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diff --git a/36660.txt b/36660.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..22fdefc --- /dev/null +++ b/36660.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3780 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal of Countess Francoise Krasinska, by +Kasimir Dziekonska (translator) + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Journal of Countess Francoise Krasinska + Great Grandmother of Victor Emmanuel + +Author: Kasimir Dziekonska (translator) + +Translator: Kasimir Dziekonska + +Release Date: July 8, 2011 [EBook #36660] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JOURNAL OF COUNTESS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Jen Haines and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + THE JOURNAL OF COUNTESS + FRANCOISE KRASINSKA + GREAT GRANDMOTHER OF VICTOR + EMMANUEL + + TRANSLATED FROM THE POLISH + BY + KASIMIR DZIEKONSKA + + EIGHTH EDITION + + [Illustration] + + CHICAGO + A. C. McCLURG & CO. + 1907 + + + COPYRIGHT, + BY A. C. McCLURG & CO. + A.D. 1895. + + + + + THE JOURNAL + OF + COUNTESS FRANCOISE KRASINSKA + IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. + + + + + IN THE CASTLE OF MALESZOW, + _Monday, January 1, 1759_. + +One week ago--it was Christmas day--my honored Father ordered to +be brought to him a huge book, in which for many years he has +written with his own hand all the important things which have +happened in our country; also copies of the notable pamphlets, +speeches, manifestoes, public and private letters, occasional +poems, etc., and having placed everything in the order of its +date, he showed us this precious collection and read to us some +extracts. I was much pleased with his idea of recording +interesting facts and circumstances; and as I know how to write +pretty well in Polish and in French, and have heard that in +France some women have written their memoirs, I thought, "Why +should not I try to do something of the kind?" + +So I have made a big copy-book by fastening together many sheets +of paper, and I shall note down, as accurately as I am able, +everything which may happen to me and to my family, and I shall +also mention public affairs as they happen, as far as I may be +acquainted with them. + +To-day is New Year's Day and Monday, a very proper season to +begin something new. I am at leisure; the morning Service is +finished, I am dressed and my hair is curled; ten is just +striking on the castle clock, so I have two hours till dinner +time. Well, I begin. + +I was born in 1742, so I am just past my sixteenth birthday. I +received at the christening the name of Francoise. I have heard +more than once that I am pretty, and sometimes looking in the +mirror, I think so myself. "One has to thank God, and not to +boast," says my gracious Mother; "it is He that hath made us +and not we ourselves." I have black hair and eyes, a fair +complexion and rosy cheeks. I should like to be a little taller, +but they frighten me by saying I shall not grow any more. I am +descended from the not only noble, but very old and illustrious +family of Korwin Krasinski. God forbid I should ever tarnish the +glorious name I am fortunate enough to bear! on the contrary I +should like much to add to its fame, and I am often sorry I am +not a man, as I should then have more opportunities. + +The Count, my honored Father, and the Countess, are so sensible +of the grandeur of the Korwin Krasinski family, and they so often +speak of it,--not only they, but our courtiers and our guests as +well,--and it is thought by all to be such a great reproach not to +know precisely about our ancestors, that we all have our heads +full of that kind of information. I can recite the genealogy of the +Krasinskis and the history of each of them as perfectly as my +morning prayer, and I think that I should have more difficulty +in telling the names of our Polish kings in chronological order +than in telling those of my ancestors. The pictures of the most +illustrious are in our hall,[1] but it would take too long to write +about each of them. The first of whom we know anything was +Warcislaus Korwin, from the old Roman family of Corvinus, who, +in the eleventh century, came from Hungary to Poland and was +appointed the Hetman (General-in-chief) of the army of King +Boleslaus II. + + [1] They are still in Count Adam Krasinski's palace + in Warsaw. + +Having espoused a noble lady of the name of Pobog, Korwin united +his crest--a raven holding a ring--to that of the Pobogs--a hand +grasping a sabre--and such is still our cognizance. His grandson +was the first to take the name Krasinski, that is, _of Krasin_, +from an estate bestowed upon him by the King as a reward for his +bravery; and from that time forward many hetmans, castellans, +woivodes,[2] bishops, etc., made the Krasinski name famous in +Polish history. + + [2] Governors of provinces. + +One of them, Alexander, in this very same Maleszow Castle where +I am now quietly writing, resisted so bravely a great Tartar +army, in one of its plundering excursions from Asia, that the +chief was obliged to retreat; but before leaving, he sent to the +valorous castellan, as a token of his admiration, the most +precious thing he possessed,--namely, a clock, of very simple +construction, it is true, but a great wonder at that time. This +curious relic, this gift from an enemy,--and he a Tartar, more +accustomed to take than to give,--is still preserved with great +care in our family; I have seen it but twice in my life, my +honored Father keeping it so carefully, and I am sure he would +not exchange it for ten Paris clocks with all their chimes. + +This valiant ancestor of mine was killed in a war with Russia, +and left no son. His nephew John built in Warsaw a magnificent +palace in the Italian style, which is said to be more beautiful +than the King's Castle; but I have not seen it, as I have never +been in our capital. + +John's brother, Alexander, the castellan of Sandomir, was my own +grandfather. His son, Stanislaus, the Staroste[3] of Nova Wies +and Uscie, is my honored and beloved Father; he married Angela +Humiecka, the daughter of the famous Woivode of Podole, my +honored and beloved Mother. But, to my great sorrow, this line +of the Krasinski family will become extinct with the Count, my +Father, as he has four daughters, but no son: Basia (a pet name +for Barbara) is the eldest; I am the second; then comes Kasia +(Katherine); and Marynia (Mary) is the youngest. + + [3] Honorary judge. + +The courtiers tell me often I am the handsomest, but I am sure I +do not see it; we all have the bearing becoming young ladies of +high station, daughters of a Staroste; we are straight as poplars, +with complexions white as snow and cheeks pink as roses; our +waists, especially when Madame ties us fast in our stays, can be, +as they say, "clasped with one hand." In the parlor before guests +we know how to make our courtesy, low or _degage_, according +to their importance; we have been taught to sit quiet on the very +edge of a stool, with our eyes cast down and our hands folded, +so that one might think we were not able to count three or were +too prim even to walk out of the room easily. But people would +think differently if they saw us on a summer morning, when we +are allowed to go to the woods in morning gowns and without +stays, puffs, coiffures, or high-heeled shoes: oh! how we climb +the steep hillsides, and run and shout and sing, till our poor +Madame is quite out of breath from running and calling after us. + +As yet I and my two younger sisters have seldom left home: +Konskie, the home of our aunt, the Woivodine[4] Malachowska, +whom we visit twice a year; Piotrowice, where my honored Father, +after his return from Italy, built a beautiful chapel, like the +one in Loretto; Lisow, where stands our parish church,--these +bound all our experiences in travelling. But Basia, as the +eldest, has already seen a good part of this world: she has been +twice to Opole, visiting our aunt, the Princess Lubomirska, +Woivodine of Lublin, whom my Father loves and venerates as a +mother rather than as an elder sister. Basia has spent also one +year in the convent of the Ladies of the Visitation at Warsaw, +and so, of course, she knows more than any of us: her courtesies +are the lowest, and her manners the most stately. + + [4] Wife of a woivode. + +My honored Parents are thinking now of sending me also somewhere +to finish my education; I am expecting every day to see the +carriage drive up to the door, and then my gracious Mother will +tell me to sit beside her, and she will take me either to Warsaw +or to Cracow. I am perfectly happy at home, but Basia liked the +convent very much, so I hope that I shall; and then I shall +improve in the French language, which is now indispensable for a +lady; also in music and in dancing, and besides that I shall +see a great town, our capital. + +As I have not seen many castles besides Maleszow, I cannot +judge whether it is pretty or not. I only know that I like it very +much. Some people think that our castle, with its four stories +and its four bastions, surrounded with a moat full of water +crossed by a drawbridge, and situated amidst forests in a rocky +country, looks rather gloomy, but I do not think so at all. I am +so happy here that I should like to sing and dance all day long. +I hear my honored Parents complaining sometimes that they are +not quite comfortable here. It is true that, although on each floor +there are besides the parlor, six large rooms and four smaller +ones in the bastions, we cannot all be accommodated on the same +floor, as we are a very numerous family. The dining-rooms are on +the first, the dancing hall on the second, and we girls have to +occupy the third floor. My honored Parents are no longer young, +and it fatigues them to go up and down every day, but for me +these stairs are just my delight! Often, when I have not yet all +my puffs on, I grasp the stair-rail and I am down in one second +without my foot once touching the steps. Oh! it is such fun! + +It is true our many guests may sometimes be crowded a little in +their sleeping rooms, but nevertheless, they visit us often, and +I do not know that we could amuse ourselves better in a more +spacious palace. I think the Maleszow Castle, if three times as +large, could not be more magnificent; it is so gay and lively +that the neighbors often call it little Paris. We are especially +gay when winter comes; then the captain of our dragoons does +not lift up the drawbridge until night, so many people are +continually driving in and out, and our court-band has enough +to do playing every day for us to dance. + +But I ought not to forget to speak about the retinue of our +Castle, which, in accordance with the rank of my honored +Parents, is very numerous and stately. + +There are two classes of courtiers,--the honorary and the +salaried ones, all alike nobles, with the sword at their side. +The first are about twenty in number; their duties are to wait +in the morning for the Count's entrance, to be ready for any +service he may require, to accompany him when visiting or +riding, to defend him in case of need, to give him their voice +at the Diet, and to play cards and amuse him and his guests. +This last duty is best performed by our Matenko (Mathias), the +fool or court jester, as the other courtiers call him; but he +does not at all deserve that sobriquet, as his judgment is very +correct and his repartees are very witty. Of all the courtiers +he is the most privileged, being allowed to speak whenever he +chooses and to tell the truth frankly. + +To the honorary members of our court belong also six girls of +good family, who live on the same floor with us under the +superintendence of our Madame, and also two dwarfs. One of the +latter is about forty, but of the size of a four-year-old child; +he is dressed as a Turk. The other, still smaller and very +graceful and pretty, is eighteen years old, and they dress him +as a Cossack. Sometimes, for sport, my honored Mother orders him +to be put on the dinner table, and he walks about among the +bottles and the plates as easily as if he were in a garden. + +The honorary courtiers receive no pay, almost all of them being +the sons and daughters of rather wealthy parents, who send them +to our castle for training in courtly etiquette. The men +receive, nevertheless, provision for two horses, and two +florins[5] weekly for their valets. These servants are dressed, +some as Cossacks, some as Hungarians, and stand behind their +masters' chairs at meals. There is no special dinner table for +them, but they must be satisfied with what their masters leave +on their plates, and you should see how they follow with a +covetous eye each morsel on its way from the plate to the +master's mouth! I do not dare to look at them, partly from fear +of laughing, and partly out of pity. + + [5] The Polish florin is worth twenty cents. + +The salaried courtiers are much more numerous. They do not +come to our table, except the chaplain, the physician and the +secretary. The marshal and the butler walk around the table +watching if anything is wanted; they pour the wine into the +glasses, often replenishing for the guests, but only on feast +days keeping the glass full for the courtiers. The commissary, +the treasurer, the equerry, the gentleman usher, the masters of +the wardrobe, all dine at the marshal's table. To tell the truth, +those who sit at our table have more honor than profit, for they +do not always have the same kind of food that we have, although +it comes from the same dish. For instance, when the meats are +brought in, there will be on the dish game or domestic fowl on the +top, and plain roast beef, or roast pork, underneath. Each course +is brought on two enormous dishes, and it seems almost impossible +such heaps could disappear; yet the last man served gets often +but scanty bits of food, and whether there are four courses, as +on week days, or seven, as on Sundays, or twelve, as on festivals, +I do not remember having seen anything left on our table. + +The salaried courtiers receive quite high pay, from three +hundred to a thousand florins annually, also provender for two +horses each, and the livery for their valets; but then the Count +expects them all to present themselves well dressed. When he is +especially pleased with one of them he rewards him generously, +and every year on the Count's birthday, rich presents in dresses +and money are distributed. + +But this is not our whole retinue; there are also the +chamberlains,--young boys from fifteen to twenty years of age, +of noble families, who perform a kind of novitiate in our +service. Their duties are to be always in attendance, to +accompany our carriage on horseback, and to be ready for all +kinds of errands; thus if my honored Parents have letters to be +carried in haste, or presents or invitations to be sent, they +always send the chamberlains. One of them, Michael Chronowski, +will finish his novitiate on Epiphany, and then will come the +ceremony of liberation, which I shall describe in its place. + +As for other people belonging to our retinue, it would be +difficult to enumerate them; I am sure I do not know how many +there are of musicians, cooks, linkboys, cossacks, hostlers, +valets, chamberlains, and boy and girl servants. I know only +there are five different dinner tables, and two stewards are +busy from morning till night, giving out the provisions for the +meals. Very often, especially when fresh supplies are brought +in, my honored Mother is herself present in the storeroom; she +also keeps the keys of the medicine closet, where spices, +dainties, and sweet liquors are kept. Every morning the marshal +brings to her the dinner and supper menu, which she, with the +advice of my honored Father, either changes or approves. + +The arrangement of our day's occupation is as follows: we rise at +six o'clock in summer, at seven in winter. All four of us sleep in +the same room with Madame, and each has an iron bedstead with +curtains around it. Basia, as the eldest, has two pillows and a silk +coverlet; we, the younger, have but one pillow and a woollen blanket. +Having said a French prayer with Madame, we begin our lessons at +once. At first the chaplain taught us the catechism, and with our +tutor we learned how to read and write in Polish; but now he teaches +only my two younger sisters, for Basia and I study with Madame only. +We learn vocabularies, dialogues, and anecdotes by heart from a +text-book. At eight we go downstairs to wish our honored Parents +good-morning and to have breakfast. Then we go to the chapel, where, +after the mass, the chaplain reads Latin prayers, which we all +repeat after him aloud. Returning to our room, we learn German +vocabularies, we write letters and exercises, and Madame dictates +to us the verses of a French poet, Malesherbes. We have a spinet and +are taught to play upon it by a German teacher, who directs our +orchestra; for this service he receives three hundred florins +annually. We all study music and Basia plays not badly at all. + +When our lessons are over we put on wrappers and the coiffeur +comes to dress our hair, beginning with the eldest. This is a +long and often painful operation, especially when he is +inventing some new coiffure. As my hair is the thickest and the +longest (it drags on the floor when I am sitting before the +dressing-table), it is on my head that he generally makes his +experiments. It is true that he does make very beautiful and +wonderful coiffures; for instance, the one I have to-day, is so +pretty, having a _laisser aller_ effect: all my hair is lifted +up very high; half of it is arranged in puffs on the top of the +head, and the other half falls in loose curls on the neck and +the shoulders; there must have been at least a half-pound of +powder used in it. Our dressing takes two or three hours, during +which Madame reads to us a new French book, the "Magasin des +Enfants" by Madame Beaumont. + +At noon, at the Angelus bell, we go down to dinner, and then, our +honored Parents allow us to remain with them for the rest of the +day. We sit generally two hours at table; after that if the +weather is favorable we take a walk; if not, we always have some +needle-work on hand for our church in Piotrowice. We sit at our +embroidery frames as long as we can see, and when the lights are +brought in, we make netting or do some such light work. There are +always many wax tapers burning in silver candelabra, and although +they are rather yellow, being home-made from our own wax, they +give a very bright light. + +Supper is at seven, and afterwards the evening is given to +amusement. Sometimes we play cards, "Marriage" or "Drujbart," +and it is such fun to see the faces Matenko makes, according as +he gets a seven or a trump! + +Once a week a chamberlain goes to Warsaw to bring the newspapers +and letters, and then the chaplain reads aloud the "Gazette" and +the "Courier." At times my honored Father reads the old +chronicles to us; sometimes they are very dull, and sometimes +very interesting. During the Carnival, there is seldom any +reading, but there are games, music, and dances. I cannot +imagine how they can amuse themselves better at the court in +Warsaw; how can it be anywhere gayer than in our Maleszow? +Still, I should like so much, if only out of curiosity, to have +just a taste of that court life. But what do I hear? There is +the noon bell! I must say the Angelus in haste, see if my +coiffure is in order, and run downstairs, leaving for to-morrow +all that I intended to write to-day. + + + _Tuesday_, January 2. + +Yesterday, I wrote about myself and my home; to-day I want to +write about my country. I should not be a worthy Pole if I were +not interested in what happens in my own land. People in our +house talk much about Poland, and I have always listened +attentively, but much more so since I resolved to write this +journal. + +Our present king is Augustus III., Elector of Saxony, son and +successor of Augustus II. On the seventeenth of this month, it +will be twenty-five years since the Bishop of Cracow crowned him +King of Poland and Lithuania.