loves, and this ought to have
reminded me what to do. But I forgot all about it. The truth is, that
the sight of this famous woman made such an impression upon me that I
could not possibly think of anything else but to look at her. I was at
first extremely surprised to find her short; I had imagined her a
great height--something like her renown. She was very stout, but still
had a handsome face, which her white hair framed to perfection. Genius
seemed to have its seat on her broad, high forehead. Her eyes were
soft and small, her nose was quite Greek, her complexion lively, and
her features very mobile. She at once said in a voice that was soft
though rather thick: "I am delighted, madame, to see you here; your
reputation had preceded you. I am fond of the arts and especially of
painting. I am not an adept, but a fancier." Everything else she said
during this interview, which was rather long, in reference to her wish
that I might like Russia well enough to remain a long time, bore the
stamp of such great amiability that my shyness vanished, and by the
time I took leave of Her Majesty I was entirely reassured. Only I
could not forgive myself for not having kissed her hand, which was
very beautiful and very white, and I deplored that oversight the more
as Count Esterhazy reproached me with it. As for what I was wearing,
she did not seem to have paid the least attention to it. Or else
perhaps she may have been easier to please than our Ambassadress.

I went over part of the gardens at Czarskoiesielo, which are a
veritable little fairyland. The Empress had a terrace from them
communicating with her apartment, and on this terrace she kept a large
number of birds. I was told that every morning she went out to feed
them, and that this was one of her chief pleasures.

Directly after my audience Her Majesty testified her wish to have me
spend the summer in that beautiful region. She commanded her stewards,
of whom the old Prince Bariatinski was one, to give me an apartment in
the castle, as she desired to have me near her, so that she might see
me paint. But I afterward found out that these gentlemen took no pains
to put me near the Empress, and that in spite of her repeated orders
they always maintained that they had no lodgings at their disposal.
What astonished me most of all, when I was informed of this matter,
was that these courtiers, suspecting me to belong to the party of the
Count d'Artois, were afraid lest I had come