Pero Pejovich had so often extolled the beauty of the Princess, that I was quite prepared to be disappointed, as is almost always the case, for anticipation seems invariably to exaggerate the reality; but on this occasion it was just the reverse. I don't think I ever saw a more beautiful creature than the lady to whom I was then introduced; tall, pale, neither thin nor stout, but beautifully formed, and with exquisite hands and arms. She wore a diamond ornament on her head, half hidden by the masses of black hair among which it was nestled, and though it shone at times like a star from among a mass of stormy clouds, it could not subdue the light which shone from her glorious dark eyes.
Dinner was instantly announced, and we proceeded to the dining-hall, a room of good size and well-furnished. The dinner, a German one, was good, the wines better. The attendance consisted of two men in black and four in native costume. The Princess, who speaks French fluently, did the honours with most winning grace; and the Prince, by his affability, at once put every one at his ease. At dinner I sat on his left, his mother being on his right, with the Russian Consul vis-à-vis, principally, I suppose, to facilitate her enjoyment of the conversation, as she speaks only Slave.
During the repast His Highness constantly asked me questions, sometimes about my impressions of Montenegro, which were easily enough answered, as I had nothing to recount of myself but enjoyment since I had entered his territory, having met with nothing but the most unbounded kindness and hospitality. But in his anxiety for knowledge, he often put questions which I found it difficult enough to reply to, and sometimes questions which I could not answer at all. Having spoken with admiration of the gorgeous costume of the Montenegrins, and how it set off their fine figures, he replied:
"Yes, it is very fine; but I should be delighted to abolish it, if it were possible; they spend a great deal too much money on it."
Being simply horrified at the idea of doing away with national dress, I could not avoid expressing myself unreservedly, and I said at once that depriving a country of its costume would be simply to destroy it.
"Ah!" replied the Prince sharply, "you look upon us only from a picturesque point of view; in fact, you would like to keep us here like a sort of menagerie of wild beasts, to come and look at us occasionally for your amusement."
The Prince was almost angry; but fortunately I had an analogous example to place before him, in our own Scottish Highlanders, who cling to their costume with such tenacity. I told him of our Highlanders, of our splendid Highland regiments, of how our Scottish nobility held by the national dress, and of how our precious Queen dressed all her boys in Highland costume; and yet we did not go to look at them as we would go to look at wild beasts in a zoological garden, but we regarded it with admiration, as an ancient national costume, associated in our minds with devoted loyalty, stirring times, and valiant deeds; as their own costume was also, which, I trusted, I should never live to see exchanged for a bad imitation of the present universally adopted French fashion, ending by saying that I was convinced that the supplanting of national costumes with imitations taken from our neighbours, was decidedly a backward step in civilization.
He questioned me very closely upon the law of primogeniture and entail in our country, and could not understand how such a law did not produce des jalousies terribles, et d'autres inconvenances. I endeavoured to explain to him the present law of English entail, and how it differed from the ancient Roman law of fidéi-commis, which still obtains in Scotland, where entails are for ever. Still he did not like our system of primogeniture, where the eldest son, in many instances, has £100,000 per annum, and all the other children £10,000 each, representing about £400 a year. He thought it terribly unfair; indeed he could not understand how they quietly submitted to it at all; and so we got through our dinner most agreeably without the least gêne, while the Prince's band played some excellent music outside, under the window. This band consisted entirely of Montenegrin lads, some quite young, and considering the short time they had been learning their new profession, was wonderfully good. The bandmaster was from Prague, an excellent musician, and as he was a Czech, he spoke a language very similar to Montenegrin, which contributed not a little to his success.
Having left the dining-room in company with the ladies, we all adjourned to the saloon, and from it to the terrace in front of the Palace, where the Prince having lit a cigarette, offered some to me and Mr. Yonin. As I hesitated to light mine, after having taken one, the Princess, who immediately guessed that my hesitation was owing to her being present, at once most kindly came forward and requested me to smoke "de suite" &c. I therefore lit my cigarette at once, saying with a deep bow that I dared not disobey her commands. She then bid me watch, as presently a change would suddenly take place in the aspect of the scene.
It was now quite dark, when suddenly a cannon was fired, and simultaneously, as if by magic, every window in the town, in the Palace opposite, in the monastery, in the terrace, and at every point where a candle could be stuck, was filled with lights, while the band played the grand Russian National Hymn, and the people shouted with all the power of their lungs, firing off their pistols in the air in every direction.