[6] It is said that he was rather +indifferent to the Polish crown, when by his father's death the +chance was opened to him; but he was persuaded to become a +candidate by his wife, Marie Josephine, daughter of the German +Emperor Maximilian. This royal lady was very much beloved by the +Poles: she had a very good influence over the king, her husband, +and never meddled with any court intrigues; she was charitable, +beneficent, pious, a good wife and a good mother, and fully +deserved to be called a model of feminine virtues. She died in +Dresden two years ago, and I remember well the great sorrow +caused by the news of her death. In all the churches there were +grand funeral services, also in our Piotrowice, and all the poor +people cried and lamented, having lost in her a real mother. She +had fourteen children, of whom eleven are living: four sons and +seven daughters. + + [6] At the end of the fourteenth century these two + countries were united by the marriage of Hedvig, + queen of Poland, with the prince of Lithuania Jagellon. + +The king is said to be of a kindly but rather weak character, +and he has the greatest confidence in his minister Bruehl, who in +reality is the ruler both of Poland and Saxony. It is said +affairs are going all wrong in Saxony, and not much better in +our country. I have often heard people say: "We need a Frederic +the Great, with a strong head and an iron will;" and as our king +is old, they are all looking forward and planning already for +his successor. There are two prominent candidates for the +throne: one is Stanislaus Poniatowski, who was educated in +France, spent four years in Russia as the envoy of Poland, and +there became the favorite of the Empress Catherine II. The other +candidate is Duke Charles, twenty-six years old, the most +beloved of the sons of our present king. People say he has a +real gift for attracting all hearts to him; he is very handsome, +very stately in figure, and very courteous in manner; and having +spent almost his whole life in Poland, he knows our language +perfectly. I have heard so much of his good qualities that my +best wishes are for him, although Poniatowski is my countryman. + +This day will be a memorable one for Duke Charles. A few weeks +ago he was elected Duke of Courland, which is a tributary of +Poland, and to-day occurs the "investiture," that is, the giving +possession. The king is so happy about the good fortune of his +beloved son, that he is said to look ten years younger. What +festivals there will be in Warsaw! How I should like to be there +now, and to see the grand doings, but especially to see the +royal prince. We shall, at least, drink his health here and cry, +"Long life to Duke Charles!" + + + January 3. + +Yesterday, just when we were drinking to the health of the Duke +of Courland, and our band was doing its best, and our company of +dragoons were firing salutes,--at that very moment the chamberlain, +who had been sent to Warsaw, returned with the news that on account +of the indisposition of the duke, the ceremonies of the investiture +had to be postponed. "Bad omen," said Matenko; "as the mitre slips, +so the crown will slip." I felt like crying, but there was no time +for that, as many guests were present; among others, the Woivode of +Craclaw, Swidinski, with his nephew Father Albert, a Jesuit, whom +my honored Parents like and respect greatly. Basia is his special +favorite; he brought her a rosary and a prayer book,--"La Journee +du Chretien,"--and he spoke several times to her at supper. But then, +Basia is the eldest; no wonder everybody pays most attention to her. + + + _Friday_, January 5. + +The Woivode and Father Albert are still here, and to-day the two +sons of the former are expected. I am very anxious to know them, +as they have both been educated in France, at Luneville, at the +court of Stanislaus Leszczynski.[7] This nobleman, although his +country has proved faithless to him, tries to be useful to it, +and he has always some young Poles at his court, where they +receive the best education. The sons of our first families court +this great honor, and there is not a better recommendation for a +young man than to say of him: "He has been brought up in the +court of Luneville." He is sure then to be refined, to speak +French well, and to dance the minuet gracefully; therefore all +gentlemen brought up at that court are great favorites of the +ladies. Oh! how curious I am to see these two! + + [7] Stanislaus Leszczynski, surnamed the "most virtuous + of men," king of Poland before Augustus II., was + dethroned by the Saxon party. He had Lorraine + allotted to him, and is still remembered there as + the "good King Stanislaus." His daughter Maria was + married to Louis XV. of France. + + + _Saturday_, January 6. + +They arrived yesterday, but I cannot say they are quite as I +expected, especially the elder, the Staroste of Radom. I thought I +should see a fine young cavalier, like the Prince Cheri, so +beautifully depicted by Madame de Beaumont, but the Staroste is not +at all like him; first, he is not very young,--he is about thirty; +then he is rather stout, and therefore, perhaps, he is not fond of +dancing. As to his Parisian accent, I cannot judge about that, as +he did not say one French word, but mixes his Polish and Latin +quite as the old gentlemen do. His brother, who is a colonel in the +king's army, pleased me a little more; he has, at least, a fine +uniform. To-day, the ceremony of liberation of the Chamberlain +Chronowski will take place. Besides that, as it is customary on +Epiphany, they are baking an enormous cake with an almond in it, +and whoever gets the almond will be the Twelfth Night king or +queen. Oh! if it only came to me! A crown would be put on my head +and I should have all the ordering of the dances; then what dancing +there would be! Still, I think, there will be enough in any case, +for many guests are expected. Our old butler, Peter, was muttering +to himself this morning that around the church in Piotrowice there +are said to be ever so many coaches and curricles. Poor man! he is +expecting more work, so he grumbles; but I feel my heart jumping, +and my feet are dancing already. How often in this world the same +thing brings trouble to one and joy to another! + + + _Sunday_, January 7. + +Well, yes, they did come, and many of them are still here. Old +Peter has two wrinkles more on his forehead, but we amused +ourselves royally. Basia, not I, was the queen, but it was just +as well. When at the end of the dinner the cake was cut, Basia +glancing at her piece became red as a pink, and Madame, sitting +next to her, announced: "Mademoiselle Basia has the almond!" +Then all the people cried, "Long live the queen!" and Matenko +added, smiling: "The almond is here, the husband is near." Would +it not be nice to have a wedding in our house! + +Decidedly I do not like the Staroste; he is so grave! Yesterday +he danced the Polonaise only. He never looks at us girls, nor +speaks a word to one of us; he converses with my honored Parents +only, or plays cards, or reads the "Gazette;" so, really, I +cannot find him very entertaining. + +But I am forgetting to speak about Michael Chronowski's +liberation. Soon after dinner we went to the banquet hall with +our guests, and all sat around in a large circle, my honored +Father in the middle, on a higher chair. The folding doors were +thrown open, and the marshal with other courtiers led in the +young man, dressed no more in livery, but in a rich Polish +costume. He knelt down before the Count, who gave him a light +blow on the cheek in token that he has been novitiate boy here, +then a sword was fastened to his side and his health was drunk +in a cup of wine. The Count made him a present of a purse filled +with gold, and of two horses which were already waiting in the +courtyard for their new master. Invited to remain here as a +guest till the end of the carnival, Chronowski accepted the +invitation with gratitude, and having saluted my honored Parents +and kissed the hands of all the ladies, was admitted to our +society and danced with us the whole evening. + + + January 8. + +The prophecy of Matenko proved true, for Basia will be married +before the carnival is over. Last night the Staroste Swidinski +asked my honored Parents for her hand; they sent for her this +morning, told her about it, and the betrothal will take place +to-morrow. Basia came back in tears to our room, telling us that +she dreaded the marriage, and would always regret her old home, +but that it was not possible to refuse such a match, as both +our honored Parents wished it, and told her she would be very +happy. The Staroste is, they say, a most honorable man, +religious, and of a kind disposition; his family is also old and +very wealthy. His father has allotted him a large estate, +"Sulgostow," with a beautiful palace, and the king has given him +the appointment of staroste with the expectation of being soon +named castellan. For a long time the Woivode and Father Albert +had been planning this marriage, and they came here for the +purpose of effecting it. + +And so we shall have a wedding here, in Maleszow Castle, on the +25th of February, at the very end of the carnival. Will there +not be dancing! Basia will become Madame Starostine; only, it is +a pity we shall not be allowed to call her "Basia" any more. I +am very sorry to have written about the Staroste as I did, but +then it is not I that is to marry him, and if he pleases Basia, +that is enough. She says she has always been afraid of young +men, she likes serious ones better; and our honored Mother +tells her that those make the best husbands. Perhaps so, but as +for me ... well, it is of no use to think about it at present. + +Oh! but I must not forget: the investiture of Duke Charles will +certainly take place in Warsaw to-day. Colonel Swidinski, who +knows him personally, has not words enough to tell how charming +he is. I wonder if I shall ever see him. + + + January 10. + +The betrothal took place yesterday. In the morning, when we came +down, my honored Mother gave Basia a skein of tangled silk to +wind.[8] The poor girl, with flushing cheeks, began the task, +not daring to look up from her work, for she knew that all eyes, +especially those of the Staroste, were fixed upon her; and +besides, that mischievous Matenko was teasing her without end, +making all the people laugh. + + [8] An old Polish custom, by which a young girl was to + prove whether she was patient enough to meet the + trials of married life. + +After dinner, when she sat again before her winding-frame, the +Staroste came near and asked in a voice loud enough for all to +hear: "May I believe that your ladyship's will is favorable to +my desires?" "The will of my honored Parents," answered Basia, +with a trembling voice, "has ever been a sacred law to me." And +that was the whole of the conversation between the betrothed. + +When the courtiers had left the room and we were alone with our +guests, the Woivode and Father Albert arose, the former taking +by the hand the Staroste, and standing before my honored Parents +he thus addressed them: "For a long time my heart has been +filled with the most sincere affection and profound veneration +for the illustrious family of Korwin Krasinski; for a long time +I have desired fervently that my modest name be united with your +glorious one, and I cannot express the great satisfaction which +I feel in knowing that your Grace is willing to grant me this +favor. You have a most honorable daughter, Barbara; I have this +son, Michael, who is my comfort and my pride; are you willing to +renew to-day your promise to join this young pair for their +lifetime? Here is the ring which I received on a like occasion +from my honored Parents, in order to give it to my wife, who is, +alas! no more in this world, but who still lives in my heart. +Will you allow my son to offer it now to your daughter as a +pledge of a closer tie?" Saying this he laid a costly diamond +ring on a little silver tray which Father Albert was holding. +The latter also made a speech, but he used so many Latin words +that I could not make anything of it. + +My honored Father rose and answered: "I repeat now what I told +you yesterday, that I consent to the marriage of my daughter +with the most honorable Staroste; I give her to him with my +sincere blessing, and I transfer to him all my rights as a +Father." "I do the same, and with my whole heart," added my +honored Mother. "Here is a ring, the most precious jewel in my +house; my Father, the Woivode of Podole, received it after his +victory over the Turks, from the hands of our late king, +Augustus II. This was my betrothal ring, and I give it now to my +eldest daughter, with a Mother's blessing, and with a prayer to +the Almighty that she may be as happy as I have been." She then +placed on the tray a ring with a very large diamond, which, +being raised, disclosed the miniature of the late king. + +"Basia! come here, my girl," said my honored Father. She rose +and advanced, but was so confused and trembling that I wonder +how she ever reached the spot. Father Albert blessed the rings, +and gave the first one to the Staroste, who, having kissed my +sister's hand, placed the ring on her fourth finger; Basia, in +her turn, gave him the ring with the portrait, and had her hand +kissed once more. Then the Staroste fell at the feet of my +honored Parents, thanking them, and calling God to witness that +he would do all in his power to make their daughter happy; in +the mean time the Woivode kissed the trembling Basia on the +brow, while Father Albert and the colonel paid her many fine +compliments. + +At the end my honored Father took a large cup, filled it with +old Hungarian wine, and drank the young couple's health; and all +the gentlemen did the same. + +The whole ceremony was so solemn and so touching that I could +not keep back my tears. "Do not weep, Frances," said Matenko, +who still remained in the room and for once was serious, "do not +weep; in less than one year it will be your ladyship's turn." In +one year? ... no, that would be too soon, but in a few years, +perhaps.... + +Everybody in the house is now paying so much attention to Basia! +My honored Parents kissed her on the cheek when she wished them +good-night, and all the people are congratulating her and +recommending themselves to her, as many wish that she would take +them to her new court. + +My honored Father brought out a bag containing a thousand +ducats, which he gave my honored Mother for the trousseau, and +during several hours they discussed together its details. +To-morrow Mlle. Zawistoska, a very respectable woman, who has +been brought up in our castle and will be Basia's lady's maid, +is going with the commissary to Warsaw to make the necessary +purchases. + +In our store-house there are four big trunks with silver plate, +one for each of us. The Count ordered the one which is designed +for Basia to be opened; examined each piece himself, and those +which need repairs or alteration are to be sent to Warsaw. + +The letters to announce the approaching marriage are already +being written, and the chamberlains will take them to all parts +of Poland, to all relatives and friends, inviting them to the +wedding. But the most stately of our courtiers, the equerry, +will go to Warsaw with letters to the king, the royal princes, +the primate, and the chief senators. In these missives the Count +gives notice of his daughter's intended marriage, but sends no +invitations, as the presence of those persons will depend upon +their own pleasure. Oh! if one of them, for instance the Duke of +Courland, should come here, what grandeur would be added to the +wedding; but more probably they will send their envoys only, +who, in that case, receive all the honors due to those they +represent. + +The Staroste gave handsome tokens of remembrance to each of us +sisters. I received a costly brooch with turquoises; Mary, a ruby +cross; Kasia, a Venetian chain. Also he offered presents to my +honored Parents, which they deigned to accept,--the Count, a golden +cup; the Countess, a work-box, in which all the implements are of +mother-of-pearl and gold. He did not forget even our Madame, who +found this morning a lace shawl on her bed; so she also highly +praises our Polish generosity. + +Last night we had a grand supper. The music was beautiful, the +dragoons fired salutes, and the captain gave to the guard for a +watchword the names Michael and Barbara. + +This morning there was given a great hunting-party, for Basia's +good luck, and it was unusually successful; they brought home one +boar, two deer, four hinds, and many hares. The boar was killed by +the Staroste himself, who laid his trophy at Basia's feet. I have +learned to-day what a brave man the Staroste is. My honored Father +ordered for the hunters all the horses from the stables, and among +others there was one, a great beauty, but very wild; even the +equerry does not dare to ride him. The Staroste said, however, that +he would try him, and notwithstanding all the remonstrances, he sat +upon him with ease and held him with such a clever and strong hand +that, in spite of all the animal's prancing and jumping, he rode +three times around the castle. It was beautiful to see. Basia +turned pale at first, but when she saw how he was able to manage +the horse, and when loud bravos began to resound, then deep blushes +covered her cheeks, especially when all eyes turned towards her. +By this act the Staroste quite gained my favor; one who is so brave +and so strong, can be pardoned even if he does not like to dance +the minuet. The Count presented the horse to his future son-in-law, +adding a rich equipment and a groom; he deserved it. + +To-morrow the Woivode and the Staroste are going away, in order +to prepare the Sulgostow house for its new mistress. + + + _Sunday_, January 20. + +During more than a week I have not opened my diary, for we are +very busy. The afternoons and evenings are spent with our +guests, and the mornings are given to work, as each sister +wishes to make something with her own hands for Basia's +trousseau. I am embroidering a dishabille with flowers in +lace-stitch, and I have to get up very early in the morning and +work even by candle-light in order to be ready in season. Mary +is making a very pretty scarf; it will have an arabesque +embroidered on fine muslin in dark silks and gold; Kasia is +knitting a cover for the dressing table; so all the lessons are +put aside, and even Madame de Beaumont is forgotten. + +From the early morning, my honored Mother is busy, unlocking the +trunks, the drawers, and the cupboards,--taking out linen, +silks, furs, carpets, rugs, curtains, etc. She has many things +still remaining from her own trousseau, and many others bought +later, as during all these years she has been gathering all +kinds of beautiful things for our marriage outfits; really they +are well worth seeing. Sometimes she deigns to call me to assist +her, and it is quite touching to see her anxiety to do right by +each of us; she divides all these treasures in four portions, +and sometimes she even asks my honored Father and the chaplain +to give their opinion whether the shares are quite of equal +value. + +A tailor and a furrier have come from Warsaw, and there is so +much to be done that they will not have finished for a month. +Fortunately, almost all the linen is ready, our sewing-girls +having worked upon it for these last two years, and now they +are marking it with blue cotton. + +Basia wonders what she will do with all the new dresses they are +making for her; until now we had never more than four at the +same time, two dark woollen ones for every day, and two white +ones, one in cotton for Sundays, another in batiste for great +occasions. But my honored Mother says that what is good enough +for a young girl would not be proper for a married lady. + +Basia has wound the tangled silk with such patience that, +although green, it has not in the least changed its color; even +Matenko acknowledges that she is fit to be married. She is now +knitting from that silk a purse for the Staroste by my honored +Mother's direction. + +The equerry and the chamberlain are gone with the invitations. +On the 8th of January the investiture of the royal prince took +place at last. The night before, my uncle the Prince Lubomirski, +Woivode of Lublin, who is also the marshal to the royal prince, +gave a great ball; other festivals, dinners, and balls followed +for more than a week. The new duke made a speech in the Polish +language, which pleased immensely; he is now treated quite as a +crowned prince. In the "Courier" there is a full account of the +ceremonies. It is very interesting; I should like to copy it +here, but I have not the time. + + + January 25. + +The Staroste arrived last night, and this morning Basia found on +her work-table two large silver baskets with oranges and +bonbons, which she distributed among us and our court ladies. +Our work is progressing rapidly and my _neglige_ is half done. + +Basia will be provided with feather-beds from her own household, +for to each of us daughters has been allotted for many years a +certain number of geese and swans. There is among the servants a +poor, stupid girl who is not able to do anything but pluck the +feathers, and each of us has a separate barrel for feathers and a +bag for down. Basia, out of her share, will have two feather-beds, +eight big pillows filled with goose-down, and four small ones of +swan's-down. The pillows will be made of red silk, and the cases of +Holland linen lawn embroidered. + + + February 2. + +The Staroste stayed nearly a week and departed yesterday; the +next time he will not go away alone, but Basia will go with him. +It seems to me quite impossible that she will leave us and go +alone with a man! Basia's friendship and esteem for the Staroste +grows every day, although he never speaks with her; all his +conversation is with my honored Parents, and all his attentions +are paid to them. They say it ought to be so in an honorable +courtship, for is there a better way of gaining the heart of the +daughter than by pleasing the Parents? + +The wedding will be in three weeks; we shall have new dresses as +well as the court ladies; all these will be Basia's gift. + +Many of the invited guests have already replied that they are +coming, but the king and the royal princes will send only their +envoys. It is doubtful, also, if my aunt, the Princess Woivodine +of Lublin will be able to come, but she is much pleased with +Basia's choice, and she wrote a beautiful letter with her +blessing,--which made my honored Father very happy. + +I am hurrying with my embroidery, but I must rise early and work +by candle-light, for my honored Mother is so gracious toward me +that she often wants my help and service. Before this, only +Basia, as the eldest, was so fortunate, but now, my honored +Parents want me to have some practice in order to take her place +when the Staroste takes her away. Twice already I have had the +key of the medicine closet intrusted to me, and I really think +since then I have grown more serious. + + + February 12. + +The preparations for the wedding are going on, and our visitors +begin to arrive. Almost all the guest-rooms are already +occupied, and the farm-house, the parsonage, even the better +peasant-cottages will be wanted for the later comers. The cooks +and the confectioners are already preparing all kinds of +delicacies and