Chapter XV

Society during the Empire -- The series of guests at Compiegne --
The amusements -- the absence of musical taste in the Bonapartes
-- The programme on the first, second, third, and fourth days --
An anecdote of Lafontaine, the actor -- Theatrical performances
and balls -- The expenses of the same -- The theatre at Compiegne
-- The guests, male and female -- "Neck or nothing" for the
latter, uniform for the former -- The rest have to take "back
seats" -- The selection of guests among the notabilities of
Compiegne -- A mayor's troubles -- The Empress's and the
Emperor's conflicting opinions with regard to female charms --
Bassano in "hot water" -- Tactics of the demi-mondaines --
Improvement from the heraldic point of view in the Empress's
entourage -- The cocodettes -- Their dress -- Worth -- When every
pretext for a change of toilette is exhausted, the court ladies
turn themselves into ballerinas -- "Le Diable a Quatre" at
Compiegne -- The ladies appear at the ball afterwards in their
gauze skirts -- The Emperor's dictum with regard to
ballet-dancers and men's infatuation for them -- The Emperor did
not like stupid women -- The Emperor's "eye" for a handsome
woman -- The Empress does not admire the instinct -- William I.
of Prussia acts as comforter -- The hunt -- Actors, "supers," and
spectators -- "La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas" -- The Imperial
procession -- The Empress's and Emperor's unpunctuality --
Louis-Napoleon not a "well-dressed man" -- The Empress wished to
get back before dark -- The reason of this wish -- Though
unpunctual, punctual on hunt-days -- The police measures at those
gatherings -- M. Hyrvoix and M. Boitelle -- The Empress did not
like the truth, the Emperor did -- Her anxiety to go to St.
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