
 flag waving in the breeze, in the same way, if 
 we study the pedigree of any royal house, we 
 are almost always certain to discover an English 
 alliance. 
 
 The long years which I spent in the service of 
 Queen Victoria and the confidence with which 
 she honoured me by admitting me to her intimacy 
 enabled me to become acquainted with several 
 members of that large, united and gracious 
 family; and I am bound to say that not one of 
 them has forgotten me. They all deign to give 
 me a little corner in the memories of their child- 
 hood and youth; they are good enough to re- 
 member that, in the old days, when they came to 
 Nice, Aix, Biarritz or Cannes to pay their duty 
 
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 to their grandmother and to bring her the 
 youthful tribute of their smiles, there was 
 always, in the old-fashioned landau that carried 
 the good Queen along the country roads, or 
 walking beside her donkey-chair, somebody who 
 shared the general gaiety and whom the Queen 
 treated with affectionate kindness. That " some- 
 body" was myself. 
 
 I thus had the honour of seeing King George V., 
 when he was still wearing the modest uniform 
 of a naval lieutenant, and, later, of knowing 
 Queen Mary, when she was only Duchess of 
 York and Cornwall. And I hope that she will 
 permit me, in this connection, to recall an inci- 
 dent that diverted Queen Victoria's little circle 
 for a whole evening. It happened during a visit 
 which the Duchess of York was paying to the 
 Queen at Nice. I had informed the venerable 
 sovereign that the " ladies of the fishmarket " — 
 one of the oldest corporations at Nice — wished 
 to offer her some flowers; and the Queen asked 
 the Duchess of York to receive them in her stead 
 and to express her sincere thanks for their kind 
 wishes. 
 
 The good women handed the Duchess their 
 bouquets ; and I then saw that they were shy and 
 at a loss what to do or say next. So I whispered 
 to them : 
 
 " Go and kiss that gentleman over there," 
 pointing to Colonel Carrington, the Queen's 
 equerry. " That is by far the best speech that 
 you could make ! " 
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 The ladies evidently approved of my suggestion, 
 for they forthwith, one and all, flung themselves 
 upon the colonel's neck ; and he, though flurried 
 and a little annoyed, had to submit with the best 
 grace possible to this volley of kisses under the 
 eyes of the princess, who laughed till the tears ran 
 down her cheeks. 
 
 When I apologized to him afterwards for the 
 abominable trick which I had played him : 
 
 " Ah," he sighed, " if only they had been good- 
 looking! " 
 
 The fact is that none of the ladies evoked 
 the most distant memories of the Venus of 
 Milo ! 
 
 Thanks to the recollections of those bygone 
 years, of which any number of charming and 
 amusing stories could be told, I was no stranger 
 to the Duke and Duchess of York, when, after 
 the accession of King Edward VII., they were 
 raised to the title of Prince and Princess of Wales 
 and travelled across France, under my protection, 
 on their way to Brindisi, where they were going 
 to take ship for India. 
 
 " I will present you to the prince myself," said 
 Princess May, with exquisite and simple kindliness, 
 when she saw me waiting for them in the railway- 
 station at Calais. And she continued, " George, 
 this is M. Paoli : you remember him, don't 
 you ? " 
 
 " I remember," said the prince, giving me his 
 
 hand, " how much my grandmother liked you 
 
 and the affection which she showed you. I need 
 u 289
 
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 hardly say that we feel just the same to you 
 ourselves." 
 
 I could not have hoped for a more cordial 
 welcome from the prince whose features bore so 
 striking a resemblance to those of the Emperor of 
 Russia, whom I had just left. 
 
 This journey was a particularly pleasant one 
 for me, as it enabled me to forgather once more 
 with an old and faithful friend in the person of 
 the prince's secretary, of whom I had seen a great 
 deal at the time when he was private secretary to 
 Queen Victoria, and who now occupies the same 
 position under King George V. : I refer to Sir 
 Arthur Bigge, now Lord Stamfordham. 
 
 Sir Arthur belongs to that race of servants of 
 the monarchy whose zeal and devotion cease only 
 with their death. He had a curious adventure 
 at the time of the interview between Queen 
 Victoria and the late M. Felix Faure at Noisy- 
 le-Sec. The story has never been told before; 
 and I have no hesitation in publishing it, 
 because it does great credit to the generosity of 
 feeling of the then President of the Republic. 
 
 The Queen was on her way to Nice, that year, 
 and had expressed a wish to meet M. Felix Faure, 
 whom she did not know. The interview was 
 arranged to take place during the stop of the royal 
 train at Noisy Junction; and it had acquired a 
 certain solemnity owing to the political circum- 
 stances of the moment. We began by witnessing 
 a long private conversation between the Queen 
 and the President through the windows of the 
 2D0
 
 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 royal saloon-carriage, after which, in accordance 
 with the usual etiquette, they presented the 
 members of their respective suites. When it 
 came to Colonel Bigge's turn, the Queen said to 
 M. Faure, without the least idea of mischief: 
 
 " My private secretary. Sir Arthur Bigge, who 
 enjoys all my confidence and all my esteem. 
 Besides, I expect you know his name : it was he 
 who accompanied the Empress Eugenie on her 
 sad pilgrimage to Zululand and helped her to 
 recover the body of her poor son." 
 
 The President bowed, without moving a muscle 
 of his face or uttering a word; and Sir Arthur, 
 greatly embarrassed by the terms of the present- 
 ation, thought the best thing to do was to lie low 
 and keep out of the way. How great, therefore, 
 was his surprise when, after everybody had been 
 presented, he heard his name called by M. Felix 
 Faure. 
 
 " What can he want with me ? " he asked, 
 rather uneasily. 
 
 As soon as they were alone, the President said 
 to him, point-blank : 
 
 *' As a Frenchman, I wished to thank you for 
 the devotion which you have shown to one of our 
 fellow-countrywomen in circumstances so terrible 
 for her. You behaved like a man of heart. I 
 congratulate you." 
 
 M. Faure had the knack of enhancing the 
 
 character of his office and winning the respectful 
 
 sympathy of foreigners by happy flashes of 
 
 inspiration of this kind. 
 
 u2 291
 
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 But I am wandering from my subject. To 
 return to the Prince of Wales, the cordiahty of the 
 reception which he gave me at Calais promised 
 me a charming journey. In point of fact, I was 
 able, during the run across France, to perceive 
 how fond both the prince and princess were of 
 simplicity and gaiety. They were evidently 
 delighted to be going to India, although the 
 princess could not accustom herself to the idea of 
 leaving her children. As for the prince, he was 
 revelling beforehand in the length of the voyage : 
 
 *' One never feels really alive except on board 
 ship," he said to me. " What do you think, 
 M. Paoli ? " 
 
 " I think. Sir," I rephed, " that I must ask 
 Your Royal Highness to allow me to differ. 
 When I am on board ship, I sometimes feel more 
 like dying." 
 
 " You're not the only one," he retorted, with a 
 side-glance at one of his equerries, who stood 
 without wincing. 
 
 The prince liked teasing people; but his chaff 
 was never cruel and he accompanied it with so 
 much kindness that there was no question of 
 taking offence at it. At heart, the prince had 
 remained the middle that he once was, a " good 
 sort," full of fun, full of "go," fond of laughing 
 and interested in everything. 
 
 We chatted in the train until very late at night, 
 for I did not leave the prince until we reached 
 Modane, the station on the Italian frontier where 
 
 my service ended. 
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 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 I saw him next at the Queen of Spain's wedding, 
 and again in 1908. The prince and princess had 
 just spent a week in Paris, for the first time in 
 their hves, and were returning to England 
 dehghted with their stay. The special train had 
 hardly left the Gare du Nord, when the Hon. 
 Derek Keppel, who was with the prince, came to 
 me in my compartment : 
 
 " M. Paoli," he said, " I am commanded by 
 Their Royal Highnesses to ask you to give them 
 the pleasure of your company to luncheon." 
 
 I at once went to the royal saloon. The prince 
 was chatting with M. Hua, his sons' French tutor, 
 a very agreeable and scholarly man, whom he 
 treated as a friend; the princess was talking to 
 Lady Eva Dugdale, her lady-in-waiting. It 
 goes without saying that the conversation was 
 all about Paris and the impressions which the 
 prince and princess had received from their 
 trips to Versailles, Chantilly, Fontainebleau and 
 Chartres. 
 
 " I can understand my father's admiration and 
 affection for France," said the prince to me. '' It 
 is a magnificent country and an interesting people. 
 I am glad that the entente cordiale has strengthened 
 the bonds of friendship between the two nations. 
 I must come and see you oftener." 
 
 While the prince was saying these pleasant 
 things, I was surprised to observe his valet 
 depositing two apparently very heavy hampers 
 
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 on the floor in the middle of the carriage ; but my 
 astonishment was still greater when I saw the 
 princess herself open one of the hampers and take 
 out a table-cloth, plates, a chicken, tumblers — in 
 short, a complete lunch. 
 
 " By the way," said the prince, " I forgot to 
 tell you, there's no restaurant-car in the train, 
 so we shall have a picnic here. It will be much 
 better fun ! " 
 
 And it was. The man put out two folding- 
 tables which were in the carriage; and then, at 
 the princess's suggestion, we all helped to lay the 
 cloth ! One looked after the plates, another the 
 glasses, a third the knives and forks, while the 
 princess herself carved the cold fowl. 
 
 When everything was at last ready, we sat down 
 around this makeshift luncheon-table and, with 
 a splendid will, did justice to our meal, which, 
 I may say, was excellent. The proprietor of 
 the Hotel Bristol, who had packed the ham- 
 pers, had had the happy thought of adding a 
 couple of bottles of champagne; and these were 
 the cause of an incident that crowned the gaiety 
 of this merry lunch. The prince declared that 
 he would open them himself. Asking for the first 
 bottle, he prepared to draw the cork with a thou- 
 sand cunning precautions ; but he certainly failed 
 to reckon with the extraordinary impatience of 
 that accursed cork, which was no sooner freed of 
 its restraining bonds than it escaped from the 
 prince's hands and went off like a pistol-shot, 
 while the wine drenched the princess's dress. 
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 The prince was very sorry, but the princess laughed 
 the thing off and declared that " it didn't 
 stain." She had her skirt wiped down at once 
 with water; and the luncheon finished as gaily 
 as it began. 
 
 As I was taking leave of her on board the ship 
 that was to convey the illustrious travellers from 
 Calais to Dover : 
 
 " Do come and see us in England," she said. 
 '' I should like to show you my children : you 
 have never met them." 
 
 " Madam," I replied, " I would do so with 
 pleasure, if my duties allowed me to take a holi- 
 day. Meanwhile, may I respectfully remind 
 Your Royal Highness that, on the last journey, 
 you promised me the young princes' photo- 
 graph ? " 
 
 " That's true," she answered, " I forgot all 
 about it. But, this time — wait." And, taking 
 her handkerchief from her waistband, the princess 
 made a knot in it. " Now I'm sure to remember," 
 she added, with a smile. 
 
 And, two days later, I received a splendid 
 photograph of the children, adorned with their 
 mother's signature. 
 
 Nearly three years have passed since this last 
 journey and I have not had the honour of seeing 
 King George and Queen Mary since. Neverthe- 
 less, they are good enough to think of me some- 
 times, as will be seen by the following affectionate 
 letter which my friend Sir Arthur Bigge sent me 
 on my retirement : — 
 
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 " Marlborough House, Pall Mall, S.W., Fehij. 28th, 1909. 
 
 " My Dear Paoli, 
 
 " Your letter to me of the 24th inst. has 
 been laid before the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
 who received with feelings of deep regret the 
 announcement that you had asked for and ob- 
 tained permission to retire. Their Royal High- 
 nesses are indeed sorry to think that they will 
 never again have the advantage of your valuable 
 services so efficiently and faithfully rendered, and 
 which always greatly conduced to the pleasure 
 and comfort of Their Royal Highnesses' stay in 
 France. At the same time the Prince and Prin- 
 cess rejoice to know that you will now enjoy a 
 well-merited repose after forty-two years of an 
 anxious and strenuous service : and they trust 
 that you may live to enjoy many years of health 
 and happiness. 
 
 " Their Royal Llighnesses are greatly touched 
 by your words of loyal devotion, and thank you 
 heartily for these kind sentiments. 
 
 " As to myself, the thought of your retirement 
 reminds me that a precious link with the past and 
 especially with the memory of our great and 
 beloved Queen Victoria is now broken. I re- 
 member so well the first time we met at Modane 
 when Her Majesty was travelling to Italy, and you 
 will ever be inseparably connected in my thoughts 
 with those happy days spent in Her Majesty's ser- 
 vice in France. I can well imagine what interest 
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 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 you will find in writing your book of reminis- 
 cences. 
 
 " Good-bye, my dear Paoli, and believe me to be 
 " your old and devoted friend, 
 
 " Arthur Bigge." 
 