sweetmeats for the coming event. + +To-day the beds have been sent to Sulgostow and two enormous +chests with mattresses, pillows, carpets, curtains, etc. The +bedsteads are of carved oak with blue covers, curtains, and +canopies; on the four corners there will be bunches of blue and +white ostrich-feathers. Almost every moment Basia has good +reason for embracing the hands and the feet of our honored +Parents, they are so generous toward her. The Count is writing +with his own hand, in a large book, the contents of the +trousseau, beginning with these words:-- + +"Inventory of the wedding outfit which I, Stanislaus Korwin +Krasinski, Staroste of Nova Wies, etc., etc., and Angela, born +Humiecka, my honored wife, are giving to our eldest and beloved +daughter Barbara, promised in marriage to the honorable Michael +Swidinski, Staroste of Radom; and imploring for this daughter of +ours the favor of Heaven, we bestow upon her our parental +blessing, _in nomine Patri et Filii et Spiritu Sancto_. Amen." I +should like to copy here the whole inventory, but first, I have +no time, and secondly, I expect to receive a trousseau like this +sometime myself, and what is still better, such a blessing of my +own. + + + February 20. + +Three days more and then the wedding. The Staroste arrived +yesterday; Basia shook like a leaf when the chamberlain brought him +into the parlor. To-day we are expecting the Woivode, Father +Albert, the colonel and the Woivodine Granowska, sister of the +Staroste, with her husband. Basia is entering into a fine +family,--all religious and worthy people. The trousseau is quite +finished, and what has not already been sent to Sulgostow is packed +in trunks, of which Mademoiselle Zavistoska has the keys. Besides +this mademoiselle, Basia will take with her two young girls, her +goddaughters, well trained in all kinds of needle-work, and as +companion, one of the six damsels who have been brought up with us. +When I am married I shall take still more; I have already solemnly +promised three girls that they shall go with me; one of them is the +daughter of our Peter. In his grateful joy, the old man bowed to my +feet, and for the first time his forehead was free from wrinkles. + + + _Sunday_, February 22. + +The wedding will be to-morrow. Our guests are numberless, and all +the envoys are here. The king's envoy is the Secretary Borch; that +of the Duke of Courland, his confidant the Castellanic[9] +Kochanowski, a very handsome and polite cavalier; the proverb is +right: "As the master, so the valet." I cannot possibly describe +all the others; they arrived, as if by appointment, at the same +hour yesterday, and their entrance was quite imposing. Before every +one of them our dragoons presented arms, while the cannons were +firing and the music playing. The greatest honors were shown to the +king's envoy; the Count, having been informed of the hour of his +arrival, was waiting with head uncovered on the drawbridge, and all +our guests, courtiers, and servants stood in a double row up to the +entrance door. As soon as the secretary stepped on the bridge they +all shouted "Vivat!" and bowed low in salutation. + + [9] Son of a castellan. + +To-day, in the presence of the whole company, and before +appointed witnesses, the marriage contract was written, but I do +not know what it contains, as I have not understood a single +word of it. I know only that the bride received many beautiful +presents: from the Staroste three strings of oriental pearls; +from the Woivode a rich diamond cross and an aigrette with +diamond pendants; from the colonel an enamelled watch and chain; +from Father Albert many relics; and from each relative a +souvenir. Basia can hardly believe that all these riches belong +to her; until now, her only jewel, besides her betrothal ring, +was a small ring with the picture of the Holy Virgin on it, and +I am sure Basia will not discard her old friend for all the +costly jewels which she now receives. + +The maid has just brought my _neglige_, washed and pressed; it +looks very nice. There are twenty-five different kinds of +lace-stitch in it; I am sure it will be becoming to Basia. + + + _Shrove Tuesday_, February 26. + +All is over, and as Matenko says, "with a hundred horses one +could not catch Mademoiselle Barbara any more;" she is Madame +Starostine. I have much to tell. + +Yesterday, very early in the morning, we rode to our parish +church in Lisow, where the bride and the bridegroom went to +confession and to communion. As it was cold the bride wore a +white cloak of brocade silk, lined with white fox fur, and on +her head a long lace veil. + +When we returned breakfast was served, and soon afterwards the +dressing of the bride commenced; twelve noble ladies headed by +my honored Mother undertook that important task. The dress was +of white satin, with watered silk stripes, a frill of Brabant +lace with silver ornaments at the bottom, and a long train; a +rosemary bouquet fastened the front of the corsage. On her head +the bride wore a rosemary wreath held in place by a gold circlet +on which was engraved the date of the wedding and good wishes in +rhyme. According to the old Polish custom, my honored Mother +fastened in the wreath a ducat with the date of Basia's +birth-year, and a bit of bread for good luck; she also added to +the above a lump of sugar in order to sweeten the married life, +which they say has many difficulties. No jewels were allowed, +for it is said that for each precious stone worn on the wedding +day, one has to pay afterwards with a vial of tears. As it is, +Basia has wept enough, so that her eyes are red and swollen. + +A little in advance, the bridesmaids went downstairs; we were +twelve, all dressed in white, and the eldest of us was not more +than eighteen. The bridegroom with twelve groomsmen met us at +the door of the parlor, and there we found all the guests +assembled. An enormous tray was carried behind us, heaped with +bouquets of rosemary and orange sprays, each tied with a white +ribbon, which were destined for the young ladies and bachelors +present at the wedding. To fasten on these bouquets, each +bridesmaid had a certain number of gold and silver pins, and +great care was to be used in distributing the different values +according to the rank of each person. The elderly ladies have +been teaching us for a long time about the method we should +follow in order not to cause offence by giving the priority to +persons of lesser rank, and we were sure we understood the +lesson perfectly; but as soon as we were in the hall, everything +was forgotten. At first, we began our task very gravely, then we +went on with a smile, and finally we broke into laughter; many +and many mistakes were committed, but all were pardoned, and +our gaiety was so contagious that soon the married people and +even the elderly ladies and venerable gentleman,--none of whom +have any right to wear flowers on a wedding day,--all wanted a +bouquet. The first heap disappeared; they brought a second tray +full, and a third one; we had no more gold or silver pins, and +had to use the ordinary ones, but they were received just as +well. At the end everybody looked happy; all had their bouquets, +and the room was like a garden. + +But no, I am mistaken, not everybody was happy,--Matenko stood +sad in a corner; although a bachelor he had received no flowers, +and he looked as if he did not belong to the wedding party. I +stepped up to him, and he said in a low, grieved voice: "I do +not wonder that the other young ladies have not thought of +me,--but Miss Frances, whom I have known as a baby, whom, for so +many years, I have played with and amused, that she should +forget me! Well, I will not come to her wedding, even if she +marries a king's son!" I knew that I blushed half pleased, but +was still more vexed at my forgetfulness. + +I ran to the dressing-room, but there was not one bouquet left, +for my honored Mother, hearing how the flowers were being +appropriated in the hall, took the remaining ones for the ladies +who were dressing the bride and for herself. The greenhouses +were too far off to send there, and I wanted, at any price, a +bouquet for poor Matenko. Suddenly a happy thought came to my +mind: I caught a piece of white ribbon and returning hastily to +the parlor, took off my bouquet and gave half of it, with the +golden pin, to Matenko. He was so pleased! "Franulka," he +exclaimed, "you are as kind as you are handsome! I am sometimes +a prophet; remember, young lady, what I have said to you.... I +shall keep these flowers till your wedding day, and who knows +with what title I shall address you when giving them back?" How +strange! Notwithstanding all the distractions of the day, his +words are still ringing in my ears; and here I am writing about +myself, when I ought to think only about Basia. + +To return to the wedding: the folding doors were thrown open and +Basia entered timidly, surrounded by the elderly ladies. The +bridegroom approached and took her by the hand, and the two +knelt down before my honored Parents, asking them for their +blessing; then they went with the same request to us, to all the +relatives, guests, and the whole household present, and there +was not one person who did not bless them with his whole heart +and with tears in his eyes. + +The chapel door opened. Father Albert put on a lace surplice, and +standing before the altar, called upon us to draw near. The +Secretary Borch as the king's representative, and the Castellanic +Kochanowski, led the bride; Mademoiselle Malachowska and I, as +first bridesmaids, were directed to lead the bridegroom. All the +other people went behind us, two by two, in such deep silence that +one could hear the rustle of the silk dresses, even the tinkling of +the diamond aigrettes in the ladies' coiffures. + +The altar was glittering with lights; a carpet woven with golden +threads covered the steps, and on the highest were two red +velvet cushions with the coats of arms of the two families, +embroidered in gold. + +The young pair knelt down; the bridesmaids were placed on the +right side of the altar; the groomsmen on the left; I held a +small gold tray with the wedding rings on it, my honored Parents +stood behind Basia, the Woivode behind the Staroste. The castle +band in the choir played "Veni Creator," after which Father +Albert recited an allocution, almost the whole in Latin, and +then he began to read the words of the marriage vow. Basia, +although in tears, repeated distinctly enough: "I, Barbara, take +you, Michael, for my wedded husband," etc., but the Staroste +pronounced the words much louder. After the rings were exchanged +the married pair fell down at the feet of my honored Parents +and the Woivode's, and were blessed again. + +Then the marshal gave a sign; the band in the choir and the +Italian singers fetched from Warsaw began a triumphal march, +accompanied by the discharge of cannons outside, and when this +was all over, and silence re-established, the Count pronounced a +fine and very moving exhortation, at the end of which Basia fell +again at his feet, sobbing; she tried to speak, but not a word +could she utter. + +After mutual embracings, salutations, and congratulations, +Father Albert sprinkled us with holy water, and presented a +cross with relics to be kissed. But he made a mistake, giving it +first to Madame the Castellan Jordan before Madame Kochanowska, +mother of the duke's envoy. Fortunately, my honored Mother +noticed the error, and begged the latter lady to lead the +bridegroom from the altar, and thus happily all unpleasantness +was avoided. The bride was attended by the king's envoy, and +again, two by two, we returned from the chapel. Soon afterwards +the dinner was announced. The tables in the banquet-hall were +arranged so as to form the letter B; in the centre stood the +result of the fortnight's invention and labor of our French +confectioner,--an ell[10]-high pyramid representing the temple of +Hymen, where, amidst all kind of ornaments, allegorical figures, +and inscriptions, were the coats of arms of the two families. +There were also many other devices on the table, in silver +baskets, vases, epergnes, porcelain figures, etc.; it was so +crowded that our little dwarf could not have easily walked on +the table this time. It would not be possible to enumerate all +the courses of the dinner, and as for the wine which was drunk, +I wonder if the butler himself could give an account. Besides +other wines, they drank at that dinner a barrel of wine which +was called "Miss Barbara's wine," which the Count, according to +the Polish custom, brought from Hungary in the year of Basia's +birth, and which had been kept for her wedding day. Each of us +has such a barrel. Then they began the toasts: first for Poland, +then for the young pair, then for the king, the Duke of +Courland, the royal princes, the primate, the master of the +house, the ladies, etc., each accompanied with loud shoutings, +hurrahs, breaking of the glasses, with the music of the band and +the firing of cannons; altogether there was such a tumult that I +think there will not be a greater one on doomsday. + + [10] Two feet. + +After dessert was served, and we thought it was time to leave the +table, the Count gave a sign to the marshal, who brought in a black +leather box with brass ornaments, which I had never seen before. My +honored Father opened it and took out a golden cup embossed with +precious stones and shaped like a raven; then rising, he announced +with great solemnity that this cup was a souvenir from the time of +the Corvins of Rome, and it had not been taken from its box since +the day of his own wedding. The butler placed before him a bottle +covered with mould, containing, as they said, wine a hundred years +old. The Count poured out the whole into the cup, and lifting it +cried: "Good luck to the young pair!" The hurrahs began anew, the +music was louder than ever, the cannons fired, every man drank that +toast in one draught, and after that we rose from the table. + +The daylight was gone already. The lady-guests went to change +their dresses, but the bride and the bridesmaids remained in the +same toilets. About eight o'clock the dances began. The bride +opened the ball with the king's envoy, and during the whole +evening danced in the first set. At first there were grave +polonaises, minuets, and contra-dances, but by and by, the +gaiety increasing, we had the mazourkas and the cracoviaks. The +Castellanic Kochanowski dances the cracoviak like an angel; and +according to the custom, when he was in the first set he sang +impromptu verses, very witty and apropos. + +At midnight the music stopped and the "Cap" ceremony began. A +stool was placed in the middle of the room, the bride sat down, +and the bridesmaids began to undo her hair, singing in plaintive +voices the old song: "Ah! we are losing you, Basia." Then my +honored Mother removed the rosemary wreath and the Woivodine +Malachowska put in its place a big lace cap. It seemed Basia was +costumed for fun, and I should have laughed had not her eyes +been overflowed with tears. The cap is very becoming to her, +which they say is a sign that her husband will love her very +much. I am sure he will; he could not help it, she is so good. + +When this ceremony was over the bride was ordered to dance the +"drabant" with the king's envoy, in honor of the reigning +family, who introduced that dance in our country; after that, +the music played again a very solemn polonaise, and the bride +danced it with all the gentlemen present, one after another, +beginning with the Woivode Swidinski, and ending with my +honored Father, who, having once paced the ballroom with her, +led her to the Staroste and gave her to him, not only for that +dance, but for her whole lifetime. + +This was the end of that night's entertainment for us girls; my +honored Mother ordered us to go to bed, and the elder ladies +took the bride to the apartment reserved for the young couple. +Other married and elderly people followed them, and I was told +there were still more speeches in giving away the bride, +returning of thanks from the bridegroom, new toasts, and all, +that lasted very late into the night. + +I slept wonderfully after all the excitement, and my feet are so +rested that I am quite ready for to-night's ball. I danced +mostly with the duke's envoy, the Castellanic Kochanowski, who +returned from Luneville one year ago, and since then has been +with the duke. He speaks very highly of his master; judging from +the confidant, the other must be really a wonder. + +I have not seen Basia yet, or rather Madame Starostine, as my honored +Parents order us to call her. It seems so strange not to have her in +our room. I have inherited her bed, her work-table, and all the rights +of the eldest daughter. They will call me now "Mademoiselle Staroste," +not simply "Mademoiselle Francoise," or "Franulka," as they did until +now. It is a very little compensation, but still.... + +We shall begin the dances very early to-night, as it is the last +Tuesday before Lent, so we have to stop at midnight. + + + _Ash Wednesday_, February 27. + +Ash Wednesday, what a pity! no more dancing till next Carnival. +Our guests begin to depart: the king's envoy is gone, the young +married couple are going the day after to-morrow, and we shall +accompany them as far as their home, for the house-warming. The +Staroste invited no guests but his relations, as big parties are +not proper in Lent. I am very anxious to see the new home of my +dearest sister; I cannot get accustomed to call her "Madame +Starostine," but it would not be proper to speak to her +otherwise, as even my honored Parents always call her so. She +grew very grave from her wedding day; the cap she is wearing and +the robes with long trains make her look several years older; +she is sad and speaks very little; I am sure she grieves to +leave her home, and to go away with a man whom she knows so +little. It must be awful! + + + _Saturday_, March 9. + +Last night we returned from Sulgostow. I had a lovely time, but +it is a pity not to have Madame Starostine back with us. Last +Friday, before we started, she went very early to our parish +church in Lisow, where she hung the half of a golden heart as a +token that the half of her own heart will remain here. When she +came back home she went around the whole castle, as if wishing +to say good-bye to each corner, then she took her farewell of +all the people in the household, and had a kind word for +everybody. + +When we were finishing a hasty breakfast, we heard loud +crackings of the whip, and a chamberlain entered announcing that +everything was ready for the journey. The Staroste looked at his +wife, and whispered that it was time to set out. She fell then, +sobbing, at the feet of my honored Parents, thanking them for +all their favors that she had received during the eighteen years +of her life, asking their pardon for all the offences she might +have committed, and telling them that she wished nothing more +than to be henceforth as happy as she had been. For the first +time in my life I saw the Count crying; oh! how they blessed +her! it did one's heart good to hear it, and there was not a +person in the room whose eyes were dry. + +We went to the bridge, but the captain ordered it to be lifted, and +refused to let the bride go away until the Staroste gave him a ring +as a token that he would bring her back again. The carriages of the +Staroste were splendid,--a closed carriage painted yellow, lined with +red damask, with seats for two persons, a landau with four seats, a +coach, and several curricles. The horses were beautiful, especially +six white ones drawing the yellow carriage in which the young couple +were seated by themselves; behind them came the carriages with the +women, and we came last. Madame Staroste sobbed so loud that we +could hear her. Many courtiers and peasants followed the carriage, +crying and blessing her. She gave them all the money she had with +her, and the Staroste threw silver pieces bountifully. + +At each halting-place where we stopped everything was prepared +for our arrival: the floors were covered with rugs, the tables +laid, and the waiters dressed in livery. On the following +evening we reached Sulgostow. The Woivode and Father Albert +started on ahead of us, in order to receive the bride in her new +home. At the frontier of the property the peasants stopped the +carriage of the young pair and offered bread and salt; one of +the oldest men made a speech, followed by loud shouts of "Long +live!" and when we entered the gate a company of hussars, whom +the Staroste keeps in his court, fired salutes. Before the +entrance door, the Woivode stood, with the whole court, and all +of them gave the heartiest welcome to their new mistress. When +we entered, the Staroste brought his wife a big bundle of keys, +placing thus the whole house under her direction. From the +following morning Madame Starostine took the management, and it +was really wonderful how everything seemed easy to her and went +smoothly; but, as the eldest of us, she was accustomed for many +years to assist my honored Mother in her household duties. + +Sulgostow looks quite different from Maleszow. It is a palace, +not a castle, but still it is very grand and gay; the retinue is +numerous, the house well provided, and, what is best, all the +people seem so very happy to have my sister there. + +For the first time in my life I tasted coffee in Sulgostow. My +honored Parents do not like this fashionable beverage, which +was introduced recently to Poland; they say that it spoils the +complexion, so it is never served in our house. But the people +in Sulgostow like it exceedingly, and the Staroste begged +permission for me to drink a small cup of it. + +It was rather melancholy to come back, although the Castellanic +Kochanowski, who accompanied us on horseback, tried his best to +entertain me. The young man has been invited to Sulgostow, as a former +comrade of the young Swidinski at Luneville, but he is much younger +than they are. In society they call him a "charmer," and really he +deserves the title; what then must be the duke, his master! + +I have had no time yet to look about me in Maleszow, as we +arrived late in the evening, and the first thing I did to-day +was to begin to write, but I am sure it will seem very sad here +for a time. + + + March 12. + +I guessed right, it is desolate without my dearest sister; the +castle seems void as if she had taken away all the life with +her. My honored Parents also miss her very much, for she, as the +eldest daughter, was more with them, and she was so clever! I +try my best to take her place, but I know neither how to fill +the Count's pipe as well as she did, nor to assort the colors +for my honored Mother's embroidery. And then she was so +thoughtful, never forgetting anything,--just the reverse of me. +We talk of her constantly. To-day a chamberlain will be sent to +Sulgostow with compliments and inquiries about my dear sister's +health, and there was almost a fight among the young men, all of +them wanted so much to go. + +The Castellanic has departed, and for the last three days we +have had no visitors but two begging friars from a neighboring +convent. + +I have laughed but once. My honored Mother had distributed all +of Basia's dresses among our waiting-ladies and maids, and last +Sunday, as by a tacit understanding, each of them appeared +wearing a part of Basia's former attire: one had a skirt, +another a cape or a waist, etc. Matenko looked around and sighed +heavily. "What is the matter?" we asked. "I am grieved," he +answered, "to see the property of the late Miss Barbara so +scattered." We began to laugh, but were reproved by the Count, +who quoted the old proverb: "Quiet at table as in church." + +Something quite new and unexpected happened to me yesterday. +When we came down at noon, I saw the Castellanic Kochanowski, +who was standing with the Count in a window's embrasure, talking +so eagerly that he did not see us entering. I could not hear +their conversation, but my ear caught the last words, spoken +with some emphasis by my honored Parent: "Yes, sir, you will +soon hear about the final resolution." Having said this he +whispered a word to my honored Mother, who made a sign to the +marshal and gave him a secret order. The dinner was served, the +Castellanic sat opposite to me, and then I observed how +elegantly he was dressed,--a velvet coat all embroidered, a +white satin waistcoat, lace frills at his shirt, lace ruffles, +and a coiffure as fresh as from a bandbox. He never was so +lively and brilliant, and he mixed such beautiful French with +his Polish, and looked really charming. The dinner was longer +than usual; we waited a while for the roast, and when they +brought it in, I saw my Castellanic changing his color and +growing pale. I looked at the dishes; I saw a goose with black +gravy,[11] and then I guessed all. + + [11]It was a generally observed custom to serve a goose + with dark gravy as a polite but positive answer that + the proposal of marriage was not accepted. A pumpkin + put in the carriage of the young man when he was + leaving had the same meaning. Until now the saying + "He received a pumpkin," or "He was treated to a + goose fricassee," is often used. + +I did not dare to lift my eyes; queer thoughts were whirling in +my head. I remembered the lively cracoviaks and graceful +minuets, the elegant seat on horseback, the fine French +conversation, the beautiful compliments, and I felt a pang in my +heart. I had not the courage to touch the dish; my honored +Parents refused it also, and but for the end of the table the +dishes would have been untouched. Matenko was the first to help +himself, and looking at his plate said aloud: "Well, it is +rather a hard morsel, but still, it will be digested." I thought +that was disagreeable of him. + +It seemed to me that we stayed ages at table. Finally the Count +gave the sign to rise, and as we were saying our "benedicite" I +saw the Castellanic stealing away, and he did not appear again. + +When the courtiers had withdrawn, my honored Parents called me +from my work, and the Count spoke thus: "Mademoiselle, to-day +the Castellanic Kochanowski asked for your hand. Although his +lineage is noble and ancient, and his fortune considerable, +nevertheless we did not think it was a suitable match. First, +the Castellanic is very young; he has no position of his own, +and is called only by the title of his deceased father; +secondly, he did not set about the matter in the proper way. He +asked no notable person to speak for him,--he came by himself, +made his declaration at once, and wanted an immediate reply, +which he received unreservedly. We do not doubt, Frances, that +you are of the same opinion." Having said this, without waiting +for my answer, he bade me return to my work. + +Well, thinking it over, certainly I am of the same opinion as my +honored Parents, as well by duty as by my own conviction; but to +be quite sincere, I do not find fault with the Castellanic +because he is young and spoke for himself, but because he is +nothing by himself. A "castellanic"? that is not enough for me, +and I do not think a castellan would be too much. In any case, I +have not the slightest desire to be married yet, I am happy as I +am; for several days after our return from Sulgostow I felt +rather sad, but now I feel merry again and life is before me. +Marriage puts an end to all expectations; a married woman knows +who she is and who she shall be until her death, and I like so +much to dream! When I sit at my embroidery frame, or at my +netting, my thoughts are always travelling far and fast; all the +things I have ever read come back to my mind; I share the fate +of all the heroines of Madame de Beaumont, Madame de La Fayette, +and Mademoiselle de Scudery; and it seems to me that I am +destined to adventures similar to theirs. Basia often scolded me +for these fancies, but her habits of thought were quite +different from mine. She often told me that she never brooded +over her future, and never thought of the husband to come, +except at her prayers,--for it must be said that with the +beginning of the sixteenth year, by the direction of our honored +Mother, we have to add to our every-day prayer the request for a +"good husband." Basia thought it was a very right thing to ask +God that the one who is to take the place of our Father and +Mother, and with whom we have to live till our death, should be +good, but it never occurred to her to wonder what he would be, +and where and when she should meet him. She always said: "There +will be time enough to think of him when he comes." And she was +right; she got such a good and sensible man. She wrote to my +honored Parents that, but for being homesick for Maleszow, she +would be the happiest woman in this world. One can see that she +loves the Staroste more and more, and that she is quite +satisfied with her lot. Who knows? perhaps I should also be +happy in such a position. In any case, my honored Parents were +right in refusing the Castellanic; I am very sorry that the poor +fellow has been disappointed, but I hope that, as Matenko says, +he will digest the hard morsel. + + + _Sunday_, March 17. + +Yesterday, when we were just going to supper, there arrived quite +unexpected but very agreeable guests: my aunt the Princess +Woivodine of Lublin and her husband. They could not come to the +wedding, for the Woivode, being the Duke of Courland's marshal, +was obliged to remain in Warsaw; but as the duke is now away, they +came here to offer their congratulations. The arrival of such +eminent guests gave new life to our castle. The Count is overjoyed; +he loves and worships his sister. They have not been here for five +years; in the mean time I have grown from a child to a young lady, +and they were very much astonished at the change. Really, they +spoke so much about my comeliness that I felt quite shy and +uncomfortable. The Prince Woivode said quite seriously that, if I +appeared in Warsaw, I should eclipse Mademoiselle Wessel, Madame +Potocka, and the Princess Sapieha,--the three belles of Warsaw. The +princess said that I need only hold myself more erect, to be more +dignified, and to have more worldly polish, and then I should be +perfect. Never in my life have I heard such compliments, and I was +never aware that I was so handsome. I observed how my honored +Father's countenance brightened at hearing these praises, but as +for my gracious Mother, she called me this morning to her room and +admonished me severely not to give credit to all these fine words, +which she said were only court civility. + +I am sure they are making plans for me. I should like so much to +know about it. I was so excited that I could not sleep well last +night, dreaming most extraordinary things. It is true that I +heard many curious and amusing things which the prince and his +wife related. My honored Parents wanted me to leave the room +with my sisters as usual at nine, but the Prince Woivode pleaded +for me to stay till the end of the evening; thus I heard all +about Warsaw, the court, the balls, and the festivals attending +the investiture of the duke, and many praises of this prince, +who I hope will one day be the King of Poland. I felt happy; he +is my hero, and I am sure he will be a great man. Shall I ever +meet him? + + + _Tuesday_, March 19. + +The Prince Woivode and his wife departed half an hour ago. They +wanted to set out yesterday, but the Count ordered the wheels to be +taken from their carriages, and persuaded them that it was not safe +to begin a journey on Monday, which is known as an unlucky day. +During the whole time they were very gracious to me, and advised my +honored Parents to send me to a boarding-school in Warsaw, in order +to finish my education. For some time a French lady, Madame +Strumle, has conducted a school for young ladies in Warsaw; before +this they were educated in convents only. This school has a great +reputation. The daughters of the first families are sent there to +study and to be taught good manners, and the Prince Woivode thinks +I should there acquire all the accomplishments which I lack. But my +honored Parents prefer the Ladies of the Visitation, and certainly +a convent is the most proper place. Well, I do not know how all +this will end, but I feel uneasy and absent-minded; I do not +understand what I am reading; my work is not so well done as +before; I feel as if something extraordinary were going to happen. + + + _Sunday_, March 24. + +We are going to Warsaw! We are going the day after to-morrow. I +do not know yet where I shall be placed, but in any case I shall +not come back soon, as my gracious Mother ordered all my clothes +to be packed, and two of her dresses were made over for me. My +honored Parents were unexpectedly called to Warsaw on business +about an inheritance from our cousin Vincent Krasinski, who died +childless and left a great fortune. They take me with them and I +feel so very happy! As we have to stop at Sulgostow, I shall see +my dearest sister. She has just returned from a very agreeable +trip, having visited with the Staroste all his relations, +friends, and neighbors; she was welcomed and admired everywhere. +Now she will stay at home, and is very much pleased with that +prospect. She is going to be a perfect house-keeper; the old +Woivode Swidinski wrote about her with such enthusiasm and +gratitude that both my honored Parents cried with pleasure over +the letter. Such tears are a blessing! + + + WARSAW, _Sunday_, April 7. + +I can hardly believe that I am in that celebrated school of +Madame Strumle; I entered it yesterday. It was not very hard +work to persuade my honored Father to abandon the prospect of a +convent for me, as he relies much on the Princess Woivodine's +judgment, and I must say I am glad of it, as, in the secret of +my heart, I did not care much for the convent. + +On our way to Warsaw we stopped at Sulgostow. Madame Starostine +looks gay and happy, and how she welcomed us! She remembered +everything my honored Parents liked; all their favorite dishes +and delicacies were prepared; everything appeared to be there +for their own pleasure; and she seemed so happy to serve them in +her own house! I heard my honored Mother saying to the Staroste +that the marriage made Basia better than ever. "No," he +answered, "such she was from the beginning when I received her +from your hands. God bless her!" One can see how dearly he loves +her; and she respects him and obeys him as if he were her +Father. She manages her house perfectly, and knows how to +receive guests, and what to say to everybody; she is quite an +accomplished woman. My honored Parents were not very willing to +go away from Sulgostow, but I must confess I was very anxious to +get to Warsaw, and I welcomed the letters which made us proceed +on our journey. I was right to be anxious about my coming here, +for here I shall become an accomplished woman. I want to be +distinguished. Therefore I will not lose one moment, and +henceforth I will not think of the future or dream of it, but +will study hard and learn all that I can. + +Yesterday my honored Mother took me to the Cathedral, where I +went to confession and communion, and prayed that the knowledge +that I shall get here may do me good and honor. + +When I feel a little more at home here I will write about everything. +Now I am bewildered. I was accustomed to see around me well-known +faces and rooms, but here I know nobody; everything seems strange. + + + _Friday_, April 12. + +I am getting acquainted with my new home. I like Madame Strumle +very much. She is a very dignified lady, and very gracious to +me. Certainly it is not as grand and lively here as in Maleszow, +but still it is comfortable and even gay. Some things seem to me +strange, but amusing and quite new. For instance, there are no +valets, not one man-servant in the house; dinner is brought and +served by women! We are about twenty young girls, all from the +best families and all very young. My honored Parents, after +having visited the school, were well satisfied that young girls +could not be better cared for and instructed in a convent. +Madame carries the key of the entrance door in her own pocket; +nobody can come in or go out without her knowledge, and but for +the few old teachers, one could forget how the face of a man +looks. No male cousins, not even brothers, are allowed to pay +their visits. Once the dancing teacher asked leave for the young +Potockis, who are at the Jesuit college, to come here and +practise the contra-dances with their sisters, but Madame +Strumle would not hear of it. "Those gentlemen," she said, "are +the brothers of two of my pupils, but not of the others, so I +cannot allow them to come." + +I have a teacher for the French language, another for German, +others for dancing, drawing, artistic embroidery, and music. There +is a beautiful harpsichord; not a spinet as in Maleszow,--it has +five and a half octaves. Some of the young ladies can play +polonaises, not only by ear but from a music-book. The teacher +assures me that in less than six months I shall be able to do as +well,--it is true that I had a little instruction in Maleszow. I +am now only drawing some small patterns for embroideries, but +before the end of my education, I must learn enough to be able to +paint with colors a dead tree, on one branch of which is a wreath +of flowers with the initials of my honored Parents, to whom I shall +offer my work as a token of gratitude for the education I have +received. The young Princess Sapieha, who has been here for one +year, is just painting such a tree, and I feel quite jealous of her +skill whenever I look at her work. What a fine effect mine will +have when hung in our parlor hall! + +The dancing-master, besides the minuets and contra-dances, is +showing us how to walk and to courtesy; until now I knew only one +way of courtesying, but I hear there are several varieties,--one +before the king; another before the royal princes, still another +for other dignitaries or their wives. + +I asked to be taught first the courtesy for the duke: some day, +perhaps, I shall salute my hero. + +My gracious Mother came once to see me. They are having much +trouble with the affairs of the inheritance. + +The lessons and studies take all my time from morning till +night, but I do not complain, for I want to learn much. I must +say that on the first days I felt a little bewildered; the +incessant scoldings and admonitions, the iron cross which was +put on my back to hold me erect, the machine in which we have to +stand for an hour, in order to make our feet straight,--all this +was not quite to my taste. + +After Basia's departure, I grew to be quite a young lady; the +proposal of the Castellanic, the compliments and the whisperings +of the Prince Woivode made my thoughts travel far away,--I began +to think I was quite a personage; but here I am again treated +like a child. Madame Strumle even ordered me to stop the prayer +for obtaining a good husband, and to ask for good knowledge +instead. Really, one cannot think of anything else here. + + + _Sunday_, April 28. + +I have not opened my journal for two weeks, but the days are +going on each so like the others that I have nothing to relate, +and I am thinking now what I shall write down to-day. My honored +Parents will leave soon. The Princess Woivodine deigned to pay +me a visit, and found that I stood straighter; Madame is very +kind, my comrades very agreeable; that is all I know. Really, I +hardly believe I am in Warsaw, for I know much less about public +affairs than I knew in Maleszow, and I see none of the grand +persons whom I sometimes met there. My eyes have not once beheld +the king. The duke is away, and they do not expect him back +soon. + + + _Sunday_, June 9. + +If I were to pass my whole life in school, my journal would soon +be ended. There is nothing to write about; and it is a pity, for +I may forget the Polish language. I never use it but when +writing my diary or letters to my honored Parents or talking to +my little maid; on all other occasions I use French. + +They say that I have made great progress in my studies, and the +Princess Woivodine, who has not seen me for one month, finds +that I have grown much and that I have now a very good carriage. +Really, I am the tallest of all the girls in the school, and my +waistband does not measure quite an ell. + +Now when the weather is so beautiful, the sky so blue and the +trees green, I feel often a kind of sadness coming over me. I +wish I were a bird! I would then spread my wings and fly away, +far away from the cage. But there is no help for it; I must stay +here on Bednarska Street, the ugliest in all Warsaw, they say. +But next year, if God grants me life, things will be different. + + + _Friday_, July 26. + +I see that when one is busy the days pass quickly, even in +school. I could not believe my eyes when looking now in the +calendar, in order to put the date in my journal, I found out +that for seven weeks I had not opened my book. But this day +will be forever memorable to me: I received this morning, for +the first time in my life, a letter addressed directly to me. +The dearest and kindest Madame Starostine gave me that surprise, +and wrote my full name on the envelope. So now they know at the +Post-office that there is a "Mlle. la Comtesse Francoise +Krasinska" in Warsaw. I felt like dancing for joy when I +received that letter, and I will keep it with its envelope as an +eternal souvenir. + +Madame Starostine is in good health, very happy, and so gracious +as to send me out of the income from the garden, which the +Staroste leaves to her own disposal, four golden ducats with +which I may do just as I please. It is the first money I have +ever owned, and it seems to me that I could buy all Warsaw with +it. I have been planning ever so many ways to spend it: first, I +wished to give a golden ring as a keepsake to each of the young +ladies, my school-mates, but Madame told me that I had just +money enough to buy four rings and no more. Then I wanted to +get for Madame a mantle in blond lace, and again I was told +that it would cost fifty ducats at least. Finally I decided +thus: I shall send one ducat to the Cathedral, in order to have +a Mass said before the miraculous image of Christ, with the +desire that the affairs of my honored Parents turn out according +to their wishes, and also that Madame Starostine be always as +happy as she is now. The second ducat I shall change into small +coin and distribute among the house servants; and with the other +two ducats I shall give a little banquet next Sunday. There will +be ices, cake, also coffee which we never taste here. Madame has +already given me permission to use my money in that way, but the +young ladies know nothing about the surprise. May the Lord grant +his best benediction on Madame Starostine for the great pleasure +she has given me. + +My education is progressing rapidly. I am playing several +quadrilles and minuets from a book. In a few weeks I shall begin to +paint the dead tree with the garland, and I am also embroidering, +in cross-stitch, a hunter with his gun and a dog. I read much, and +write from dictation, or copy whole pages from French books, and I +begin to talk in French more easily than in Polish. As for dancing, +the teacher says that there is not in Warsaw a better dancer than +I; but perhaps he flatters me. + +Sometimes I go to see the Prince Woivode and the princess, but +only in the morning when they are alone. I always hear very +agreeable things about myself, especially from the Prince +Woivode, who wishes