DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61284#0251
CATHERINE II
125
that I should like Russia well enough to stay there for a long time, was
so kindly that my timidity disappeared, and when I took leave of her
Majesty I was completely at ease. Only I did not forgive myself for not
having kissed her hand, which was very pretty and very white, and I
regretted that forgetfulness all the more because M. d’Esterhazy reproached
me for it. As to my costume, the Empress did not appear to have noticed
it, or perhaps she was less fastidious than our ambassadress.”
According to Madame Lebrun, she became at once a subject of petty
intrigue at the court. She tells us that the Empress ordered her chamber-
lains to give her a suite of rooms in the palace, as she wished to be able
to see her painting portraits, and that the chamberlains, believing her to
be an adherent of the Comte d’Artois, and fearing that she came to intrigue
against M. Esterhazy in the interests of that Prince, assured the Empress
that there were no suitable rooms vacant. Madame thought it probable
that the Bourbon envoy himself was in accord with the chamberlains
in this matter. “ But truly,” she says, “ one could know very little of
me not to be aware that I was too much taken up with my art to be able
to give my time to politics, even apart from the aversion I have always
felt from all that has any resemblance to intrigue.” In any case, she
felt that she would have been far less free at the palace than in her own
lodgings, and the kindness with which she was treated by the great ladies
of St. Petersburg made up for any little unkindness she received from
the immediate entourage of the Empress.
The hospitality of the wealthy Russian nobles at that period was
displayed on a highly generous scale. No foreigner, if he had a satisfactory
introduction, ever needed to take his meals at an hotel or a restaurant.
“ I remember,” writes Vigee-Lebrun, “ that during the last month I was
in St. Petersburg the Prince Narischkin, Grand Equerry, kept an open
table of twenty-five to thirty covers for strangers who were recommended
to him.” Wherever foreigners of “ good position ” travelled in Russia
they could lodge and feed free of expense at the country-houses of nobles,
merchants, or landed proprietors, who were surprised at the warmth with
which their guests thanked them for their generous treatment. “If we
were in your country,” said these lavish hosts, “ you would certainly do
as much for us.” Madame Lebrun’s comment on such a confident opinion
was fully justified, so far as Western Europe was in question. It is expressed
in the one word—“ Alas ! ”
It was not long after her arrival in Russia that Madame Lebrun made
125
that I should like Russia well enough to stay there for a long time, was
so kindly that my timidity disappeared, and when I took leave of her
Majesty I was completely at ease. Only I did not forgive myself for not
having kissed her hand, which was very pretty and very white, and I
regretted that forgetfulness all the more because M. d’Esterhazy reproached
me for it. As to my costume, the Empress did not appear to have noticed
it, or perhaps she was less fastidious than our ambassadress.”
According to Madame Lebrun, she became at once a subject of petty
intrigue at the court. She tells us that the Empress ordered her chamber-
lains to give her a suite of rooms in the palace, as she wished to be able
to see her painting portraits, and that the chamberlains, believing her to
be an adherent of the Comte d’Artois, and fearing that she came to intrigue
against M. Esterhazy in the interests of that Prince, assured the Empress
that there were no suitable rooms vacant. Madame thought it probable
that the Bourbon envoy himself was in accord with the chamberlains
in this matter. “ But truly,” she says, “ one could know very little of
me not to be aware that I was too much taken up with my art to be able
to give my time to politics, even apart from the aversion I have always
felt from all that has any resemblance to intrigue.” In any case, she
felt that she would have been far less free at the palace than in her own
lodgings, and the kindness with which she was treated by the great ladies
of St. Petersburg made up for any little unkindness she received from
the immediate entourage of the Empress.
The hospitality of the wealthy Russian nobles at that period was
displayed on a highly generous scale. No foreigner, if he had a satisfactory
introduction, ever needed to take his meals at an hotel or a restaurant.
“ I remember,” writes Vigee-Lebrun, “ that during the last month I was
in St. Petersburg the Prince Narischkin, Grand Equerry, kept an open
table of twenty-five to thirty covers for strangers who were recommended
to him.” Wherever foreigners of “ good position ” travelled in Russia
they could lodge and feed free of expense at the country-houses of nobles,
merchants, or landed proprietors, who were surprised at the warmth with
which their guests thanked them for their generous treatment. “If we
were in your country,” said these lavish hosts, “ you would certainly do
as much for us.” Madame Lebrun’s comment on such a confident opinion
was fully justified, so far as Western Europe was in question. It is expressed
in the one word—“ Alas ! ”
It was not long after her arrival in Russia that Madame Lebrun made