VII

Life at Bel Œil—The Archduchess Christine, Governor of the Netherlands—The Comte d’Artois at Bel Œil—Le Mariage de Figaro—The Comtesse de Sabran and the Chevalier de Boufflers.

Hélène awaited her husband’s return with the greatest impatience, for during his absence and that of his father her life had not been an easy one.

The Dowager-Princess generally took advantage of her husband’s absence to reduce the expenses of her household, and reestablish, as much as possible, a condition of things too often upset by the Prince, who, like the amiable spendthrift that he was, gaily threw millions out of the window. Hélène would gladly have taken her share in superintending the household; for she had learnt at the Convent howto keep house, and was naturally proud of her acquirements. She gracefully proffered her services to her mother-in-law, anxious to display her domestic qualities, but the Princesse de Ligne was not disposed to share her authority with any one, and coldly refused her daughter-in-law’s offer. Hélène, rebuffed and humiliated, did not complain, but it left a feeling of rancour in her mind, and from that moment the relations between mother and daughter-in-law became more strained. At last the Prince’s six months’ journey drew to a close, and it was with twofold joy that Hélène hailed her husband’s return, and the end of the harsh tutelage under which she had been living.

The Princes found their family at Brussels, and in the spring went to Bel Œil, where they spent the summer together, with the exception of Prince Louis, who was detained by his service in Paris, and could seldom be with them. The life at Bel Œil was extremely gay and animated; thestream of visitors was incessant, and poured in from all sides—Brussels, Paris, and even Vienna. The officers of the de Ligne regiment came to stay in turns. Not only did the Prince keep open house—that is to say, that people could come and spend the day there without any previous warning, but there was also a certain number of apartments kept in readiness for any unexpected guests who might come for a longer visit. Among the intimates at Bel Œil were the most charming women of the Court of Brussels.

Although the de Lignes provided ample entertainment and amusement for their guests, a due part of the day was devoted to more serious occupations. The mornings were given up to study. Music, literature, drawing, etc., were cultivated in turn. “Christine pastes and unpastes, Hélène sings and is enchanting,” wrote the Prince. As for him, he was no sooner up than, book in hand, he went to his island of Flora, or worked in his library, or else inspected thegardens. He already possessed a private printing-press in his house at Brussels; he installed another at Bel Œil, which was a source of great amusement.[32]Prince Charles in particular busied himself with it, but he confined himself to publishing the works of others; his father, the Chevalier de l’Isle, and the Abbé Payez, provided ample material for the small presses of Bel Œil.

Prince Charles, who was an enthusiastic admirer of pictures, had found time, in spite of his studies and military duties, to make a magnificent collection of original drawings, both of ancient and modern masters.[33]He was a thorough connoisseur, and drew well himself, he even undertook to engrave some of the drawings in his collection, andsent for the celebrated Bartsch to give him lessons at Bel Œil. Hélène interested herself in her husband’s occupations, and, while he was engraving, put the drawings in order, studied under his guidance the different styles of each master, and became quite an enlightened amateur. These intellectual occupations took up the first half of the day, after which the family and numerous visitors assembled for dinner. After an hour’s rest they all went into the gardens, where they wandered about, or indulged in reverie, or gathered together according to taste. There were a hundred different pastimes, and a hundred different ways of enjoying one’s self; the Prince had anticipated every taste and every wish. Sometimes they went long excursions on horseback or in carriages to the beautiful forest of Baudour, adjoining the woods of Bel Œil, or they sailed on the large lake which was connected with the canals, rivers, and smaller lakes of the park. The boats were decked out with streamers,and manned by small boatmen dressed in the Prince’s livery. “During the lovely summer evenings,” he writes, “our excursions on the water, with music and a bright moonlight, were most agreeable to the ladies.”

