Unhappily, the French were victorious; the enemy entered the capital, and the affairs of Austria were in a very bad way. The little patriot had the mortification of seeing a number of the hated conquerors quartered in her mother’s house, and evidently considering themselves masters of the situation—dining at the table with the family, and expecting to be treated with the most anxious civility. The members of the household generally thought it best to keep up an appearance of friendship toward the conquerors, but nothing could induce the girl to look at the Frenchmen with favor; on the contrary, she showed her feelings by obstinacy and silence; and when requested by the Frenchmen to express her sentiments, she broke out in words of passionate anger and dislike. She herself has said on this subject, “My hatred to Napoleon was so great, that I looked upon the attempt of the notorious Staps to assassinate him at Schönbrunn as a highly meritorious action, and considered the perpetrator, who was tried by a court-martial and shot, in the light of a martyr. I thought if I myself could murder Napoleon, I should not hesitate one instant to do so.”
It is related that Ida was compelled to be present at a review of his troops held by Napoleon in Schönbrunn. When the hated emperor rode past, the girl turned her back, and received a box on the ear for her demonstrativeness from her mother, who then held her by the shoulders lest she should repeat the trick. But nothing was gained by this manœuvre, for when the emperor came riding back with his glittering staff of marshals around him, Miss Ida resolutely closed her eyes.
At the age of thirteen she again dressed in female attire, and this time the change was persevered in. She had indeed become sensible enough to acknowledge the necessity of the measure, but still it cost her many tears, and made her very unhappy. With the garb of her sex, she was also obliged to adopt different manners and occupations, and a new system of life. “How awkward and clumsy I was at first!” she exclaims, in her diary; “how ridiculous I must have looked in my long skirts, jumping and racing about, and behaving generally like a wild, restless boy!”
“Fortunately, a young man came to us at that time as tutor, who took particular pains with me. I afterward heard that my mother had given him secret directions to treat me with especial indulgence, as a child whose earliest impulses had received a wrong bias. He certainly behaved to me with great kindness and delicacy, and showed great patience and perseverance in combating my overstrained and misdirected notions. As I had learned rather to fear my parents than to love them, and he was, so to speak, the first human being who had displayed affection and sympathy toward me, I clung to him, in return, with enthusiastic attachment, seeking to fulfill his every wish, and never so happy as when he appeared satisfied with my endeavors. He conducted my entire education; and though it cost me some tears to give up my youthful visions, and busy myself with pursuits I had looked upon with contempt, I did it out of affection for him. I even learned many female occupations, such as sewing, knitting, and cookery. I owe to him the insight I received in three or four years into the duties of my sex; and he it was who changed me from a wild hoydenish creature into a modest girl.”
At the period when Ida was compelled to give up her boyish character, there arose in her the first wish to see the world. She turned her thoughts from war and soldiering to fix them upon travel; descriptions of voyages excited her warmest interest, and literature of this kind occupied in her mind the place that, in the majority of young girls’ heads, is filled with thoughts of dress, balls, theatres, and amusements generally. When she heard of any one who had attained celebrity by travel, she would grieve to think that she was debarred by her sex from the happiness of ever crossing the sea and exploring strange lands. Often she felt an inclination to occupy herself with scientific studies; but she always suppressed it, seeming to recognize therein a relapse into the “extravagant ideas” of earlier days. It must be remembered that at the beginning of the present century the daughters of middle-class families did not enjoy the education they receive now.
An important passage in the life of Ida Pfeiffer shall be related in her own words. She tells us:
“In my seventeenth year a wealthy Greek proposed for my hand. My mother declined to entertain his offer because he was not a Catholic, and she thought me too young for such a step. According to her ideas, it was indecorous for a girl under twenty years of age to marry.
“A great change now took place in my character. I had hitherto had no idea of the powerful passion which makes mortals the happiest or the most miserable of beings. When my mother told me of the proposal made to her, feelings of which till then I had been unconscious became clearly defined within me, and I felt that I could love no one but T——, the guide of my youth.
“I was not aware that T—— was attached to me with his whole soul. I scarcely knew my own feelings, and far less was I capable of guessing those of another person. When, however, T—— heard of the proposal that had been made for me, and when the possibility of losing me arose before him, he confessed his love to me, and determined to urge his suit to my mother.