me out of school; but the princess and also +my honored Parents say that I must wait until winter. Alas! it +is only July. Will that winter ever come? + + + _Tuesday_, December 24. + +Winter has come and the moment for leaving school is near. What +a different kind of life I shall soon begin! Only God knows when +I shall return to Maleszow, for the Prince Woivode and the +princess graciously urged my honored Parents to let them keep +me for the winter and bring me out in society. The permission +was granted and so I shall stay in Warsaw. I am rather sorry to +leave Madame Strumle and the young ladies, but the joy of +becoming acquainted with that world of which I have so often +heard and dreamt, is still stronger than my regrets. I shall +soon see the king and the royal princes, as I shall be presented +at court; the Duke of Courland is expected soon. + + + _Saturday_, December 28. + +This day begins a new life for me. In the morning the Princess +Woivodine came to take me away, and in her presence I said +good-bye to Madame Strumle and my school-mates. I could not help +crying, although I have been wishing so long for that moment. On +our way we stopped at church, but I could not pray; my thoughts +were too wandering. + +I am settled now. My relations live on the street called the +"Faubourg de Cracovie." Their palace is not very large, but +extremely handsome and elegant; from the rear the view extends +over a large garden to the river Vistula. I am occupying a +pretty room which must be especially agreeable in summer, +because there is a balcony leading into a little garden; on one +side are the apartments of the princess, on the other is my +maid's room. + +A tailor has already been to take my measure and he seemed +surprised at the smallness of my waist. He will make several +dresses for me, but I do not know what they will be; the +princess ordered them herself, and she inspires me with such +awe, not to say fear, that I do not dare to ask her about +anything. The Prince Woivode intimidates me less, although he is +a man; he has gentle manners and seems to like me. I regret that +he is not here at present; he went to meet the Duke of Courland +at the frontier. + +To-morrow we are going to pay visits. The princess will +introduce me to all the first families here. I feel a little +afraid and nervous. + + + _Sunday_, December 29. + +I have three good things to write to-day. The Duke of Courland +arrived yesterday; the Prince Woivode returned with him and +greeted me as if I were his own daughter, and the visits are +over. In some houses such as the primate's, the French and +Spanish envoys', and some others, the princess only left small +cards with her name and title on them. + +Among the visits I remember best was the one to the Princess +Lubomirska, _nee_ Princess Czartoryska, the sister-in-law of the +Woivode. She is the leading woman among the young set, and +affects everything French. I observe that here the more +fashionable the house, and the younger the hostess, the more one +hears French; as the old men sprinkle their conversation with +Latin, so the young do with French. But in the salon of Madame +Woivodine of Russ, the conversation was only in Polish. She is +an elderly and very stately lady, and she pleased me immensely. +I met there her only son, a fine cavalier, who paid me many +agreeable compliments, and I think I enjoyed that visit most. + +I enjoyed also the visit at Madame Poniatowska's, the widow of +the Castellan of Cracow. She is a very remarkable woman and +talks with great eloquence. She was giving a reception on that +day, in honor of her son Stanislaus who had returned from St. +Petersburg, and of whom it is said secretly that he may become +King of Poland. I watched him intently, but I cannot say that he +pleased me, although I acknowledge that he is handsome, and has +grand manners, I should say royal. + +Another good visit was at Madame Rzevuska's, where we found her +husband, the Woivode of Podolie. I was very glad to see him, as +I had often heard from my honored Father about his adventures +when a child; how he was brought up among peasant boys and +tramped barefoot as they do, and thus grew tough and fearless. +He is over fifty now, but looks young and vigorous. He is said +to be also extremely learned. The Prince Woivode told me that +he writes beautiful tragedies. + +We went also to Madame Bruhl's, the wife of the minister and +special favorite of the king; although he is neither liked nor +respected by anybody, she is received everywhere, and called +upon, as she is a very refined lady. Our next call was upon +Madame Soltyk, the widow of the Castellan of Sandomir. She +introduced us to her son Stanislaus, a boy of nine years, but +gallant as a young cavalier; the elderly ladies were not yet +seated, when he brought a chair for me, paying me a compliment, +and Madame Castellan said that he was always enraptured with +pretty faces and black eyes. She also was very enthusiastic +about my looks, and to tell the truth, everywhere they spoke +about my beauty,--sometimes in a whisper, but I heard it as +well. But then I never have been dressed so beautifully, even at +Basia's wedding. I had a dress of white brocade with wide +flounces of gauze, a court train of turquoise blue, and pearls +in my hair. + +I should have been quite satisfied with those visits, if I had +met the Duke of Courland anywhere. I started from home with that +hope, but I was disappointed. After his long absence he spends +his days now with his father, and has not yet been seen out of +the royal castle. It is quite natural; I myself have been so +often homesick for my honored Parents, especially when in +school. But soon the carnival will begin; there will be balls +and assemblies without end. The duke goes everywhere, and he +likes dancing very much, the Woivode says, so I am sure to meet +him. + + + _Wednesday_, January 1, 1760. + +My wishes have been fulfilled, how much fulfilled! Not only have +I seen the duke, but I talked with him; I not only talked with +him but ... but will it not be too bold to write down that which +I would not dare to whisper to anybody, what I do not dare to +believe myself, what perhaps I only dreamed of? Well! no, I did +not dream, I am sure of that; I always know very well when I +please any one. And then is there anything extraordinary, since +God has made me handsome, and everybody acknowledges it, that +the duke looked at me with the same eyes as other people? The +same eyes?--was there not in his eyes something more than in +others?... + +But everything ought to be set down in order. Yesterday morning the +Princess Woivodine had me called to her and spoke thus: "To-night, +as on the last night in the year, there is generally a ridotto, +which means a masked ball. All the best people, even the king and +the royal princes go to it; and you, mademoiselle, will come with +us, dressed as the 'Goddess of the Sun.'" I was delighted and I +kissed the princess' hand. Soon after dinner they began to dress me +in a costume quite different from the usual, being without powder +or hoops. The princess told me very earnestly that although such a +dress was not decent at all, and that a woman would ruin her +reputation if she wore it on any other occasion, still she hoped +that by the expression of my face, and my demeanor, I would make +up for the deficiency of my costume. Obeying her instructions I +tried to look very dignified, and I think I succeeded, for I heard +people at the ball asking, "Who is that queen in disguise?" Now, +when I think of it I feel uneasy; perhaps in that costume I was +prettier than on other days.... In any case I certainly looked +quite different. My hair, thoroughly cleansed from powder, fell in +loose curls over my neck and shoulders; my dress of white gauze was +clasped with a golden band at the waist; on my breast I wore a +golden sun, and over my head a long, flowing veil, which enveloped +me like a cloud. I did not recognize myself when after dressing I +was allowed to look in a mirror. Perhaps others would not recognize +me as I am now.... + +The ballroom was almost full when we entered. I felt dizzy, +seeing such a crowd of people, so diversely and handsomely +dressed, with and without masks, in ordinary and extraordinary +costumes. I did not know which way to turn my eyes, and what to +look at first. + +Suddenly a murmur arose in the crowd. Some voices said, "The +Duke of Courland," and surrounded by a group of handsome and +richly dressed young men, there he was. I knew him at once, +although his costume did not differ much from those of the +others; but his stature, his large blue eyes, extremely soft, +and his charming smile made him different from every body else. +I gazed at him as long as he did not see me, but when our eyes +once met I could not look at him any more, for I always met his +glance. I saw him inquiring about me,--and of whom? Of the +Prince Woivode! I noticed the pleasant smile when he learned who +I was, and he at once approached the princess, greeting her in a +most charming voice. After the first compliments were over, the +princess took my hand, and introduced me as her niece. + +I do not know at all how I bowed, but I fear it was not that +special courtesy which the dancing-master taught me. Neither do I +know what the duke said to me; I only remember that he opened the +ball with the princess, and danced the second polonaise with me. +Then when he talked, to my great surprise, I answered without any +embarrassment. He inquired about my honored Parents, about Madame +Starostine, and her wedding. I wondered how he knew so well about +everything, when I recollected that the Castellanic Kochanowski was +his favorite. The good boy has not only "digested the goose with +the black gravy," but he gave the duke the best report of us all. +"He praised you much, but not half enough," said the duke. I heard +many other nice things during that dance and the following ones, +for the duke invited me for almost all the minuets and quadrilles, +and talked to me all the time. + +When at midnight they fired the cannon as a sign of the +beginning of the new year, he said to me, "I shall forever +remember this night; it is not only a new year, it is the +beginning of a new life for me." And how many clever comparisons +about my costume! (Only, it does not sound as well in any other +language as in French.) "It was not the gold on my breast which +was the sun, but rather my eyes; their glance lighted an eternal +fire in the heart, etc., etc." Finer compliments could not be +found in the novels of Mademoiselle de Scudery or Madame +Lafayette. + +Can all that be only sham, courtly civility? It is a pity I +cannot ask anybody about it, but I am afraid of the princess, +and I cannot ask the Prince Woivode; it would not be proper to +talk about those things to a man. I feel too much left to +myself; one week ago I was a school-girl among books and +teachers, and to-day I am playing a part in the world of which I +know nothing. But in about ten days Basia is coming here; she is +so wise she will enlighten me. I am so very happy thinking that +she will come. I have not seen that dearest sister of mine for +three quarters of the year, but I know that she is more and +more happy, more and more beloved by her husband. + +When shall I see the duke again? Will he recognize me in my +every-day dress? + + + _Friday_, January 3. + +I have seen the duke, I have seen him twice, and I am laughing +now at that childish anxiety I had, wondering if he would +recognize me. Why, I should always know him, no matter how well +disguised he might be. + +I just finished writing my journal on New Year's day, when the +Prince Woivode came to my room. "Francoise," he said, "you +surpassed all our expectations; your demeanor at the ball +yesterday was perfect, and it pleased generally, even the most +notable persons. I have just returned from the Castle, where we +went with the senators and ministers to pay our New Year's +compliments to his Majesty. His Royal Highness the Duke of +Courland approached me, and declared that he had never seen +anybody like you, and that if it were not for the etiquette of +the court, which requires him to spend the New Year's day with +the king, he would come to pay you his respects in person." I +felt my cheeks growing red when I heard these flattering words, +but the prince seemed not to notice it, and went away leaving me +with my thoughts. + +And so I shall meet the duke, not only at the balls, but in this +very house! "He has never seen anybody like you." These words +are still sounding in my ears, as if somebody were repeating +them constantly. + +I was so gay at dinner that the princess had to reproach me +several times. After dinner we went again to pay some visits, +but we left the carriage only twice, as all the people were out +for the same purpose. We met in the streets, the carriages +stopped, sometimes several of them at one time, and cards were +exchanged amid much laughing, noise, and confusion. In the +evening it was still gayer when the pages and the torch-bearers +were moving about with their lights and brilliant uniforms. +There were even several accidents, but we fortunately arrived +safe. We returned home quite late. I went to sleep at once, +being very tired, but queer dreams flitted through my head. + +The following day at noon, when I sat with the princess in the +drawing-room, beginning a new piece of work on the frame, the +chamberlain announced: "His Royal Highness the Duke of Courland." +The princess rose quickly, and hastened to meet him at the +entrance. I, in the first moment wanted to run away, but my wish to +see him was still stronger than my timidity, and I stayed. As soon +as he entered he approached me and inquired about my health. I +answered distinctly, although I felt very much embarrassed, and +when he sat near my working-frame, I had sufficient command of +myself to thread at once some very fine needles with rather coarse +silk, in spite of my trembling hands. + +He praised my skill; stayed about half an hour, and although he +talked most with the princess, still he found an opportunity to +say many amiable things to me. I could thus ascertain that my +different dress did not change me in his eyes. He departed +saying that he hoped to see us the same evening at the ball. I +heard then that the Marquis d'Argenson, the French ambassador, +was giving a ball to which I was to go. + +What a reception it was! Why, Basia's wedding was nothing in +comparison. And how highly educated are all these people in +Warsaw! Whenever they open their mouths it is to compliment, but +the duke's compliments surpass them all. He could not talk with +me as much as at the _bal-masque_, neither did I answer as +boldly. But then I was no longer the Goddess of the Sun, and +besides, it always happened that somebody was standing near us +as if to listen to what we were saying. I do not like it; it is +not nice, especially in well-bred people, to be inquisitive. + +The princess is in high spirits; she was the only elderly lady +with whom the duke danced last night. The Prince Woivode is +more gracious to me than ever, but he seems to avoid any +questions from me or counselling me in any way. I look forward +with growing impatience to my dear sister's coming. + + + _Sunday_, January 5. + +During the whole of yesterday, the duke, the balls, all my +dreams, everything went from my mind; all my thoughts were with +my sister, although I have not seen her yet. She arrived +yesterday morning and was taken suddenly ill. The princess +hastened at once to her house, but I was not allowed to go. I +spent the whole day in the most dreadful anxiety, and sent to +three churches to have masses said. At last, after midnight the +princess returned with the news that Basia was as well as could +be expected, and that she had a little daughter. This morning I +begged on my knees to be allowed to go there, but they said it +would not be proper, and that I should have to wait several +weeks. The Staroste came here for one moment, very happy to be a +father. The little girl is, they say, beautiful. If they would +only let me see her! She will be named Angela in honor of my +gracious Mother. + +This morning the duke sent his congratulations and best wishes +for the little grand-niece. Oh! I am longing to see my sister. + + + _Wednesday_, January 8. + +Basia is still in bed, but the news from her and her little +daughter is the best. + +I have seen the duke once only; he was away hunting with the +king, but yesterday he appeared unexpectedly and stayed over an +hour. How good he must be, and how he loves his father! He spoke +about the late queen, his mother, with tears in his eyes. One +can see also that he loves Poland, and that he has a most noble +and valiant heart. Everything I ever heard of him is true; he is +not praised even enough; one cannot well describe the charm of +his voice, his sweet smile, and the look of his blue eyes, so +deep and so soft! I do not wonder that the Russian empress was +charmed with him,--that he carried away the hearts of the +Courland people; and I shall not be surprised if after his +father's death, Poland calls him to the throne. And he likes +me!... Sometimes I think that it cannot be. Still, yesterday his +eyes told me that so plainly; and not only his eyes, but some of +his words too, and the Prince Woivode also seems to think so. + +The princess made me feel a little sad when, at table, she said, +with some meaning, it appeared to me, that "many women have +already pleased the duke" and that the last one he sees always +seems to him the most beautiful. But how childish I am! how +should that trouble me? + +Am I the only pretty woman in this world? In my eyes the three +Warsaw belles, Mademoiselle Wessel, the Countess Potocka, and +the Princess Sapieha are without any comparison more handsome +than I. And what is more, they know how to enhance their beauty, +which is an art quite unknown to me. The duke says that that is +my great charm, but it seems to me that my complexion is quite +eclipsed by theirs. Especially at the ball in the French +embassy Madame Potocka was ravishing, and the duke danced with +her twice. Well, what right have I to be displeased with that? + + + _Sunday_, January 12. + +I ought to be quite pleased now! At the ball of the Woivode of +Russ, last Thursday, the duke danced only with me. On Friday he +called here again. Yesterday he sent us by his aide-de-camp an +invitation for a new Italian opera, "Semiramide," given in the +court theatre, and there he devoted himself exclusively to me. +There I was also presented to the king, who was very gracious +and inquired about both my honored Parents. Still more, the +Staroste came here an hour ago announcing that the duke wished +to stand godfather to the little Angela, and desires me to be +the godmother,--me, nobody else; he insisted upon that. + +The christening will be magnificent, in the royal Collegiate +Church. There were to be more couples invited to assist, but +out of respect to the duke the honor will be left solely to +him; the others will only be witnesses of the ceremony. Many +of the most distinguished persons will be invited. The whole +of Warsaw will talk about the affair, and certainly the +"Courier" will describe it, and our two names will stand there +together. + +What will Madame Strumle and the young ladies in the school say +to that, and my honored Parents, and all the people in Maleszow, +and the good Matenko? I am sure he will say that it is because +of his predictions. + +Oh, that Matenko! how often his words come to my mind. He is +responsible for all my troubles; but for his hints no foolish +notions would have entered my head. As it is, I do not feel two +days alike: sometimes the happy thoughts crowd around me, life +seems full of hope, and I hardly know that there is an earth +under my feet; then suddenly everything seems to fade, and my +heart feels heavy and so sad! + +For instance, to-day when I was so enraptured at the news of +the christening, the princess mentioned,--I do not know +why,--that the law of the Church forbids the godparents to marry +each other, and I shuddered. + +But what makes me feel really happy is that at last I shall see +my dearest sister. After the christening we go to her house. + + + _Wednesday_, January 15. + +The ceremony took place yesterday and I have seen Basia, who +looks beautiful, although she has grown a little thin and pale. +She is always as good as an angel, and as happy as a queen. + +The duke begged that the little girl be named after me, but +Basia was firm in her first purpose; and she was right, for this +honor was due to our gracious Mother. Thus the little girl was +christened "Angela;" she is a dear little thing, and she cried +during the whole ceremony, which is a good sign that she will +live to be aged. It was the first time in my life that I stood +as godmother; I did not know how to hold the baby, so the duke +had to help me. It seemed so queer to stand with him before the +altar surrounded by so many people, and to write down my name +next to his in the large book. Perhaps it was to this event that +Matenko's predictions referred. + +Everybody is congratulating me on the great honor which befell +me. The duke is still more attentive than before, and a little +more familiar; he calls me "my beautiful partner," and the +little girl is always "our little Angela." He presented handsome +gifts to Madame Starostine and to me, and threw handfuls of gold +among the attendants and the poor in the church. + +I for my part could not do so much, but the little embroidered +christening robe, my gift to Angela, has cost me more than a few +hours' work. + +But I forget to speak about an important affair. The topic of +conversation in Warsaw has for some time been a hunting party +which the Prince Jerome Radzivill, the Hetman of the Lithuania +army, is preparing for the pleasure of the king and the duke. +He is spending thousands in order to make a grand display, and +has had the game brought from the forests of Lithuania, over 500 +miles away. The fete will be to-morrow; the weather is fine and +the sleighing excellent. The duke wished to drive his "partner," +and it shall be so. The four Warsaw belles--for I am counted now +as the fourth--will go in one sleigh, and the duke will be our +driver. All four will have costumes alike, but of different +colors,--long velvet coats, tight at the waist, trimmed with +sable, and small caps with fur to match. The Countess Potocka +has selected blue, the Princess Sapieha dark green, Mademoiselle +Wessel marroon, and I shall wear dark crimson. + +It is a pity Basia will not see all this, but she is so happy +with her little Angela that she does not care for anything else. + + + _Friday_, January 17. + +I have never in my life seen anything so magnificent as this +hunting party. We started at nine o'clock in the morning. One +could not possibly count all the horses and sleighs which were +assembled before the king's castle, but ours was the handsomest +of all, and we followed first after the king. The duke, in a +hunting costume of green velvet, looked superb! + +We had a long drive far beyond the Church of the Holy Cross, to +Ujazdow. There, coming down the hill on which is built the city +of Warsaw, is a large field usually planted with wheat.