e. The obligation imposed on us by the queen, of being
intellectual at all hazards, had the effect of conjuring up a somewhat
embarrassed and stupid expression to our faces. We presented the
appearance of actors on the stage looking at each other, while awaiting
the rise of the curtain. Jests and _bon mots_ followed each other in
rapid succession until the arrival of the carriage recalled to our faces
an expression of official earnestness.

"Madame Recamier, still young, and very handsome, and with an expression
of _naivete_ in her charming countenance, made the impression on me of
being a young lady in love, carefully watched over by too severe a
_duenna,_ her timid, gentle manner contrasted so strongly with the
somewhat too masculine self-consciousness of her companion. Madame de
Stael is, however, generally admitted to have been good and kind,
particularly to this friend, and I only speak of the impression she made
on one to whom she was a stranger, at first sight.

"Madame de Stael's extremely dark complexion, her original toilet, her
perfectly bare shoulders, of which either might have been very
beautiful, but which harmonized very poorly with each other; her whole
_ensemble_ was far from approximating to the standard of the ideal I had
formed of the authoress of Delphine and Corinne. I had almost hoped to
find in her one of the heroines she had so beautifully portrayed, and I
was therefore struck dumb with astonishment. But, after the first shock,
I was at least compelled to acknowledge that she possessed very
beautiful and expressive eyes; and yet it seemed impossible for me to
find anything in her countenance on which love could fasten, although I
have been told that she has often inspired that sentiment.

"When I afterward expressed my astonishment to the queen, she replied:
'It is, perhaps, because she is capable of such great love herself, that
she succeeds in inspiring others with love; moreover, it flatters a
man's self-love to be noticed by such a woman, and, in the end, one can
dispense with beauty, when one has Madame de Stael's intellect.'

"The queen inquired after Madame de Stael's daughter, who had not come
with her, and who was said to be truly charming. I believe the young
gentlemen of our party could have confronted the beautiful eyes of the
daughter with still greater amiability than those of the mother, but an
attack of toothache had prevented her coming.

"After the first compliments and sa