I bowed very low and thanked him, and asked if it would necessitate my hunting. "Certainly not, if you don't want to," his Majesty answered; "but have you ever seen a chasse à tir?"
At my answer that I had never seen one, nor anything nearer to one than people going out with a gun and coming back with nothing else, he laughed and said, "I must tell that to the Empress."
It is the Emperor's habit to say, when he hears anything which amuses him,
"I must tell that to her Majesty." She is always in his thoughts.
I said, looking at the button, "Last year your Majesty gave me a gold medal for singing a Benedictus; now I shall sing a hallelujah for this."
"It is not worth so much," the Emperor said, with a kind smile.
"Would you like to accompany me this afternoon," he asked, "and see for yourself what a chasse à tir is?"
I answered that I should be delighted, and said, "Shall I come with a gun?"
"Oh dear, no! Please don't!" the Emperor exclaimed, hurriedly. "But come with stout boots and a warm coat."
The carriages were waiting, and we were soon packed in our rugs and started for the shooting.
The Emperor drove Baron Beyens in his dog-cart; the Empress drove with the Princess Metternich in a victoria to the field, where she left her and returned to the chateau. I fancy she was afraid of the dampness of this bleak November day.