and the Emperor was even so kind as to have
me marry the daughter of the Marshal Repeto, Duke of Mondovi.

"I have no scruple in announcing that this union was not what it
should have been. The Countess, who was ten years older than I, was
crabbed and not particularly pretty. Moreover, her family had insisted
resolutely on a marriage portion. Now I had nothing at this time
except the twenty-five thousand pounds for my appointment as Gentleman
of the Chamber. A sad lot for anyone on intimate terms with the Count
d'Orsay and the Duke of Gramont-Caderousse! Without the kindness of
the Emperor, where would I have been?

"One morning in the spring of 1852, I was in my study opening my mail.
There was a letter from His Majesty, calling me to the Tuileries at
four o'clock; a letter from Clementine, informing me that she expected
me at five o'clock at her house. Clementine was the beautiful one for
whom, just then, I was ready to commit any folly. I was so proud of
her that, one evening at the _Maison Doree_, I flaunted her before
Prince Metternich, who was tremendously taken with her. All the court
envied me that conquest; and I was morally obliged to continue to
assume its expenses. And then Clementine was so pretty! The Emperor
himself.... The other letters, good lord, the other letters were the
bills of the dressmakers of that young person, who, in spite of my
discreet remonstrances, insisted on having them sent to my conjugal
dwelling.

"There were bills for something over forty thousand francs: gowns and
ball dresses from Gagelin-Opigez, 23 Rue de Richelieu; hats and
bonnets from Madame Alexandrine, 14 Rue d'Antin; lingerie and many
petticoats from Madame Pauline, 100 Rue de Clery; dress trimmings and
gloves from the _Ville de Lyon_, 6 Rue de la Chaussee d'Antin;
foulards from the _Malle des Indes_; handkerchiefs from the _Compagnie
Irlandaise_; laces from Ferguson; cosmetics from _Candes_.... This
whitening cream of _Candes_, in particular, overwhelmed me with
stupefaction. The bill showed fifty-one flasks. Six hundred and
twenty-seven francs and fifty centimes' worth of whitening cream from
_Candes_.... Enough to soften the skin of a squadron of a hundred
guards!

"'This can't keep on,' I said, putting the bills in my pocket.

"At ten minutes to four, I crossed the wicket by the Carrousel.

"In the Salon of the _aides de camp_ I happened on Bacciochi.

"'The Emperor has the grippe,' he said to me. 'He is keeping