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14 March 1902 — Rome | |
Friday. 14th [March 1902]. I sat with Sophy from 11 till nearly one & then went off in a cab to lunch with Donna Laura Minghetti. Met there besides her niece, Genl Von Loe, Count Seckendorff whom I had not seen since the dear Empress Frederick died & a spinster Princess Ourozof. After lunch Seckendorff spoke to me about the portrait by Passini of the Empress which he had painted for Countess Pisani and wh both Passini & the Royal family had been anxious to try & buy. I told him that as I had previously told Passini it was useless to think of such a thing that Idita Bentivoglio whose husband has inherited it had told me since I came here that they would [not] hear of such a thing & I thought they were quite right. Seckendorff then asked if I thought they could be induced to lend the picture to be copied. I said I thought that they might do so if asked by the Emperor Wm himself. Seckendorff said that it was Pss Margaret who wanted the picture & suggested that she should communicate direct officially thro the German Embassy with the Bentivoglios. I told Seckendorff I would ask them & let him know the result but that I did not believe that they would allow the picture to go out of the country & that Passini would have to go to Venice to paint it & so we parted. He thinks of coming to Venice in April & I said in that case I would wait for him & leave a little later for London. Donna Laura took me for a drive in her carriage a little way out of the town. It was a lovely day & the view over the Campagna was too fascinating. She brought me back to the hotel at 4. Css Pasolini called & I took her upstairs to Sophy’s room & presented them to each other as I want them to know each other. Then after having tea with Sophy I went up to Via Torino to see Idita Bent. & to give her my message from Seck. She promised to tell her husband & to let me know later. I sat a little while also with her mother who is better but looks very feeble. Drove back to Pa di Spagna & called on the Curtis & then back to dine with M. de Franqueville & Sophy. Mr F. said a curious thing about his countrymen—that it always struck him on returning from England how much more serious the English as a nation were than the French. After talking to English men in society & returning to Paris he felt he was talking to children. The French were charming, bright & agreeable but their ideas were those of children who had not gone deep into anything & all their ideas & knowledge were superficial. | |
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