Chapter XIV: Appendix: I

(BY M. EDMOND BIRÉ)

THE MORGANATIC MARRIAGE OF THE DUCHESSE DE BERRY

The Comte de La Ferronnays, in the course of his interviews with King Charles X. at Hradschin Castle[456], brought himself to say:

"If Madame has not yet complied with Your Majesty's wish, if she has hitherto refused to furnish the proof which is asked of her, it is because her advisers in Paris, M. Hennequin[457] among others, have frightened her as to the consequences that might ensue to her from the publicity which it may perhaps be intended to give to her marriage. She has been told that Your Majesty would not be satisfied until you had the original instrument in your hands. Now Madame, I fear, will never part with that document. But, if there were any other means of obtaining the certainty which Your Majesty desires to have, if a man honoured with all the King's confidence, such as M. de Montbel, for instance, could, on his word of honour, vouch for the existence and the perfect regularity of the marriage-deed, would the King then declare himself satisfied?"

Since the Emigration, Charles X. had the habit of addressing M. de La Ferronnays in the second person singular. He replied eagerly:

"Yes, certainly, I only ask to be convinced."

It was then arranged that M. de La Ferronnays and M. de Montbel should go to Florence to the Duchesse de Berry. The Comte de La Ferronnays continues his narrative in the following words:

"On returning to Prague, I found M. de Montbel's carriage standing
ready harnessed before my door. He was waiting for my return to set
out for Florence, where we were to join the Duchess. He purposed to
pass through Vienna, where he had to supply himself with certain
papers which he thought useful. I intended to go straight to
Tuscany. Nevertheless, in spite of all the haste that I made, I did
not arrive until twenty-four hours after him.

"I immediately called at his hotel; it was six o'clock in the
morning. Soon, Montbel joined me in a little sitting-room next to
his bed-room:

"'We have made an useless journey,' he said to me at once; 'I much
regret having undertaken it. I saw the Duchesse de Berry yesterday,
one hour after my arrival. I found her more excited, more irritated
against the King than ever. She is firmly decided to yield on no
point and to risk all the consequences of a rupture by arriving in
Prague, in spite of the measures taken to close the road to her.
All my arguments, all my entreaties were useless. She ended by
flying out against what she calls the partiality of my conduct. I
can do no more. As for you, she expects you with impatience. She
is persuaded that the letter which you are bringing her from the
Emperor will give her the liberty to continue her journey. That
letter, so different from what she expects, will increase her
irritation two-fold. You will have a painful scene and it appears
to me impossible that you should succeed in making her listen to
reason.'"

As the Duchesse de Berry was not to receive M. de La Ferronnays until eleven o'clock, the latter, on leaving M. de Montbel, went to the Comte de Saint-Priest. M. de Saint-Priest was the Princess's most authorized adviser. The reception was perfect, but nevertheless wrapped up in every imaginable kind of reserve.

"At bottom, the question remains the same," said M. de Saint-Priest. "However affectionate the letter which M. de Montbel brought from the King may be, it makes no alteration in the first demands, nor, consequently, in the reasons which the Duchess has for rejecting them. The mere fact," concluded M. de Saint-Priest, "of handing over the marriage-deed, as Madame is asked to do, would be enough to deprive her of her rights as a mother, a princess of the Blood and Regent She refuses and will always refuse to hand it over."

This was brusquely broaching a question which M. de La Ferronnays meant to discuss only with the Duchess herself. He therefore left M. de Saint-Priest, not, however, without obtaining from him a promise of complete neutrality.

"At the appointed hour," he continues, in his narrative, "I called
at the Poggio Imperiale, where Madame was staying. When I was
announced, she was alone, in a small drawing-room, with Count
Lucchesi, who at once withdrew.

"Her Royal Highness' first sentence was one of thanks. The
second was to ask me for the Emperor's letter. She read it with
ever-increasing excitement:

"'I see,' she at last said, angrily, 'that the party against me is
firmly united. This letter of the Emperor's is evidently dictated
by the King. They want to drive me to extremities. They want to be
able to say to France and to my children that there is no Duchesse
de Berry now, that there is only a foreigner entitled to neither
protection nor pity! They are erecting a pillory and they want me
to fasten myself to it.... They know me very little, if they think
me capable of so mean-spirited an act. They who employ such lofty
language to me have a false appreciation of their position and
mine. They do not know the strength which public opinion can give
me against them. They shall learn to know, for, as they want war, I
accept it. I shall have everything printed, everything published. I
shall prove that it is for me to impose conditions and not for me
to accept any. I shall force the King to respect my rights and at
last to give me back my children.'