[12] This +field was enclosed by a fence with a gate, ornamented with +escutcheons, devices, and inscriptions. In the middle stood an +iron kiosk into which the king and the duke entered. Near the +kiosk was a space covered with bear-skins for the most notable +men, and further on, an amphitheatre with an iron railing for +the ladies. The whole place looked like a forest, for except a +space left around the kiosk, the ground was covered with big +pine-trees planted for the occasion. In the background, one saw +the hills covered with a throng of spectators. + + [12]That place is now Lazienki, with a park and a + charming little palace built by the last Polish + king, Stanislaus Poniatowski, for his summer + residence. + +As soon as we arrived and took our seats the trumpets and the +horns gave the signal, and the hunters of the Prince Radzivill +let the wild beasts loose from the enclosure. There were bears, +deer, wild boars and wolves; the trained dogs chased them toward +the kiosk, and one cannot describe the howling and the roaring +of the wild animals, the barking of the dogs, the shrieking of +the ladies, and all the noise which ensued. The king himself +shot three wild boars; the duke killed much game, and fought a +bear with the spear, a proof of great strength and skill. The +skin of that bear was presented to me for a rug. + +The hunt lasted until four o'clock in the afternoon; we had a +lunch served to us during that time. There were perhaps a +hundred hunters and game-keepers of the Prince Radzivill, all +dressed in red livery and armed with guns and pikes. + +This entertainment was given in honor of the anniversary of the +coronation of the king; for the same purpose there will be a +ball to-night given by the Marshal of the Crown, Bielinski. + + + _Saturday_, January 18. + +The ball was splendid. The duke was very gay and happy, as on +that day he received a diamond-star order from the king. I +danced a great deal and my feet are aching; but I am sorry that +I spoke of it, for now I shall have to stay at home and rest for +ten days. The princess fears that the incessant dancing and late +hours will injure my health; really, my cheeks have become +rather pale. + +We received letters from Maleszow. My honored Mother deigned to +write to me herself, recommending earnestly that I be prudent +about my health and that I take the greatest care of my +reputation, so as to give no cause for the slightest reproach +for frivolity. She says that I ought not to believe all the +compliments I may hear, that often a young girl is called a +belle through some passing fancy, not because her beauty really +deserves it; and that it sometimes spoils her whole life, for +her head is turned, her expectations aim too high, and she may +be forsaken and laughed at in the end. I am sure that will never +be the case with me. My ambition may be ever so high, but nobody +shall know about my disappointment if it comes. Still I could +not help crying when I read that letter; I carry it with me and +often read it over. Happy is the young girl who never leaves her +parents' home! I often regret the old Maleszow Castle. + + + _Wednesday_, January 29. + +At last the ten days of my retirement are over. There were four +balls during that time, and one of them a _bal-masque_, where I +was to appear in a Scotch quadrille with the three other belles. +But no entreaties of the duke or others could make the princess +relent; when she has said anything she never changes her +decision. + +I was sorry to miss the balls, but no one looking at me would +have guessed it. It is true that the duke came here often, and +praised my patience and courage so much that it was a great +comfort. The hours spent in his company are delightful. He talks +about Saint Petersburg, or Vienna, where he also spent some +time; he describes the good people in Courland; and he always +knows how to put in a word the meaning of which, I think, +escapes all other ears but mine. + +How well he knows the bad affairs of our country! It is only +through respect to his father that he does not dare to speak +about them openly. What a good king he would make! The princess +says that his extreme amiability has a particular aim,--to gain +partisans for the future,--and that if he were elected king, he +would perhaps not even look at us. I do not believe it. I can +see plainly that the princess is not in favor of him; she would +like rather to see a Lubomirski on the throne. + +To-night there will be an entertainment at the Ladies Canonesses'; a +very agreeable house and much frequented. This order was founded by +the Countess Zamoyska, in imitation of the Ladies' Chapter House of +Remiremont in Lorraine. It is said that it originated from the pity +the countess felt for a young girl of a noble family, who was to be +married in spite of her dislike and even despair. She was an orphan +and had no inclination for the convent life, but her high birth +forbade her accepting a situation, so she was obliged to marry, +merely for a home. In order to give a shelter to other homeless +Polish girls, where they could lead a Christian life and be free +to marry according to their liking, the countess bought Maryville, +a large building once belonging to the Jesuits, and had it altered +into small apartments, with a common dining-room and large +reception-parlors; she endowed it and also completed an adjoining +chapel, erected by the Queen Mary Kasimir, the wife of John Sobieski, +in memory of his victory over the Turks near Vienna in 1685. + +There are eleven canonesses and the abbess. In order to be +elected, the young girls must be fifteen years old, and prove +their nobility for six generations on both parents' sides. They +are addressed with the title of "Madame." + + + _Ash Wednesday_, February 19. + +Thank God, the carnival is over! I see that one can grow tired +even with entertainments. There have been so many during the +last weeks that I felt in a continual whirl. I could do nothing, +nor think of anything else but dresses, visits, assemblies, and +other festivities. At first such a life seems amusing, but by +and by one feels disheartened, and in my life I have never known +such tedious hours as those I passed in the last fortnight. And +yet so many people think that I am so very happy, and they envy +me. + +How beautiful the Countess Potocka looked at the ball last +night, dressed as a sultana! She was the queen of the ball, and +danced the whole evening. I danced only the first polonaise; I +hurt my foot and refused all the invitations. Toward the end the +duke came to ask me for a dance, but I did not care to dance +then. Thank God, the carnival is over! + + + _Saturday_, February 29. + +A few words in haste: I am going unexpectedly to Sulgostow. +There was nothing said about it yesterday when the Staroste and +Basia came to take their leave, but this morning the Prince +Woivode came to my room and said that my sister and her husband +begged me to go with them; that I shall have a good rest there +and probably see my honored Parents, so I ought to go. I believe +that all the prince's advice tends to my good, so I did not +hesitate, but I am sorry the duke does not know anything about +it. Perhaps he will not mind it at all; perhaps he will not even +notice it, as there are so many pretty women in Warsaw; and the +Countess Potocka, she does not go away. + + + _Sunday_, March 15. + +I returned two days ago. My diary was forgotten here in my desk, so +I could not write in Sulgostow. I was away a fortnight, but it seemed +much longer. My honored Parents are expected in Sulgostow in a few +days, but the Prince Woivode, who came for me, did not want to wait +even a few hours; we were almost flying on the road, with fresh +horses waiting at each station, and we reached Warsaw in one day. +The duke came the following morning; he looked pale, almost ill. He +gave me to understand that it was my sudden departure, without saying +good-bye, which made him feel so badly. He said almost bitterly that +"a friend deserves better treatment." I am sorry now that I went +away, and to be sincere, I was sorry for it more than once during +that fortnight, but the Prince Woivode says that it was for the best. +I must confess that often I do not understand him at all, but I obey +him blindly, for I feel that he is interested in my future. The +princess greeted me very graciously. + +In Sulgostow I spent most of the time petting the little Angela, +and embroidering a cushion for the Christ's chapel, in order to +propitiate Heaven in a certain direction, which I do not dare +to name here. I worked assiduously; it seemed to me that every +stitch made the fulfilment of my wishes nearer, and now my work +is finished. + +They celebrated with great magnificence the anniversary of +Basia's wedding in Sulgostow. How many changes in this one year! + + + _Thursday_, March 19. + +Yesterday was one of the most pleasant days I can remember. The +duke was as gay and charming as at the beginning of our +acquaintance. He came here first in the morning, but only for a +moment, as he was going to a hunt with the king; then in the +evening, when we did not expect him at all, he ran in,--I think +he walked, as no carriage was heard,--and he stayed a few hours. +He is freer now to leave the castle, as his two brothers, Albert +and Clement, are in Warsaw, and they keep the king company. + +The Duke Clement is said to be very good and religious, and he +is to enter the Church. It is quite right that the king, having +several sons, wishes to give one of them to the service of God, +but it is as well that it was not the lot of the Duke of +Courland. + + + _Tuesday_, March 24. + +Although it is Lent, I have a delightful time; the duke runs in +as often as he can leave the Castle. He says that he rests here +from the etiquette of the court. But to-morrow will be the end +of all the worldly pleasure. The princess has a few rooms kept +for her in the Convent of the Holy Sacrament, and every year, +before Easter, she secludes herself for eight days in order to +be well prepared for confession. All the ladies do the same, and +I naturally shall accompany the princess. During eight days we +shall see only priests and nuns; we shall read only religious +books, and work for the Church or the poor. + + + _Holy Thursday_, April 2. + +Our retirement is over, Easter confession is made, and I feel so +free in my mind and so quiet in my heart! I had an excellent +confessor, Father Bodue; he is all the fashion, as he is French, +but even in spite of fashion I would always choose him for my +director. He is a saint, and he is so wise! We had many and long +conversations with him. He knew so well how to speak to my heart +and make it humble and full of contrition, he was so convincing +when speaking of the voidness of the things of the world and the +dangers of it, that really there were moments when I wanted to +leave everything and become a sister of charity in his hospital. +I was just pacing my little cell thinking earnestly about it, +when my maid entered and whispered that she saw one of the +duke's hunters passing near the convent. My devout thoughts were +thus scattered and I could not grasp them again. + +Still, Father Bodue told me also that one can be saved as well +in the world when living virtuously, and that such a life is +still more meritorious, as it is more difficult. Why, then, +should I shrink from it? + +I really regret that this week is over, although we lived in +perfect seclusion. To-day we shall see everybody, as we are +going to the Castle for the ceremonies of Holy Thursday. + + + _Friday_, April 10. + +Easter is over. I cannot say that those days were unpleasant, +but the quietude of thought and heart of one week ago, they are +mine no more. Moreover, my conscience has more than one thing to +reproach me for, so soon after my most earnest resolves! + +For instance, that as early as Holy Thursday I was guilty of a +dreadful piece of vanity! Was such a thing ever heard of? + +It occurred thus: when I was to put on my mourning-dress, as is +the custom in holy week, the princess entered my room followed +by two maids carrying a magnificent gown of white satin with a +long transparent veil, a wreath of white roses for my hair, and +a bouquet for my corsage. I was amazed, but the princess +explained that on Holy Thursday after Mass, said in the chapel +of the Castle, the king and all the assemblage go to a large +room where twelve poor men are sitting at table, and the king, +in imitation of Christ's humility, washes their feet and serves +them at dinner. During this ceremony, one of the society young +ladies is to make a collection for the poor. The king himself +appoints the young lady; this time he named me, and promised to +give the collected money to Father Bodue for his hospital, which +is being built. I felt overcome with joy hearing this, but it +was not because of the poor or Father Bodue; it was simply +vanity. I saw myself, not in a heavy black and unbecoming dress, +but clad in white, I alone among all the other women,--and thus +the handsomest of all! It was wicked, but my conscience feels +better now for having confessed it here. + +The collection was extremely successful; I had over five +thousand ducats. The Prince Charles Radzivill alone, saying "My +love![13] one has to give something to such a fair lady," tossed +down five hundred gold pieces, so that the tray bent. + + [13]The Prince Charles Radzivill had the habit of + beginning each sentence with the exclamation "My + love!" and therefore he himself was generally + called, "the Prince My-love." He was the wealthiest + magnate of Lithuania. After the dismemberment of + Poland, when all his estates were confiscated, he + emigrated to Paris and there bought the whole street + between his palace and the market, in order, as he + said, that his Polish cook might not lose his way. + That street, near the Louvre, has still the name of + "Rue Radzivill." + +At first I felt rather timid, my knees were shaking at each low +courtesy which I had to make before every person, but by and by +I grew bolder, and on that day the lessons of my dancing-master +proved to be really useful. The marshal of the court accompanied +me telling the names of the persons we were approaching, and +when the tray grew too heavy he emptied it into a bag carried by +the king's page. + +My ears were filled with compliments. The duke told me that it was +fortunate that I begged for money, not for hearts, as every man would +have to give me his. "I would never ask for such a thing," I answered; +"for who would value a heart begged for?" He seemed pleased with my +answer,--I wonder how he could imagine that I should think otherwise. +A woman to beg for a heart--even of the king himself,--why! it would +be a shameful, base thing. To accept it, when it is offered to her, +earnestly and honorably, that is another thing. + +But again my thoughts are wandering. To return to my narrative; +the ceremony of the washing of the feet was very touching. I +have still before my eyes the king as he was bending over the +feet of the poor old men, and as he stood behind their stools at +dinner. Moreover, our Augustus III., although no longer young, +is very handsome and stately, and everything he does is done in +a proper manner. The Duke Charles is quite the likeness of his +father. + +On Good Friday, we went, dressed in deep mourning, to visit the +Holy Sepulchre. We were in seven churches, saying in each of +them five Paters and five Aves in honor of the five wounds of +Christ; in the cathedral I knelt one hour before the holy +Sacrament. + +On Saturday evening there was a grand "Resurrection Service" in +the cathedral; the music by the court orchestra was admirable. + +The Easter table in our house was sumptuous, and until yesterday +the tables remained covered with all kinds of meat and pastry.[14] +Who would have thought one year ago, when, on the third day after +my arrival at the boarding-school, I was sitting at the poor Easter +table feeling very melancholy--who would have guessed then that one +year later I would eat an Easter egg with the Duke of Courland? + + [14]The Easter dinner, or the "consecrated meal," is + still a special feature in Poland, and an elaborate + affair even among the poorer people. During several + days meat and pastry are prepared, and on Holy + Saturday the tables are set, with the symbolical + lamb in the middle, and every dish garnished with + sprays of boxwood. Then a priest is summoned, who + puts on a white surplice, and saying the appointed + prayers he sprinkles the table with holy water. + + In the villages on Easter morning the peasants bring + baskets with eggs, bread, cheese, and perhaps a + sausage, to church, and standing in two rows have + them consecrated. + + At noon the dinner begins with hot bouillon served + in cups; all the other dishes are cold. But first of + all, the lady of the house, holding a plate of + hard-boiled eggs cut in pieces, presents them to + every one in turn, wishing a "glad Alleluia." The + table sometimes stays covered several days, hot + dishes being added to succeeding dinners, and the + pastry lasts sometimes several weeks, by some + mystery remaining as fresh as on the first day. + + The children always have their own table, with + miniature dishes ornamented with boxwood, a lamb in + candy, colored eggs, etc. They would never forget to + have them consecrated, and the little girls very + earnestly play the hostess, partaking of the eggs + with their own guests. + + In olden times, the Polish houses tried to surpass + each other in setting the most sumptuous Easter + tables. In an old manuscript is found the following + description of a festival given by Prince Sapieha, + in the sixteenth century. + + In the middle of huge tables stood a lamb of candies + and marzipan, which were distributed "only to + ladies, dignitaries, and church men." Around it, + representing the seasons of the year, stood four + wild boars, each stuffed with hams, sausages, and + turkeys. The prince's chef showed wonderful skill in + roasting those boars whole. Then came twelve deer, + also roasted whole, and stuffed with a variety of + game: hares, woodcocks, partridges, hazel-hens, + etc.; these were for the twelve months of the year. + Around the table, numbering the weeks of the year, + were fifty-two mazourkas, that is, large square + cakes stuffed with all kinds of fruit, and three + hundred and sixty-five babas, for the days of the + year; each was one ell high and on their iced + surfaces were various inscriptions, mottoes, + proverbs, and witty verses, which the invited guests + took pleasure in deciphering. + + In the way of beverages there were: first, four + antique silver tankards with wine from "King + Batory's time" (that is, one hundred years old); + then twelve silver pitchers of old Tokai; then + fifty-two silver barrels of Spanish, Italian, and + Cypress wines, and three hundred and sixty-five + bottles of Hungarian wine. For the household there + were 8,760 quarts, as many as there are hours in one + year, of home-made mead. The invited guests feasted + during one whole week. As soon as the morning + service was over they surrounded the tables, and the + entertainment lasted till midnight; the prince's + court band played lively airs, and the young people + were never tired of dancing, nor the elderly ones of + talking of "the good old times," sipping the + Hungarian Malmsey, and drinking to the health of the + prince. + +He seemed to have grown thin; it is perhaps because of the long +fast. We also have not had any meat for forty days, and neither +butter nor milk during the holy week; everything was cooked with +oil, and on Friday we fasted the whole day. I did not mind it at +all, but for a man it must be different. Yesterday I was looking +anxiously at him: I thought he would not notice it, as he was +talking with the Prince Woivode, but he thanked me afterwards +for my solicitude. I felt quite ashamed; how careful a young +girl ought to be, not only of her words, but even of her eyes! + + + _Wednesday_, April 15. + +We leave Warsaw to-morrow. The Prince Woivode and his wife are +going to their estate "Opole," and they take me with them. My +honored Father wrote a letter to the princess saying that she +may keep me as long as she is not tired of me. I hope that will +never be; I