The Prince never forgot them in his rustic arrangements; well beaten-paths, so that they might not wet their pretty feet, bowers of roses, jasmine, orange trees, and honeysuckle, led to the ladies’ baths. They found shaded benches and rustic cabins, and also “their embroidery frames, their knitting, their netting, and, above all, their black writing-books. Sand or something else was often wanting, but they contained secrets unknown both to lovers and husbands, and, used as desks by their owners, served to write many a pretty little lie.”

At this period Brussels presented the most brilliant and animated aspect. Prince Charles of Lorraine had been succeeded by the ArchduchessMarie-Christine, formerly Regent of Hungary, where she had enjoyed the privileges of a queen. She held her court on a grand scale, and did the honours of it with grace and affability. The Archduchess was considered the handsomest of Marie-Thérèse’s four daughters. She danced so gracefully and so lightly that, directly she began, every one stopped to admire. Although pretending to be annoyed, she was, on the contrary, far from displeased at the admiration she provoked. She had married the Archduke Albert of Saxe-Teschen,[34]who was entirely under his wife’s influence, and, unlike Prince Charles of Lorraine, never gained the hearts of the Flemish. Nevertheless, the Archduke’s gentle and easy character made him beloved by all who approached him. He was an intelligent connoisseur in pictures, and formed twomagnificent collections of paintings and drawings.

The Archduchess and her husband took pleasure in encouraging art and literature, and Brussels soon became a lively literary centre. All that appeared in France—novels, poetry, travels, etc.—was eagerly read. Several reviews were started. The Prince de Ligne welcomed young Belgian authors, and helped them in every way to the best of his ability. Happy to avail themselves of the lordly hospitality he so graciously offered, they constantly came to submit to him their essays. It is needless to say that they extolled the beauties of Bel Œil and Baudour in verses which were reproduced in the gazettes of the day.

If Belgium had not become the scene of political events, it is probable that the Prince would have founded a school of literature and good taste, for he occasionally evinced in his writings talent of the highest order. Ideas flowed in abundance from his fertile pen,and he seemed merely to jot them down on the paper at haphazard. His style, which is capricious, incorrect, and even obscure, is always lively and descriptive; each word seems to fall naturally into its place under his pen; wit abounds, unexpected, satirical, and sometimes most daring. He has the greatest contempt for grammar; but this very negligence, this lordly indifference, gives to his writings a most original style.

Moreover, he possessed all the requisites of an excellent critic, but it must be acknowledged that he was blindly indulgent towards his own poetry. Unfortunately gifted with deplorable facility, he never missed an opportunity of rhyming. One evening, when they had all gone for a long walk in the woods, they wandered so far into the forest that they completely lost their way, and only found it, thanks to a star Hélène had noticed. On the following day her father-in-law brought her a ballad, set to a tune then in vogue, and perhaps amongall those he has written, it may be considered as one of the best:—

À Hélène.

Air: Sous la Verdure.

Un sombre voileNous dérobait notre chemin;Nous errions à la belle étoile,Mais nous arrivons à la finGrâce à l’étoile.Est-ce l’étoileQui jadis guida vers un Dieu?Ou de Vénus est-ce l’étoile?Je penche beaucoup en ce lieuPour cette étoile.Auprès d’HélèneConduit l’étoile du berger;Trop heureux celui qu’elle amèneTout juste à l’heure du bergerAuprès d’Hélène.[35]

Un sombre voileNous dérobait notre chemin;Nous errions à la belle étoile,Mais nous arrivons à la finGrâce à l’étoile.

Un sombre voile

Nous dérobait notre chemin;

Nous errions à la belle étoile,

Mais nous arrivons à la fin

Grâce à l’étoile.

Est-ce l’étoileQui jadis guida vers un Dieu?Ou de Vénus est-ce l’étoile?Je penche beaucoup en ce lieuPour cette étoile.

Est-ce l’étoile

Qui jadis guida vers un Dieu?

Ou de Vénus est-ce l’étoile?

Je penche beaucoup en ce lieu

Pour cette étoile.