 I intended, in this chapter, to speak of those 
 members of the royal family with whom my long 
 and frequent service about the person of Queen 
 Victoria gave me the occasion to come into con- 
 tact ; and I must not omit to mention a princess, 
 now no more, a woman of lofty intelligence and 
 great heart, whom life did not spare the most 
 cruel sorrows after granting her the proudest 
 destinies. I refer to the Empress Frederick of 
 Germany, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and 
 mother of William II. 
 
 I made her acquaintance in rather curious 
 circumstances. It was at the naval review held 
 by Queen Victoria in 1897, on the occasion of her 
 Diamond Jubilee. As a special favour, I was 
 invited to see this magnificent sight on board the 
 Alberta, and I was gazing with wondering eyes 
 at the majestic fleet of ironclads through which 
 the royal yacht had just begun to steam, when I 
 heard a voice behind me say, in the purest 
 Tuscan : 
 
 " Bongiorno, Signor Paoli.'''' 
 
 I turned round. A woman, still young in 
 bearing, though her face was crowned with grey 
 
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 hair under a widow's bonnet, stood before me 
 with outstretched hand : 
 
 " I see," she said, smihng at my surprise, 
 " that you do not know me. I am the Empress 
 Frederick. I have often heard of you, and I 
 wanted to know you and to thank you for your 
 attentions to my mother." 
 
 I bowed low, thinking what an uncommon 
 occurrence it must be for a Frenchman to meet a 
 German empress, talking Italian, on an English 
 boat ; and she continued : 
 
 " I know that you are a Corsican ; and that is 
 why I am speaking to you in your native language, 
 which I learnt at Florence, and which I love as 
 much as I do my own." 
 
 The Empress Frederick, in fact, was remark- 
 ably well-educated, as are all the English prin- 
 cesses. She knew French as fluently as Italian 
 and hardly ever spoke German, except to her 
 chamberlain. Count Wedel. I was able to see, 
 during our conversation, that she took a lively 
 interest in my country ; she asked me a thousand 
 questions about France and particularly about 
 French artists : 
 
 " I am a great admirer of M. Detaille's works," 
 she said, and added, after a pause, " He is very like 
 the Emperor, my son. Don't you think so ? " 
 
 I thought it the moment for prudence : 
 
 " I have never had the honour of seeing the 
 Emperor William," I replied, " and therefore I 
 cannot tell Your Imperial Majesty if the resem- 
 blance has struck me." 
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 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 She then changed the conversation and spoke 
 of the celebrations which were being prepared 
 in her mother's honour. 
 
 The only other occasion on which I saw her 
 was two years later, when she crossed French soil 
 to go from England to Italy. This time, she was 
 nervous and ill at ease : 
 
 "Can you assure me," she asked, as she 
 landed at Calais, " that I shall meet with no 
 unpleasantness between this and the Italian 
 frontier ? " 
 
 " Why, what are you afraid of, Ma'am ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 " You forget, M. Paoli, that I am the widow of 
 the German Emperor, and that, as such, I am 
 no favourite in this country. Suppose I were 
 recognized ! There are memories, as you know, 
 which French patriotism refuses to dismiss." 
 
 She was alluding not only to the events of 1870, 
 but to the bad impression made in Paris by the 
 visit which she had paid, a few years earlier — 
 without any ulterior motive — to the ruined palace 
 of Saint-Cloud, forgetting that it had been 
 destroyed and sacked by the Prussians. I re- 
 assured her, nevertheless, and said that I was 
 prepared to vouch for the respect that would 
 be shown her. 
 
 The journey, I need hardly say, passed off 
 without a hitch. The Empress, with her suite, 
 entered the private saloon-carriage of her brother, 
 the Prince of Wales, which was coupled to the 
 Paris mail-train and afterwards transferred to the 
 
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 Nice express, for the Empress was travelling to 
 Bordighera, on the Italian Riviera. 
 
 She dared not leave her carriage during the 
 short stop Avhich was made in Paris ; but, when we 
 arrived at IMarseilles the next morning, she said : 
 
 " I should awfully like to take a little exercise. 
 I have been eighteen hours in this carriage ! " 
 
 " But please do, Ma'am," I at once replied. " I 
 promise you that nothing disagreeable will happen 
 to you." 
 
 She thereupon decided to take my advice. 
 She stepped down on the platform and walked 
 about among the passengers. She was received 
 on every side with marks of deferential respect — 
 for, of course, her incognito had been betrayed, as 
 every incognito should be — and suddenly felt 
 encouraged to such an extent that, from that 
 moment, she alighted at every stop. Gradually, 
 indeed, as her confidence increased, she took 
 longer and longer in returning to her carriage, 
 so much so that she very nearly lost the train at 
 Nice; and, when I took leave of her at Bordi- 
 ghera, she said, as she gave me her hand to kiss : 
 
 " Forgive me, my fears were absurd. Now, 
 I have but one wish, to make a fresh stay in 
 France. . . . Who knows ? Perhaps next year." 
 
 I do not know what circumstances prevented 
 her from fulfilling her hopes; and the next time 
 I heard of her was at Queen Victoria's funeral. 
 I was astonished not to see her there and asked 
 the reason of her chamberlain, Count Wedel, who 
 sat beside me in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. 
 300
 
 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 " Alas," he said, " our poor Empress is confined 
 to her bed by a terrible illness ! Think how she 
 must suffer : her whole body is one great aching 
 sore ! " 
 
 A few months later, she was dead. 
 
 4 
 
 I had had but a more or less fleeting vision of 
 this amiable sovereign, whose fate, though not so 
 tragic as that of the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, 
 was but little happier. On the other hand, I had 
 opportunities of coming into much more frequent 
 and constant contact with two of her sisters. 
 Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and 
 Princess Henry of Battenberg. 
 
 Closely though these two princesses resemble 
 each other in the admirable filial affection which 
 they showed their mother, they are entirely 
 different in disposition. Whereas the elder, who 
 is generally known as the Princess Christian, is 
 always ready to talk to those about her. Princess 
 Beatrice, the younger, is comparatively silent 
 and almost self-contained, but without the 
 least affectation : in fact, I have seldom met 
 a princess more simple in her habits or more 
 easy of access to poor folk. This contrast in 
 their attitude towards life comes, I think, from a 
 difference in their temperaments and tastes. The 
 Princess Christian has inherited the homely 
 virtues of the German princesses : she interests 
 herself mainly in philanthropic and social ques- 
 
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 tions. The Princess Henry, on the contrary, 
 feels a marked attraction for literature and the 
 arts, which she cultivates with a real talent; 
 and, like all those who are endowed with an active 
 brain, she loves to isolate herself from the outside 
 world. 
 
 I must say that I never knew the Princess 
 Christian as well as I did her sister, for the very 
 good reason that she did not accompany Queen 
 Victoria to France as often as the Princess Henry. 
 Her arrival at Nice was usually later than that of 
 the Queen and she very seldom remained until 
 the end of Her Majesty's stay. 
 
 I remember, however, that, one year, they 
 returned to England together; and, in this con- 
 nection, I have a story to tell which goes to show 
 how keenly alive the great of this earth can 
 be to the smallest attentions paid them. The 
 royal train, which had left Nice in the morning, 
 pulled up, at five o'clock in the afternoon, as 
 usual, at a little country-station between Avignon 
 and Tarascon, in order to enable the Queen to take 
 her tea without being inconvenienced by the 
 jolting of the wheels. Seeing me pacing the plat- 
 form, the Princess Christian stepped from the 
 carriage and walked up and down beside me. In 
 the course of our conversation, she began to talk 
 of her children : 
 
 " Think of it ! " she said, with a certain melan- 
 choly. " My daughter Victoria will be thirty years 
 old to-morrow — for to-morrow is her birthday. 
 How time flies ! " 
 302
 
 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 Princess Victoria was also one of the travelling- 
 party. As soon, therefore, as the Princess Chris- 
 tian had left me, I scribbled a telegram to the 
 special commissary at Caen, in Normandy, where 
 we were to stop for a few minutes, next day, on 
 our way to Cherbourg, and told him to order a 
 bouquet and hand it to me as the train passed 
 through. 
 
 The following morning, when we entered the 
 station at Caen, I found my bouquet awaiting 
 me : a modest nosegay, consisting of all the rustic 
 flowers of the fields, which my worthy commissary 
 had had gathered in the morning dew. I at once 
 presented it to Princess Victoria, wishing her many 
 happy returns of her birthday ; and I cannot say 
 which of the four of us — the Queen, the two 
 princesses or I — was most touched by the affec- 
 tionate gratitude which they all three expressed 
 to me. 
 
 But, as I have said above, of all Queen Victoria's 
 
 daughters, the one whom I knew best was the 
 
 Princess Henry of Battenberg. In point of fact, 
 
 she hardly ever left her august mother's side, from 
 
 the day when her married bliss received so cruel 
 
 a blow in the tragic death of her husband, and 
 
 when distress of mind found a refuge and peace 
 
 in the love of that mother, whose heart was 
 
 always filled with the most delicate compassion 
 
 for every sorrow. 
 
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 A close link had been formed between those 
 two women : the Princess Henry had become the 
 confidante of Queen Victoria's thoughts and was 
 also, very often, the intermediary of her acts of 
 discreet munificence. At Nice, she occupied the 
 magnificent Villa Liserb, close to the hotel at 
 which the Queen resided. Here I watched the 
 games and the physical development of the 
 princess's four children, Prince Alexander, Prince 
 Maurice, Prince Leopold and little Princess Ena, 
 little thinking that I should live to see the heavy 
 crown of Charles V. and Philip II. placed upon the 
 pretty, golden hair which was then still tied back 
 with pale-blue ribbons. Day after day, for 
 many years, I saw those same children hail 
 their grandmother's appearance with cries of 
 delight. 
 
 The daily drive in the grounds of the Villa 
 Liserb was one of Queen Victoria's favourite 
 pleasures. She went there in her chair drawn 
 by Jacquot, the grey donkey, solemnly led by the 
 Hindoo servant, whose gaudy attire, like a mon- 
 strous flower, struck a loud note of colour against 
 the green of the surrounding foliage. Slowly and 
 smoothly, with infinite care, the little carriage 
 advanced along the garden-paths which the 
 pines, eucalyptus and olive-trees shaded with 
 their luxurious tresses. The Queen, holding the 
 reins for form's sake, would cast her eyes from 
 side to side in search of her grandchildren, who 
 were usually crouching in the flower-beds or hiding 
 behind the trees, happy in constantly renewing 
 304
 
 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 the innocent conspiracy of a surprise — always 
 the same — which they prepared for their grand- 
 mother, and which consisted in suddenly bursting 
 out around her. 
 
 Or else a shuttlecock or a hoop would stray 
 between Jacquot's legs. 
 
 *' Stop, Jacquot ! " cried the children. 
 
 And Jacquot, best-tempered of donkeys, would 
 stop all the more readily as he knew that his 
 patience would be rewarded with a lump of 
 sugar. 
 
 The Princess Henry of Battenberg spent long 
 hours in this wonderful, smiling oasis, dividing her 
 time between the education of her children, which 
 she supervised and directed in person, and her 
 own intellectual pursuits, to which she devoted 
 herself ardently. She used to draw and paint 
 very prettily, at that time ; and she never forgot 
 to take her sketch-book with her when accom- 
 panying the Queen on her drives in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Nice. She sat and sketched while 
 tea was being prepared in some picturesque 
 spot where the royal carriage halted for the 
 purpose. 
 
 She was a first-rate musician, played the 
 harmonium on Sundays in the chapel of the Hotel 
 Regina and often entered the Catholic churches 
 during the services, in order to listen to the sacred 
 music, which she preferred above all others. 
 In this way, she came to appreciate more par- 
 ticularly the talent of a young organist called 
 Pons, now a distinguished composer, who, at that 
 
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 time, used to play the organ at the church of 
 Notre-Dame at Nice. This artist, who was a 
 native of the south of France, possessed a remark- 
 able gift of improvisation which amazed the 
 princess so greatly that she was always speaking 
 of it to the Queen : 
 
 " You really ought to hear him," she would 
 say. 
 
 " But he can't bring his organ to the hotel ! " 
 the Queen replied, laughing. 
 
 " Why should you not go to his church ? I 
 assure you that you will not regret it." 
 
 The Queen, who was easily persuaded by her 
 daughter, ended by consenting to visit Notre- 
 Dame one afternoon, on condition that she should 
 be alone there, with her suite, during the little 
 recital which the organist was to give for her 
 benefit. Princess Beatrice, who was delighted at 
 attaining her object, plied me with instructions 
 so that the Queen might have a genuine artistic 
 surprise : • 
 
 *' Be sure and see that there is no one in the 
 church," she said to me. " And tell M. Pons to 
 surpass himself." 
 
