So they talked on, until at last Ivan suggested preparations for tea, and rather to the surprise of Clémence interested himself in them in a way quite foreign to his usual habits. She only looked at him wonderingly, and with a little amusement, as he arranged and rearranged the tea-table; but when he actually began to make inquiries about the quality of the beverage itself, her eyes, so lately tearful, sparkled into a smile as she asked,—
“When did you become a connoisseur in these things, Ivan? I thought the difference between tea and coffee was the extent of your knowledge on the subject.”
Ivan, instead of answering, kissed her; then taking a white camellia from a vase on the table, he fastened it at the throat of her plain black dress. “My Clémence must look her best to receive the Emperor,” he said.
“The Emperor!” she cried in dismay. “Oh, Ivan, why did you not tell me?”
Before he could reply a sledge stopped at the door, and Ivan hastened down to welcome his guest.
Clémence had scarcely recovered her composure when the Emperor entered the room, saying pleasantly,—
“I must make my apologies to Madame la Princesse for inviting myself. Prince Ivan Ivanovitch is responsible: he gave me permission to take you by surprise, and promised me a welcome.”
The promised welcome was given by Clémence, very gracefully and cordially, in spite of a little tremulousness in her voice and nervousness in her manner. One gentle, significant word of sympathy for her sorrow was spoken; then, all ceremony being waived, they took their seats together at the table, the Emperor declining the “fauteuil” Ivan placed for him, and choosing an ordinary chair instead.
“You know I am deaf,” he said; “let me sit where I can best hear the voice of madame.”[69]
As, with a hand still trembling, Clémence poured out the tea, she remembered the stories she had heard of such evening visits made by the Emperor, “to talk at his ease,” and recalled the words of De Maistre when some one criticised this habit in his presence: “It is a touching thing to me to see the ruler of a great empire, in the age of all the passions, find his recreation in taking a cup of tea with an honest man and his wife.”