Rochecotte, July 23, 1842.—I spent yesterday in making some preparations for departure. The King is described as looking very ill, with his features contracted and his complexion ashen. The Duchesse d'Orléans has had the dead man's uniform, sword and scarf placed upon the bier now lying in the chapel of Neuilly. When the King first saw these emblems on the fifth day after the event, he burst into sobs so loud as to drown those of the mother and sisters. It is said that the Queen's grief almost deprived her of consciousness. The sorrow of the Duchesse d'Orléans is gentler or as some say calmer. The Duc de Nemours is said to be so upset as to be hardly recognisable. The painter Scheffer is painting a picture which will show the room in the inn where the terrible disaster of the 13th was concluded. The Queen continually says to any one she sees, "Pray for him." Her despair is greatly increased by the thought that her son died before he could fulfil his religious duties. Not a single carriage enters the court of Neuilly and everything there seems to be walled up as if in a tomb.
Rochecotte, July 24, 1842.—My letters say that nothing was more mournful than the reception of the visits of condolence. The King sobbed as one who could not restrain himself. The political horizon is already growing dark with clouds. I shall certainly start for Paris to-morrow morning.
Paris, July 27, 1842.—I have already seen a large number of people: first of all Valençay and Fanny, as they were coming back from the royal reception, where the King's sobs rent everybody's heart. Every one is talking of the infinite grief of the Royal Family and the unpopularity of M. Guizot; however, M. Molé does not think he will be overthrown in the short session of the Chambers now impending.
Paris, July 28, 1842.—Yesterday morning was a very painful time: most of it I spent at Neuilly and stayed more than an hour with Madame Adélaïde who deeply touched me with her kindness. She treated me as the one who regretted the poor Prince most profoundly apart from her own family. She took me into the little chapel which is almost entirely filled by the bier and is entered by very few people, to pray and sprinkle holy water. This mark of kindness is largely due to the fact that in the will of the dead Prince, very honourable reference is made to myself, to judge from the words of his aunt, while a souvenir which he has left me is also mentioned. Madame gave me no other details because, as she said, the Duchesse d'Orléans wished to give me them herself. I am to see both her and the King and Queen after the funeral. The sadness at Neuilly is impossible to describe. It is a vast tomb and a visitor would think himself in a mausoleum. By the Queen's desire the psalms of the priests are continued day and night: they can be heard in every part of the castle with terribly gloomy effect; every face is downcast and tear-stained.
When I returned home I found M. de Barante, the Duc de Noailles and M. de Salvandy who were waiting for me. I heard no news from them except that M. Thiers, who wishes to secure his position and his favour with the King, is exhorting the Left to a mild and moderate attitude. There is an official despatch from M. de Flahaut who says that in consequence of his fall last year the Duc de Bordeaux is not only permanently lame but that an abscess has formed in his thigh which will not allow him to go to Trieste for the sea bathing and that he has countermanded the house which he had taken there. Berlin and Vienna have displayed a very correct attitude on receiving the news of the death of the Duc d'Orléans.
I then had a long interview with poor Boismilon who is overwhelmed by the death of his Prince. The evening before the accident the Duc d'Orléans, who was preparing for camp, said to his old German valet who has never left him, "My dear Holder, you are getting worn out; come with me this time only and then I know a position where you will be able to rest without leaving me; I will ask the King to appoint you keeper of the vault of Dreux." Such were the actual words, for Boismilon was there and heard them.
Sainte-Aulaire came to talk to me to-day. He has a great admiration for England but regrets the bad relations subsisting between the two Governments and says that ours is absolutely in the wrong. He says that if things go on as they have done the Embassies of London and Paris will be occupied only by Chargés d'Affaires.
The Duc de Noailles is wearing mourning and receiving letters at Neuilly on grounds of cousinship. He believes that the Duc de Poix has written to the King on the occasion of this sad event. The Legitimist party is greatly shattered and disunited, and had it not been for the death of the Duc d'Orléans, which has shaken all confidence in the stability and permanence of the present state of things, most of the Legitimists would have rallied. As things are, unless the condition of the Duc de Bordeaux becomes worse, and this seems to be possible, I see little chance of an agreement, although the Legitimists do not follow any definite system or direction. It is simply another element of anarchy.
Paris, July 30, 1842.—M. Royer-Collard came to see me yesterday. In character I think him precisely what he has been in recent years, but physically he is greatly changed. This he feels himself and thinks chiefly of the life beyond.
To-day the remains of the Prince Royal were solemnly carried to Paris. It was a quiet, grave and calm ceremony in which the clergy took a very large part; the first time for twelve years that the clergy have appeared in public. The experiment produced no bad result. All the shops were and are closed.