I kept my appointment punctually to the moment.
CHAPTER XVII
Tunis
Monsieur Rouvier[5] may be described as an unimpeachable gentleman attired in black; of his statesmanship I will offer no opinion. He had only just returned from Paris, and the Press had not received him favourably. Evidently he had not achieved all that had been expected of him, and was attacked accordingly, but whether with or without grounds I know not. In any case, it is said by those who know him, that he, who had formerly shown himself friendly to all, now began to be haughty and distant in manner. He had perhaps discovered that every man’s friend is no one’s friend.
After having paid my respects to M. Rouvier, I had, according to previous arrangement, to call on His Highness the Bey. Our Consul was ill, and could not present me; I therefore drove alone to the palace near the Kasba, outside which was a crowd of carriages and waiting Mussulmans.
The General of Division, Valenci, the Bey’s interpreter, received me, and with an insinuating and affable smile clasped my right hand in both of his, assuring me of the great pleasure it gave him to see me.
Valenci is by birth a Jew, and was once a tailor; he became a favourite at the Court—how, I know not—and was gradually promoted until he was made a general, though he has never been in command of a soldier, much less of a division.
As a matter of fact, the French soldiers regard the Bey’s officers with contempt; they do not even salute them unless they happen to be personally acquainted with them. The Bey’s entire army now consists only of a bodyguard of some two hundred men, who are paid by the French, and with whom the old man is delighted, as they are well drilled and equipped and regularly paid, so that they no longer need to knit stockings when on guard, as in old days.
Seldom have I seen a breast glitter with so many orders as Valenci’s; his brilliant uniform was—in front, at least—literally covered with large crosses, bestowed on him by the many European Powers, whose emissaries have been received by him—as the Bey’s chief interpreter—when presented to the Bey. In the case of the “Legion d’honneur” alone, he has to be content with a low rank, as of that he is only an officer.
It must be admitted that praise is due to him for his great tact and extraordinary discretion, on account of which he has been allowed to remain in his present position since the French occupation.