Auprès d’HélèneConduit l’étoile du berger;Trop heureux celui qu’elle amèneTout juste à l’heure du bergerAuprès d’Hélène.[35]

Auprès d’Hélène

Conduit l’étoile du berger;

Trop heureux celui qu’elle amène

Tout juste à l’heure du berger

Auprès d’Hélène.[35]

And so the days passed quickly and pleasantly, the only drawback in this happyscene being the state of Hélène’s health, which required an amount of care her youth and love of pleasure made it difficult for her to take. Two accidents had successively destroyed a hope dearly cherished by her husband, and even more by her father-in-law, who was anxious that his beloved Charles should have a son. The waters of Spa, then very much the fashion, were recommended. Hélène went there in the month of May 1782, accompanied by the Chevalier de l’Isle, and her convent friend, Mademoiselle de Conflans, who was now Marquise de Coigny,[36]and on intimate termswith the de Lignes. Hélène wrote to appoint a meeting-place. The Chevalier de l’Isle, who had a ready pen and familiar style, answered as follows: “Madame de Coigny embraces Mouchette,[37]and exhorts her to wait for her to go to Spa till the fifteenth of next month.” Hélène waited for her, and they started together with the Chevalier; he only remained a short time, and on his return wrote to the Prince de Ligne: “I did not write to you from Spa, my dear Prince, because I hoped to see you there, and then because I intended stopping at Brussels, at Bel Œil even; I had begged the Princesse Charles, who talks much better than I can write, to speak to you of me in her spare moments. She has none? So much the better for both her and you, and so much the worse for me. But I had my turn at Spa; twenty times I was on the point of writing, if only to tell you howcharming your daughter-in-law was, and then I reflected that you were not the man to ignore it, and that when one has nothing fresh to say, one had better hold one’s tongue.”

Shortly after the Chevalier’s departure the Prince rejoined his daughter-in-law at Spa.

A watering-place at that time was very much like what it is in our days, but the Prince describes it in the most spirited manner: “I arrive in a large hall, where I find the maimed showing off their arms and their legs; ridiculous names, titles, and faces; clerical and worldly animals jumping and running races; hypochondriacmilordswandering sadly about; females from Paris entering with roars of laughter, to make one believe they are amiable and at their ease, and hoping thereby to become so; young men of all countries, counterfeiting the English, speaking with their teeth closed, and dressed like grooms, their hair cut short, black, and greasy, with apair of Jewish whiskers surrounding dirty ears.

“French bishops with their nieces; an accoucheur, decorated with the order of Saint Michael; a dentist with that of the Spur; dancing and singing masters in the uniform of Russian majors; Italians in that of Polish colonels, leading about young bears of that country; Dutchmen scanning the papers for the rate of exchange; thirty so-called Knights of Malta; ribbons of all colours, to the right and the left, at the buttonhole on both sides, orders of all kinds, shapes, and sizes.

“Old duchesses returning from their walks armed with tall canesà la Vendôme, and three coatings of white and rouge; marchionesses, cheating doubly at cards; horrible and suspicious faces, surrounded by piles of ducats, and swallowing up all those that were timidly put on the large green cloth; two or three electors in hunting-dress, striped with gold, armed with hunting-knives;a few princes incognito, who would not produce a greater sensation under their own names; some old generals and officers retired on account of wounds they never received; a few Russian princesses with their doctors, and Palatines and Castilian ladies with their young chaplains.

“Americans and burgomasters of the neighbourhood; convicts escaped from all the different prisons in Europe; quacks of every description; adventurers of all kinds; abbés of all countries. Twenty sick people wildly dancing for their health; forty lovers, or pretended lovers, sweating and agitating themselves, and sixty feminine waltzers of more or less beauty and innocence, cleverness and coquetry, modesty and voluptuousness. All this combined is called a dancing breakfast.”

