There is Mrs Beauman here, who is the "Beaumont" of the Place. She gave a Ball, took off her doors, hung her rooms with red and gold, and had her supper from Paris, at which there was nothing so vulgar as a roast chicken. Her husband lives at Paris and is in the Navy. She was a Miss Webber & rich. I have not seen her, nor am I anxious to cultivate the English here.
VERSAILLES, June 31st, 1818.
We have plenty of French society…. Philip wants Edward to take a Grande Chasse near Dresden, which he may have for thirty pounds a year, full of Boars, Staggs, Does, Black Cock, Capercailzie, Pheasants and Partridges innumerable. He writes an anecdote which I must give you:—An English merchant was hunting one day with the King of Saxony and, observing that the hounds were inferior, asked the Intendant if he thought the King would accept any English Dogs. "To be sure," replied the Intendant, and thought no more of it. About eight months after, the King received notice from a Merchant at Frankfort that a pack of hounds waited his orders there from England. The King was delighted and wrote to the Regent to pass a Service of Dresden China, duty free, to his generous friend; therefore the English Merchant was well rewarded for his attention.
We were last night at a ball at Lady Hales's [13] where we found them dancing at nine and left them dancing at two; such numbers of men I never saw anywhere, and yet one may walk about for hours and scarcely ever see one.
There is a very pretty Mrs FitzGerald here, her husband is related to Lord Ilchester, but our acquaintance among the English is very small and we have no wish to enlarge it.
VERSAILLES, February 9th, 1819.
The Evelyns who live in Lord Mansfield's house gave an excellent ball.
Lady Allone invited, & the story is that Mrs Evelyn says this was on
condition that she—Mrs Evelyn—left out all her own friends.
Mrs Poplim is the gayest of the gay with Balls and Proverbs, but the
English society does not improve.
Undated.
Robert Glyn writes word that Mrs Beaumont sent to him at Genoa to complain of the extortion of some of the foreign Bankers; they had amongst them cheated her of thirty shillings, and she seemed to think the Glyns were answerable for this, which made the Sieur Robert rather indignant, particularly as it turned out that she had left the set of Bankers recommended by the Glyns and gone to those of whom they knew nothing. She has laid out about £500 on curiosities at Genoa.