 I went and called on the rector and the organist. 
 The former very kindly promised to take all the 
 necessary steps for his church to be quite empty 
 during Her Majesty's visit. As for M. Pons, the 
 honour which the Queen was doing him almost 
 turned his head. He saw himself the equal of 
 Bach and would have accosted Mozart by his 
 surname if he had met him in the street ; 
 306
 
 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 " The Queen will be satisfied, I promise you,'* 
 he declared, in his southern sing-song. 
 
 Things passed very nearly as we hoped. At the 
 hour agreed upon, the royal landau stopped before 
 the door of the church ; the Queen, accompanied 
 by the princess and a few persons of her suite, 
 including myself, entered the great nave, where 
 only a few small lights shone like golden stars 
 in the spacious darkness. When the Queen was 
 seated in the arm-chair which I had sent on ahead, 
 Pons began to shed floods of harmony upon us 
 from his organ-loft above. 
 
 Nothing would have disturbed our meditation, 
 but for a cat, an enormous black cat, which, after 
 prowling behind the pillars, suddenly came up 
 to the royal chair unperceived and jumped most 
 disrespectfully into Her Majesty's lap ! Picture 
 the excitement ! We drove it away. It returned. 
 We tried to drive it away again. But it was 
 stubborn in its affections and returned once 
 more. Thereupon the Queen, who was more 
 surprised than annoyed, resigned herself and 
 accepted the curious adventure. She stroked 
 the animal and kept it with her until the end 
 of the recital. 
 
 6 
 
 When Princess Henry of Battenberg did not 
 
 accompany her mother on her drives — which 
 
 happened very rarely — she liked going to the 
 
 Empress Eugenie, who treated her as a daughter, 
 
 x2 307
 
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 and who, as everybody knows, was the god- 
 mother of Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain. The 
 princess would sometimes spend the whole after- 
 noon at the villa of Napoleon III.'s widow ; one 
 year indeed, she and Princess Ena stayed there 
 all through the winter. It was on this occasion 
 that I found myself placed in a very delicate 
 position. 
 
 What occurred was this : the princess sent word 
 to me, one day, with the Empress's consent, 
 inviting me to dinner at the Villa Cyrnos. I 
 was at first a little perplexed. It seemed to me 
 a rather ticklish matter, considering my official 
 position, to figure at the table of the ex-Empress 
 of the French. On the other hand, to refuse the 
 invitation seemed tantamount to insulting the 
 daughter of the Queen of England, to whom I was 
 accredited. At last, I resolved to swallow my 
 scruples and accepted. 
 
 That evening, after dinner, when thanking 
 the Empress for her kindness, I could not help 
 saying : 
 
 " I suppose, Madame, that there are very few 
 officials of the Republic who would have dared to 
 sit down at Your Majesty's table." 
 
 "To be equally frank with you," the Empress 
 at once replied, laughing, " I will ask you to 
 believe, my dear M. Paoli, that there are also 
 very few officials of the Republic whom I should 
 have cared to see seated there like yourself ! " 
 
 308
 
 THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY 
 
 I must not close the story of the periods which 
 I spent with the royal family at Nice without 
 recalling that, on some of those occasions, I also 
 met the Marchioness of Lome, now Duchess 
 of Argyll, and the Duke of Connaught; but, to 
 tell the truth, I only caught glimpses of them, 
 because of the shortness of their visits. 
 
 I can also only mention quite casually the name 
 of Queen Alexandra, for this charming lady has 
 never stayed in France for any length of time. 
 With the exception of two visits, of forty-eight 
 hours each, with which she honoured Paris when 
 she went to France with King Edward, she has 
 confined herself to passing through our country 
 on her way to Denmark or to join the royal yacht 
 at Marseilles or Genoa. On each of the journeys 
 during which I was attached to her person, she 
 gave me every sign of that captivating and be- 
 witching kindness of which she alone appears to 
 possess the secret. I also remember perceiving, 
 as do all those who approach her, the touching 
 affection that unites her to her sister, the Dowager 
 Empress of Russia. Each time that she parted 
 from her at Calais, to proceed either to Copen- 
 hagen or to the south, while the Empress Marie 
 Feodorovna was returning to St. Petersburg, she 
 never failed to say to me, in a voice full of 
 anxiety : 
 
 " M. Paoli, do take the greatest care of my 
 sister. Watch over her attentively. I shall not 
 
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 know a moment's peace until I hear that she has 
 arrived at the end of her journey." 
 
 The years have passed and it is not without 
 pride that I reflect upon the fact that I have 
 known four generations of that glorious royal 
 family of England ! 
 
 But, alas, it makes me feel no younger ! 
 
 310
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 The King of Cambodia was, so to speak, my 
 last " client," at least the last of those whom I 
 was " protecting " for the first time, for he had 
 never set foot in France when, three years ago, 
 I beheld him, in the bright light of a fine morning 
 in June, greeting with a loud laugh the port of 
 Marseilles, the gold-laced officials who had come 
 to receive him, the soldiers, the sailors, the 
 porters and the regimental band. 
 
 For he loved laughing. Hilarity with him 
 was a habit, a necessity; it burst forth like a 
 flourish of trumpets, it went off like a rocket 
 at anything or nothing, suddenly lighting up 
 his elderl}^ monkey-face and revealing amidst 
 the dark smudge that formed his features a 
 dazzling keyboard of ivory teeth. 
 
 Sisowath King of Cambodia struck me as a 
 little yellow, dry, sinewy man who had been 
 snowed upon, for amid his hard stubble of shiny 
 black hairs there gleamed, over the temples, 
 patches of white bristles that bore witness to 
 his five-and-sixty summers. He still looked 
 young, because of the slightness of his figure; 
 
 ^11
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 and his costume consisted of a singular mis- 
 cellany of Cambodian and European garments. 
 
 From the knees to the waist, his dress sug- 
 gested the east. Starting from the frontier 
 formed by his belt, the west resumed its rights 
 and set the fashion ... of the day before 
 yesterday ! His feet were clad in shoes re- 
 sembling a bishop's, with broad, flat buckles, 
 whence rose two spindle-shanks confined in 
 black silk stockings and ending in a queer pair 
 of breeches of a thin, silky, copper-coloured 
 material, something midway between a cyclist's 
 knickerbockers and a woman's petticoat and 
 known as the sampot, the national dress of 
 Cambodia. Over these breeches of uncertain 
 cut fell the graceless tails of an eighteenth-century 
 dress-coat, opening over a shirt-front crossed 
 by the broad ribbon of the Legion of Honour. 
 Lastly, this astonishing get-up was topped with 
 a rusty tall hat, dating back to the year 1830, 
 which crowned the monarch's head. 
 
 All this made him look like a carnival reveller 
 who had come fresh from a fancy-dress ball. 
 Nevertheless, he took himself very seriously; 
 and the French government treated him with 
 every consideration, for he represented a valu- 
 able asset in the exercise of our protectorate 
 over Cambodia. 
 
 Those acquainted with the traditions of the 
 Cambodian court will know that, in consenting 
 to leave his realms for a time in order to go 
 to France, he had broken every religious and 
 312
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 political law. To appease the wrath of Buddha 
 and relieve his own conscience, before leaving 
 his capital, Pnom-Penh, he had sent magnificent 
 offerings to the tombs of the Kne-Kne kings, 
 bathed in lustral water prepared by the prayers 
 of sixty-seven bonzes, invoked the emerald 
 statue of the god Berdika, and accepted at the 
 hands of the chief Brahmin a leaf of scented 
 amber, by way of a lucky charm. 
 
 It was really impossible to surround himself 
 with more potent safeguards; and he had every 
 reason to be in a good humour, although he had 
 flown into a great rage on the passage at seeing 
 his suite abandoning themselves to the tortures 
 of sea-sickness : 
 
 *' I forbid you to be sick ! " he shouted to 
 them. " Those are mj^ orders ; am I the King 
 or am I not ? " 
 
 Distracted by the impossibility of obeying, 
 they took refuge in the depths of the steamer 
 and did not reappear on deck until the ship 
 approached the Straits of Messina. And the 
 saddened sovereign was made to realize for the 
 first time that he was not omnipotent. The fact 
 made so great an impression on his mind that, 
 from that time forward, he became excessively 
 and almost inconveniently polite. He shook 
 hands with everybody he saw, beginning with 
 the flunkeys at the Marseilles Prefecture, who 
 lined the staircase as he went upstairs. 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Keen as was the interest taken by the pubHc 
 in Sisowath, it paled before the curiosity aroused 
 by his dancing-girls. They formed an integral 
 part of that extraordinary royal suite, in which 
 figured three of his ministers, four of his sons, 
 his daughter, two sons of King Norodom, his 
 predecessor, and eleven favourites, accompanied 
 by a swarm of chamberlains, ladies of the bed- 
 chamber and pages. 
 
 On the other hand, amid the disorder of that 
 Oriental horde, the cor'ps de ballet constituted 
 a caste apart, haughty, sacerdotal and self- 
 contained. The twenty dancers came to France 
 preceded by a great reputation for beauty. It 
 may have been the result of beholding them in 
 a different setting, under a different sky ; but 
 this much is certain, that they did not appear 
 to me in the same light in which they had been 
 depicted to us by enthusiastic travellers. 
 
 Sisowath's dancing-girls are not exactly pretty, 
 judged by our own standard of feminine beauty. 
 With their hard and close-cropped hair, their 
 figures like those of striplings, their thin, muscular 
 legs like those of young boys, their arms and 
 hands like those of little girls, they seem to 
 belong to no definite sex. They have some- 
 thing of the child about them, something of the 
 young warrior of antiquity, and something of 
 the woman. Their usual dress, which is half 
 feminine and half masculine, consisting of the 
 314
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 famous sampot worn in creases between their 
 knees and their hips and of a silk shawl con- 
 fining their shoulders, crossed over the bust and 
 knotted at the loins, tends to heighten this 
 curious impression. But, in the absence of 
 beauty, they possess grace, a supple, captivat- 
 ing, royal grace, which is present in their every 
 attitude and gesture; they have a perfume of 
 fabled legend to accompany them, the sacred 
 character of their functions to ennoble them; 
 lastly, they have their dances full of mystery 
 and majesty and art, those dances which have 
 been handed down faithfully in the course of 
 the ages, and whose every movement, whose 
 every deft curve remains inscribed on the bas- 
 reliefs of the ruins of Ankor. For these reasons, 
 they are beautiful, with the special beauty that 
 clings to remote, inscrutable and fragile things. 
 
 They are all girls of good extraction, for it 
 is an honour much sought after by the noble 
 families of Cambodia to have a child admitted 
 to the King's troupe of dancers. Contrary to 
 what has sometimes been asserted, the dancing- 
 girls do not form part of the royal harem; 
 they are looked upon as vestals : virginal and 
 radiant, they perform, in dancing, a more or 
 less religious rite. 
 
 When they accompanied Sisowath to France, 
 they were under the management of the King's 
 own eldest daughter, the Princess Soumphady, 
 an ugly, cross-grained old maid, who ruled them 
 with an iron hand. The " stars " were four 
 
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 principal dancers, whose names seemed to have 
 been picked, Hke the king's leaves of scented 
 amber, in some sacred grove of Buddha's mys- 
 terious realm : they were called Miles. Mih, 
 Pho, Nuy and Pruong. 
 
 When the whole party were landed, they had 
 to be put up ; and this was no easy matter. The 
 Marseilles Prefecture was hardly large enough 
 to house the King's fabulous and cumbrous 
 retinue. We distributed its members over some 
 of the neighbouring houses ; but they spent their 
 days at the Prefecture, which was then and there 
 transformed into the camp of an Asiatic caravan. 
 The ante-rooms and passages were blocked with 
 pieces of luggage each quainter than the other. 
 Heaped up promiscuously were jewel-cases, dress- 
 trunks, cases of opium, bales of rice and sacks 
 of coal, for the Cambodians, fearing lest they 
 should fail to find in Europe the coal which they 
 use to cook their rice, had insisted, at all costs, 
 on bringing with them two hundred sacks, which 
 now lay trailing about upon the Smyrna rugs ! 
 
 When, on the evening of his arrival, I pushed 
 my way through this medley of incongruous 
 baggage to present myself to the King, of whom 
 I had caught but a passing glimpse on the Mar- 
 seilles quays, M. Gautret, the colonial adminis- 
 trator who had travelled with our guests, said 
 to me : 
 316
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 " His Majesty is at dinner, but wishes to see 
 you. Come this way." 
 
 Shall I ever forget that audience ? Sisowath 
 sat at a large table, surrounded by his family, 
 his ministers, his favourites and his dancing- 
 girls, while, squatting in a corner on the floor, 
 were half-a-dozen musicians — His Majesty's 
 private band — scraping away like mad on frail- 
 sounding instruments. The King was eating 
 salt fish which had been prepared for him by 
 his own cooks. He was the only one to use a 
 knife and fork. The others did not care for such 
 luxuries; at intervals, a waiter handed round 
 a large gold bowl filled with rice, into which 
 ministers, favourites and dancing-girls dipped 
 their hands, subsequently transferring the con- 
 tents to their mouths. 
 
