Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1891-07-03
EUGENIE IN ENGLAND.

Recollectiens of Camden House and
Farnsboroush.
Madame Carette in Frank Leslie's Popular
Aonthly.l
Two policemen were stationed there by
the English government to keep guard
over the dwelling. Their sombre uniform
and black helmets gave most dismal i'm
preston, although they were very amiable
men. One gradually became accustomed
to seeing them, and every night when all
had retired and they went on their rounds
in the park, their little lanterns in hand
their presence gave one certain feeling Of
security. The brigade lived in the village
and the Prince Imperial, whom they
adored, knew them all. He frequently
amused himself by giving them false
alarm. Sometimes, during the dark night
he would glide mysteriously through the
trees of the park, after climbing the in
closing hedge, or else he would scale the
walls and reach the upper windows with
remarkable agility, to the great dismay OF
the empress, who lived in dread of an &C
cident, and who also feared that the police,
taking him for a malefactor, might fire
upon him. So orders were given that they
should never make use of their firearms.
The house was painted brown and was
surrounded by glazed dome, which
lighted the great hall that occupied the
center of the dwelling In the vestibule
always stood two footmen clad in the i'm
perisl livery of green and gold, with scar
let vests. After the death of the emperor
they wore mourning liveries which were
destined never to be laid aside. After
passing through long corridor one en-
tered the great hall and the drawing rooms.
In the hall the family passed most of the
time. Here the empress received all her
visitors, and the corridor served as her
exercise ground, for the empress disliked
leaving the house, and it was with the
greatest difficulty that she was induced to
go out at all. She would go to the church,
about fifteen minutes distant, or else she
would go out to please the Prince Imperi-
al, or in obedience to the emperor's wish;
but sometimes whole weeks would pass
during which she only breathed the open
air on her way to mass.
The dining-room was immense When
the empress first entered it she was struck
by the beauty of the woodwork, and on
examining it closely she found that it was
identical with carved woodwork she had
purchased for the decoration of the Hotel
d'Albe, residence she had had built for
her sister and which has since been swept
away by the improvements in that quarter
OI Uuc CuduupS Ilyb CC5 4b bocHS GudU Iu6
woodwork came from the demolished roy
al castle of Bercy. 1t was divided into
two lots. The first was purchased by the
empress; the second lot had been sent to
England, and Mr.. Strobe having bought it
by singular coincidence, the decoration
of the dining-room at Camden Place was
identical with that of the dining-room the
empress had fitted up for her sister in
Paris.
In the evening the household sat in one
of the drawing rooms which occupied the
other side of the house opposite the din
ing-room. The emperor sat silently, play
ing interminable games of patience" ap-
parently absorbed in tue different combi-
nations of the cards, but it was easy to
guess that his mind was far away. The
empress, employed in needleword, con-
versed with the persons about her. When
rived they were placed on table in the
corridor, where they we're sorted after
dinner. The newspapers were read aloud,
and the news contained in the different
letters formed the topic of conversation
during the evening.
The customs were the same as at the
Tuileries, except that the empress, dis
carding her low dresses, always wore a
severely simple black toilet cut square in
the neck. She never wore colors after the
close of the war of 1870. Since then her
deep mourning has never been, and never
will be, laid aside.
At ten o'clock tea was served. The en-
peror usually took cup and retired. He
was always ill, and for three years the
malady destined to prove mortal made Wis
ible ravages. Day by day his pallor grew
more waxen, his frame more STOPPING, his
gait more feeble During the winter of
the year 1872 the emperor gave up leaving
the house, but until the end he rose at his
usual hour, was invariably present at
meals and worked increasingly.
The austere and anxious existence i'm
posed by exile upon the fallen sovereigns
was too gloomy for youth: On the return
of the emperor from captivity, by agree
ment with the empress, it was decided
that the Prince Imperial should enter the
famous military school at Woolwich. The
prince and his constant companion, Louis
Conneau, entered the school together.
The prince worked very hard, and his hol-
idays soon became the only bright spots in
the dull life at Chiselhurst. he rejoiced
over bis return as do all tenderly devoted