The Grand Maréchal, waiting his opportunity, approached his Majesty, who went up to the Empress and gave her his arm. The Grand Maréchal then led the way slowly and with due stateliness to the banqueting hall.
The gentlemen offered their arms to their respective ladies, and we marched in procession through the long gallery, trying to prevent ourselves from slipping on the waxed floor, and passed between the splendid Cent Gardes, who lined both sides of the entire length of this enormous hall. Their uniforms are magnificent and dazzling; they wear light-blue coats under their silver cuirasses, white breeches, and high, shiny top-boots; and on their heads silver helmets, from which flow long manes of white horsehair that hang down their backs.
There the men stood, motionless as statues, staring stolidly before them, without so much as a stolen side-glance at the beauty and elegance passing before their eyes.
This procession of ladies glittering with jewels, the officers and diplomats in their splendid uniforms covered with decorations and gay- colored cordons, made a sight never to be forgotten; at least, I shall never forget it.
When their Majesties entered the dining-room they separated, and took their places on opposite sides of the table, half-way down its length and exactly facing each other. The Emperor had Princess Metternich on his right hand, and the Duchess of Fernan Nuñez on his left. The Empress had the Austrian Ambassador, Prince Metternich, on her right, and the German Ambassador, Count Golz, on her left.
The other invités were placed according to their rank and position: all the gros bonnets were in their right places, you may be quite sure. I was such a little bonnet among all those great people that I was practically nowhere, and at the tail end of everything except the members of the Household and the ladyless gentlemen, who, of course, were below me.
There must have been about one hundred persons seated at the table. I never saw such a tremendous long stretch of white linen.
The flowers, stiffly arranged at intervals, alternated with white épergnes filled with bonbons, and larger fruit-dishes filled with the most delicious-looking fruit. All along the whole length of the table were placed, at regular intervals, the groups of pâte tendre representing the Hunt. These, as my cavalier (Count de Bourgogne) told me, are made only at the Sèvres manufactory, expressly for the French sovereigns. They were designed in the time of Louis XV. by an artist called Urbain, and have been reproduced ever since. It would seem as if nothing had been found worthy to replace them.
The service de table was of white Sèvres porcelain with only the letter
"N" in gold surmounted by the Imperial crown; many of the courses were
served on silver plates, in the center of which were engraved the arms of
France.
A strip of red velvet carpet laid over the polished floor surrounded the table. On the outer side of this carpet were the chair, to be pushed forward as soon as people were ready to sit down. The lackeys stood in a line all the way down the room, making a very imposing sight in their red- and-white liveries; there must have been forty or fifty of them at least. The Emperor's chasseur always stands behind his chair and serves him, and him alone, taking a dish of each course, as it is brought in, from the maître d'hôtel. No one but this privileged chasseur can hand anything in the way of food to his Majesty. When the Emperor has served himself, the chasseur hands the dish back to the maître d'hôtel, who passes it on to the other servants, who then serve the guests. The Empress is served in the same way.