 When M. Gautret had mentioned my name and 
 explained the nature of my functions, the King, 
 who was gloating over his loathsome fish, looked 
 up, gave me his hand and, with his everlasting 
 noisy laugh, flung me a few vapid monosyllables : 
 
 "Glad! . . . Friend! . . . Long live France ! " 
 
 Our conversation went no further on that day. 
 The next morning, we visited together the sights 
 of Marseilles and its Colonial Exhibition. Siso- 
 wath, though very loquacious, was not astonished 
 at anything, or at least pretended not to be. His 
 dancers and favourites, on the other hand, were 
 astonished at everything. They pawed the red- 
 silk chairs for ever so long before venturing to 
 sit upon the extreme edge, so great was their 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 fear of spoiling tliem : most often, after a pre- 
 liminary hesitation, they would end by settling 
 down upon the floor, where they felt more at 
 home. And yet they were not devoid of tact, 
 as they showed when I took them, at the King's 
 wish, to see the fine church of Notre-Dame-de-la- 
 Garde, which, from the top of its rock, commands 
 a view of the city, the surrounding country and 
 the sea. They wanted to go up to the sanctuary 
 and entered it with the same respectful demean- 
 our which they would have displayed in the 
 most sacred of their own pagodas. When we 
 explained to them that the thousands of ex- 
 votos which adorn the walls of the chapel 
 represent so many tokens of pious gratitude, 
 their eyes, like the King of Thule's, filled with 
 tears and they suddenly prostrated themselves, 
 just "as they might have done before the images 
 of their own Buddha. 
 
 During this time, the King, who had fished 
 out a pair of white gloves and a white tie and 
 adorned his sampot with an emerald belt, stood 
 smiling at the *' Marseillaise," which was being 
 performed in his honour. 
 
 Until then, I had enjoyed but a foretaste of 
 the life and manners of the Cambodian court. 
 The stay which Sisowath and his suite were about 
 to make in Paris was to enlighten me on this 
 subject for good and all. 
 
 After three days' driving through the streets 
 of Marseilles, the royal caravan set out for the 
 capital, where the French government had re- 
 318
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 solved to give it an official reception and to 
 entertain it at the expense of the nation. With 
 this object in view, the government had hired 
 a private liouse in the Avenue Malakoff and 
 prudently furnished it from the national reposi- 
 tory with chairs and tables " that need fear no 
 damage." 
 
 Meanwhile, the Colonial Office had appointed 
 me superintendent-in- chief of this novel " palace " 
 and I had to take up my abode there during 
 the whole of our royal guest's stay. The result 
 was that, during the three weeks which I spent 
 amid these picturesque surroundings, I enjoyed 
 all the attractions of the most curiously exotic 
 life that could possibly be imagined. 
 
 The bedroom allotted to me opened upon the 
 passage containing the King's apartments; so 
 that I may be said to have occupied a front seat 
 at the permanent and delicious entertainment 
 provided by the Cambodian court for the benefit 
 of those admitted to its privacy. 
 
 What struck me first of all was the indiscreet 
 familiarity of His Majesty's family and favour- 
 ites. Princes, ministers and favourites spent 
 their lives in the passages and walked in and out 
 of my room with an astonishing absence of con- 
 straint and in the airiest of costumes. If I 
 happened to be there, they paid no attention 
 to my presence : they explored the room, poked 
 about in the corners, tried the springs of my 
 bed, asked me for cigarettes, examined my 
 
 brushes and combs, smiled and went away. 
 
 3i9
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 When I was out, they entered just the same, 
 emptied my cigar- and cigarette-boxes, sat down 
 on my carpet and exchanged remarks that may 
 have been jocular for all I know : I never found 
 out. 
 
 Anxious to avoid any sort of friction, I made 
 no complaint. I contented myself with locking 
 up my personal belongings and replacing my 
 boxes of havanas with boxes of penny cigars; 
 but my plunderers held different views : the 
 ladies, especially, who had learnt to distinguish 
 between good cigars and common " Senateurs,'' 
 expressed their rage and vexation with violent 
 gestures and resolved thenceforth to give me the 
 cold shoulder — which was more than I had 
 hoped for. 
 
 There remained another drawback to which 
 I had, willy-nilly, to submit until the end. It 
 consisted of Sisowath's unpleasant habit of walk- 
 ing up and down the passages at night, talking 
 and laughing with his suite, while his orchestra 
 tinkled out the " national " airs to an accom- 
 paniment of tambourines and cymbals. It w^as 
 simply maddening ; and, when I tried to make a 
 discreet protest, I was told that, as His Majesty 
 took a siesta during the day, he had no need for 
 sleep at night. The argument admitted of no 
 reply; and I had to accept the inevitable. 
 
 On the other hand, I enjoyed a few compen- 
 sations. I was invited, from time to time, to 
 assist at the King's toilet when he donned his 
 gala clothes to go to an official dinner or a cere- 
 320
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 mony of one kind or another. After he had 
 finished his abhitions — for he was always very 
 particular about his person — his wives pro- 
 ceeded to dress him. They helped him into a 
 gorgeous green and gold sampot and a brocaded 
 tunic, and put round his throat a sort of necklace 
 resembling the gorget of a coat of mail and made 
 of dull gold set with precious stones, ending at 
 the shoulders in two sheets of gold that stuck 
 out on either side like wings. They next girt 
 his waist, arms and ankles with a belt and brace- 
 lets encrusted with exquisite gems. Lastly, they 
 took away his rusty and antiquated old " topper " 
 and gave him in exchange a wide Cambodian 
 felt hat, surmounted by a kind of three-storied 
 tower running into a point, adorned with gold 
 chasings and literally paved with diamonds 
 and emeralds. Thus attired, Sisowath looked 
 very grand : he resembled the statue of a Hindoo 
 god removed from its pagoda. 
 
 Nevertheless, western civilization began stealth- 
 ily to exert its formidable influence over his 
 tastes, if not his habits. We had not been 
 a week in Paris before our guest thought it 
 better, on his afternoon excursions, to replace 
 the sampot with the conventional European 
 trousers and his out-of-date cut-away with a 
 faultless frock-coat. But for his yellow com- 
 plexion, his slanting eyes and his woolly hair, 
 he would have looked a regular dandy ! 
 
 Ever eager to appear good-natured and polite, 
 
 he kissed the daughters of the hall-porter at the 
 
 Y 32]
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 Colonial Office each time he went to the Pavilion 
 de Flore, and shook hands with the messengers 
 at the Foreign Office and with all the salesmen 
 at the Bon Marche, which he made a point of 
 visiting. Again, when passing through the Place 
 Victor-Hugo, he never failed to take off his hat 
 with a great flourish to our national poet. Lastly, 
 I had the greatest difficulty in keeping him from 
 sending sacred offerings to the tomb of Napoleon 
 I., " whom we hold in veneration in Cambodia," 
 he explained to me through the interpreter. 
 Hearing, on the other hand, that European 
 sovereigns are accustomed to leave their cards 
 on certain official personages, he asked me to 
 order him a hundred, worded as follows : 
 
 Preas Bat Somdach Preas Sisowath 
 Chom Chakrepongs. 
 
 322
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of the ever-fresh surprises 
 which Paris had in store for him and of their 
 undoubted attraction for his mind, the King 
 soon began to feel a certain lassitude : 
 
 " Paris," he said to me, " is a wonderful, but 
 tiring city. The houses are too high and there 
 are too many carriages. How is it that you still 
 allow horse-carriages ? If I were the master 
 here, I would abolish them and allow nothing 
 but motors." 
 
 When he had visited the public buildings and 
 seen the sights, and been to Fontainebleau and 
 Versailles and Compiegne, and had the mechanism 
 of the phonographs and cinematographs ex- 
 plained to him, he began to bore himself. He 
 then thought of his dancing-girls, whom he had 
 left behind at Marseilles, and sent for them to 
 Paris, on the pretext of exhibiting them at a 
 garden-party given by the President of the Re- 
 public at the Elysee. One fine morning, they 
 all landed at the Gare de Lyon, a little bewildered, 
 a little flurried, in the charge of the grim Princess 
 Soumphady, who was dressed in a violet sampot, 
 with a stream of diamonds round her neck. 
 They arrived looking like so many lost sheep, 
 accompanied by their six readers, their eight 
 singers, their four dressers, their two comedians 
 and their six musicians. 
 
 The dancers' advent created quite a sensation 
 Y2 323
 
 INIY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 in the district of the Avenue Malakoff. They 
 were quartered opposite the royal '' palace," in 
 a building at the back of a courtyard, and when, 
 at last, good King Sisowath saw them from his 
 balcony, a broad smile of happiness lit up his 
 yellow face. 
 
 They rehearsed their ballets every morning, in 
 a large room that did duty as a theatre. I was 
 allowed to look on, as a special favour, and I 
 was thus able to watch pretty closely those 
 curious and amazingly artistic little creatures 
 and their dances. 
 
 Their ballets always began with a musical 
 prelude performed upon brass and bamboo in- 
 struments. Then, while some of the women 
 struck up a religious chant and others clapped 
 their hands in measured time, the dancers left 
 the group one b)^ one, shooting out and meeting 
 in the ring; and a regular fanciful, childish 
 drama was suggested by their movements, their 
 gestures and their attitudes, which contrasted 
 strangely with the sacerdotal repose of their 
 features. They looked, at one time, like large, 
 living flowers; at another, like automatic dolls. 
 
 The dances provided an odd medley of Moorish 
 and Spanish steps. Sometimes, the stomach 
 would sway to and fro, as though one were watch- 
 ing a dance of Egyptian almes; at other times, 
 the legs quivered and the dancer stamped her 
 feet, raised her arms, jerked her hips, as though 
 she meant to give us some Andalusian jota or 
 habanera. And nothing allowed the inner feelings 
 324
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 of the soul to penetrate through those faces, 
 which seemed inanimate beneath their fixed 
 smiles ; yet what suggestive mimicry was there, 
 what harmonious poses and what marvellous 
 costumes ! 
 
 The Cambodian ballet-girls, when dancing in 
 public, wear clothes that are simply fairy-like. 
 They have bodices of silk stitched with gold and 
 adorned with precious stones. These bodices 
 are very heavy and are fitted upon them and 
 sewn before each performance, so that they form 
 as it were a new skin and clearly reveal the 
 undulations of the body. 
 
 The dressers take two or three hours to clothe 
 the dancers, after which they paint the girls' 
 faces and deck them out with bracelets, neck- 
 laces and rings of priceless value. Sometimes, 
 also, the dancers' fingers are slipped into long, 
 bent, golden claws, which describe harmonious 
 curves in space. 
 
 Lastly, the head-dress consists of either the 
 traditional 'pnom — a sort of pointed hat, all of 
 gold and fastened on by clutches that grip the 
 head — or a wreath of enormous flowers, or else 
 of a pale-tinted silk handkerchief rolled low over 
 the temples. 
 
 The dancers and their dances achieved, as may 
 be imagined, no small success, first at the Elysee 
 and afterwards in the Bois de Boulogne, where 
 a gala performance was given, in the open-air 
 theatre of the Pre Catelan, by the light of the 
 electric lamps. Betweenwhiles, they took drives 
 
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 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 through Paris, which gave rise to all sorts of 
 astonished and enthusiastic manifestations on 
 their part, much to the delight of their guides, 
 for they had the mental attitude of little girls; 
 and, when, after a week, they had to go back 
 to Marseilles, where they formed the principal 
 attraction at the Colonial Exhibition, their despair 
 was something immense. It was as much as 
 we could do to console them by presenting them 
 all with mechanical rabbits and unbreakable 
 dolls. 
 
 And the King, once more, was bored. He was 
 so thoroughly bored that, a few days after the 
 departure of his ballet-girls, he resolved to go 
 and spend a couple of days at Nancy, in order 
 to see a dozen or two young Cambodians who 
 had been attending the local industrial school 
 for the last twelvemonth. The organizing of 
 this visit was very troublesome, for the King 
 had acquired a taste for military display and 
 insisted upon being received at Nancy with full 
 honours, such as he had been used to in Paris. 
 Worse still, the trip very nearly ended in dis- 
 aster, entirely through Sisowath's own fault. 
 
 The inhabitants of Nancy, amused and de- 
 lighted by the show of Oriental luxury that met 
 their eyes, gave the King an enthusiastic ovation 
 far in excess of his expectations. His gratitude 
 was such that, on the evening of his arrival, 
 he took it into his head to manifest his delight 
 by flinging handfuls of silver through the windows 
 of the Prefecture to the crowd that stood cheering 
 826
 
 THE KING OF CAMBODIA 
 
 him on the Place Stanislas ! The reader can 
 picture the effect of this beneficent shower. 
 Suddenly, loud cries and shouts were heard 
 and a regular battle was fought in front of the 
 Prefecture, for one and all wished to profit by 
 the royal largesse. 
 
