Valençay, October 10, 1837.—M. and Madame Thiers, Madame Dosne and her young daughter arrived yesterday an hour before dinner-time. They came by Montrichard, and so they were all shaken and weary. Madame Thiers does not show any sign of exhaustion in her face; she is perhaps a little thin, but nothing else; I think it is largely a matter of nerves, and that if she were in good spirits her indisposition would quickly disappear. In any case, for a person of her kind, I think her quite anxious to please, but, like her mother, she has a vulgar intonation and trivial expressions to which I cannot get accustomed. It was a dull and heavy evening, in spite of the enthusiasm of M. Thiers for Italy. He seems to be greatly struck by the beauty of Valençay, and I think they are all very glad to be here. Fortunately the weather is fine; I have never prayed for sunshine so earnestly.
Valençay, October 11, 1837.—Madame Thiers was very tired yesterday; she went upstairs after lunch and did not reappear until dinner-time. She would not go for a drive, and her mother kept her company. We took the husband out with us, and he was in excellent spirits, with no bitterness or hostility. He wishes to go from here to Lille without crossing Paris, where he only wishes to arrive just in time for the Chambers; he was also very sarcastic about the repeated proposals that have been made to him for the greatest embassies.
Valençay, October 12, 1837.—M. de Talleyrand yesterday took M. Thiers to see M. Royer-Collard. They returned both well pleased with their walk, whence I infer that they left their host equally pleased. I have no great trouble with the ladies. The young wife appears for meals, lolls in a drawing-room armchair for half an hour after lunch and for an hour after dinner, then goes up to her room; she will not drive, and only wishes to be left alone. Her mother is with her a great deal, and her husband most attentive. The young wife governs them all, but like a spoilt and capricious child, and I think that the poor husband finds the path of marriage a somewhat thorny one.
Valençay, October 13, 1837.—The Duchesse de Saint-Leu is dead. What will become of her son? Will he be left upon our frontier?
Madame Murat continues to remain at Paris. General Macdonald,[ [80] who was thought to be her husband, and who was greatly devoted to her in any case, has died at Florence. To the universal surprise, this event has not so far saddened her as to prevent her from going to the theatre, nor does she show any of the grief that might have been expected.
Here people talk of nothing but the approaching elections; they seem to be still very uncertain and to defy all calculations. I have always noticed this to be the case at every dissolution of the Chamber. The instructions of the Ministry are very capricious; on the whole the Doctrinaires and progressive parties are to be proscribed, but with so many exceptions here and there that unusual points of contact are created. M. Thiers is quite calm, in excellent political spirits; he talks a great deal of his forty years and of the frost of age; however, I would not trust to that, and if he were provoked he would be quite capable of entering the fray most vigorously. He has quite abandoned his ideas of Spanish intervention, not as regards the past, but for the present moment. I have never seen him so wise and self-controlled—a condition only to be attained by those whose inclinations are definite, and who have enough self-satisfaction not to be ambitious for power. His wife unbends a little; she danced yesterday evening in excellent spirits.
Valençay, October 15, 1837.—The whole of the Thiers family went away yesterday. Although the mother has been anxious to please, the young wife amiable in her manner, and her husband witty, animated, and tractable, as usual, I am not sorry to see them go.
Valençay, October 22, 1837.—We are to have a second theatrical performance. I rehearsed my part yesterday with M. de Valençay while the rest of the company were out driving.
I have a very carefully written letter from Madame Dosne, from which the following is an interesting passage: "Since our arrival the house has been stormed by friends, inquirers, and interested people, who wish to learn the attitude of M. Thiers. He has seen M. Molé and M. de Montalivet, who are struggling for his friendship, and has been effusively received by the royal family. You know better than any one, madame, to whom he owes that. In short, his move to Paris has been quite politic and successful. He is ready to defend the Ministry as long as it lasts and to help it as long as he can, if they will support his view with regard to the elections. To-morrow we shall start for Lille, where we shall stay as long as my daughter wishes."
Valençay, October 26, 1837.—Madame de Lieven writes to say that her husband has sent his son Alexander to her to carry her off dead or alive, but she has refused to stir, and that the son has gone back again provided with all possible certificates from the doctors of the Embassy stating the impossibility of moving her. She is loud in the praises of Comte Pahlen and of my cousin Paul Medem. It seems that the Autocrat told M. de Lieven that he would crush the Princess if she persisted in remaining in France. I think she has some private means which no one can touch, and which help her to hold out. Before long it will become a regular drama.