New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-10-07
"CONTRETEMPS."
AvKWARDNESS AT COURT.
r .,1,srNG STORIES OF THE TIME-THE
,s,xcEs cAL1--AN EMPEROR CRACKS HIS
ur,p-rHE FRENCH AMBAssA-
DOp,S MISTAKE

.,co,.re,Amns" like chic" is French word
has M English equivalent Neither mis-
49," nor vet "a piece of ill-luck' given py 'he
s,o,onaries as the correct tranSiauoh' consul
,,es the true definition Of It's meaning FOR
.,,o,tre,en,ps" generally involves the perpetra-
.,o, of some awkward act or the utterahce OF some
aouallv awkward speech productive OF ehoar
ssnent and modification. Perhaps the pest
.av 70 explain what "contretemps' really means
III, no 10 relate briefly few that have come
der nv observation, and which happen to re-
call at the present moment
Thus II was a cOntretemps that prevented
,.o,rs Lord Mountmorres from entering upon MS
duties as page of horor to queen Nic'ori'
offer the tragic death OF his father. Inc Ia'e
u,s murdered near edinburgh, County Cal
yay In the early part of the elgh'es' ie"''"e
49, u,te and family in Strengthened circum-
.tances. On hearing this Her Majesty gave 'he
,,,dowed peeress a suite Of apartments free Oh
&c, a, Hampton Court Palace, made her d"
o,,or,ance out of the Civil List, and likewise an
ounced her decision Of making the eluesl po!'
.,s nresent Lord Mountmorres. page oil hoho'.
-. which carries with il annual salary OF
>, I'M and is held for a term of five years Inc
'.,,a,,on or this honor conveyed 10 MN AT
= ,,o-nent when he was. bOylike. chmoihg Tree
p,orght down. washed. clothed in his best ana
,u,ored as 10 how he was to approach MS "oN''
e,gn he was taken to Windsor ana ushereu ii''o
Tho rovaI presence for the purpose OF thaiiAii's
Her Majesty for her kindness. But oeing DOL"
outward and bashful. when ne knelt on one Knee
% make his bow and to kiss the royal hahd' ne
orbalanced and to save himself incontinentN
c,p,ched at the Queens sleeve. with the result
that the stout little lady who reigns over sew
auth mart Of the globe was upset ana reli sprawl
ing TO the ground. hurting her Knee Inc poS
vas terribly frightened. The Queen however
although suffering much pain ana CONSIDERABLY
,nort,6ed did not lose her temper. but contented
herself with mildly rebuking the boy TOT MS
saucberie. But she did not permit him to enter
90 bic duties as page and the result is that
instead of holding a commission In the army
.h;ob ;s nearly always granted TO the pages at
tho conclusion Of their term Of service. he is to-day
earning his livelihood in London as Journalist
=. uas a similar contretemps. too, that cost
huff old Str John Ashley. popularity known as
.rbe Mate" the favor which he at one Tune
endowed at Court He was paying hockey on the
Zee AT Windsor. and at one stage OF the gam
made so violent a rush that he knocked over the
late Prince Consort, who was keeping goal So
verelv shaking him. and then. unaole TO s'op
himself arrived If flung by catapult al 'ne
feet Of the Queen in sitting posture almost
inserting her as he had her husband Someho"
or other this ended Sir Johns career al Court
and he was no longer honored with commands
from Her Majesty to take part in the a"use-
rnents and recreations Of the Royal family
II was contretemps. likewise. that occurred
few wears ago at the house If a celebrated beauty
:, London society a conspicuous member Of
what is known as the Marlborough House sell
and II was brought about partly by the lack Of
+ho art NJ no
nv that stupid rule Of European Court etiquette
which prescribes that during a royal call the
doors shall remain closed to all other visitors
,vhiIe those already there must take their de-
narture One afternoon she was visited by
CAV popular and laughter-oving young GUARDS
nam who had not been seated in her ora"Ing-roo"
for more than ten minutes when the groom OF
the chambers entered and murmured something
~ her in a low tone Of voice. She al once arose
extended her hand to the officer exclamne
"rm afraid | must bid you good-by. Its the I
doctor and YOU know that interviews with ply /
siclans like those with your father confessor
are of such confidential character that they 90
not admit Of the presence OF third person
Captain r. took his leave and bowed himseH (
ont As he descended the staircase his atten- !
ton was attracted by the putting and painting Of /
some ore ascending aboriousy. It sounded /
somewhat famllldT 10 MS tdiS. anu Ni~H ~ -
10 the landing half way down he perceived that 1
the new visitor was no other than his future
King Partly in consequence of the narrowness /
Of the staircase and partly. too. out Of feeling
Of respect he did not attempt 10 descend. but .
drew himself up against the wall as if on parade
and AZ attention" AS the Prince passed. with .
slight nod. IL suddenly struck the young
Guardsman that this was the doctor. and the
idea struck him as ludicrous that he had just
time to put his hand to his mouth 10 suppress
an almost uncomfortable peal Of laughter AS 1t
MAS the Prince caught the sound of a smoth
cred chuckle and darted a rather angry look al
the captain. who had some difficulty In suhse-
Guently winning his way again into the good
favor Of His Royal Highness OF course there
was no earthly reason why the lady should not
have informed the captain that she was honored
by call from the Prince. and the only excuse
that can be made for her in the matter was
that she knew that the malevolent gossip and
calumny which follow every pretty woman hon
ored by the acquaintance of masculine royalty
had not spared her.
Yet another contretemps is that which occurred
in the antechamber OF Leo XIII on the occasion
of the first visit paid him by the present Ger
man Emperor. The latter happened to lei ms
helmet tumble to the ground. ii having slipped
from his left which. being wi,hcred ana
deformed. powerless TO prevent its fail
Cardinal de Ia Volpe Immediately stopped 10
pick 1t up. Unfortunately, Emperor William
bent down for the same purpose and the cor
sequence was that the head OF the monarch ana
that Of the prelate came into violent collision
and the gravity Of all present was put to a
severe strain II required the utmost presence
Of mind on the part OF the Cardinal to restrain
himself from capping his hand 10 his damaged
pate, while it may have been the irritation
caused by his embarrassing incident which led
the Emperor 20 behave in such offensive
manner 10 the Holy Father IL the audience that
followed Cardinal VolDe. it may be added has
never since lost an opportunity Of declaring
that he regards Emperor William the hard
@t-headed monarch IN ChristendOIn.
Ot more serious character a contretemps
'hat occurred a the court OF Vienna and which
Was caused by their being two Counts FesteticZ
bearing 81 Of pa One Of