 I at once rushed up to the King and begged 
 him to stop this dangerous game. But Sisowath, 
 who was madly diverted by the sight, positively 
 refused to yield to my entreaties. He even 
 asked to have a thousand-franc note changed 
 for gold. 
 
 Seeing that persuasion was of no avail, I took 
 a quick and bold resolve. I had him removed 
 from the window by force, undeterred by the 
 insults with which he overwhelmed me in the 
 Cambodian tongue. 
 
 But I had not yet come to the end of my 
 emotions ; a serio-comic incident followed apace. 
 Suddenly evading the watchfulness of my in- 
 spectors, who dared not detain him like a com- 
 mon malefactor, Sisowath escaped, darted down 
 the stairs four steps at a time, opened a window 
 on the ground-floor and, with hoarse cries, began 
 to pitch into the square all the louis d'or which 
 he had in his possession. The moment he 
 heard us coming, quick as lightning he was off 
 and flew to another window. For a quarter of 
 an hour, a mad steeple-chase was kept up through 
 all the rooms of the Prefecture, amid the roars 
 of the excited crowd in the streets. 
 
 Fortunately, the King soon grew tired and 
 
 327
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 accepted his defeat. As for me, I naturally- 
 looked upon my disgrace as assured. But Siso- 
 wath, thank goodness, was not vindictive. The 
 next morning, he gave me his hand, and, burst- 
 ing into loud laughter, contented himself with 
 saying : 
 
 " Very funny ! " 
 
 A week later he took ship at Marseilles, with 
 his court, to return to Cambodia. When I said 
 good-bye to him on the deck of the steamer, he 
 appeared heart-broken at having to leave our 
 country. Heart-broken, too, seemed the little 
 dancing-girls squatting at the foot of the mast, 
 with their mechanical rabbits and their unbreak- 
 able dolls — the last keepsake to remind them 
 of their stay in Paris — which they squeezed 
 fondly in their arms. 
 
 When, at length, the hour of parting had 
 struck, good King Sisowath, greatly moved, 
 called me to his side : 
 
 " Here," he said, " Present . . . for you." 
 
 And he handed me a parcel done up in a 
 pink silk handkerchief. 
 
 As soon as I was on shore, I hastened to open 
 it : to my great confusion, it contained a splendid 
 sampot made of fine cloth of gold. The King 
 of Cambodia had presented me with his State 
 breeches, which were all that remained to me 
 of my last " client " and of my Oriental dreams ! 
 328
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 1 
 
 Had I listened to what a poet has so well 
 named the instincts of the heart, I would have 
 inscribed the name of Queen Victoria at the head 
 of this book. Bonds of respectful attachment 
 and fervent gratitude attach me to her for all 
 time. She was gifted in the highest degree 
 with both courage and dehcacy. She was the 
 personification of one of the most potent qualities 
 of the English character : loyalty in friendship. 
 Once she had bestowed her confidence upon any 
 one, were he the humblest or the mightiest, she 
 continued to show him that confidence, in all 
 and every circumstance, so long as he remained 
 worthy of it. 
 
 This was well known ; and therefore the vener- 
 able sovereign's esteem became a valuable talis- 
 man for him who was honoured with it. I may 
 say that, for over twenty years, it constituted 
 my real recommendation to the sovereigns and 
 princes to whose persons I was attached ; and that 
 is why I determined to conclude this volume with 
 my recollections of the lady who, to no small 
 
 extent, furnished me with the opportunity of 
 
 329
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 writing it, and who governs my reminiscences 
 from the depths of an already distant past, even 
 as her bowed and smiHng image beams from its 
 gilt frame upon the other portraits that surround 
 me as I write. 
 
 Too much, of course, has been written about 
 Queen Victoria for me to aspire to set up as the 
 historian of her reign and life. Other pens, 
 endowed with greater authority than mine, have 
 told us of the momentous influence which she 
 wielded, for half a century, over the destinies of 
 the nation of which she always remained the most 
 vivid expression and, at the same time, the noblest 
 and most respected symbol; they have told us 
 how, little by little, her single efforts tended to 
 develop into her universal fame. Lastly, her 
 own correspondence, published by the pious 
 thought of her son, the late King Edward, has 
 revealed to us, in a striking fashion, the inmost 
 recesses of her heart as a woman and a queen. 
 
 My ambition, therefore, will be limited to re- 
 calling the sovereign whom I knew in the decline 
 of her life, the queen who was known only to the 
 few privileged persons admitted to her family 
 circle, the woman who, with so much simplicity, 
 with so much candour and indulgent kindness, 
 personified, in all the grace of her secret charm, 
 the traditional type of '' the dear old lady." 
 
 She had made it her habit, as everybody knows, 
 to spend a few weeks of each year in France. 
 The state of her health was not, as I at first 
 thought, the only reason that induced her to 
 330
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 make this annual journey. She loved our country 
 not as other sovereigns do, from politeness or 
 because she found it easier there than elsewhere 
 to rest from the fatigues of official life : she loved 
 it with a profound and sincere affection, to which 
 a curious sentimentality, a sort of mysterious 
 superstition, contributed its share. Strange and 
 inconsistent though it may seem, this sovereign, 
 whose strict education, whose essentially Protes- 
 tant attitude of mind, whose ideas of nationality 
 ought rather to have set her against us, relished 
 the Latin side of our character, delighted in our 
 easily-aroused displays of enthusiasm, admired 
 our artistic faculties and, above all, appreciated 
 our climate, to which she attributed curative 
 virtues far above the common. The moment she 
 arrived among us, she considered herself at home. 
 Her eyes beamed with pleasure, her face lit up 
 with content ; and she thought more of the salute 
 of a station-master who recognized her or of a 
 nosegay presented to her by a peasant-woman 
 than of the homage paid her by any of her fellow- 
 sovereigns. 
 
 The mere thought that political events might 
 interfere with her annual holiday was enough 
 to cause her acute distress. I remember, for 
 instance, the time of the unfortunate Fashoda 
 incident, which happened just at the moment 
 when she was about to start for Nice. An ill- 
 disposed section of the press had written to cry 
 out against the journey; and the Queen caused 
 her hesitation and anxiety to be brought to my 
 
 331
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 knowledge. Realizing the great harm which her 
 absence — necessarily involving the absence of a 
 large number of her subjects — was likely to do to 
 our Mediterranean coast, I instituted a summary 
 enquiry into the feeling of the population, as a 
 result of which I strongly advised Her Majesty 
 to make no alteration in her plans. Fortunately, 
 I was not alone in this opinion : I found a valuable 
 ally in the person of the late Lord Salisbury, who 
 was prime minister at the time. He never 
 wearied of repeating : 
 
 " It is more than ever essential that the Queen 
 should go to France this year." 
 
 She came. She was a little nervous at first, 
 but was soon reassured at perceiving that the 
 people showed her the same respect and the same 
 deference as before. 
 
 A few days later, when talking with the 
 Empress Eugenie about the Anglo-French dispute, 
 which had then reached its most acute phase, she 
 said : 
 
 " If a war were to break out between France 
 and England, I would ask God in His goodness 
 to let me die first ! " 
 
 I am certain that these beautiful and touching 
 words were the genuine expression of an absolute 
 conviction. 
 
 She thought of us again at the end, when, a few 
 hours before expiring, in that faint gleam of hope 
 which lights up so many death-beds, she ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Oh, if I were only at Nice, I should recover ! " 
 332
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 By a diplomatic, but quite useless fiction, the 
 Queen always travelled in France under the title 
 of Countess of Balmoral. Of course, this incog- 
 nito, to which she attached great importance, did 
 not deceive a soul, inasmuch as her movements 
 were not allowed to pass exactly unnoticed. The 
 reader can judge for himself. As soon as her 
 departure for the south was settled, the Foreign 
 Office advised our Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 
 which, in its turn, informed the minister of the 
 interior, who at once wrote to tell me that I must 
 hold myself in readiness to attend the august 
 traveller. She used to arrive at Cherbourg in the 
 evening, on board her yacht Victoria and Albert, 
 and did not land until the next morning, when 
 she took the train waiting for her on the quay. 
 The royal train consisted of seven coaches, two 
 of which were the Queen's private property, and 
 was both imposing and magnificent. The Queen's 
 saloon-carriage, padded throughout in blue silk, 
 presented, in its somewhat antiquated splendour, 
 the exact appearance of an old-fashioned apart- 
 ment in a provincial town. Everything about it 
 was heavy, large and comfortable. So that the 
 Queen's sleep might not be disturbed, there were 
 no brakes to the wheels; and the carriage was 
 swung to perfection. Moreover, the train never 
 travelled faster than thirty-five miles an hour by 
 day or twenty-five miles at night. It also stopped 
 for some time during meals and between eight 
 and nine in the morning, to enable the Queen to 
 dress in comfort. Lastly, it was pulled up when- 
 
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 ever Her Majesty desired to receive some person 
 of distinction or when dispatches reached her 
 from the government. I used to feel as though 
 I were travelhng in a steam bath-chair; and I 
 must confess that, in this rolUng palace, the 
 journey never appeared to me either very long or 
 very tiring. Besides, it had the advantage of 
 enabling us to admire the landscape at our 
 leisure. 
 
 As soon as the Queen reached her destination, 
 a serious responsibility devolved upon those who, 
 like myself, had it as their duty to protect the 
 royal residence without making a great display 
 of force, in fact almost without visible show. 
 Never, indeed, was the police service around 
 an illustrious personage organized with greater 
 reserve and discretion. Never was monarch 
 better guarded in his palace than was Queen 
 Victoria in an hotel quite easily accessible to the 
 public. In fact, one might have thought that 
 no precautions whatever had been taken ; and yet 
 the orders were explicit and it was really im- 
 possible for any one to enter the space under my 
 supervision without first stating his business. 
 
 Soldiers mounted guard, in smart sentry- 
 boxes, at the entrance of the hotel. The guard 
 turned out to salute the Queen twice a day only : 
 when she started on her long daily drive and 
 when she returned. It was also drawn up in 
 force on the occasion of certain official receptions 
 and on the arrival of other foreign sovereigns who 
 came to call on their venerable cousin of England. 
 334
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 An amusing mishap nearly occurred, one day, 
 in this connection. I was going to my post in 
 the afternoon and thought I observed an un- 
 wonted animation around the royal hotel. I 
 quickened my pace to discover the cause ; and my 
 stupefaction was great when I saw the guard 
 of honour standing under arms at the entrance. 
 
 My functions enabled me to know, day by day, 
 I might almost say, hour by hour, what was set 
 down on the programme of the Queen's receptions. 
 Now on that day there was nothing, to my 
 knowledge, that seemed to warrant the calling 
 out of the guard ; and I wondered what could have 
 happened during my brief absence. 
 I hurried up to the officer on duty : 
 " What is the matter ? " I asked. " Why 
 have you turned out ? Whom are you going to 
 salute ? " 
 
 " I really don't know, M. Paoli," said the 
 officer, who, in his turn, was astonished at my 
 surprise. " M. Dosse, the Queen's courier, sent 
 down word to us. They are expecting a crowned 
 head, they say." 
 
 What could the mystery mean ? I at once 
 sent for the Queen's courier : 
 
 " Whom on earth are you expecting ? " I 
 asked, pointing to the men drawn up in line. 
 " Why, don't you know ? " he replied. 
 " I do not." 
 
 " Well, it's the Empress Eugenie ! " 
 I gave a jump : 
 
 " What 1 " I exclaimed, in dismay. " You 
 
 335
 
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 want the soldiers of the repubhc to give the 
 salute to the ex-Empress of the French ? " 
 
 " I confess," said M. Dosse, " that I did not 
 look at the matter from that point of view." 
 
 " I dare say. . . . But, if you lost no time 
 before, there is still less time to lose now. . . . 
 Dismiss, dismiss as quick as you can ! " I cried 
 to the officer. 
 
 I was only just in time. The soldiers were 
 not yet out of sight when the Empress arrived : 
 
 " You seem very much excited, M. Paoli," 
 she said to me, with a smile. 
 
 I told her the reason. 
 
 " Oh, how glad I am that you avoided that 
 incident ! " she exclaimed. " The newspapers 
 would have been sure to hold me responsible; 
 and my position in France, which is already so 
 delicate, would only have suffered in con- 
 sequence." 
 
 As for me, I am convinced that people would 
 not have failed to see in this simple misunder- 
 standing a political plot, an attempt to restore 
 the imperial family, or goodness knows what ! 
 
