登陆注册
5288200000172

第172章 CHAPTER IX.(24)

The exiles asked permission from the King of Prussia to settle in his dominions, and while awaiting his answer at Munich they were painfully surprised by the entrance of five old soldiers of noble birth, part of the body-guard they had left behind at Mittau, relying on the protection of Paul. The "mad Czar" had decreed their immediate expulsion, and, penniless and almost starving, they made their way to Louis XVIII. All the money the royal family possessed was bestowed on these faithful servants, who came to them in detachments for relief, and then the Duchess offered her diamonds to the Danish consul for an advance of two thousand ducats, saying she pledged her property "that in our common distress it may be rendered of real use to my uncle, his faithful servants, and myself." The Duchess's consistent and unselfish kindness procured her from the King, and those about him who knew her best, the name of "our angel."

Warsaw was for a brief time the resting-place of the wanderers, but there they were disturbed in 1803 by Napoleon's attempt to threaten and bribe Louis XVIII. into abdication. It was suggested that refusal might bring upon them expulsion from Prussia. "We are accustomed to suffering," was the King's answer, and we do not dread poverty. I would, trusting in God, seek another asylum." In 1808, after many changes of scene, this asylum was sought in England, Gosfield Hall, Essex, being placed at their disposal by the Marquis of Buckingham. From Gosfield, the King moved to Hartwell Hall, a fine old Elizabethan mansion rented from Sir George Lee for L 500 a year. A yearly grant of L 24,000 was made to the exiled family by the British Government, out of which a hundred and forty persons were supported, the royal dinner-party generally numbering two dozen.

At Hartwell, as in her other homes, the Duchess was most popular amongst the poor. In general society she was cold and reserved, and she disliked the notice of strangers. In March, 1814, the royalist successes at Bordeaux paved the way for the restoration of royalty in France, and amidst general sympathy and congratulation, with the Prince Regent himself to wish them good fortune, the King, the Duchess, and their suite left Hartwell in April, 1814. The return to France was as triumphant as a somewhat half-hearted and doubtful enthusiasm could make it, and most of such cordiality as there was fell to the share of the Duchess. As she passed to Notre-Dame in May, 1814, on entering Paris, she was vociferously greeted. The feeling of loyalty, however, was not much longer-lived than the applause by which it was expressed; the Duchess had scarcely effected one of the strongest wishes of her heart,--the identification of what remained of her parents' bodies, and the magnificent ceremony with which they were removed from the cemetery of the Madeleine to the Abbey of St. Denis,--when the escape of Napoleon from Elba in February,1815, scattered the royal family and their followers like chaff before the wind. The Duc d'Angouleme, compelled to capitulate at Toulouse, sailed from Cette in a Swedish vessel. The Comte d'Artois, the Duc de Berri, and the Prince de Conde withdrew beyond the frontier. The King fled from the capital. The Duchesse d'Angouleme, then at Bordeaux celebrating the anniversary of the Proclamation of Louis XVIII., alone of all her family made any stand against the general panic.

Day after day she mounted her horse and reviewed the National Guard. She made personal and even passionate appeals to the officers and men, standing firm, and prevailing on a handful of soldiers to remain by her, even when the imperialist troops were on the other side of the river and their cannon were directed against the square where the Duchess was reviewing her scanty followers.

[It was the Duchesse d'Angouleme who saved you," said the gallant (General Clauzel, after these events, to a royalist volunteer;

"I could not bring myself to order such a woman to be fired upon, at the moment when she was providing material for the noblest page in her history." --"Fillia Dolorosa," vol. vii., p. 131.]

With pain and difficulty she was convinced that resistance was vain;

Napoleon's banner soon floated over Bordeaux; the Duchess issued a farewell proclamation to her "brave Bordelais," and on the 1st April, 1815, she started for Pouillac, whence she embarked for Spain. During a brief visit to England she heard that the reign of a hundred days was over, and the 27th of July, 1815, saw her second triumphal return to the Tuileries. She did not take up her abode there with any wish for State ceremonies or Court gaieties. Her life was as secluded as her position would allow. Her favourite retreat was the Pavilion, which had been inhabited by her mother, and in her little oratory she collected relics of her family, over which on the anniversaries of their deaths she wept and prayed. In her daily drives through Paris she scrupulously avoided the spot on which they had suffered; and the memory of the past seemed to rule all her sad and self-denying life, both in what she did and what she refrained from doing.

[She was so methodical and economical, though liberal in her charities, that one of her regular evening occupations was to tear off the seals from the letters she had received during the day, in order that the wax might be melted down and sold; the produce made one poor family "passing rich with forty pounds a year."--See "Filia Dolorosa," vol. ii., p. 239.]

Her somewhat austere goodness was not of a nature to make her popular.

The few who really understood her loved her, but the majority of her pleasure-seeking subjects regarded her either with ridicule or dread.

She is said to have taken no part in politics, and to have exerted no influence in public affairs, but her sympathies were well known, and "the very word liberty made her shudder;" like Madame Roland, she had seen "so many crimes perpetrated under that name."

