Suddenly there was a blast of trumpets; the sovereigns made their entrance conducting the empresses, queens, and archduchesses. After having made the round of the hall amidst general acclamations, they proceeded to the riding-school and took their seats on the platform. In the first row there were the Empresses of Austria and Russia, the Queen of Bavaria and the Grande-Duchesse d’Oldenbourg, the well-beloved sister of Alexander, whose likeness to Alexander was so striking. Then came the Archduchess Beatrice, Grand-Duchess of Saxe-Weimar.
The seats on the right and left were occupied by the galaxy of women who at that moment disputed the palm of beauty and elegance with each other: the Princesse de la Tour et Taxis, the Comtesse de Bernsdorff, the Princesse de Hesse-Philippstal, in all the splendour of her imposing and statuesque loveliness; her two daughters, bidding fair to rival their mother; the Comtesse d’Apponyi, tall and lithe, with most expressive eyes; the Princesses Sapieha and Lichtenstein, whose beauty was of a more regular and gentler cast; the Comtesse Cohari, the Princesses Paul Esterhazy and Bagration; the daughters of Admiral Sidney Smith;[28] the Comtesse Zamoyska, née Czartoryska, tall, fair, with a skin of dazzling whiteness, who in herself virtually represented every kind of Polish female beauty. There were many more whose names and portraits will often recur in these Recollections.
Meanwhile, to the sound of inspiriting dance strains, there entered a group of masked children in fancy dress, who performed a Venetian pantomime, followed by an extensive ballet. The expressive attitudes, the varied evolutions and steps of those youthful performers seemed to afford great enjoyment to the illustrious spectators.
After the departure of the sovereigns the bands struck up a series of waltz tunes, and immediately an electric current seemed to run through the immense gathering. Germany is the country that gave birth to the waltz; it is there, and above all in Vienna, that, thanks to the musical ear of the inhabitants, that dance has acquired all the charm inherent in it. It is there that one ought to watch the apparently whirl-like course, though in reality regulated by the beat of the music, in which the man sustains and carries away his companion, while she yields to the spell with a vague expression of happiness tending to enhance her beauty. It is difficult to conceive elsewhere the fascination of the waltz. As soon as its strains rise upon the air, the features relax, the eyes become animated, and a thrill of delight runs through the company. The graceful gyrations of the dancers, at first somewhat confused, gradually assume accurately timed movements, while the spectators whom age condemns to immobility beat time and rhythm, mentally joining in the pleasure which is bodily denied to them.
The pen fails to reproduce that enchanting scene of beauteous women covered with flowers and diamonds, yielding to the irresistible strains of the harmony, and being carried away in the strong arms of their partners until sheer fatigue compelled them to pause. The pen fails to reproduce the magnificent sight, to which daylight streaming through the windows put an end.
CHAPTER II
The Drawing-rooms of the Comtesse de Fuchs—The Prince Philip of Hesse-Homburg—George Sinclair—The Announcement of a Military Tournament—The Comtesse Edmond de Périgord—General Comte de Witt—Letters of Recommendation—The Princesse Pauline—The Poet-functionary and Fouché.
Among the most distinguished women of Austrian society was the Comtesse Laure de Fuchs, of whom the numerous visitors to Vienna during the Congress have preserved the most delightful recollection. Graceful and witty, she conveyed the highest idea in her own person of the courtesy of her country. Foreigners considered it a signal honour to be admitted to her receptions. In 1808 and 1812, I, and the few Frenchmen who were in Vienna at this period, met with the most cordial welcome on her part. Among those who composed her most intimate circle, all the members of which were friends, special mention ought to be made of the Comtesse Pletemberg, her sister, the wife of the reigning comte of that name; the Duchesses de Sagan and d’Exerenza, and Madame Edmond de Périgord,[29] a niece, by marriage, of Prince de Talleyrand. They were all three born Princesses de Courlande, and were called the Three Graces. In addition to these, there were the Chanoinesse Kinski, belonging to one of the most illustrious families of Hungary; the Duc de Dalberg, one of the French plenipotentiaries; Marshal Walmoden, the three Comtes de Pahlen,[30] the Prince Philip of Hesse-Homburg, the Prince Paul Esterhazy, subsequently Austrian ambassador to the Court of St. James; the Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, the Russian general Comte de Witt,[31] M. de Gentz,[32] the secretary of the Congress, and the intimate friend of M. de Metternich; General Nostiltz, the clever man of letters; Varnhagen (von Ense), the poet Carpani, Doctor Koreff, the Baron d’Ompteda, former minister of Westphalia at Vienna, whom the fall of his sovereign had left without an embassy, and who attended this great diplomatic Sanhedrim as a simple amateur.