After leaving the establishment of the mineral waters, the Prince takes us to La Sauvetière, an elegant meeting-place for bathers: “The noise, the buzzing sound ofconversation, the uproar of the music, the intoxicating rhythm of the waltz, the passing and repassing of the idlers, the oaths and sobs of the gamblers, both men and women, the weariness of this magic-lantern made me leave the hall. I sit down, and I see some water drinkers religiously counting their glasses and their steps, and congratulating themselves, perhaps rather sadly, on the improvement of their digestion. Some ladies join their group.

“‘Do you digest the waters, Madame?’

“‘Yes, sir, since yesterday.’

“‘Does your Excellency begin to digest?’ she says to the minister of an ecclesiastical court.

“‘I have the honour to inform your Excellency,’ he answers, ‘that I perspire from eight o’clock in the evening till ten, and that I sweat completely from ten till midnight. If I had not so much business to transact for his Grace, I should be entirely cured by the treatment.’”

Hélène returned to Spa in 1783, and met there Madame de Sabran, born a d’Andlau,[38]who became later the Marquise de Boufflers. She was one of the most charming women of her time, and pleased every one who saw her by her appearance, her elegance, and the kindliness of her nature. She was accompanied by her little son, Elzéar de Sabran, who little thought of the part he was destined to play in politics later on; for the present, he contented himself with learning the part of Chérubin in theMariage de Figaro, the Princesse Charles studying Suzanne, and Madame de Sabran the part of the Countess, for after the return from Spa the play was to be acted at Bel Œil.

Just at this time they received news of the Comte d’Artois’ arrival in Flanders,[39]andthe Princes de Ligne started off at once to receive and accompany him on his progress through Rocroi and Spa, bringing him back with them to Bel Œil.

The Princesse Hélène returned to Bel Œil before the Princes, in order to prepare for the Comte d’Artois’ reception; but he had barely arrived when he fell seriously ill. The Prince had prepared festivities which cost him over fifty thousand francs; he never even spoke of them to the Count, who was not in a condition to enjoy them. Only one thing took place, a fairy-like illumination of the park, which the Prince, however, did not see, for he never left the Comte d’Artois’ side, and started with him for Versailles.

After the departure of the Comte d’Artois, the Chevalier de Boufflers and Madame de Sabran came to Bel Œil. Hearing that theChevalier was garrisoned at Valenciennes, the Prince wrote and proposed his joining him at Tournai, and from there returning with him to Bel Œil. The Chevalier replied: “I am very much tempted, my dear Charlot, by all you suggest; but on closely examining your marching orders, I believe that my regiment is the very thing I should miss. Tell me when you go to Tournai; I intend going there, and defying you at the head of your army, and if I find it on twoLignes(lines), I shall try to break through them.

“Dear Prince, I love you as if I saw you every day of my life. After yourself there is nothing that gives so much pleasure as the impression that you leave. Send me your marching orders, so that we may meet somewhere, and that, if possible, we may part nowhere.”[40]

The Chevalier arrived at Bel Œil in time to take part in the representation of theMariage de Figaro, which was given with great success in the pretty theatre at Bel Œil. Hélène took the part of Suzanne; Madame de Sabran that of the Countess; Elzéar, Chérubin, and Boufflers, Figaro; as for the Prince-father, he had to content himself with the modest part of Doublemain, the notary’s clerk; we must confess that, though he gave others[41]good advice, he acted very badly himself. He was generally given the part of the notary who draws up the marriage-contract, or that of the lackey who brings in a letter, and would invariably come in at the wrong moment; but on the other hand, once on the stage he would not leave it, but say in a supplicating whisper to theother actors: “I am not in your way, am I?”

Hélène acted with an archness and vivacity which recalled the merry schoolgirl of the Abbaye-aux-Bois, tempered by a little experience; the little Elzéar was charming as Chérubin, but the Chevalier carried off the palm by the zest and spirit with which he threw himself into his part. It was a curious sight, and a sign of the times, to hear Figaro’s soliloquy recited by a nobleman, and applauded by the aristocratic audience of Bel Œil.