"Madame la Duchesse de Berry's utterance was loud and short, her
gestures abrupt; and, but for her extreme agitation, I might have
thought that she was repeating a part which she had studied. I
expected this outburst; I was also prepared with the language which
I should have to hold; but I did not hurry to reply.

"Astonished at my silence:

"'But, after all,' she asked, 'don't you think that I am right?'

"'I shall dare to tell you everything, Madame, because my reasons
for being absolutely sincere will justify the harshness of my
words. All that Your Highness has just told me makes me fear that
you are ill-informed, ill-advised or ill-inspired. I have listened
to Madame with great attention and I am obliged to tell her that
she is mistaken as to the King's intentions, but that she is also
unfortunately mistaken as to her own position. The King, Madame,
does not believe in Your Highness' marriage. He does not believe
in it, because you refuse to give him the proof of it and because
your friends continue to protest against the reality of this
marriage. And yet it is important that the truth about this should
be known. Too much has been said about it, or not enough. M. le
Comte Lucchesi's presence about Your Highness is no longer to be
explained. As long as this remains so, I am not afraid to say that
the King, having his grand-children with him, cannot admit you into
the interior of his family. Right, justice and reason are on His
Majesty's side.'

"Here the Duchesse de Berry, whose agitation was extreme, was
unable to contain herself any longer and cried:

"'But, monsieur, I give you my word of honour that I am married.
The marriage-deed, which is perfectly regular, exists. It is
deposited in safe hands, and I shall certainly not take it from
them to place it in those of Charles X. and M. de Metternich.'

"'I beg Your Highness to observe that this is the first time
that you have deigned to speak to me with such confidence. One
declaration of this kind made to me in Naples with that accent
of truth would, I dare to think, have been enough to enable me
to fulfil in an entirely satisfactory manner the mission with
which Your Royal Highness was pleased to entrust me. But what
had I to oppose to the King's doubts? What could I tell him to
reassure his conscience? Nothing, Madame, for you had told me
nothing. My personal conviction could carry no weight Your friends,
moreover, reproached me with it. To admit that one believed in
Your Highness' marriage seemed to them almost an act of treachery.
I could therefore say nothing and I was obliged to leave the King
in the fulness of his doubts. Do not believe, Madame, that it is
to Charles X.'s interest to stigmatize the widow of his son and
the mother of his grandson. No, he shows himself only jealous of
your honour as a widow and a mother, believe me. The King may have
disapproved of a marriage contracted without his knowledge, he
may even have become irritated at it; but to-day he asks only to
set his conscience at rest and to shelter your honour. Your Royal
Highness speaks of the strength which public opinion will give you.
You seem to threaten the King and the Powers with your anger.
Alas, all those outbursts would only be new and great misfortunes.
It is very painful for me to be reduced to give utterance only to
cruel words. But it is necessary that Madame should at last know
the truth, so that she may resolve upon a necessary sacrifice.
No, Madame is no longer in a situation to dictate terms or impose
conditions: she still judges her position from the height of the
pedestal upon which public opinion for some time placed her. No
doubt, if Your Royal Highness had remained there; if, after the
admiration inspired by her sublime courage, constancy, devotion,
we had had to bemoan only her reverses and her captivity, not only
would Madame have lost none of her spell, but she would have left
Blaye even greater than when she entered it. She would not have had
to dictate conditions, for she would have found none but submissive
wills before her. But, unhappily for Madame and for France, the
declaration made in the month of February has completely and
cruelly changed all that. Believe, Madame, the voice of a friend
who will never be able to give you a greater proof of his devotion
than he is doing at this moment; or rather, listen only to your
reason. It will make you understand why and to what extent your
position is changed. You will admit how guilty is the want of
reflection of those who advise you to resort to resistance and even
threats. Everyone pities you, Madame, but no one is any longer
afraid of you. The struggle which you are being urged to maintain
is henceforth too unequal. Its prolongation can henceforth have
fatal consequences for you alone.'

