CHAPTER VI.
THE CASINO—THE ROYAL FAMILY OF DENMARK—SUCCESSION TO HOLSTEIN—THE ENGLISH CONSUL—VISIT TO THE ENGLISH AMBASSADOR—COLOSSAL STATUE OF CHRISTIAN THE FIFTH—ANECDOTE OF BELZONI—TRINITY CHURCH—EXTRAORDINARY FEAT OF PETER THE GREAT—DUCKING AN OFFENDER—PALACE OF CHRISTIANSBORG—THE EXCHANGE—THE CASTLE OF ROSENBERG.
At seven o'clock, we went to the Casino; and, trusting that we had deceived Mr. C——, renewed our acquaintance with the gentleman in spectacles.
The room, an immense one, was lighted from the lofty ceiling with four splendid chandeliers. The people sat in seats appropriated to them, and listened attentively to some exquisite pieces of music, played as exquisitely, by a large band. There was no dancing; nor indeed was the room adapted for such recreation. The king, the queen, and their niece, the beautiful Princess Louise, sat in a gallery, speaking to those around them, and watching with interest the group below. This is that princess whose hand the Crown Prince, Frederick, thrice divorced, has sought in vain; for, he failing heirs, Holstein passes from the present dynasty to the Ducal House of Augustenburg. This political flaw is, while I write, being adjusted by the Danish Senate, as the impotency of Frederick, now reigning Sovereign of Denmark, has been pretty well admitted. The company took no heed of the royal presence, but walked and talked, and stood with hats on; and when I observed to my late excitable friend in spectacles, that the English behaved not so in the sight of their queen, he replied,
"Zat is nuttin. Ze king is nuttin."
"That is to say, though it be done, no feeling of disrespect is meant," I continued.
"Ja."
We wandered through illuminated galleries and conservatories sweetly perfumed with the most delicate flowers. Continually, on every hand, was revealed some marble statue to attract attention, or living beauty to gratify the eye. Borne away by these delightful sights and sounds, and feeling life only in the ideal, this lethargy of soul and body burst, convulsively, into common existence, as the indomitable Mr. C—— issued, gaping in all directions, from behind a fluted column; and, when his glance fell on us, the face of Minerva looked not more luminous when she leaped from the brain of Jove.
"Ah! gentlemen," delightedly he exclaimed, "you gave me the slip; but the guard below told me three Englishmen were here."
P—— answered him with civility, and said that we had altered our plans, and could not communicate with him, being in ignorance of his address. He showed us great attention, and, by explanation, smoothed all those excrescences of conventional usages which we did not understand. So far, Mr. C—— was useful; but, seeming a character of doubtful respectability by the cold indifference with which some Danish gentlemen received his warm advances, we did not like to be accompanied in public by a man of whom we knew nothing. His companionship, therefore, hurried us from the Casino; and, the cathedral clock was tolling midnight, as we were rowed alongside the yacht. The closed gates again gave us trouble; and, we thanked the bright stars above us, that knowledge of the French grammar had survived the tenderness of Anacreon. Nevertheless, this brought the irksomeness of our situation to a climax, and P—— made up his mind to call on the Consul in the morning. For my part, I believe, I became feverish through the night, and in my sleep talked to the binnacle about Magna Charta.