"He has something to say to me about those two when he gets a chance,
and he wants me to know it now," I thought. But I pretended to be
absorbed in stories of the Second Empire. For we sat on and on at the
table, putting off our visit to the ancient timbered houses and the
monument of Jeanne d'Arc, and all the other things which called us away
from those hotel windows. It seemed as if the heart of Compiegne, past
and present, were hidden just behind that gray facade of the palace
across the square!
Of course, Jeanne was the "star" heroine of Compiegne, where she fought
so bravely and was taken prisoner, and sold to the English by John of
Luxembourg at a very cheap price. But, you know, she is the heroine of
such lots of other places we have seen or will see, that we let her
image fade for us behind the brilliant visions of Compiegne's pleasures.
As a rule, old history has the lure of romance in it, and makes modern
history seem dull in contrast. But such a gorgeous novel could be
written about Second Empire days of Compiegne (if only there were a
Dumas to write it) that I do think this town is an exception.
Even "The Queen's Necklace" couldn't be more exciting than a story of
Eugenie, with that "divinest beauty of all ages," the Castiglione, as
her rival! I don't know how Dumas would begin it, but I would have the
first scene at a house party of Louis Napoleon's, in the palace at
Compiegne, after he had revived the old custom of the Royal Hunt:
Napoleon, already falling in love, but hesitating, anxious to see how
the Spanish girl would bear herself among the aristocratic charmers of
the Court, whether she could hold her own as a huntress, as in a
ballroom.
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