同类推荐
  • Nada the Lily

    Nada the Lily

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宣和书谱

    宣和书谱

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Adieu

    Adieu

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 修真十书悟真篇卷

    修真十书悟真篇卷

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 古列女传

    古列女传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 修养

    修养

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 甜甜小青梅傲娇竹马溺爱宠

    甜甜小青梅傲娇竹马溺爱宠

    三岁的顾甜甜遇到了七岁的韩墨珩,这产生的化学爆炸,足以炸掉一个地球。产生的狗粮,足以撑死哈巴狗,柯基…所以导致在他们俩身边的朋友都认为,现在的宠物犬这么稀有,都是被他俩撑死的二十年后新婚当晚,“甜甜,我都忍了二十年,终于现在你是韩墨珩的专属了”漫漫长夜,无心睡眠~『此文是宠文,全程无虐』
  • 咸也好,淡也好

    咸也好,淡也好

    本书以“小故事”(或精品美文或寓言说理)+“咸淡指数”+“咸言淡语”的形式,演绎生活中的咸与淡,而在这咸与淡中你还可以品尝出种种不同的滋味,它们就是每天与我们常见却往往又擦肩而过的种种生活哲理。它们始终高扬着人性的温情,同时又带给我们最为睿智的思考。
  • 悠悠南北朝:宋齐北魏的纷争史

    悠悠南北朝:宋齐北魏的纷争史

    中国悠久的文明,也并不是简单的一成不变流传至今。中间有过诸多的变迁,其中尤以十六国南北朝这一时期的变迁最为关键,这一时期的社会文明变化,基本上确定了以后中国强盛时期文明的基础模式。本书打破旧的对于中国“季世”历史的思维模式,提出了“文化没有改变,有的只是发展,文化没有绝对的优劣,因为它本身就是一个动态的过程”的全新观点,以这种新观点再来看待历史,不仅可以使人读来畅快,更能使人因读史而明理,因明理而清心,获益匪浅也。
  • 两夜

    两夜

    那丛冬青被园丁修剪成形如一把张开的绿色折扇,造型别致。老杨便藏身在它的后面,屁股底下垫着一只塑料袋,蜷缩着,强睁开耷拉的眼皮,目光散漫地往外望。远处,是在寒风中穿梭往来的溜旱冰的孩子。一个穿着黄色羽绒袄的小女孩很是惹眼,让他不时地分神看向她。她跌跌撞撞,很显然溜冰的动作还不熟练。她的身后跟着一位妇女,应该是她的母亲吧,也在跌跌撞撞,亦步亦趋,像是张开翅膀护小鸡的母鸡。近处,在离老杨不到二十米远的地方,是一溜儿烧烤摊。
  • 妾心如宅

    妾心如宅

    曾经名动天下的花魁,如今豪门深宅的贱妾,传奇浮生所给予她的,是冰火两重天。乱世倾覆,帝心难测,时局诡谲,世家变迁……她洗尽铅华独守承诺,铁腕缔造家族荣耀四个痴人,三段感情,两次婚姻,一生缱绻。逆来顺受的伎者贱妾,终成覆雨翻云的不世红颜。妾心如宅,繁华无声,门庭深冷,来者须诚。
  • 凌虚诀

    凌虚诀

    “武林纷争莫去管,且随天下四大家”江湖一直有着这种说法,他们代表了整个江湖最顶级的实力。虽然江湖上的门阀帮派数不胜数,但是大家都知道,真正掌握武林命脉的,只有他们。这一年,整个中原武林进入了最动荡的时节:随着明松阁的武林圣尊与邪道魔尊的排行公布、唐家堡的刺杀清单泄露等事件,江湖门派的对立也愈加激烈;为了确立自己天下第一大教的名号,四大门派的明争暗斗从来没有停止过;明冠南和唐轲离为了追寻当年传闻宝藏的真相,纷纷派出弟子前四处打探;传说中的凌虚诀和斩尘剑又重现江湖了,更是让江湖一阵慌乱,江湖大乱一触即发!
  • 霹雳天命

    霹雳天命

    生命大不易,尤其是霹雳。一个穿越者的艰难求存之旅。
  • 便衣警察

    便衣警察

    这是一个年轻警察成长的故事,也是一曲美好爱情的颂歌。故事发生在粉碎“四人帮”之前的一九七六年。经群众举报,南州市公安局逮捕了一个名叫徐邦呈的台湾特务。当时没有弄清楚特务潜入南州市来的目的,在军代表甘副局长的诱供下,徐邦呈谎称他要在边境接应一支敌人的小分队入境,目的是破坏大陆的批林批孔运动……
  • 有所失必有所得

    有所失必有所得

    人生来有一种占有欲,喜欢“得”而讨厌“失”,其实“失中自有得”,而“得中也有失”。如果把人一生中的获得和失去相加,其结果等于零,也就是说,人自呱呱坠地至生命终结,失去了多少,必然也就得到了多少。