In the course of the same year the prince executed a favourite project, that of building a summer residence at Etupes, a pretty village two leagues from Montbéliard, on the road to Basle. It was finished at the end of November. Beloved castle of Etupes, what tender memories twine around you! how deserted do you now appear to me without my dear princess! How delightful you were then, when your splendour was softened by refinement how delicious were your gardens! The 20th of December 1770, Charles Eugene, the reigning duke of Wurtemberg, came to Etupes, with his brother: my father and I had the honour of accompanying them. The Prince Charles Eugene had a fine classical head. At the birth of this prince, in 1728, it was little thought that he would ascend the throne of Wurtemberg, and yet, in 1737, every obstacle being removed, he became, at nine years of age, head of the ducal house. Placed under the guardianship of his mother and of the dukes of Wurtemberg-Neustadt, and of Wurtemberg-Oels, his nearest relations, the duke minor was conducted to the court of the great Frederick. The intelligence and capacity which he soon showed caused his minority to be abridged. At sixteen the Emperor Charles VII. invested him with the government of the duchies of Wurtemberg and of Montbéliard. He assembled around him a VOL. I. D cradle, tended my youth, and been a second self in my house since I possessed one of my own. She was at that time thirty-nine years of age. An extraordinary intimacy sprung up between her and Madame Hendel, femme-de-charge of the castle. What a strange person that Madame Hendel was! What joyous peals of laughter she often caused to the young princesses and to me. We always called her Madame Pompadour, not that there existed any similarity between her and the lady of that name (or that we could have understood such an allusion if there did), but because of her pompous and majestic bearing. She usually wore a dress of stiff violet silk, with red knots, the rustling of which was heard through all the corridors from the moment she left her room. She thought herself the greatest lady in Europe after the princess; and when speaking of herself always said, they have done so and so, they have been in such a place; I appearing to her too vulgar and commonplace for her rank. She was not aware that in this she imitated M. de Turenne, nor do I think she would feel flattered had she known it, a viscount being in her eyes a very humble person, were he even a Latour or a Bouillon. When the Princess Dorothea was married to the czarovitz, we thought she would have burst with pride. She was always raving of the power, of the vast dominions of her dear mistress. To be able to appreciate the word vast, one should have heard her pronounce it as she opened her mouth to its fullest vertical extent. The governor of the young princes was the baron de Maucler, a distinguished military officer of high birth, and who possessed a brilliant understanding. All the family idolized him, and looked upon him as a beloved friend. I was soon on the very best terms with this amiable pedagogue, as the prince de Montbéliard used laughingly to call him. His wife, the baroness Lefort, to whom he has been since married, was born in Geneva, and was descended from the companion of the Czar Peter the Great. The Princess Dorothea looked on that as a mark of predestination when her marriage with the czarovitz was first spoken of. The truth is, she was constantly questioning M. de Maucler about Peter I. and Russia; and in our confidential conversations she always spoke of this country with a burning curiosity that was almost prophetic. Perhaps she foresaw her future destiny. Some years after, when the prince of Montbéliard sent his three eldest sons to Lausanne for the completion of their education, M. de Maucler accompanied them. He watched over them with paternal solicitude, which they repaid with filial affection. We will often again have occasion to speak of him. From the year 1769 I became an almost habitual inmate of the castle of Montbéliard. I always lived there when my father was from home, and even sometimes remained there with him. The princess was enceinte, and rather delicate. She rarely went out, and I read to her in French or German: she always corrected me when I made a mistake in pronunciation, or when I uttered some ill-constructed phrase. During the months immediately preceding the birth of the young prince, she asked my father to allow me to remain with her to amuse her, as she said: she called me her reader, and taught me a wonderful tapestry stitch (le point de Troye), in which she embroidered fauteuils with inimitable skill. This The 3rd of May 1770 was a great festival at Montbéliard, H.R.H. having given birth to a prince, who was called Charles Henry Frederic. was her sixth son. The entire city was illuminated, and the different guilds of citizens came one after the other to congratulate their sovereigns. I ate so great a quantity of sweetmeats that I was sick for two days, which greatly amused the Princess Dorothea, who, though she had eaten more than I, and continued eating them a week after, escaped unhurt. Madame Hendel had six dozen boxes of them for her share, which she allowed to decay rather than waste one on the servants of the castle. In the course of the same year the prince executed a favourite project, that of building a summer residence at Etupes, a pretty village two leagues from Montbéliard, on the road to Basle. It was finished at the end of November. Beloved castle of Etupes, what tender memories twine around you! how deserted do you now appear to me without my dear princess! How delightful you were then, when your splendour was softened by refinement how delicious were your gardens! The 20th of December 1770, Charles Eugene, the reigning duke of Wurtemberg, came to Etupes, with his brother: my father and I had the honour of accompanying them. The Prince Charles Eugene had a fine classical head. At the birth of this prince, in 1728, it was little thought that he would ascend the throne of Wurtemberg, and yet, in 1737, every obstacle being removed, he became, at nine years of age, head of the ducal house. Placed under the guardianship of his mother and of the dukes of Wurtemberg-Neustadt, and of Wurtemberg-Oels, his nearest relations, the duke minor was conducted to the court of the great Frederick. The intelligence and capacity which he soon showed caused his minority to be abridged. At sixteen the Emperor Charles VII. invested him with the government of the duchies of Wurtemberg and of Montbéliard. He assembled around him a VOL. I. D |