Her overtures to his niece met with little opposition on the part of Curtius, who, in spite of the fact that he had decided leanings towards the cause of the people, yet, in order to further his relative’s interests, readily gave his permission to her accompanying the Princess. This concession Curtius must have made at some sacrifice, for it deprived him of his niece’s society and of the help she was then rendering him in his studio.
Madame Tussaud accordingly bade her uncle farewell, and left Paris for Versailles.
MADAME TUSSAUD AT THE AGE OF 20
Madame Tussaud, as the young and beautiful Marie Grosholtz, at the time she was compelled by the National Convention to take impressions of the dead features of Louis XVI, his Queen Marie Antoinette and many leaders of the French Revolution. A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud.
The quarters then occupied by Madame Elizabeth were situated at the end of the façade of the south wing of the palace, and looked out upon the Swiss Lake.
One wonders whether the fascinating work of modelling in wax was the sole influence that prompted Madame Elizabeth’s friendly feeling towards Madame Tussaud. The Princess had already shown a marked predilection for the Swiss, for both at the palace and on her own private estate of Montreuil hard by she had many Swiss people about her.
Unfortunately, little is known of the life of Madame Tussaud either at Versailles or at Montreuil, which the King presented to his sister with the understanding that she should continue to make Versailles her official home until she attained the age of twenty-four.
MADAME ELIZABETH AT MONTREUIL