The Sun.
London, England, 1828-10-28 00:00:00

LA MAREC4ALE

" 4 La Marechale (ssys the authoress) e;as a lady
whose education all the world knows had been
more than neglected. One evening when com,
pany was received, she arrived at the Tuileries
covered with diamonds, pearls, plumes, flowers,
silver, gold, &c. ; for she liked, as she used to
say, to have all upon her. M. de Beaumont,
the chamberlain in waiting, announced 4 :Ma-
dame la Marechale Lefebvre.' The Emperor
advanced to meet her, and said, Good day to
you, Madame la Marechale, Duchess() de Dant-
zie.' (M. de Beaumont had forgotten the title).
She immediately turned round upon the cham,.
berlain, and laughing, shouted out, Ah, ah !
that's a hit for you, my boy.' We may sup-
pose the burst of mirth in the assembly, and the
dreadful chagrin of M. de Beaumont, a most
ceremonious personage, of an exceeding gravity,
which he thought absolutely necessary to his
office. For five minutes it was impossible to
e Empress
ssing y
that her,
Oh, Madame,' says she, it's a long story re-
establish the decorum of the place, and the Ent-
peror was the first to enjoy the sally.
" One day when la Marechale arrived to break-
fast with the Empress at the Tuileries, surrounded
by her ladies, she appeared with an air of anxiety
;‘;rheisesieldwalsiernc,)
t to
snaayt u
sal
at
to
ilviaes dist.
r. Thing
I have to tell ; but you must send
away these
.
snivellers here that aregvgting at me.' Oblige
me, ladies, to pass into the waiting saloon,' said
Josephine, who thought that some family secret
was concerned. Well now, Madame la Du-
chesse, relate your troubles to me. I hare
none now, Madame ; but see you, I am still in
a stew at what had like to have happened to me
this morning.'.---, Oh, my God, your son has
been fighting ?" Not such a fool;—The Ma-
rechal ?'—‘ Oh, he has nothing to do with it.
I thought I had lost my big diamond ! I was
sure I had left it in my room ; and yet, on going
back, I could not find it. I asked who was it
what had been there ; and then said that my rub-
her had (furniture-rubber, we suppose). He
was in the saloon, which he was finishing ;
made .him come in, and I said to him, 'Rogue !
thou hast got my big
.diamond ; I will have it
it—it's the first Lefebvre
again, because I value
gave me , bive it me back, and I'll do nothing
to thee.' . The fine fellow said no, he had not
He was a black ; I could not see whether he
blushed, but I went on saying, I will have
big diamond ;—and I ordered kim to turn his
pockets out. Nothing in my hands ; nothing
mmy pockets, said he to me. Well, then,
strip rascal, I said, He made difficulties about
it ; but I was not to be done so ; strip your-
self, beggar,' says I, naked, ',tell you, or
footman shall kill you on the spot.' At last be
stripped naked as a worm ; and I found my
big diamond. That's it. One of your delicate
misses, now, would never have got it again.
this same c big diamond' the Duchess sold with
other property, to raise a monument to her bus-
band and son, for whose loss she was incon-
solable. Though, as may be seen by our attempt
to translate vulgar French into vulgar English,
she was a woman of originally low condition, yet
in her elevation she had no pride, and never at-
tempted to conceal her former circumstances,
She one day struck
' Mudatne de Walsh serent,
one of the Empress ladies, or; the back, and
said, in a rough voice, How are you, my gOs-
sur Josephine.