 The Queen's household, when she came to 
 France, consisted almost invariably of the same 
 persons. Their tact and amiability have left a 
 lasting and charming impression upon people 
 who, like myself, were called upon to see a great 
 deal of them. Unquestionably, the first and 
 336
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 most important of them all was General Sir Henry 
 Ponsonby, who, for a very long period, filled the 
 most arduous offices at the court and who occupied 
 a special place in Her Majesty's confidence. At 
 once active and intelligent, open and discreet, 
 he combined the functions of keeper of the privy 
 purse and private secretary to the Queen. When 
 he died, the responsibilities of his post were 
 considered so heavy that it was divided and the 
 privy purse and private secretary were appointed 
 separately. Lieutenant- colonel Sir Fleetwood 
 Edwards was invested with the first office and 
 Lieutenant-colonel Sir Arthur Bigge, now Lord 
 Stamfordham, with the second. One of the two 
 always accompanied the Queen to Nice and was 
 seconded either by Colonel, now Sir Arthur 
 Davidson, or by Lieutenant, now Lieutenant- 
 colonel Sir Frederick Ponsonby, son of the 
 general. Both these gentlemen were equerries to 
 Her Majesty. Lieutenant-colonel Sir William 
 Carington, on the other hand, fulfilled the func- 
 tions of controller of the little court at Nice, while 
 Sir James Reid, that delightful Scotsman, whom 
 I have mentioned in the chapter on King Edward 
 VII., occupied the position of private physician- 
 in-ordinary to Her Majesty. 
 
 Among the ladies of the bedchamber who 
 succeeded one another in attendance upon the 
 Queen were Lady Southampton, Lady Churchill, 
 the Countess of Antrim and Countess Lytton; 
 while Miss Harriet Phipps, the bedchamber- 
 woman-in-ordinary, never left the sovereign. 
 
 z 337
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 In addition to these court dignitaries, a numer- 
 ous staff of servants used to accompany the Queen 
 on her journeys to the Riviera. It consisted of a 
 first waiting- woman, assisted by six dressers; a 
 French chef, M. Ferry, with three or four Heu- 
 tenants and a whole regiment of scuUions under 
 his orders; a coachman, an outrider and a dozen 
 grooms and stablemen, for the Queen always took 
 her horses abroad with her and never drove out 
 except in her own carriage. 
 
 The suite was completed by the small troop of 
 Indian servants, who preferred to form a little 
 set apart from the others. These impenetrable, 
 impassive and supercilious persons were very fine- 
 looking fellows, clad in big turbans and wonderful 
 cashmere garments of dazzling hues. They acted 
 as a sort of attentive and silent body-guard to the 
 Queen and looked as though they had been struck 
 dumb by the almost religious importance of their 
 duties. They enjoyed a few privileges, such as 
 that of practising all the rites of their creed with- 
 out restrictions, were thoroughly accustomed to 
 discipline and were faithful and devoted to 
 their sovereign in life and death. The Queen 
 also brought with her a Highland gillie, who 
 wore the picturesque costume of his native 
 land. 
 
 All these servants had a great deal to do, 
 especially on the arrival and departure of the 
 royal party, for the Queen always travelled with 
 nearly all the furniture of her bedroom, including 
 the bed and bedding, together with her own linen 
 338
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 and plate and all those charming and trifling 
 knick-knacks which adorn English houses. 
 
 Lastly, any residence occupied by the sovereign 
 was always filled with magnificent flowers. 
 
 The Queen, as everybody knows, preferred to 
 stay at an hotel rather than a villa, for the simple 
 reason that she required a large number of spacious 
 rooms. In the course of the five visits which she 
 paid to Nice, she occupied first the Grand Hotel 
 at Cimiez and then the Excelsior Hotel Regina. 
 The first was hired at 40,000 francs for six weeks, 
 the second at 80,000 francs for two months. 
 
 As may readily be imagined, a " customer " 
 of this sprt was an exceptional windfall for the 
 district ; and accordingly everything was done to 
 make her stay pleasant and to satisfy her least 
 wishes. For instance, the local authorities did 
 not hesitate to give instructions for important 
 works to improve the roads of the country-side; 
 and the landed proprietors hastened to offer the 
 illustrious traveller the use of their gardens and 
 even to knock a hole in their walls when these 
 adjoined the grounds of the hotel, so that she 
 might feel at home wherever she went. This 
 charming illusion was all the more easy to realize 
 inasmuch as she was surrounded by a part of her 
 furniture from Osborne or Balmoral, from the 
 handsome Venetian mirror that adorned her 
 boudoir and the little rosewood writing-table, 
 laden with photographs and papers, that occupied 
 its usual place in her bedroom window, down to 
 the mahogany bedstead, that old-fashioned, high, 
 Z2 339
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 narrow bedstead which had accompanied her 
 on all her journeys during the past forty years. 
 
 The days spent by the Queen in this familiar 
 and sumptuous setting were regulated with a 
 great amount of method; and, notwithstanding 
 that this annual visit was looked upon as a period 
 of holiday and rest, I felt as though I were spend- 
 ing those few weeks in the heart of a curiously 
 busy hive, so numerous and constant did every- 
 body's occupations seem to be. 
 
 The Queen usually rose at nine o'clock, pro- 
 ceeded to dress and had her breakfast, the con- 
 stituents of which varied every morning. She 
 would take coffee, chocolate or tea, with which 
 were served rolls, a dish of eggs, fried fish, grilled 
 bacon and Cambridge sausages, things which she 
 hardly touched. 
 
 Next came the hour for correspondence. Her 
 Majesty regularly received the Foreign Office 
 messengers who brought the official documents 
 for her signature and the ministerial reports. 
 She carefully read through all the administrative 
 papers and exchanged a considerable number of 
 cipher telegrams with her government; and, 
 as she liked answering by return all letters that 
 required replies, her two secretaries were kept 
 very busy. Add to this that she received daily 
 an innumerable quantity of begging letters, which 
 were handed to me in case they needed looking 
 into. Most of these missives eventually found 
 their way into the waste-paper basket. I have, 
 however, kept a few that form a counterpart to 
 340
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 those which I collected when I was with the Shah 
 of Persia and which I mentioned in a previous 
 chapter. They displayed the same methods, 
 the same tricks, ingenious or ingenuous as the 
 case might be, and especially an amazing amount 
 of imagination."^ 
 
 Some had their appeals written by children, 
 hoping thereby to produce a more melting mood 
 in the recipient; others employed threats or 
 sarcasm. The latter affected the most complete 
 confidence in the success of their enterprise, as 
 for instance, an old man of eighty-two, who 
 wrote : 
 
 " How painful and repulsive it would be to 
 me, who am so near the grave, to have to alter 
 my high opinion of the royal magnanimity, 
 generosity and benevolence ! " 
 
 Others made a display of pessimism : 
 
 " If Your Majesty does not lend an ear to my 
 entreaty, there will be no resource left to me but 
 to put an end to my life ! " 
 
 I say nothing of the constant appeals for 
 subscriptions to charitable institutions and to 
 enterprises of the most diverse and sometimes 
 fantastic kinds. Nevertheless, special mention 
 must be made of the madmen. A certain Comte 
 de C invited the Queen to order her govern- 
 ment to replace him in possession of "his 
 Egyptian crown." Another lunatic believed him- 
 self simply to be the son of the Queen of England 
 
 341
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 and suddenly took it into his head to assert 
 his rights, I am bound to say, in exceedingly 
 respectful terms : 
 
 " Madam and dear Mother, 
 
 " I hear that you are in France at present 
 and I therefore hasten to write and ask you to 
 give a little thought to me, your son, whom you 
 abandoned in India. I cannot go on living in 
 Africa, where I suffer all sorts of wretchedness. 
 Please send me some financial assistance, to enable 
 me to live as I ought to live, that is to say, as a 
 son of the Queen of England ought to live. 
 
 " Hoping, dear Mother, that you will have the 
 kindness to satisfy my request, I send you a 
 thousand kisses. 
 
 " Your son, who still loves you, 
 
 " D BEN A , 
 
 " Oran (Algeria):' 
 
 These few examples, which I could easily have 
 multiplied, are enough to give an idea of the 
 importance, the diversity and the eccentricity of 
 Her Majesty's " official " mail-bags during her 
 visits to our country. There was no replying to 
 all these letters : it was really impossible. I 
 remember that, one day, one of the Queen's 
 secretaries received the following letter from a 
 dissatisfied correspondent : 
 
 " My next-door neighbour, who is something 
 of a scandal-monger, insists that Her Majesty 
 342
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 Queen Victoria graciously awarded me a hand- 
 some and generous grant and that you, sir, have 
 pocketed the amount by inadvertence." 
 
 We preferred, I confess, chaff and even insults 
 to the despairing epistles which generally ended 
 in a threat of suicide. This means of intimidation, 
 however stale, impressed me sometimes, when I 
 thought I recognized an accent of sincerity in 
 the tone of the letter. I would send one of my 
 inspectors to the address given, so that he might 
 warn me if there were any danger of a catastrophe, 
 and each time he came back and told me that he 
 had found the would-be suicide full of the most 
 excellent intentions towards life. 
 
 But to return to the daily employment of Her 
 Majesty's time. When the Queen had finished 
 her morning's work, that is to say, at about eleven 
 o'clock, she put on a silk cloak and a large garden- 
 hat to take the place of the white-muslin cap 
 which she wore indoors. Then, leaning on her 
 stick and on the arm of one of her faithful Hindoos, 
 she went down the steps and took her seat in the 
 little carriage drawn by the famous grey donkey, 
 called Jacquot. Jacquot played a part of no little 
 importance at the English court. He had, in 
 fact, been raised to the dignity of a favourite and 
 filled his office with becoming modesty. In no 
 way elated by his unexpected good-fortune, he 
 punctiliously performed the duties of his post, 
 
 343
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 which consisted in taking the Queen through 
 the gardens of the various residences occupied 
 by Her Majesty. Docile and obedient to his 
 royal mistress's slightest whim, he stopped, 
 started, waited, as the Queen might wish, 
 and never showed the least impatience when 
 the royal children pulled his tail or sent their 
 shrill cries down the long funnel of his ears. I 
 myself felt a fond affection for Jacquot, no doubt 
 because I knew him to be my fellow-countryman 
 — he was a Frenchman — and also because of the 
 picturesque story of his life. He might in fact 
 have written his memoirs, like the immortal 
 donkey in Mme. de Segur's book, and described 
 how, one fine day, he was transferred from the 
 barn of a poor farm in the Haute-Savoie to the 
 royal mews at Buckingham Palace. 
 
 It was at the time of the Queen's stay at Aix- 
 les-Bains in 1892. She already found a great 
 difficulty in walking and complained that she had 
 no means of locomotion fit for easy and immediate 
 use and requiring no great preparation. Well, 
 one afternoon, as she was driving by the edge of 
 the Lac du Bourget, she met a peasant jogging 
 along in a small cart drawn by a donkey. The 
 animal was still young, but so thin, so very thin, 
 and so ill-groomed that he was very little to look 
 at. The Queen stopped her carriage and beckoned 
 to the fellow : 
 
 " Would you care to sell me your donkey ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 Not knowing to whom he was speaking, the 
 344
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 peasant replied, with the usual distrust which 
 country-people entertain for those who come from 
 the towns : 
 
 " All depends." 
 
 " How much did you pay for him ? " asked the 
 Queen. 
 
 " A hundred francs . . . and he was cheap at 
 the price." 
 
 " I'll give you two hundred. . . . Will you take 
 it?" 
 
 The peasant pretended to hesitate. I said, in 
 my turn : 
 
 " You can buy two donkeys with that." 
 
 He at last made up his mind. The bargain was 
 struck; and the donkey became the Queen's 
 property and was duly washed, curry-combed, 
 groomed and generally smartened up. Above 
 all, he was better fed. Soon after, he was put to 
 draw the Queen along the little roads and narrow 
 walks which her carriage could not enter. 
 Thenceforth, Jacquot, as he was christened, 
 led an easy, gentle and agreeable life; for the 
 Queen doted on animals and insisted that the 
 greatest care should be taken of all the horses in 
 her stables, without distinction. 
 
 When the Queen was about to return to Savoy, 
 in 1893, it was decided that Jacquot should be 
 taken with her on the journey. On the day of his 
 arrival at Aix, the rogue proved that he had a 
 good memory. He broke loose from the waggon 
 in which he was carried, sniffed the air of his 
 native land with delight, took his bearings and 
 
 345
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 scampered away before any one could lay a hand 
 upon him, making straight for the stable where 
 he had been so well looked after in the previous 
 year. 
 
 The Queen, when she heard the story, laughed 
 and said to me : 
 
 " You will have to change that French maxim 
 of yours which says, ' As silly as a donkey ! ' " 
 
 Jacquot, in fact, managed, before attaining 
 middle age, to secure for himself a career which 
 many a court functionary might have envied. 
 Pampered, well-treated and respected, he retired 
 into private life some years before the Queen's 
 death and ended his days at Windsor, where he 
 was treated as the equal of any thoroughbred. 
 