Prince Charles willingly lent himself to his wife’s amusements, though he took no active part in them; but his serious mind required occupations of a different order. He took a keen interest in all scientific discoveries, and at that moment was much taken up with the new process of aerostation invented by Charles Pilatre de Rozier and Montgolfier. He witnessed the first experiments made in Paris, and among others theascension of a fire balloon, in the gardens of La Muette, on the 21st of November 1783, made by Pilatre de Rozier and D’Arlandes. The aeronauts were in the greatest danger, their balloon having caught fire; they managed to extinguish it, and made their descent at Gentilly in safety. At that time a balloon ascension was looked upon as a most daring undertaking, and no one cared to accompany the aeronauts. But Prince Charles, whose courage and coolness were proof against everything, determined to take part in the third ascent, which took place at Lyons on the 19th of January 1784. The seven passengers were: the elder Montgolfier, Pilatre de Rozier, Fontaine, Prince Charles, and three other persons who at the last moment wished to ascend. Although the balloon was of enormous size, the number of passengers was too great; De Rozier had foreseen this, and did not wish the two last persons to enter the car. Montgolfier persuaded him, however, to let things be; butthey were hardly off, and had only run about five hundred fathoms, when the balloon began imperceptibly to tear, and they were obliged to make a hasty and perilous descent at a distance of about a league from the town. On their return to Lyons they were received with acclamations by the whole population. In April 1784 Prince Charles sent off from the public square in front of the hôtel des États, at Mons, a magnificent balloon, constructed at his own expense. He had invited the Duke and Duchess of Aremberg and a great many distinguished personages of the Courts of Brussels and Versailles, who, after the ascent of the balloon, all returned to Bel Œil.[42]

FOOTNOTES:[32]The volumes printed at Bel Œil are extremely rare and much in demand. M. Adolphe Gaiffe is in possession of one of the two known copies of the Chevalier de l’Isle’s poems. From a memorandum left by the Princess, we believe that part of her childhood’sMemoirswas printed by her husband at Bel Œil.[33]A catalogue of them was made by Adam Bartsch in 1794; it contained six thousand numbers.[34]Son of Augustus III., King of Poland; and Field-Marshal in the Austrian army. He was born on 11th July 1738, and married, on 8th April 1766, Marie-Christine-Josepha-Jeanne-Antoinette, sister of the Emperor Joseph, born on 13th May 1742. She died in 1798, and the Archduke Albert in 1822.[35]To Hélène.A dark mistConcealed our road;We wandered in the open air,But at last we reach our goal,Thanks to the star.Was it the starThat formerly led us heavenwards?Or was it of Venus the guiding star?I am disposed to believeThat it was this latter star.’Tis to HélèneThat this star led us,Too happy he that by it brought,Comes just at the happy momentNear to Hélène.[36]It was to this witty Marquise de Coigny that the Prince de Ligne addressed the charming letters written from Tauris.[37]Familiar nickname of the Princesse Charles.[38]Madame d’Andlau was daughter of the famous Helvétius and Mademoiselle de Ligneville. She had educated her daughter, Madame de Sabran, very well: Madame d’Andlau in no way shared her father’s opinions.[39]We read in theGazette des Pays Bas, dated Thursday, 17th July 1783: “On Monday, H.R.H. the Comte d’Artois, accompanied by their Excellencies the Governors-General, saw all that was remarkable in the vicinity. The next day the Prince, with their Royal Highnesses, left for the Chateau de Marimont, from whence he was going to Bel Œil.”[40]The Prince de Ligne had a particular affection for Boufflers. It would appear, however, that the Chevalier had a very uneven temper, for Madame de Sabran, in one of the charming letters she wrote him, gives us the following sketch: “It is not your manners, which are those of a savage, your absent and moody appearance, your sharp and genuine wit, your large appetite, and your deep sleep whenever one wishes to converse with you, which made me love you to distraction. It is I know not what: a certain sympathy that makes me think and feel like you, for under that rough exterior you conceal the spirit of an angel and the heart of a woman.”[41]See hisLetters to Eugénie on Theatricals. Paris, 1771.[42]See theGazette des Pays Bas, Monday, 5th April 1784, No. xxviii.