"While speaking, I saw the unhappy Princess turn red, then pale;
tears poured down her cheeks, but she did not try to interrupt me.
I was able to fulfil my sad duty to the end. She then looked at me
with an indefinable expression of face:

"'If all that you have just told me is true, they are deceiving
me and I am very unhappy. What do you want me to do? Can I send
that original document which, before the courts, would be my
condemnation?'

"'No, Madame, I am the first to tell Your Highness that you must
in no case part with it. Only, the King's conscience desires to
be reassured; there is no other motive in his demand. If the King
could obtain the certainty of Your Highness' marriage, without
your parting with the original, without your even giving a copy of
it, should you see any danger, for yourself or your interests, in
satisfying Charles X.?'

"The Princess tried to guess my thought.

"'But what means can you contrive that would satisfy the King,
since he refuses to believe my word?'

"'The King does not believe it, because you have not given it him.'

"'But I tell you again that I am married. The deed is in Rome, in
the Pope's hands.'

"'Well then, Madame, if a man honoured by your confidence and the
King's, if M. de Montbel were to go to Rome, would you refuse to
allow the holder of your marriage-deed to give him cognizance of
it, or at least to certify its existence to him? I am certain
that M. de Montbel's declaration would be immediately followed by
the dispatch of the passports which Your Highness so impatiently
desires.'

"Madame la Duchesse de Berry, at last conquered, came up to me and
said, with a sad smile:

"'I see no harm in trying the method which you propose, but you
understand that I cannot decide alone. Count Lucchesi's consent is
as necessary as my own.'

"M. le Comte Lucchesi was in a neighbouring room, with Messieurs
de Montbel and de Saint-Priest; I called him in. Madame herself
repeated to him the proposal which I had just made. He did not
hesitate to accept.

"I then asked that the two other gentlemen might be brought in. We
all sat round a little table before which Madame la Duchesse de
Berry was herself seated and, at her bidding, I gave an account of
the explanation which I had just had with her. As I was finishing,
I addressed the Comte de Montbel:

"'And now, monsieur, it is for you alone, who know the King's mind
and who, so to speak, represent him here, to judge and declare if
the method which I propose will be able to satisfy His Majesty and
put an end to his opposition to Madame's journey to Prague.'

"'I give a formal undertaking to that effect,' cried M. de Montbel,
with deep emotion. I Madame, how great is the gratitude that we owe
you and how happy I shall be, if I can have contributed a little
towards a reconciliation for which I long with all my soul!'

"I proposed to M. de Montbel himself to draw up, then and there,
the rough draft of a letter to the Cardinal Vicar, which would then
be copied out and signed by Madame and by Count Lucchesi. A few
moments were enough to prepare this draft, which was approved of.

"It was arranged that the letter should be written during the day,
and Madame invited us to meet again there at noon the next day; she
added that M. de Montbel could then, set out for Rome and that she
herself would leave Florence two days later to go to Bologna, where
M. de Montbel would join her again.

"The next day, as arranged, we met, at the appointed time, at
the Poggio Imperiale. Her Highness received us with an air of
contentment which I, for my part, had not yet seen her display.

"'I have,' she said, 'done all that you asked. I hope that they
will be pleased at last.'

"At the same time, she showed us her letter to the Cardinal Vicar;
this letter agreed exactly with the copy as given by M. de Montbel.
Madame's signature and Count Lucchesi's were at foot, and the
signatures had been witnessed by the Grand-duke of Tuscany and his
minister, Fossombroni[458]. M. de Montbel set out the same evening
for Rome, and I left Florence two days later.

"At a stage at Viterbo, I met M. de Montbel, who had already
fulfilled his mission; he had stayed only half a day in Rome.
He had seen no one but the Cardinal Vicar, who, after taking
the Pope's instructions, had hastened not only to give him a
declaration in writing of Madame la Duchesse de Berry's marriage
to Count Lucchesi, but had shown him the deed itself, which was
perfectly regular. M. de Montbel had decided to travel without
stopping and was convinced of the definite success of his mission."