 His place was taken by a pony and then by 
 another donkey ; and the Queen, who always felt 
 a grateful kindness for her first servant, perpetu- 
 ated his memory by calling all his successors by 
 the name of Jacquot. 
 
 When the Queen returned to the hotel from her 
 morning drive at half-past one, she went straight 
 to the dining-room and did honour to the luncheon 
 which to her represented the chief repast of the 
 day. Then came the afternoon drive — this time 
 in a landau — which generally lasted until night- 
 fall. 
 
 Dinner was seldom served before nine o'clock; 
 but, at six o'clock, a sort of side-table was laid 
 in the dining-room, in the Russian manner, with 
 this difference, that, instead of zakusky, there was 
 a plentiful supply of cold meats, such as joints 
 346
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 of beef and hams, to say nothing of clear chicken- 
 soup in a jelHfied form. The cooking, however, 
 was invariably French, with the one exception 
 of an excellent dish prepared by the Hindoo 
 cook. 
 
 The evening was finished around the lamp in 
 the little royal drawing-room. The Queen adored 
 music and loved to recall the distant period when, 
 as a newly-married bride, she used to sing duets 
 with the Prince Consort to Mendelssohn's ac- 
 companiment. Her taste in musical matters 
 included in an equal admiration the serene 
 beauty of a melody by Gliick and the expressive 
 sentimentality of an Italian romance; and she 
 w^ould ask Princess Henry of Battenberg, who is a 
 skilled pianist, to sit down and give her a few 
 selections from her favourite composers. 
 
 Occasionally, the Queen sent for some great 
 artist passing through Nice to be presented and 
 invited him to play to her. Thus Puccini and 
 Leoncavallo had the honour of performing their 
 works before the august sovereign ; and our own 
 poor Francois Thome also received a most flatter- 
 ing welcome at her hands. Then, again, I have 
 had the opportunity, in the royal boudoir, of 
 applauding the famous choristers of the Russian 
 Imperial Chapel, who came one year to give 
 concerts at Nice. . . . Quintettes, quartettes, 
 violinists, harpers, mandolinists, all alike, pro- 
 vided they could give proof of real talent, were 
 sure of finding an attentive and delighted ear at 
 
 the Hotel Regina. 
 
 347
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 There were evening concerts; there were also 
 morning serenades. We lived in an atmosphere 
 of music ! The morning serenades were provided 
 by the Neapolitan strollers, those wandering 
 singers and guitar-players, who so picturesquely 
 bring home to one the sun of Italy and who, in 
 many cases, are gifted with admirable voices. 
 The Queen liked their songs and was amused by 
 their animated gestures. The whole brotherhood 
 of strummers and scrapers and garden Carusos 
 knew of her partiality and of the generous fee that 
 awaited them ; and every morning, at the stroke 
 of ten, some of them would be seen entering the 
 grounds. They crept stealthily to a spot just under 
 the royal balcony, where for an hour at a time, 
 they spun out their Vorrei morir and their Funi- 
 culi, junicula ! with all the fervour that consumes 
 them, their eyes — such eyes ! — fixed upon the 
 window behind which a curtain rustled and was 
 sometimes drawn to allow a kindly and approving 
 smile to fall upon the floods of melody and the 
 vigorous chest-notes below. 
 
 Still, despite the pleasure which she found in 
 listening to the street-musicians, the Queen was 
 passionately interested in the higher manifest- 
 ations of the art and held our national celebri- 
 ties in great esteem. M. Saint-Saens could, I 
 think, tell of the flattering reception of which he 
 was the object each time that he was invited to 
 Windsor or London and of the delicate attentions 
 which the Queen was pleased to lavish on him. 
 I also remember the great impression made upon 
 348
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 her by the voice and acting of Mme. Sara Bern- 
 hardt when she saw the illustrious tragedian for 
 the first time. It was at Nice, in the spring of 
 1897. The Queen was at the Hotel Excelsior and 
 sent to ask Mme. Bernhardt, who was giving a 
 series of performances at Nice, to do her the 
 pleasure of playing before her. The actress 
 agreed to come and play in Andre Theuriet's 
 Jean-Marie. The arrangements were made forth- 
 with. A stage was improvised in the large draw- 
 ing-room of the hotel by placing a dais at one end 
 of the room; screens took the place of scenery; 
 and the wonderful artist that evening achieved 
 one of the most notable successes of her career, 
 though she had an audience of but thirty or forty 
 to applaud her. Immediately after the fall of the 
 curtain, the Queen sent for Mme. Bernhardt, 
 congratulated her warmly, fastened one of her 
 bracelets round the artist's wrist and presented 
 her with a photograph with a gracious inscription. 
 In return, Sara Bernhardt wrote a line or two in 
 the royal album ; and the Empress of India seemed 
 to set the greatest store by the autograph of the 
 queen of art. 
 
 Outside these distractions, which were com- 
 paratively rare, and when, for one reason or 
 another, there was no music in the evening, the 
 venerable Queen took refuge in reading. She 
 would have a few pages read to her of a modern 
 novel, or an article in some magazine of which 
 the title or the signature had aroused her atten- 
 tion. 
 
 849
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 It is an interesting fact that those around her 
 had adopted the habit of carefully hiding from her 
 anything which appeared in print of a nature 
 likely to displease or sadden her. This explains 
 her candid and imperturbable optimism : she 
 believed in all sincerity in the goodness of the 
 world in general; and the touching conspiracy, 
 by removing from her mind all reasons to doubt 
 that goodness and allowing her to look upon 
 humanity only under its most comforting aspect, 
 ensured her tranquillity and serenity until her 
 dying day. Those engaged in the conspiracy 
 ended by themselves sharing that tranquillity 
 and serenity, which were reflected in the journal 
 in which she was accustomed every evening, when 
 alone in her bedroom, to jot down the impres- 
 sions and the most insignificant incidents of her 
 happy and peaceful life. 
 
 I have said that Queen Victoria's afternoons 
 were mainly devoted to long drives in the country. 
 These drives always caused me a certain anxiety. 
 True, I had the greatest confidence in the good 
 feeling of the inhabitants of Nice. On the other 
 hand, I knew that a fluctuating and cosmopolitan 
 population, such as that of this large town, could 
 easily contain disorderly elements. Knowing 
 beforehand the road which the royal carriage was 
 to take, I used to send well-trained detectives 
 to go on ahead. These generally adopted the 
 350
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 dress and manners of tourists ; and along the road 
 itself I posted the men at my disposal, men who 
 commonly served as rural policemen and who, 
 unobserved by the public, informed me from 
 place to place of anything that it was useful for 
 me to know. Thanks to these simple precautions 
 and without any further display of force, the 
 Queen was able to go for innumerable drives 
 during her five stays at Nice, not one of 
 which was ever spoilt by the slightest vexatious 
 incident. 
 
 The Queen soon came to know all the remark- 
 able places in the neighbourhood. Special guide- 
 books, illustrated with water-colour drawings, were 
 prepared for her; and I would complete these 
 with verbal explanations. My royal client was 
 interested in the old legends which the popular 
 imagination attached to the works of nature or 
 the traces of the past. She also liked to go to 
 the local festivals, particularly those which re- 
 called the ancient customs of the country, such as 
 the festin des reproches and the festin des cougour- 
 dons. The festin des reproches is held at Cimiez, 
 on the first Sunday in Lent. In the old days, 
 young couples came to make mutual admissions 
 to each other of faults committed during the 
 excesses of the carnival. They confessed their 
 misdeeds ingenuously, scolded each other for 
 form's sake, attended a religious service; then 
 they all spread over the market-square, shaded 
 by magnificent olive-trees, over the sands and 
 
 along the neighbouring paths, where the couples 
 
 351
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 became reconciled, kissed and broke the tra- 
 ditional pan bagnat ^ together. 
 
 The festin des cougourdons also takes place at 
 Cimiez, on the 25th of March, the feast of the 
 Annunciation or Lady Day. It is the most 
 important of all the fairs; and it is attended by 
 over twenty-five thousand visitors every year. 
 There is one great sea of booths and rustic stalls. 
 The Queen was very fond of this quaint exhibition. 
 Almost every year, she went there with the prin- 
 cesses to make purchases; and you can imagine 
 the stall-keepers' eagerness to attract her atten- 
 tion to their wares, to obtain the favour of 
 " purveying " to Her Majesty. On her second 
 visit, she was not a little surprised to find that 
 a large number of gourds or cougourdes (whence 
 the name of the fair) were adorned with her coat 
 of arms or covered with inscriptions in her honour. 
 My sleeve was pulled on the left ; a voice cried in 
 my ear on the right : 
 
 " Have this one, too, M. Paoli ! . . . Look, 
 here's a fine one ! " 
 
 And they filled my arms with gourds. The 
 Queen laughed merrily to see me grappling with 
 the salesmen and especially the saleswomen : 
 
 " You will have to buy them all ! " she said. 
 
 Queen Victoria achieved universal popularity 
 through her kindness of heart, which sometimes 
 suggested the most touching and delicate actions 
 to her. For instance, she had made the acquaint- 
 ance of a poor mother of a family, Mme. Bessick, 
 
 ^ Pain benit, or blessed bread. — Translator's Note. 
 352
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 in whom she took an interest because one day, 
 when the Queen happened to drive by her cottage, 
 this good woman, although she had only one lilac- 
 bush in her garden, picked all its blossoms to 
 present them to the sovereign. From that time 
 onward, Mme. Bessick was a constant recipient of 
 Queen Victoria's assistance. 
 
 Some time after, when the Queen was driving 
 out with Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein 
 and Lady Antrim, she suddenly caught sight of a 
 small knot of people proceeding along the road 
 in front of us. She at once beckoned me to her 
 and asked : 
 
 " What is that over there, M. Paoli ? Is it a 
 procession ? " 
 
 " I rather think that it is a funeral. Ma'am," I 
 replied. " But Your Majesty will be able to see 
 in a moment." 
 
 It was, as I expected, a funeral, but the poor- 
 est, saddest, humblest funeral imaginable. Just 
 a few persons walked behind the hearse, which 
 was adorned with neither trappings nor wreaths. 
 I enquired and found that it was Mme. Bessick 
 being taken to her last resting-place. The Queen 
 thereupon had a touching inspiration. Instead 
 of trotting past the procession, she ordered 
 her coachman to drive on slowly till he came up 
 with it and to follow it at a foot's pace to the 
 cemetery. 
 
 Then, taking some large bunches of mimosa 
 
 which a little girl had thrown into the hood of the 
 
 carriage, she said to me : 
 
 A A 353
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 " Please go and lay these flowers for me on the 
 coffin of my old friend, who gave me so many 
 in her time. I owe her that token of my 
 regard." 
 
 There was not, as one might be inclined to 
 think, any calculation on her part, any aiming 
 at popularity, in this constant solicitude for the 
 poor, for the humble, for human wretchedness. 
 She was naturally, spontaneously kind; and this 
 sovereign, who knew how to sway the destinies 
 of the greatest nation in the world with so firm 
 and able a hand, revealed the heart of a good 
 woman, in all its middle-class simplicity and all 
 its touching candour, the moment she left her 
 closet and descended from the mighty pedestal 
 on which she cut so great a figure as a " states- 
 man." She took the same serious interest in 
 small things as though a grave and world-wide 
 problem were at stake. 
 
 I remember that, one afternoon, the Queen 
 was returning from a long political conference 
 with Lord Salisbury at the Villa de la Bastide, 
 when we met on the road a nurse wheeling a 
 pale and frail-looking baby. 
 
 The Queen glanced at it, seemed distressed 
 and, telling the coachman to stop, beckoned 
 the frightened nurse to come to her : 
 
 " Is the child ill ? " she asked. 
 
 " He's anaemic. Madam : that is why we have 
 come down here from Copenhagen, where the 
 family live. The doctor ordered him to the 
 south." 
 854
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 " That's quite right ; but it's not enough. I 
 will tell you what you ought to do for him." 
 
 And the Queen carefully explained to the nurse 
 the treatment best suited to the child. Among 
 other things, she advised that he should be given 
 ass's milk. The nurse promised to follow her 
 prescriptions to the letter. 
 
 A little while after, we met the nurse and the 
 child again. The Queen stopped the carriage, took 
 the baby in her arms, saw that he had become 
 pink and lusty, paid the nurse a compliment and 
 slipped a piece of gold into her hand. She seemed 
 as delighted with the success of the cure as though 
 the child had been her own. 
 
 This maternal solicitude was also extended to 
 animals, as we have already learnt from the happy 
 lot of Jacquot and as was proved by the constant 
 cares which she bestowed upon Spot, the fox- 
 terrier, Roy, the collie, and Marco, the toy poodle. 
 It was shown, moreover, in the instructions which 
 the Queen gave to her outrider to arrange for 
 relays of horses at regular distances, whenever the 
 drive on which we were going was longer or 
 rougher than usual. 
 
