On a sign from the empress, the Grand-duke,
Madame-, her daughter, and myself, re-entered
the cottage. I should have wished to have found less
INTERIOR OF THE COTTAGE. 45
luxurious furniture in this house, and a greater number of objects of virtu. The ground-floor resembled that of all the houses of rich aud elegant English people, but not one picture of a high order, not one fragment of marble, or of
It may be said that statues and pictures of great value would be out of place in a cottage; but this house is the chosen and favourite resort of its possessors ; and when people form for themselves an abode according to their fancy, if they have much love for the arts, that love will betray itself, at the risk even of some incongruity of style, some fault of harmony : besides, a little anomaly is allowable in an imperial cottaa`e. Over the distribution of the ornaments of this cottao`e, and the general arrangements of its interior, it could be easily discovered that family affections and habits had chiefly presided ; and these are worth even yet more than an appreciation of the beautiful in the works of genius. Only one thing really displeased me in the furniture and the arrangements of this elegant retreat, and that was a too servile adherence to English fashions.
We looked over the ground-floor very hastily, for fear of wearying our guide. The presence of so august a
46
TIMIDITY IN SOCIETY.
put at their ease, and Ave cannot do that without being at ease ourselves. With a grave prince I could have hoped to save myself by conversation, but with a gay and youthful prince, I was left without resource.
A staircase, very narrow, but adorned with an English carpet, conducted us to the upper floor. We there saw the chamber where the Grand-duchess Marie passed a part of her infancy; it is empty : that of the Grand-duchess Olga will not probably remain long occupied. The empress might truly say that the cottage was becoming too large. These two very similar chambers are furnished with a charming simplicity.
The Grand-duke stopped at the top of the stairs, and said with that perfect politeness, of which (notwithstanding his extreme youth) he possesses the secret, — 'I am sure that you would rather see everything here without me; and I have seen it all so often, that I would, I confess, as willingly leave
you to finish your survey with Madame. I will
therefore joiu my mother, and wait for you with her.'
'Whereupon he saluted us gracefully, and left me, charmed with the flattering ease of his manners. It is a great advantage to a prince to be really well bred. I had not, then, this time, produced the effect that I anticipated; the constraint that I felt had not been communicated. If he had sympathised with my uneasiness, he would have remained, for timidity can do nothing but submit to its torture ; it knows not how to free itself; no elevation is safe from its attacks: the victim whom it paralyses,
TIMIDITY IN SOCIETY.
47
in whatever rank he may be placed, cannot find strength either to confront or to fly from that which produces his discomfort.
¦ This suffering is sometimes the effect of a discontented or over-wrought self-love. A man who fears that he stands alone in his opinion of himself, becomes timid through vanity: but more often, timidity is purely physical; — it is a disease.
There are men who cannot, without an inexplicable sense of uneasiness, be conscious that the human eye rests upon them. That eye paralyses them ; fetters their thoughts, their speech, and more especially their movements. This is so true, that I have often suffered from physical thnidity, in villages where, as a stranger, I attracted all eyes, much more than in the most stately saloons where nobody paid any attention to me. I could write a treatise on the different kinds of shyness, for I am the accomplished model of them all. Ко one has suffered more than I have, from my infancy, under the attacks of this incurable disease, scarcely known to the rising generation ; which proves that, over and above physical predisposition, timidity is peculiarly the result of education. Familiarity with the world enables us to dissimulate the infirmity, and that is all. The most timid men are often the most eminent in birth, in dignity, and even in merit. I long believed that timidity was modesty combined with an exaggerated respect for social distinctions, or for the gifts of mind; but how then could be explained the timidity of great writers, or of princes ? Happily, the princes of the imperial Russian family are by no means timid — they belong to their age; neither in their
48 ТПЕ PRINCE AND THE YOUNG LADY.
manners nor language can be perceived any vestiges of that embarrassment, which for a long period tormented the august inmates of Versailles, and their courtiers also ; for what can be more embarrassing than a timid prince ?
Whatever may have been the cause, I felt relieved when I saw the Grand-duke depart; I thanked him inwardly for having so well guessed my wish, and for having so politely gratified it. A man but half-polished would scarcely have taken it into his head to leave people alone with the view of making himself agreeable to them : nevertheless, it is sometimes the greatest kindness that ean be accorded. To know how to leave a guest without wounding his feelings, is the height of urbanity — the
At the moment when the Grand-duke left us,
Mademoisellewas standing behind her mother.
The prince, as he passed her, stopped, and in a very grave but rather humorous manner, made her a profound reverence, without speaking a word. The young lady, perceiving that this salutation was ironical, remained in a respectful attitude, but without returning the obeisance. I admired this little expression of feeling, which appeared to me to exhibit an exqiiisite delicacy. I doubt whether at the Russian court, any woman of twenty-five would have distinguished herself by an act of so much courage ; it was dictated only by that innocence, which to the regard due to social prerogatives knows how to join a just sentiment
the emperor's cabinet.49
