she answered, or what other introductions followed she scarcely knew, for all that passed seemed like a dream, only far more easy and natural. "That the Emperor!" said Stéphanie afterwards. "I should not have been at all afraid to talk to him myself. He was only a gentleman."[1]
"Only a gentleman?" Madame de Talmont repeated. "Such gentlemen are not so plentiful, my little Stéphanie."
"But that Prince Ivan is doubtless well acquainted with the etiquette of his own court, I should say he made a blunder," observed Madame de Salgues. "A lady, were she the highest of the land, would be presented to the King of France, not the King to the lady."
"Yes; and the King would go in to dinner before his guest, were that guest an Emperor," said Emile. "Certainly no one can call Louis Dix-huit 'only a gentleman.'"
"Prince Ivan may be trusted in matters of etiquette," said Henri. He added apart to Clémence, "Do you remember, sister mine, the good things we two agreed to ask for the man who saved my life?"
"Love, joy, peace, God's best gifts. And there is that in his face to-day, Henri, which makes me think God has heard and answered our prayer."
They were not mistaken. A few words, spoken that evening to intimate friends, show how truly Alexander dwelt then in the secret place of the Most High. "This day has been the most glorious of my life, I shall never forget it," he said; but never surely did king or conqueror give so unique a reason for his joy and triumph: "My heart has been filled with love for my enemies. I have been able to pray fervently for them all; and it is with tears and at the foot of the cross that I have prayed for the welfare of France."
Such joy as this is like the name in the white stone, "which
- ↑ "He 'has the honour of being presented' to a lady; he 'begs that they will excuse' him, etc.; he says, 'will you permit?' as well as others. He is right, for he is a true gentleman, which is not quite so easy as some believe."—De Maistre.
