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. I'd show her making a sensation by her horsemanship and
beauty. Then I'd take her through the years, till the dazzling
Florentine came to trouble her peace, the adored, yet disappointed
divinity who cried, "If my mother had brought me to France instead of
marrying me to Castiglione, an Italian, not a Spaniard, would have
shared the throne with Napoleon, and there would have been no
Franco-Prussian War!"

What a brilliant background Compiegne of those days would make for that
pair, the beautiful young Empress and the more beautiful
Countess!--Compiegne when the palace was crowded with the flower of
Europe, when great princes and brave soldiers romped through children's
games with lovely ladies, if rain spoiled the hunting; when Highland
nobles brought their pipers, and everyone danced the wildest reels, if
there were time to spare from private theatricals and _tableaux
vivants_! I think I would make my