"The Empress and the Czarina came next, with a host of German princes and generals.
"The introductions seemed as if they would never come to an end. I had my little success. 'So this is the little niece,' said the Kaiser, taking my hand and leading me to the Empress. The motherly old hen kissed me from beneath her lace and ostrich plumes, and told me how much she loved my poor Mamma. I was still the 'little niece' to them all. Meanwhile Frederick William and Adalbert did stare, I can tell you! Adalbert is a fine young man, but he looks pig-headed and sly. I prefer the Crown Prince, who looks full of mischief. I can tell you Germany won't be dull when he succeeds his father.
"I spent the whole afternoon getting ready for the banquet in the evening. I was so afraid I shouldn't make an impression that I got quite irritable and would have quarrelled with Mlle. Jauffre for two pins. It was almost as if I had a presentiment of all the evils that were to come upon me as a result of that cursed evening.
"You can have no idea what a gorgeous affair a fête at the Peterhof is. The Kaiser had donned another uniform, even more striking than the first. But you should have seen his face when he saw Papa's!
"His uniform was not to be compared to that of the Tumene Prince. The Empress's diamonds looked like the tawdry gewgaws of a suburban housewife by the side of the brilliants on the chain which secured his scarlet cloak at the left shoulder.
"When I went in I saw the Czar repress his astonishment. For one moment I thought I must be too décolleté. Then this fear vanished as I realized the impression I was making. You must remember I had secured Doucet's admitted chef d'œuvre, a gown of sapphire velvet, made very simply, but closely moulded to the form, and my jewellery consisted of nothing but sapphires. Child as I was, I was already anticipating my next day's success. 'But what will they say,' I said to myself, 'when they see my Number 2, the red gown with nothing but rubies!'
"We danced. I was amused to see the Germans, accustomed to their slow waltz, miss the beat of our rapid Russian waltz and put in a couple of hops—or stand like herons—to catch up again.
"I danced with the Crown Prince. He complimented me on my dress and said that the German Emperor was not an absolute monarch, as he'd never been able to make his Court ladies do with less than six colours in their gowns. I wanted to irritate him, so I replied that it was not surprising, and that mine came from Paris. But he said I was right and there was no place like Paris. With those priceless grimaces which are quite his own he told me a whole heap of risqué stories about Paris, and as he took me back to my place I heard the old hen murmur in his ear: 'Now, Fritz, behave!'
"At the same moment she beckoned to me to go and sit beside her.
"That morning I had noticed among the officers of the Kaiser's entourage a tall Hussar in a scarlet uniform with yellow facings. He had sandy hair and fine eyes, his blue, insistent eyes of a short-sighted man. He had had his eyeglass fixed on me the whole time, but of course I was careful to pretend I noticed nothing. I should have been astounded then if any one had told me that one day I should be wearing that scarlet uniform myself.