The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-05
EMPRESS EueENIE,s TRIALS.
in Her Life as Related by
"a Lady in Waiting"
E,om the Pail Maj Gazette.

InH4CG0IS
"a Lady in Waiting"
From the Pail Mau Gazette.
After her betrothal to the prince regent,
.ba Countess de Montijo quilted France
eba wore rlain golden ring on her finger,
.n5 n hin mounted with brilliants and
or,eralds. She had won it in lottery
oroantzsd BY the emperor at Compiegne,
10 ever afterward, until the death of the
oa'neror. she used to wear it every evening
oIopg with her osher jewels, whatever her
,tber attire might be. 1t will be interest
ing lust to say here that few years
after the emperor's death the
aonress put off some of her mourning,
- che Should sadden her sons youth.
u~wever. she wore no colored jewelry, but
tavinor looked upon this first present OF the
nn,neror as a pledge of their future hap
1,;ness- a superstitious illusion In regard to
J, became firmly fixed in her mind. On the
denarture of the prince imperial for Zulu
land the empress wore the ''trefoll or emer-
aJsn until June 10. But after the death OF
her son she lost all falth IN human nope.
and on one occasion, when the Duchess de
Mmchy was paying the empress visit, the
latter gave her this jewel.
~ have regarded 1t for q long time as q
terminate talisuan." said she. ut Is my
Sssrest relic. / do not wish it to be cast
aside Look upon it every evening as q
souvenir of us, and may it be to you token
Of happiness and of loving friendship"
No provision had been made In this splen-
did palace of the Tulierles, which was so
vast and so magnificent, to give 1t the an
resrance of a home. Whom Louis XIV.
md Marie Antonette had occupied it in
17S9 a few hasty provisions of this kind had
been made, but they had always remained
imDerfect
With the exception of the large rooms,
all the interior communications were in
darkness, and it was necessary, summer and
winter alike, to have lighted lamps on the
small stair cases and in the corridors. AS
soon as string came the heat AID want of
Ventilation became very painful and, not
withstandng the beautiful display of the
chestnut trees in the garden, we all hailed
with Joy the time for our departure TO
Saint Cloud Of Fontainebleau.
On one occasion the empress received
from a Young girl two turtledoves in a
cage. ard she was the more willing to
accept this singular present because of the
touching simplicity with which it was
offered Six months after letter was sent
to the empress asking that the writer might
be placed in her service. 1t was to the fol-
lowing effect: sit is |, madam, who made
YOU a present of the turtledoves, and which
YOU have accepted. As you love the birds,
you may require a guardian for them. l
would take great care of them"
The empress always quilted the grand
balls at the Tuileries rather tired, and very
often did not even take time to call her
maids. Before entering her cabinet she
would remove her crown and Jewels. the
weight of which fatigued her, and put
them pele-nlele into my dress, which held
out in front of me for the purpose. was
always afraid lest should lose SOME of
these precious stones by conveying them in
this manner, for many of them represented
aforGUne.
The empress ordered some of the crown
diamonds to be mounted for her ordinary
wear. Many of them had a history at
tached to them. Among others a yellow
diamond, big as small nut, mounted in a
comb with other winter stones, was swal-
lowed by an insurgent in 194S, during the
pillage of the Tuileries. The cut facets of
the diamond produced internal disorders
and the unfortunate man died in great
pain, conlessing his larceny. At the post
mortem examination the diamond was
found. 1t was the largest of the crown dia-
monds and when the empress became &C
quainted with this fact later, it caused her
10 remove it.