endeavor to please her as well as I can, and I feel +the greatest awe of her. If I ever live to be old I wish to have +her dignity of demeanor; even the duke is afraid of her. + +I am glad that I am not yet going to Maleszow. I have it in my +head that I ought not to return there just as I was, and if I +arrived now there would be no change. No change? Oh! yes, there +is a great change, but not the one I mean. Yet, things cannot +stay long as they are now, something must take place. Will it be +yes, or no? I shall not be surprised if it is yes, and in the +other case--well, I will not bend my head, even if my heart +break. It sounds like riddles, but if when I think of him I am +afraid that some one may guess my thoughts, how could I write +more plainly? As it is I have already said too much; it is +better to stop and put my book under lock and key. + + + OPOLE, _Wednesday_, April 24. + +We have been here for nearly a week; the place is pretty, but I do +not feel very cheerful, and nothing seems to go right. The trees +ought to become green, but they are as black as in mid-winter; it +ought to grow warm, and it is still cold. I wanted to begin some +embroidery, but I have not the necessary silks; I wished to play, +but the harpsichord is most dreadfully out of tune, and they have +to send to town for the organist. There is a large library, but the +princess has the key of it, and I am afraid to ask her for it. The +prince has bought some new French books, the works of Voltaire, the +most celebrated author in France; he paid, before my eyes, six +golden ducats for a few volumes, and not very large ones; but the +princess does not allow me to read them. What is still worse, there +arrived, just fresh from Paris, a novel which is all the rage, the +"Nouvelle Heloise," written by a certain M. Rousseau. I took the +book eagerly in my hand, but the author says in the introduction, +"No mother will allow her daughter to read this book," and the +princess most sternly forbade it to me. + +I had still another disappointment yesterday; the physicians in +Warsaw ordered the princess to ride horseback for her health; she +laughed at them, saying that she would never do it, but the Prince +Woivode believed their advice good, and he bought a beautiful mare, +quite gentle, which was brought here. The princess very reluctantly +consented to ride a little in the garden, but I, who am not afraid +of horses, was just dying to learn how to ride, and I said so +yesterday. I got a terrible scolding; the princess said that such +an exercise would be quite indecent for a young lady, and I had to +give up all my plans,--such beautiful plans, of riding and hunting +with--well, with some one. + +There are many people coming here to pay their respects to the +prince, who is the Woivode of this province, but they are not +very interesting. The one person whom I like to see is the +Prince Martin Lubomirski, the first cousin of the Woivode, but +much younger, and whom I have already met in Warsaw. He owns +the earldom of Janow, which is not far from here, and he has +invited us very eagerly to pay him a visit; I hope we shall go. +The princess always finds something to censure in him, but I +like him very much; he talks most agreeably, and is a great +friend of the Duke of Courland. + + + JANOW, _Friday_, May 1. + +We have been here two days, and the Prince Martin announced from +the very first that he would not let us go away soon. I do not +think there can be found anywhere a host more generous, gay, and +hospitable than the Prince Martin. The princess says that he +sows his money broadcast as though he expected it to grow. He +has now a new scheme on foot: they are cutting a road through a +beautiful forest near the castle,--from my window I can see the +magnificent trees fall under the axes of at least a hundred +workmen,--and at the end of the road they are building a small +palace, but in such haste that it seems to grow under one's +eyes. There is a wager between the Prince Martin and the Prince +Woivode that the building will be ready in four weeks, and I am +sure the younger prince will be the winner. The whole forest is +to be enclosed with a hedge and serve as a preserve. Men have +been sent to distant places to bring deer and bears, besides the +game which is found around here. There is some mystery about all +that hasty work; I wonder what it is! + +This place is beautiful indeed. The old and majestic castle +stands upon a hill above the Vistula, and commands a most +admirable view over picturesque villages, forests, and the +winding river. The halls and rooms are innumerable, the +furniture rich and elegant, and the gallery of portraits is said +to be the finest in the country. But my room seems to me the +most charming of all; it is in a high tower, and it makes me +feel like the heroine of a novel. From each of the three windows +is a different view, each beautiful, but I sit most near the +window looking towards the little palace, the progress of the +work going on there interests me so very much. On the walls of +my room is Olympus painted in fresco. "Venus lui manquait, mais +il la possede maintenant," said Prince Martin, gallantly, when +he brought me in. + + + _Sunday_, March 3. + +I rose before the sun, and I must have looked like a ghost when +I glided through the large halls, on my way to the gallery of +portraits. + +The Prince Martin, following the example of our ancestors, who +kept with great care the pictures of their most illustrious +members, and the memory of their great deeds, determined to +gather all such souvenirs of the Lubomirski family in one room. +He brought from Italy a skilful painter, also called in the help +of a very learned man, who knew all about the Polish history, +and after long researches and debates the plan was carried out +in 1746; as the inscription above the door testifies. The +princess says it is a pity that all these portraits and pictures +are not painted in oil on canvas instead of "in fresco," as +they never can be removed, and it is more difficult to take care +of them. In any case the gallery, as it is now, is superb. + +Yesterday after dinner our host brought us in and explained the +meaning of the large paintings, relating the facts and the +anecdotes about them. It was so interesting that I decided to +get up very early this morning, before the house was awake, and +come here alone to look again at the pictures, and write about +some of them. + +The first picture represents the three brothers Lubomirski, +young and handsome men, who in the presence of the king, and +many lords and witnesses, are dividing the inheritance of their +father. Two scriveners are writing the deed upon a roll of +parchment, and this document, dating from 1088, was the first +historical title-deed known in Poland; it is still in existence, +and the family are very proud of it. + +After that picture, comes a row of portraits of stately men and +great warriors, which I must pass over. Then I see a painting +representing a chapel, where, before a miraculous image of the +Virgin, a baby is being weighed, and the other scale is covered +with gold pieces. One Prince Lubomirski, being childless, made a +vow that if a son were born to him he would offer to the Church +its weight in gold, and he kept his promise. + +Farther on, I see a nun on her deathbed, with a halo round her +head; sick people touch her garments and are healed; it was +Sophy Lubomirska, who in the sixteenth century was renowned for +her sanctity. + +On the other wall is represented an amusing scene: Among young +damsels at work stands a pretty little girl in a very uncomfortable +position, as her foot is tied to the leg of the table. Her aunt, +who has punished her thus for some mischief, is sternly looking at +her. But the naughty little Christina has grown to be a young lady, +and in the following picture we see her kneeling before the altar +in her room, her beautiful eyes full of ecstasy; she has just +pricked her finger with a golden needle, and gathering her blood on +a pen, she writes down her determination always to lead a saintly +life. She kept her word; married to Felixe Potocki, she was as +famous for her virtues as for her beauty. All her accomplishments, +her rare talent for music, her great skill in handiwork, were given +to God's service. She adorned His churches, composed and sang +verses to His glory, founded several convents, and her charitable +deeds were innumerable. Her own confessor wrote her life and called +her a saint. + +Next come the portraits of her two brothers. First, Stanislaus, +an eminent writer, surnamed the "Polish Solomon," is surrounded +with books, and Fame crowns him with a laurel wreath. The +second, Jerome, famous for his valor, is represented with the +King Sobieski, when after the victory near Vienna they are +examining the flag of Mahomet, captured from the Turks; in the +distance the Polish army can be seen occupying the Turkish +camps. + +Then I stop at a large picture representing a very exciting +adventure. In a forest covered with snow, a man is fighting with +a bear, who seems to have the better of him, when from behind a +woman in a hunting costume approaches, and holds two pistols to +the animal's ears; in the background a horse is seen running +away with a sleigh. The story runs thus: A Princess Lubomirska, +who was very fond of horses, was returning one day from a +hunting party, with only one servant, when an infuriated bear +sprang upon them. The frightened horse threw over the little +sleigh and ran away with it, and the two people were left to the +fury of the beast. The faithful servant having only said, "Your +Grace, remember my wife and children," threw himself forward to +meet the bear, who was advancing on his hind legs, and give his +mistress time to run away. But the courageous Pole did not leave +the brave man to perish; drawing two pistols from her belt, she +stepped from behind and shot the bear on the spot. + +But I hear the Prince Martin talking to his dogs, which he loves +and pets as if they were children; his greyhounds are famous in +the whole country. It is time to stop and run back to my tower. + + + _Thursday_, May 14. + +We went to Opole, and returned here again, urged by Prince +Martin to see the villa finished; he won the wager. I asked him +to-day why he wanted another house, and he answered smiling, +"For your ladyship's sake." What does he mean? + + + _Saturday_, May 16. + +The duke is here! And, oh!--I can hardly believe it,--he loves +me! He loves me so much that he could stay no longer without +seeing me, and the two princes, to please him, thought to build +the villa and to give hunting parties, in order to bring him +near the object of his affection. It is fortunate that it was +dark when he appeared yesterday. Everybody would have seen how +I blushed, and he himself might have read in my eyes more joy +than I ought to have shown. How will all this end? Until now I +feigned not to understand the hidden meaning of his words. I +tried most carefully to conceal my feelings toward him; shall I +be able to do it any longer, especially here, where I shall see +him so often,--live almost under the same roof? + +I cannot express the state that my heart and head are in. I see +before me either a destiny so grand that I am afraid to think of +it, or so dark and miserable that I shiver. What ought I to do? +I would rather die than ask the princess; she said, not later +than to-day, that the woman who would believe in the love of the +duke would be simply mad, and that his wife would be most +unhappy. The Prince Woivode visibly shuns any confidence. + + + May 18. + +I am betrothed. Is it really true? I, Frances Krasinska, I shall +be Duchess of Courland, and perhaps one day something more! + +To-day we went to the little palace. The princess made a false +step mounting the stairs, and was obliged to stay in the room +with her companion, and we four went to the park. The Prince +Martin stopped to show the Woivode some preparations for the +hunt, but the duke said he preferred to walk, and took my arm. +He was silent for awhile, which seemed strange, as he generally +talks a great deal. At last he asked me if I would never be +willing to understand for whom and for what he had come here. I +tried to answer, calmly, that I knew him to be a lover of +hunting, and that there promised to be great sport. Then he put +aside all metaphors, and said plainly that he came for my sake, +"and to find his whole life's happiness." I was stunned, it came +so suddenly; but I composed myself and said: "Monsieur le Duc, +are you forgetting who you are, and what you may be one day? You +must look for a wife among the royal daughters." "You are my +queen!" he exclaimed; "you, who first by your beauty have +charmed my eyes, and afterwards by your modesty and virtues have +won my heart. I am used to having women run to me as soon as I +have spoken one word. But you, although you loved me perhaps +more than any one of them, you shunned me; I could only guess +what you were feeling. You are worthy of the first throne in the +world. If I wish to be one day King of Poland, it is in order to +put a crown on that beautiful brow of yours." How can I believe +that all that was not merely a dream! + +I stood silent; no words could pass my lips. Then the two +princes drew near us. "I take Heaven and you for witnesses," +said the duke, turning to them, "that I will never marry any +other woman but the Countess Francoise Krasinska. For reasons +easily understood, I wish my decision kept secret until the +time comes, and I am sure of your loyalty and discretion." The +princes saluted; they said something about the great honor and +their faithfulness; they whispered in my ear, "You are worthy of +it," and withdrew. + +I stood as yet in a dream, but at last I had to answer to the +affectionate words; I had even to confess that I loved him much, +and had done so for a long time. Should I not have made that +avowal to my future husband? My husband! No, it cannot be true. +But then, what means the exchanged ring on my finger? I had from +Basia a little golden snake-ring which she gave me at my last +visit; the duke had observed it, and ordered a similar one with +the words "for ever" engraved inside; he put it on my finger and +took mine for himself. The trees and the birds were the only +witnesses of that silent betrothal. But these rings were not +consecrated; a Father's hand had not given me away, nor a Mother +bestowed her blessing. Oh! yes, now I believe that all is true, +for I feel hot tears on my cheeks. + + + _Monday_, May 25. + +One week has passed, a week of such bliss! To-day for the first +time, I was struck with the thought that my happiness might fly +away. The Dukes Clement and Albert arrived here on Thursday; the +hunt took place on Friday and Saturday, and they leave this +afternoon; perhaps he also will have to go soon! How could I +have so totally forgotten about it? Perhaps I had not time to +think of what would come next, the days are so full--not only +with my heart's content, but also with the duties of the lady of +the house; the princess is confined to her room, as her foot has +grown worse, and I have had to take her place. Or perhaps I did +not want to think at all and spoil my happiness. Now I can think +of nothing else but that departure. What will it be when he has +gone? With what thought shall I awake in the morning? For whom +shall I want to dress? What shall I do with the whole day when +he is not here! + +I looked out of the window toward the villa, and saw a white +handkerchief waving from the balcony; it is the "good-morning" +he sends me every day. How early he is,--it is not yet six +o'clock! Now I see a rider galloping along the road. It cannot +be he! No, it is his favorite hunter who brings me flowers, a +message every day from him. Oh! no, my anxiety was premature; I +have not heard yet that he was going away; we may have another +happy week, and a third, and perhaps a fourth,--why did I fret? + + + _Wednesday_, May 27. + +My forebodings were right; he is going. A special courier came +last night with the king's order that he return at once. I saw +him this morning; I shall see him again in half an hour, when he +will come to say good-bye, and then when shall we meet again? + + + _Sunday_, June 7. + +Two weeks have passed. Two couriers brought me short notes under +the Prince Woivode's seal; but what is a letter, written words, +for two people who have been accustomed to talk to each other +for hours, who knew each other's thoughts without even using any +words, only looking into each other's eyes. He left me his +miniature, a fairly good likeness, but it has always the same +expression; I have a better portrait of him in my heart. I do +not answer his letters; it is hard, but I was positive when I +told him that until we were married he would not receive a +single written word from me. I think my hand would be paralyzed +if I wrote a letter without the knowledge of my aunt and my +honored Parents, and I will keep my word, although God knows how +much it costs. + +How long the days seemed when he was gone! I felt in a kind of +lethargy, caring for nothing, without will or desire to do anything. +I was aroused by a very sad occurrence: the princess' health grew +worse, her foot swelled, and the doctor for whom they sent to Warsaw +declared her to be in a critical condition. I cannot express what I +felt during the three days of uncertainty. Notwithstanding all that +the duke and the princes have said to quiet my conscience, I know +very well that my silence about what has happened is an offence +toward her. From the very beginning I planned and lived in hopes +that the day would come when I should confess my involuntary fault to +her, and to my honored Parents, explaining how everything happened, +how I could not help it, and I was sure I would be pardoned. But +during those three days of danger my hopes might at any moment have +been crushed, and then what would have become of me? How could I +live without having her forgiveness? It came to my mind also that +my honored Parents are no longer young, and an unexpected illness +may come to them, and I felt utterly desperate. + +The Lord be praised and thanked! The princess is better, and we +had good news from Maleszow; both my honored Parents are in +excellent health. + +But it is time to return to the princess; she likes to have me +near her, and now I feel most happy at her bedside when I can do +something for her. + + + OPOLE, _Thursday_, June 18. + +The princess felt so much better in health and strength that we +returned here the day before yesterday. I left Janow with +regret; after all, the remembrance of the happy hours spent +there is the strongest. + +In his last letter the duke frightened me, writing that he will +be obliged to go to his dukedom of Courland, and that he is +puzzling his brain as to how he shall see me before he leaves. +How long those months will be! But his sufferings are worse to +me than my own. Several guests arrived here from Warsaw, and +spoke about the change that everybody notices in him; he does +not look well, he is sad, and avoids society. People find me +also changed and looking pale. I would not care, but when I hear +the princess explaining that it is on account of the trouble and +care I took of her during her illness, then my conscience makes +me feel miserable. + + + _Saturday_, July 11. + +One moment of bliss, and it is gone; he has been here, but only +for one hour. He left Warsaw last Wednesday, as if to go to +Courland, but as soon as he was out of town, he left his +equipage and turned south instead of going north; now he is +travelling day and night to meet his court at the frontier. I +saw him such a short time, that I cannot realize it was not all +a dream. He came disguised as one of his hunters; nobody +recognized him but the prince and myself, but nobody ought to +have recognized him. He implored me with tears in his eyes to +write to him, and it was perhaps fortunate that he could not +stay longer, for it was hard to resist those tears. + +Three months is the shortest time for his stay in Courland; how +many weeks, and days, and hours in three months! + + + _Thursday_, September 3. + +I have not opened my book for two months; they passed as +everything passes in this world, but that they were sad it is +needless to say. One month more to wait. In each letter the duke +assures me he will be here in October. To-day I was so glad at +seeing some dry leaves on the ground in the garden; I thought it +might already be October. We shall go to Warsaw ere long; the +princess has forgotten that she was ever ill. + +I had great trouble lately,--a proposal of marriage, and a +splendid match, as they say. The princess, who from the time of +her illness is kinder to me than ever, arranged everything, +acting in concert with my honored Parents, and never a doubt +arose in her mind that I might object. It was extremely painful +to me to destroy her plans, to incur her just anger, to hear her +reproaches, and especially her innuendoes concerning the duke. +It was also very difficult to write to my honored Parents, not +knowing what excuses to make for my refusal. My honored Mother +deigned to answer me. "The Parents who allow their daughter to +leave their guidance," she writes, "cannot be very much +surprised if she does not obey their wishes." Could I ever have +foreseen that what I called the height of happiness could have +thrown me into such a depth of misery! + + + WARSAW, September 22. + +We have been in Warsaw for several days. With what joy I +approached the city! Here I shall see him again; he is coming on +October 1st, that is, in one week. If it was not for that hope, +life here would be intolerable. Those visits and receptions +which seemed so amusing are now a trial. I think everybody