. Court life from within . th him in Madrid. The Due de Montpensier was the youngest son ofKing Louis Philippe of France, and—like all thatkings sons—extremely clever. He had married mymothers sister, another daughter of King FerdinandVII., on the same day that my parents married; andhe had lived in Spain ever since. In Sevilla mysisters and I became very friendly with our youngcousins, the Dues children, and I became like an-other daughter to the Due, whom I adored. He hadall the charm of the esprit Frangais, animated andwitty, accustomed to conversation with clever peo-ple, tolerant of opini
. Court life from within . th him in Madrid. The Due de Montpensier was the youngest son ofKing Louis Philippe of France, and—like all thatkings sons—extremely clever. He had married mymothers sister, another daughter of King FerdinandVII., on the same day that my parents married; andhe had lived in Spain ever since. In Sevilla mysisters and I became very friendly with our youngcousins, the Dues children, and I became like an-other daughter to the Due, whom I adored. He hadall the charm of the esprit Frangais, animated andwitty, accustomed to conversation with clever peo-ple, tolerant of opinions opposed to his own, andhating—more than anything else in the world—stu-pidity. He delighted me. He sympathised withme. I used to tell him all my little troubles. I think that when the history of my mothersreign and the republic is written, it will lay greatstress on the Dues influence in Spain. At once, onhis arrival, he had attracted to himself all the Liberalelements in the Spanish Court, unconsciously, as 72. Pliotoe:iai)li by Heiirie Manuel, Paris. The Infanta Eulalia LOVE AND ENNUI mind attracts mind. He became the head of a Lib-eral party—subsequently called the Orleansparty, because he was of the House of Orleans—although he always declared that he had neither de-sired nor tried to organise any following for like the famous writer, Jose de Echegaray,gathered around him, and his palace became a centrefor the dissemination of Liberal ideas. He was an-tagonistic to the Conservatives, who were chieflyClerical; and he was much feared and opposed bythe priests. He wished to improve the conditionsin Spain. He wished, as he used to say, humor-ously, to make it habitable. But I do not thinkthat he had any personal ambition to rule; for, al-though he had distinguished himself for bravery inthe French army, and was a general in the Spanisharmy, he made no attempt to use his influence withthe army or with the politicians, in order to obtainthe throne for
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcourtsandcourtiers
