When on the fête Sainte Catherine he gave a great banquet supposed to be in honour of the Empress, crystal cups full of diamonds were brought in at dessert, the diamonds being served in spoonsful to the ladies.
The Princess remarking on this extravagance, he said in a low voice—
“Puisque c’est vous que je fête, comment vous étonnez-vous de quelque chose?” [48]
For her name also was Catherine.
Another time, hearing that the Princess wanted some shoes for a ball, he sent an express which travelled night and day to Paris to get them.
And it was well-known that he had ordered the assault upon the fortress of Otshakoff to be prematurely made because she wished to see it.
The lavish, almost barbaric hospitality of the great Russian nobles both at St. Petersburg and Moscow astonished Mme. Le Brun. Many of them possessed colossal fortunes and kept open house. Prince Narischkin, Grand Equerry, had always a table to sit five-and-twenty or thirty guests.
Mme. Le Brun found society at the Russian capital extremely amusing, and was, if possible, received with even more enthusiasm than in the other countries in which she had sojourned. She went to balls, dinners, suppers, or theatricals every night, and when she could manage to spare the time from the numerous portraits she painted, she went to stay in the country houses and palaces near, where in addition to other festivities they had fêtes on the Neva by night, in gorgeously fitted up boats with crimson and gold curtains, accompanied by musicians.
Financially, in spite of the large sums she gained, Lisette was at first unfortunate. She placed 45,000 francs in a bank which broke immediately afterwards.
Returning at one o’clock one morning from some theatricals at the Princess Menzikoff, she was met by Mme. Charot in consternation announcing that she had been robbed by her German servant of 35,000 francs, that the lad had tried to throw suspicion upon a Russian, but the money having been found upon him he had been arrested by the police, who had taken all the money as a proof, having first counted the gold pieces.