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17 August 1882 — Baveno | |
Thursday. 17th August [1882]. It was a very hot day. I sat & read & knitted in the shadiest part of the garden till I heard the piano going with some of Beethoven’s quartetts & I knew it was Mme Minghetti. She was playing with Mlle Cambray the piano. I sat with them helping them by counting the time & they played till lunch time. After lunch Mme Minghetti went to Stresa & Mme Dönhoff to see Dss of Genoa at Belgirate. I sat in the garden with Henry & Alice & Eugenie Dönhoff. Alice & Henry went for a walk at 4 & when Mme Minghetti returned from Stresa she, Eugenie, Martino & I went to Henfrey’s villa & we had our game of lawn tennis. Henry & Alice joined us there. When we had finished playing we hurried back to the hotel for table d’hôte. Ct Seckendorff met us at the door saying the P. & Pss had returned & expected Mme Minghetti & her daughter to sup with them. I hustled off to table d’hôte as he hinted we should also be invited & we were not anxious to have that honor tho’ sorry to lose Mme Minghetti’s company. We sat on the terrace & had our coffee & heard the sounds of eating & talking behind the screen– When the screen was removed the Crown Prince came to us & sat a while talking till Ct Seckendorff came to call us to the Pss. I asked leave to take Alice & she accompanied us. There was a barrel organ playing nearly all the time of their supper & the young Pss Victoria had insisted on dancing to it– They had just finished dancing when we entered their room. The Princess came & talked to us & took me out on the terrace to sit & talk to her. She asked if we were going to Rome this winter & lamented that Henry was not Ambassador there– She said she liked Augustus Paget & for his sake took no notice of the rude behaviour of his wife—that she thought her very ungrateful as without her help perhaps she might not have been able to marry. She said she thought she must be a little touched in the head & she almost could say that Lady Paget’s conduct to her had been almost impertinent. The Pss said she did not know whether Lady P. made herself more acceptable to the Italians than to the English with whom she knew she was most unpopular by her uncivil manners. I said Lady P. had shown us no civility and we did not care to go to Rome & be at variance with our Embassy– Then the Pss turned to other subjects & said she enjoyed her trip so much & was sorry it was so nearly at an end that it was the first time since her sorrows (her son’s death & her sister’s) she had felt a little more cheerful—that unluckily it was at home where every little thing reminds one of ones loss that one feels ones sorrows most. She spoke with tears in the eyes. Pss Victoria being anxious to dance again the organ was set going again & we danced a quadrille. The Pss with Ct Seckendorff & I opposite with one of the gentlemen of the suite & the C. Prince with Mme Minghetti & Pss Victoria with another gentleman. Mme Minghetti frolicked abt most gracefully like a child & we were much amused & very merry. She told me after that the Prince kept admiring his wife all the time saying “Was she not young looking & charming” &c &c. At 9.30 the Royalties went off to bed. We took our leave of Mme Minghetti, Mme Dönhoff & Eugenie & went to bed as we had to rise at 6 tomorrow. | |
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