[32]The volumes printed at Bel Œil are extremely rare and much in demand. M. Adolphe Gaiffe is in possession of one of the two known copies of the Chevalier de l’Isle’s poems. From a memorandum left by the Princess, we believe that part of her childhood’sMemoirswas printed by her husband at Bel Œil.

[33]A catalogue of them was made by Adam Bartsch in 1794; it contained six thousand numbers.

[34]Son of Augustus III., King of Poland; and Field-Marshal in the Austrian army. He was born on 11th July 1738, and married, on 8th April 1766, Marie-Christine-Josepha-Jeanne-Antoinette, sister of the Emperor Joseph, born on 13th May 1742. She died in 1798, and the Archduke Albert in 1822.

[35]To Hélène.A dark mistConcealed our road;We wandered in the open air,But at last we reach our goal,Thanks to the star.Was it the starThat formerly led us heavenwards?Or was it of Venus the guiding star?I am disposed to believeThat it was this latter star.’Tis to HélèneThat this star led us,Too happy he that by it brought,Comes just at the happy momentNear to Hélène.

[35]

To Hélène.

A dark mistConcealed our road;We wandered in the open air,But at last we reach our goal,Thanks to the star.Was it the starThat formerly led us heavenwards?Or was it of Venus the guiding star?I am disposed to believeThat it was this latter star.’Tis to HélèneThat this star led us,Too happy he that by it brought,Comes just at the happy momentNear to Hélène.

A dark mistConcealed our road;We wandered in the open air,But at last we reach our goal,Thanks to the star.

A dark mist

Concealed our road;

We wandered in the open air,

But at last we reach our goal,

Thanks to the star.

Was it the starThat formerly led us heavenwards?Or was it of Venus the guiding star?I am disposed to believeThat it was this latter star.

Was it the star

That formerly led us heavenwards?

Or was it of Venus the guiding star?

I am disposed to believe

That it was this latter star.

’Tis to HélèneThat this star led us,Too happy he that by it brought,Comes just at the happy momentNear to Hélène.

’Tis to Hélène

That this star led us,

Too happy he that by it brought,

Comes just at the happy moment

Near to Hélène.

[36]It was to this witty Marquise de Coigny that the Prince de Ligne addressed the charming letters written from Tauris.

[37]Familiar nickname of the Princesse Charles.

[38]Madame d’Andlau was daughter of the famous Helvétius and Mademoiselle de Ligneville. She had educated her daughter, Madame de Sabran, very well: Madame d’Andlau in no way shared her father’s opinions.

[39]We read in theGazette des Pays Bas, dated Thursday, 17th July 1783: “On Monday, H.R.H. the Comte d’Artois, accompanied by their Excellencies the Governors-General, saw all that was remarkable in the vicinity. The next day the Prince, with their Royal Highnesses, left for the Chateau de Marimont, from whence he was going to Bel Œil.”

[40]The Prince de Ligne had a particular affection for Boufflers. It would appear, however, that the Chevalier had a very uneven temper, for Madame de Sabran, in one of the charming letters she wrote him, gives us the following sketch: “It is not your manners, which are those of a savage, your absent and moody appearance, your sharp and genuine wit, your large appetite, and your deep sleep whenever one wishes to converse with you, which made me love you to distraction. It is I know not what: a certain sympathy that makes me think and feel like you, for under that rough exterior you conceal the spirit of an angel and the heart of a woman.”

[41]See hisLetters to Eugénie on Theatricals. Paris, 1771.

[42]See theGazette des Pays Bas, Monday, 5th April 1784, No. xxviii.

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