is +reading my secret in my eyes, and that all my acquaintances are +laughing at me, especially the women. Yesterday one of them made +me so nervous with her inquiries and her false solicitude that +my tears were quite near,--in the presence of at least fifty +people. But the Prince Woivode took pity upon me and came to my +rescue; he is always so good, only he does not believe in my +sorrow and troubles, and calls them "childishness." + + + _Thursday_, October 1. + +He arrived and is well; I have seen him, but before much +company, and when my heart was leaping to meet him I had to +stand still and wait until he entered and saluted the Prince +Woivode, and then to make the low courtesy as etiquette +requires. No matter; as long as he is here and well, everything +seems more cheerful, and all will be well. + + + _Tuesday_, October 20. + +My God! what a promise have I given one hour ago! The fourth of +November, when will it be? It is the birthday of the duke, and +as a gift he wants my hand. He said that he will doubt my +affection if I refuse. The Prince Woivode also pleaded for him, +and I said "yes," before I realized that I had no right to do it +without the knowledge and permission of my honored Parents. But +I will not marry without their consent; I said that I must write +to them, or otherwise I would rather enter a convent. At last +the duke submitted and promised to add a postscript to my +letter. Here my pride received a shock; is it not the young man +who ought to humbly ask the Parents for their daughter's hand? +Yes, but not a royal prince. For the first time, I felt the +difference in our rank,--that it is he who does me a favor in +marrying me. But it is too late for any regrets; my word is +given. + + + _Thursday_, October 22. + +A chamberlain of the Prince Woivode has gone to Maleszow with +the letters. The duke said that my letter was too humble, but I +thought it was his postscript which was too royal. What will the +answer be? My life is in suspense until then. I had the happy +thought to ask if the curate of Maleszow could not come to give +the wedding blessing; it would at least be somebody from my +home. The Prince Woivode promised to have him come, and he will +also obtain the necessary papers. + + + _Wednesday_, October 28. + +My honored Parents consent and give their blessing, but it is not +such an affectionate blessing as they gave Basia when she was to be +married, and it is just, for I do not deserve it. The duke expected +a separate letter for himself; as there was none, he felt a little +offended and talked with the Prince Woivode about the pride of the +Polish seigneurs. No matter, it is a relief to think that they know +everything; it is as if a stone were lifted from my heart. They +promise to keep the secret until the duke releases them. One sees +in their letter some surprise, even satisfaction at such an +alliance, but there is also, especially in the words of my dear +Mother, a kind of affectionate reproach which pierces my heart. She +writes, "If you are unhappy, you cannot ascribe your misfortune to +us; if you find felicity in your decision, for which I shall never +stop praying the Lord, your Parents will rejoice over you, but not +as much as over their other children, as you have not allowed them +to share in making your happiness." I cried so much over these +words that they are almost illegible. + +The curate will come, and in six days I shall be a bride. I +cannot believe it; there are no preparations for the wedding, +everything around me is so quiet and every-day-like. + +One week before Basia's wedding, what was there not in Maleszow! +If at least I could see the duke often, but sometimes two, and +sometimes three days pass without my seeing him. He fears to +awaken the suspicion of the king, and still more that of Bruehl; +therefore he avoids me at receptions, and does not appear here +as often. I feel so lonesome with nobody to confide in or ask +for any advice. Even my little maid is to be sent away, and a +married woman, whom the Prince Woivode knows, but I have never +seen, is to take her place. I do not even know how to dress for +the wedding; I asked the prince, and he answered, "As every +day." + +What a strange occurrence! I am making the grandest marriage in +Poland, and my shoemaker's daughter will be more dressed on her +wedding day than I on mine. + + + November 4. + +Married! One hour ago, before the altar, before God, we swore to +each other faith and love until death. What a terrible wedding! +At five o'clock in the morning the Prince Woivode knocked at my +door. I was quite dressed, we went out stealthily; at the gate +the duke and Prince Martin were waiting for us. It was quite +dark, the wind blew fiercely; we walked to the church, as a +carriage would have made a noise. It was not far, but I should +have fallen several times, if the duke had not supported me. At +the door of the church the good curate met us. The church was +dark and silent as a grave; at a side altar two candles were +lighted; no living soul but the priest and the sacristan. Our +steps resounded on the flagstones as in a cavern. + +The ceremony did not last ten minutes, and then we hastened away +as if pursued. The duke brought us to the gate, and the Prince +Martin had to compel him to go away. I had my every-day dress +on, not even white, only I hastily put a bit of rosemary in my +hair. Yesterday, remembering Basia's wedding, I prepared for +myself, with tears, a golden coin, a piece of bread, and a lump +of sugar, but in my haste I forgot to take them this morning. + +Now I am again in my room, alone. Nobody is blessing or +congratulating me, the whole house is asleep, and if it were not +for the wedding ring, which I shall soon have to take off and +hide, I could not believe that I have returned from my wedding, +that I am a married woman, that I am his forever. + + + SULGOSTOW, December 24. + +I was not going to write in this book any more; I saw no use for +it, as the friend I have won for my life had all my thoughts +confided to him. But cruel destiny has separated us, and I open +my book again to relate the sorrowful event. In the days of +happiness, if they ever come, it will be agreeable perhaps to +read over the accounts of the past misfortunes, although I do +not think the most perfect bliss could ever wipe them out of my +memory. + +Six weeks have passed since the day of our wedding. Nobody has +guessed what happened. My new maid swore to the Prince Woivode +on the crucifix that she would be silent on whatever she may +know. Our meetings and interviews, managed by the Woivode, were +kept perfectly secret. I was still Mademoiselle la Comtesse +Krasinska to everybody. The duke, in order to be ready for any +sign from the Prince Woivode, pretended illness and did not +leave the castle, but in the end he was obliged to appear in +society, and paid a visit to the princess. It was the first +time I saw him in public; I could not control my emotion, which +was perceived by the princess. After his departure, she +overwhelmed me with reproaches, scoldings, and warnings. Sure of +my innocence, I answered perhaps too boldly, and imprudently +made her understand that it was not a mere flirtation between +the duke and me. On the following day, the princess was very +much agitated; the duke came again, and knowing he could not see +me on that day in private, he had written a short note, which he +discreetly slipped into my work-basket,--but not discreetly +enough for the watchful eye of the princess. As soon as he was +gone, she seized the basket, and when she read the inscription +on the note, "Pour ma bien aimee," her wrath burst forth in the +most dreadful and offensive words. I heard myself called the +shame, the blot on the Krasinskis' name. I heard that I would +send my Father and Mother to the grave. "But now," she added, +"this low intrigue shall be ended. I have written to Bruehl, +telling him that honesty and honor are more to me than my family +ties, and I feel it to be my sacred duty to let him know that +the duke is in love with you, and that he must do what he thinks +best to stop this unlawful affection. So at this moment the king +himself is perhaps informed of your mad scheme, and of your +shame." "There is no shame," I answered, "I am his wife." As +soon as I uttered these words I realized what I had done in +revealing the secret, but it was too late. The princess was +amazed. I fell at her feet and confessed everything; there was +nothing else to be done. I implored her pardon, and begged her +in the name of God to keep the secret to herself. She seemed +surprised, but not soothed; she compelled me to rise from her +feet, saying that it was not a proper position for a lady of my +standing. She asked to be pardoned for having often treated me +not according to my dignity, of which she was unaware; but she +did not allow me to kiss her hand, and under the pretence that +her house was not good enough for a duchess, perhaps the future +Queen of Poland, she gave at once the orders for my departure. I +controlled myself so that not one disagreeable word fell from my +lips, and I shall always be thankful to the Lord for it; the +princess is my aunt, and I shall never forget the care she has +bestowed upon me during so many months. + +I did not know at all where I was to go. Fortunately some one +happened to mention Sulgostow. The marshal, who came to take the +orders, heard it, and the news spread in the house that I was +going to spend Christmas with my sister. Glad of the suggestion, +I confirmed it. I wrote a letter to the duke, in care of the +princess, in which I told him about the necessity of letting my +sister know the truth, and in less than two hours, in a closed +carriage with my maid, I was travelling fast, not knowing what +was to become of me. I reached Sulgostow in such a confused +state of mind that when Basia saw me and heard the disconnected +sentences,--that the princess sent me away from her house, that +I was innocent, that the duke was my husband,--she was so +frightened that she wanted to call for help, and to send for the +doctor; she was sure that I was insane. No news yet from Warsaw! + + + _Saturday_, December 30. + +I received a letter from the duke (I think I shall never call +him otherwise). He is in despair about my departure, angry with +the princess, and much afraid of Bruehl discovering everything. I +am leaving Sulgostow; the happiness of my sister makes my lot +still more miserable. I love her with my whole heart, and I pray +God that she may always be as happy, but this comfortable home, +the attention her husband's family pay to her, the many tokens +of affection from our honored Parents, the little Angela who is +so fond of her mother, and of whom her father is so proud,--all +this stabs my heart when I compare her fate with mine. I will +go to Maleszow. When I shall hear the words of forgiveness from +the lips of my honored Parents, and they embrace me, I shall +perhaps feel more tranquil. Perhaps the year begun with them +will be as happy as those that I spent under their roof, when a +gay and careless girl. + + + IN MALESZOW CASTLE, January 5, 1761. + +I have been here for several days, but I am not any happier. My +honored Parents greeted me in such a strange manner. I wanted to +throw myself at their feet, and I would have felt better for it, +but they did not allow it. The Count bowed low to me as if I +were a stranger; even now he will not sit next me, and he gets +up when I enter the room. This homage paid to my new title is +grievous to my heart. At the first dinner he whispered in my +ear, "I could under the pretence of testing, order a bottle of +'Miss Frances' wine.' I am sorry not to taste it at the first +dinner, but the custom requires that the first cup be emptied +by the father, and the second by the bridegroom; any other order +is considered a bad omen. But will that happy moment ever come?" +he added, so sadly that I was hardly able to restrain my tears. +Oh! that dinner was for me a real suffering; everybody seemed to +be under some constraint; even Matenko was not up to his +standard. The Count winked at him to make him tell some jokes, +but they were not a success. + +He is a sharp fellow, Matenko. Yesterday he entered my room +mysteriously, when I was alone, and kneeling on both knees, with +an expression which was half droll and half melancholy, he drew +from his vest a little bunch of dried leaves tied with a white +ribbon and a golden pin in it. I could not at first make out +what he meant when he said, "I am sometimes a prophet." Then I +recollected the bouquet from Basia's wedding. I ran after +Matenko, who still on his knees was retreating toward the door, +and put in his coat a diamond pin I had received from the duke. +Neither of us said a word, but both perhaps thought that if it +was strange that his joking prophecy was fulfilled, how much +more strange it was that its fulfilment failed to satisfy my +expectations. When I think how I dreamed about my return to +Maleszow after my wedding! What royal presents and surprises +there would be for everybody! Even each of the peasant-women was +to receive a new cap, the girls bright ribbons, and what +entertainments and banquets were to be given to all! And here I +return to my paternal home after nearly two years of absence, +and bring no gifts to any one. When Basia came home from the +convent she had a little surprise for everybody, although she +had no more money than I; but she had leisure of time and mind, +and with her own hands she prepared the little trifles which +were valued so much. How could I do it? + +Here my beloved Mother interrupted my writing. She came into my +room carrying heavy bundles of costly silks, laces, and jewels, +and laying them down on the chairs she said rather timidly: "I +have brought here a part of the things which are destined for +each of our daughters; I would have brought more, but nothing +seems to me good enough. I have been talking to my honored +husband; he will sell a few villages in order that when the +happy moment comes, and the marriage is announced to the world, +our second daughter may receive an outfit in accordance with her +high rank." Moved to tears, I wanted to embrace her knees, but +she did not permit me, and was still making excuses for the +"miserable presents," as she called them. + +Oh no! I cannot stand all this. I will return to Sulgostow. +There are too many eyes fixed on me here, too many exclamations +about how pale I look. My dear little sisters are asking +continually, "Why are you not married yet?" or, "When will you +marry?" Even the old servants ask me the same questions. +Yesterday the three girls whom I promised to take to my court, +came to see me. Old Peter brought his daughter himself; it was +so painful to send them away. How astonished they will be if +they hear that am I married, but cannot take them, for my +husband is a son of the king! + + + SULGOSTOW, January 9. + +I found no letter here from the duke. I am dreadfully anxious; +perhaps he is ill, or the king is informed about everything, and +does not let him write. If the Prince Woivode were in Warsaw he +would let me know, but he left a few days before me and probably +has not yet returned. + +The farewell of my honored Parents was more tender than their +reception, but the best moments I spent were in Lisow, where I +went to visit our curate. I found him planting spruce-trees in +his garden, and he allowed me to plant one in the cemetery near +the church.[15] I leave a sad souvenir behind me, but I am not +gay myself. I heard kind and comforting words from the good +Father, and went away with more courage. If only I had news that +the duke is quite well! + + [15] This tree still shades the old building. + (Note in 1858.) + + + _Tuesday_, January 15. + +New trials and new sufferings during these past days! Will there +be any kind of grief which I have not experienced? + +On Saturday when we were going to dinner we heard the +postilion's horn before the palace; the door opened and Borch, +the minister of the king, entered the hall. I knew at once the +purpose of his coming, and I trembled like a leaf, but he +pretended that he wanted to pay his respects to the Staroste and +Madame Starostine, at whose wedding he had the honor to be +present. He played this part during the whole dinner, but when +it was over he asked me for a moment of private conversation, +and then told me at once that Bruehl and he were informed of all +that had happened, but to them the marriage of the duke was a +mere joke; that a wedding without the knowledge of the parents, +and not blessed by the pastor of the parish, is void, and can +be annulled without any difficulty. + +In the first moment I believed his words and felt doomed and +helpless, but God had mercy upon me, and suddenly my mind was +cleared. I considered whose representative was before me; I felt +sure that the Prince Woivode would not have countenanced an +illegal marriage; I was aware that upon my firmness in that +moment depended the future of my whole life; and I replied as +follows: "It is wrong of Minister Bruehl, and it is wrong of you +who speak for him, to want to deceive a woman who is not yet +eighteen years old; but I am not so ignorant as you may +imagine," I continued, while he was listening in blank +amazement,--"I know that our marriage is valid; it was +consecrated by the curate of my parish before two witnesses, and +with the consent of my Parents. Yes, there is the divorce, but +the signature of both parties is necessary for it, is it not so? +and neither prayers nor threats will obtain mine or the duke's +signature." Borch was confounded. On the following day, +however, he tried to secure my signature by offering me a large +donation, and when that failed he wanted at least my promise +that, if the duke gave his consent to the divorce, I should not +withhold mine. I gave that promise in writing; I am sure of my +husband's faith and love. + + * * * * * + +Here ends the journal of Francoise Krasinska. Continual sorrows +and misfortunes took away her strength, and her wish to write +about them any more. The most painful of her trials was the +inconstancy of her husband, and the apprehension of the divorce +with which she was threatened more than once. After the early +death of her parents, the homeless young woman led a wandering +life for several years, between her sister Barbara's, her aunt's +the Princess Lubomirska (who could not remain angry very long +with her favorite niece), and convents in Warsaw and in Cracow. +Her fickle husband returned to her from time to time, but their +marriage was still kept secret, under the pretence of sparing +the old king the shock. Furthermore, the visions of a brilliant +future which the young girl once nourished vanished one after +the other; as Matenko had predicted, the mitre and the crown +both slipped away. Count Biron became Duke of Courland, and +after the death of Augustus III., Stanislaus Poniatowski was +elected King of Poland. + +The family of the late king moved to Saxony. Then the Duke +Charles wrote a most tender letter to his wife, asking her +forgiveness for the past, and imploring her to come to Dresden, +where, he wrote, he would publicly call her his wife, and he +would devote his whole life to her happiness, in order to redeem +the years of her beautiful youth spent in wandering and +humiliation. Although she had longed for this moment for years, +she did not yield at once to her husband's request. Her heart +wished perhaps otherwise, but her self-respect commanded her to +await at least a second invitation. She had not long to wait; +letter followed letter, and every word breathed the most tender +affection, and news came that under this suspense, the duke's +health began to give way. Convinced at last of the sincerity of +his re-awakened attachment, the young duchess, surrounded by a +numerous retinue sent from Dresden to accompany her, left her +native country; and from that time she lived in Saxony, not in +the splendor once dreamed of, but in a happy home. Her husband +now clung to her with all the passion of a young lover; her +little daughter, Marie Christine, their only child, promised to +be as beautiful as her mother, and numerous friends, among +others the Empress Maria Theresa, who was very fond of her, and +bestowed upon her the estate of Landscrown, surrounded the +"handsome Pole" with affection and admiration. + +But she never forgot Poland and her relatives, nor lost the hope +of living there once again. The numerous letters written to her +sisters, her goddaughter Angela, the Princess Lubomirska, and +others, are still kept by the family and show her deep affection +and solicitude for them and her country. She did not live to a +great age, having died in 1796; and as if to prove his deep +attachment, her husband survived her only a few months. + +Their daughter, Marie Christine, married Charles de Carignan, Duke of +Savoy, and had two children,--a daughter, Elizabeth Francoise, married +to the Archduke Regnier, King of Lombardy-Venice, and second cousin +of the present Emperor of Austria; and a son, Charles Albert, the +father of Victor Emmanuel, and of the Duke of Genoa, the latter being +the father of Marguerite, the "Pearl of Savoy." Thus both the King +and Queen of Italy are the great-great-grandchildren of Francoise +Krasinska. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal of Countess Francoise +Krasinska, by Kasimir Dziekonska (translator) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JOURNAL OF COUNTESS *** + +***** This file should be named 36660.txt or 36660.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/6/36660/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Jen Haines and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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