 Her humanity towards dumb animals was so 
 well known that every member of the royal suite 
 set his wits to work to spare her feelings. The 
 Scotch gillie, for instance, who always sat on the 
 box beside the coachman, felt obliged, in order 
 to please the Queen, to climb down from his seat 
 whenever the horses were going up-hill and walk 
 beside the carriage. Unfortunately, the High- 
 
 AA2 355
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 lander was big and fat; and the steeds were 
 mettlesome and in good condition. The poor 
 fellow was in tortures on days when he had lunched 
 at all well and when the ascent was long. After 
 ten minutes' climbing, he would limp along, 
 looking apoplectic in the face, lame and panting. 
 In the end, I took pity on him and, one fine day, 
 suggested that he should get into my carriage, 
 which followed the Queen's. He at first made 
 difficulties, alleging that " Her Majesty might 
 notice " the subterfuge, but in reality I believe 
 he demurred only with a view to saving his self- 
 respect, for it did not take me long to overcome 
 his scruples. He soon acquired the habit of 
 transferring his person to my carriage when the 
 horses embarked upon an ascent; and, as soon 
 as the Queen's landau reached the top of the hill, 
 he would run ahead briskly and resume his seat 
 on the box. Did the Queen " notice it ? " She 
 may have done so; but, in any case, as she was 
 very good-natured, she pretended not to see. 
 
 Her Majesty had a military cast of mind. She 
 showed a kindly interest in our soldiers, especially 
 in those who were posted at the entrance to the 
 hotel and who formed her guard of honour. I 
 had observed that she deigned to cast a friendly 
 glance upon our little pioupious ^ each time she 
 
 ^ "Tommies/' infantry of the line. — Translator's Note. 
 356
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 passed in front of the company on guard at the 
 hotel or before the sentries presenting arms ; and, 
 one day, when it rained, she was much upset 
 because the men were without shelter : 
 
 " Why, it's simply inhuman, M. Paoli, to let 
 those poor soldiers get so wet, when there's no 
 need for it ! " 
 
 " There has been no time," I explained, " to 
 put up sentry-boxes for them." 
 
 " They must have them as soon as possible ; 
 and very comfortable ones. . . . Meanwhile, 
 please let them go inside and send them some 
 hot wine from me to drink." 
 
 This was quite enough to ensure her popularity 
 with our pioupious ! On the other hand, I 
 confess that I used to do my best to give the Queen 
 a high opinion of our army. Thus it would often 
 happen, in the course of our drives, that a little 
 troop sprang into view at a turn in the road, 
 pretended to interrupt its drill and stood to 
 attention and saluted as the royal carriage passed. 
 At other times, we would come upon a regiment 
 manoeuvring, in the heat of an assault : the 
 artillery would thunder, the rifles crack and a 
 squadron of cavalry dash across country, cheer- 
 ing loudly as they passed our cavalcade, which 
 had drawn up by the roadside. The good 
 Queen would clap her hands delightedly and 
 say : 
 
 " How nice they are ! How smart they 
 
 look ! " 
 
 And thereupon one and all would burst into 
 
 357
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 loud praises of our troops, while I secretly ap- 
 plauded myself on having suggested, planned 
 and, with the complicity of the military authori- 
 ties, carefully contrived this chance encounter, 
 which had done so much to flatter my patriotic 
 vanity ! 
 
 Once I was convinced of the pleasure which the 
 Queen derived from military displays, I became 
 ambitious. I felt that any serious proof of Her 
 Majesty's interest and affection for our army was 
 likely to make an excellent impression not only 
 in France, but abroad. I therefore suggested that 
 she should hold a review, on the Promenade des 
 Anglais, of the Nice garrison and of the Alpine 
 battalions from the frontier. 
 
 The proposal attracted her at once. Besides, 
 she saw through the political importance which I 
 attached to this manifestation — for she was very 
 sharp-witted — and she showed me, with a charm- 
 ing delicacy, that she entered into my views and 
 that she meant to give it all the significance which 
 I wished her to attribute to it : 
 
 " I will not only go to the review," she said, " but 
 I will lay aside my incognito for the occasion and 
 ask the officers of my suite to accompany me in 
 full-dress uniform." 
 
 And so, a few days later, on a glorious morning, 
 facing the blue sea, ten thousand men were seen 
 marching past a landau in which sat a venerable 
 lady, surrounded by a brilliant staff, smiling under 
 her white sunshade and even betraying a little 
 358
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 excitement. . . . When, at last, bringing up the 
 rear in magnihcent order, the smart battahons 
 of Alpine chasseurs swung along in their turn, 
 while their band struck up a telling march, an 
 immense cheer rose from the crowd. 
 
 The Queen expressed her surprise that the music 
 should have aroused this exceptional enthusiasm. 
 
 " That, Ma'am, is because they are playing the 
 Alsace-Lorraine March," I explained. 
 
 " Ah, just so. ... I understand," she replied, 
 giving me a deep look from her eyes. 
 
 The Queen had a very nice sense of etiquette 
 and was quick to take alarm if others paid less 
 attention to it than she did. 
 
 I remember that she was quite upset in con- 
 sequence of a little incident that occurred at the 
 time of M. Fehx Faure's visit to Nice in April 1898. 
 It happened that, before the President had had 
 time to call upon the Queen, his carriage passed 
 the landau in which Queen Victoria was going for 
 her daily drive. As he was to pay his official visit 
 to the Queen that evening and as he was very 
 punctilious in matters of etiquette, the President 
 considered that he must content himself with 
 bowing. Consequently, when his carriage caught 
 up the royal landau, he made her one of those 
 magnificent ceremonial bows, accompanied by a 
 
 359
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 grand flourish of the hat, of which he alone 
 possessed the secret, and drove on. Now, in the 
 meanwhile, Her Majesty, who was told that the 
 President had recognized her and bowed to her, 
 had at once ordered her coachman to stop, feeling 
 certain that M. Faure would turn back to speak to 
 her. I hoped that he would turn back ; but, with 
 his usual correctness of conduct, he did not ; and 
 his carriage soon disappeared in a cloud of dust. 
 There was no point in waiting any longer; and 
 we started off again, feeling a little put out. 
 
 When we entered the hotel, the Queen asked 
 me, with a shade of annoyance in her voice : 
 
 " Why did not the President stop, as I 
 did ? " 
 
 " Because he certainly did not perceive that 
 Your Majesty was good enough to expect him to," 
 I replied. 
 
 " I call it rather strange," she added. 
 
 I hastened, as the reader can imagine, to inform 
 M. Felix Faure of the incident, so that he was able 
 to make his excuses for this involuntary mis- 
 understanding ; and I need not say that " every- 
 thing was arranged for the best," as in M. Alfred 
 Capus' comedies. 
 
 For the rest, of all the French presidents whom 
 she had occasion to meet, M. Felix Faure was 
 undoubtedly the one who made the most favour- 
 able impression upon her. She liked his showy 
 manner, his wish to please and his obliging 
 nature; in fact, she was always greatly touched 
 360
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 by the least attention of which she was the object, 
 being herself very attentive to everybody who had 
 access to her. Thus, in addition to the gifts in 
 money which she distributed with a generous 
 hand, she never failed, on leaving Nice, to present 
 " souvenirs " to all the people with whom she 
 had come more or less directly into contact. 
 With this object, she always brought an enormous 
 supply of trinkets with her on her trips to France. 
 The trunk containing the presents in the royal 
 luggage held enough to stock a jeweller's shop, 
 comprising as it did watches, chains, pins, brace- 
 lets, rings, pocket-books, framed photographs and 
 inkstands without number. Her Majesty would 
 delve into it at every moment to reward the zeal 
 of the officials, the police, the railway-people and 
 so on. At the end of her stay, gifts were distri- 
 buted to over a hundred persons. From the 
 prefect's wife to the gendarme, each received his 
 little leather case ; and, wonderful to relate, there 
 was never a blunder committed : no one ever 
 received the same present twice. The Queen 
 remembered exactly what she had given the year 
 before and kept her " gift-book " as methodically 
 as a tradesman keeps his ledger. If the station- 
 master had a pocket-book one year, he had a 
 cigarette-holder the next ; and each of these was 
 carefully entered on the Queen's list. 
 
 But there is one thing which I shall never weary 
 of repeating, because I was one of the few wit- 
 nesses of it and one of the privileged accomplices : 
 
 361
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the Queen's great heart must be measured and 
 appreciated not so much by her manifest bounties 
 as by those presents and acts of kindness which 
 were dehberately kept secret. I had constantly 
 to put her on her guard against the vampires who, 
 under pretence of poverty, made appeals to her 
 open-handedness. 
 
 " Here," she would say to me, in a low voice, 
 " here is a trifle which I want you to take to 
 
 M. X , or Mme. Z ; but don't say that 
 
 it comes from me." 
 
 And often she would slip as much as a hundred, 
 or a thousand, or fifteen hundred francs into my 
 hand. 
 
 When I knew that the person to benefit by one 
 of these liberal acts of charity was nothing more 
 than a common blackmailer, who was trying to 
 move the Queen to pity, I at once told her so, but 
 never succeeded in convincing her. 
 
 " Yes, Paoli," she replied, " I know that I am 
 sometimes imposed upon, but I would rather make 
 a mistake in giving too often than in not giving 
 often enough. Besides, who knows ? Perhaps 
 behind that dishonest beggar there is a woman 
 or a child who will benefit indirectly by my 
 alms." 
 
 I only once saw her protest — and that very 
 mildly — against the abuse of her generous com- 
 passion. There was a worthy legless beggar, a 
 jovial, talkative fellow, who managed to attract 
 her attention by posting himself on her road in his 
 362
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 little primitive vehicle drawn by two big dogs. 
 The Queen gave him ten francs each time; and, 
 every year, she sent him fifty francs on the day 
 before her departure. The old beggar, who was 
 a native of Marseilles, ended by looking upon 
 himself as forming part of the English court. 
 He spoke of " Our Majesty " and learnt to jabber 
 a few words of English. At last, one year, he 
 had the impertinence to paint, in red letters, on 
 one side of his go-cart, the official words, " By 
 special appointment to Her Majesty." 
 
 When the Queen heard of this, she considered 
 that the cripple had gone too far and asked me to 
 tell him so ; but she continued his pension never- 
 theless. 
 
 And thus, every day, at every turn, a thousand 
 minor circumstances proved the infinite kindness 
 of the old Queen's heart and strengthened the 
 links that bound her to our people. I did my 
 best to encourage this sentimental reconciliation, 
 because I considered that my country was bound 
 to benefit by it and because I was already 
 a convinced adherent of the entente cordiale, 
 although, at that time, no one had yet dreamt 
 of it ! 
 
 The Queen, on her side, appreciated my efforts 
 and showed me the most touching gratitude. 
 For instance, I was the first Frenchman to receive 
 the Victorian Order, which she herself conferred 
 upon me at Nice in the year 1896, on the day after 
 that on which she signed the decree instituting 
 
 363
 
 MY ROYAL CLIENTS 
 
 the order ; and, again, I was invited to attend the 
 Jubilee celebrations in 1897 as her guest. ... I 
 was, in fact, in her eyes, not only the confidant 
 of her generous thoughts and lesser cares and the 
 guardian of her peace and tranquillity: I was also 
 and above all things the irremovable functionary 
 whom she found faithfully at his post, each time 
 that she came to France. Presidents of the 
 republic followed one upon the other, ministries 
 rose and fell, prefects and generals changed. I 
 alone did not stir, I was always there, giving the 
 illusion of stability in our country where " all is 
 fleeting, all is brittle, all is wearisome." 
 
 When I heard the news of Queen Victoria's 
 death, it was to me as though I had lost one of 
 my own family, it seemed as though a chapter — 
 and the happiest chapter ! — of my life and my 
 career had been brought to a sudden conclusion. 
 
 I cannot better express the sentiment which 
 I felt for the revered sovereign and that which she 
 deigned to show to me than by printing the tele- 
 gram which I received, on the day after the fatal 
 ending, from her secretary, Sir Arthur Bigge, in 
 the name of the royal family : 
 
 " Osborne, 24 January 1901, 4.15 p.m. 
 
 " Your sad and faithful sympathy touches us 
 deeply amid our cruel loss. Are most grateful 
 for your touching condolences. We shall never 
 forget your loyal and invaluable services to our 
 364
 
 QUEEN VICTORIA 
 
 august sovereign, who always held you in high 
 esteem and great affection. 
 
 " Arthur Bigge." 
 
 And I think I am safe in saying that I am not 
 the only Frenchman who has piously preserved 
 the cult of that great figure throughout the 
 intervening years. 
 
 365
 
 Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, 
 
 brunswick street, stamford staeet, s.e., 
 and bungay, suffolk. 
 
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