River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-02-19
A Eugene N Her Old Aga.

son when the Partisan bellies used toap-
pear at balls and at the opera with their
tresses powdered with gold or with sill
yer, the brunettes wearing gold pow
der and the blondes silver. On a GER
tain gala night at Les Italiens every
opera glass in the house was leveled at
box, wherein sat the lovliest girl that
had been seen in Paris for many a day.
FALL and slender, with an sxquisitely
formed head set upon her shoulders,
with that purity OF line about the neck
and throat that is in itself one of the rar-
est of beauties, with long, almon shaped
blue eyes, pale, delicate complexion,
the sweetest of smiles, and locks os
golden chestnut on which silver pow
der glistened like frost, she was a
being for poet to dream about
and for painter TO immortalize.
This was the young Eugene de Month
10, Comtesse de Teba, In those days
she had the reputation of being fast
young lady, Wild, firtatious damsel,
4 thoroughly correct so far rs her morals
were concerned, but rather given to
perilous fun and hazardous escapades.
At that time there was no one that the
mischief loving beauty delighted so
much in ridiculing as the president of
the republic, Prince Louis Napoleon.
His long nose, his short legs, the com
| forter that he wore on cold days when
I riding on horseback in the Bots, were
all food for the mirth- making propensi-
ties Of the young countess. But one
evening the gay Eugene was presented
| to the tacitum president at one of the
I balls of the Elysee The impression
that she produced on him was imme-
/ date and powerful Hesoon became her
declared adorer. But there exists
French anecdote respecting the mother
/ of a pretty little actress, who thus ques-
tions one Of her daughters adorers;
Are your intentions marriage or other
I wise?" "They are otherwise" is the
gentleman candid reply 1t is no Sc
cret that for a long time Prince Napo-
4 Icons attentions were decidedly "other
wise" 1t is true that the young lady
and her family were people of suspi-
ciously shady ways of living. One
meets in Europe continually with such
groups as the old Comtesse de Montilo
and her two fair daughtess; people that
live off the fat of the land one day and
subsist on dry bones the next. The
rooms over grocer's shop at Versailles,
that were once occupied by the future
Empress of France and her mother and
sister. are still pointed out to those in
terested in the fortunes of the family.
But the fair Spanish maiden was not
to be won ON any terms save those of
wedlock. Glow can | get up to you?"
cried the new made emperor one day,
pausinr on horseback beneath the win
dow of Mile de MontiJo's apartment at
the palace of COmpiegne during one of
the earlier parties there. You must
go round through the chapel, sir, was
the laughing rejoinder. While the
preliminaries of the marriage were still
pending some Republican friend sent
the future Empress a copy of Victor
Huoo's Napoleon the Little, and be-
sought her to read it, She did SO, and
sent back the volume with the remark,
Little or great, ] mean to marry him.
As Empress the fair Eugene was
chiefly remarkable for the taste and
splendor of her toilets. OF her might
be thus paraphrased the epigram of
Charles II-she never wore shabby
thing and never said a wise one. Like
most Spanish girls she had received
very limited education. She was mar
row minded and unmtellectual, though
very sweet and winning in her manners.
The witty or appropriate remarks that
she, as Empress, was called upon to
make in public were all written for her
beforehand, and she was as carefully
coached in them as ever was an actress
in the speeches of new part. In fact
she had no talents except for dress
She tried amateur acting at Compiegne,
in imitation of Marie Antoinette at tho
Little Triamon, and despite her beauty,
even her fiatterers were forced to con-
fess that she was failure. She was in
her element while inventing new dress
es-ball toilettes i'll pulled tulle. with a
chain of diamonds drawn through
each puff, dressed in silk and
velvet with the low-necked cor
sages hung with diamond fringes, others
ali the costliest lace clouds upon
clouds of point d'Alencon or point q
Faiguille-mantles of genuine eastern
cashmere, stiff with golden embroidery
there was no end to her magnificence
and to her caprices. She instituted tho
rule that at the summer parties at Com
piegne no lady was TO appear twice in
the same dress, so fortnlghts invita-
ton entailed upon the lady accepting Is
the purchase of a wardrobe f42 dresses
at the very least, as three changes day
were requisite, with an addition OF
some two or three specially magnificent
ball dresses Tor possible extra occasions.
1t would have been well for France
had the Empress confined her attention
to her gowns and her gewgaws and lett
politics alone She tried to reign, and
invented a special toilet III which TO pre-
side over Cabinet meetings. She did
more than anybody else to bring
about the war with Prussia, her
religious convictions as Spanish
Catholic having persuaded her that
war with the country of the infidel
and the hereto would he holy crusade
and one specially blest by heaven.
When left widow she tormented her
sons life out with her parsimony, her
bigotry and her exactions. She kept
him on the smallest possible allowance
consistent with his position as royal
prince and the associate OF the sons OF
Queen Victoria. She would not even
allow him q sufficient income to keep q
second horse, or to take rooms IN Lon
don during the season. A French HAIR
dresser on Bond street placed suite OF
rooms over his shop at the disposal OF
the young Prince Imperial, ramarking
with smile that his princely guest
could pay up all arrears of rent when
he became Emperor. 1t was to escape
from home worries and home exactlons
that the poor boy went of to Zulnland'
there to lose his young life beneath the
spears of handful of sayages.
What a contrast does not the en-
press Eugene of to-day present to the
beauteous girl countess described at
the beginning Of my article. ] have
seen her once within the last few years.
1t was on the occas ion of the brief visit
that she made to Paris some months
ago. A pale, old Lady, with bieached
hair and crippled gait, shrouded IN
Grape and cashmere, was mounting
slowly and with difficulty into carriage
on the place Vendome as | was passing
by. "That is the empress, said side
walk lounger as the carriage drove OIL.
|. too. had recognized her. When !
saw her tin 1870 she was a painted,
powdered, penciled, bewigged carlcature
Of her former self, the radiant young
sovereign that ] had seen in 1904.
Al Il Il.