“You will have learned, my dear mamma, that the Duc d’Orleans and the Duc de Chartres are returned from banishment.  I am glad of it for the sake of peace, and for that of the tranquillity and comfort of the king.  But, if she had been in the king’s place, I do not think my dear mamma would have accepted the letter which they have dared to write, and which they have got printed in foreign newspapers.[6]

“I was glad to see M. de Stormont.[7] I asked him all the news about my dear family, and it was a pleasure to him to inform me.  He seems to me to have overcome his prejudices, and every one here thinks him a man of thorough high-breeding.  I have desired M. de Mercy to invite him to one of my Monday balls.  We are going to have one at, Madame de Noailles’.  They will last till Ash-Wednesday.  They will begin an hour or two later than they used to, that we may not be so tired as we were last year when we came to Lent In spite of the amusements of the carnival, I am always faithful to my poor harp, and they say that I make great progress with it.  I sing, too, every week at the concert given by my sister of Provence.  Although there are very few people there, they are very well amused; and my singing gives great pleasure to my two sisters.[8] I also find time to read a little.  I have begun the ‘History of England’ by Mr. Hume.  It seems to me very interesting, though it is necessary to recollect that it is a Protestant who has written it.

“All the newspapers have spoken of the terrible fire at the Hotel-Dieu.[9] They were obliged to remove the patients into the cathedral and the archbishop’s palace.  There are generally from five to six thousand patients in the hospital.  In spite of all the exertions that were made, it was impossible to prevent the destruction of a great part of the building; and, though it is now a fortnight since the accident happened, the tire is still smoldering in the cellars.  The archbishop has enjoined a collection to be made for the sufferers, and I have sent him a thousand crowns.  I said nothing of my having done so to any one, and the compliments which they have paid me on it have been embarrassing to me; but they have said it was right to let it be known that I had sent this money, for the sake of the example.”

She was on this, as on many other occasions, one of those who

  “Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.”

One of her sayings, with which she more than once repressed the panegyrics of those who, as it seemed to her, extolled her benevolence too loudly, was that it was not worth while to say a great deal about giving a little assistance; and, on this occasion, so secret had she intended to keep her benevolence that she had not mentioned it to De Vermond, or even to Mercy.  But she judged rightly that the empress would enter into the feelings which had prompted both the act and also the silence; and she was amply rewarded by her mother’s praise.