is Philippe said to
him:
"See Guizot."
"He is precisely the man I do not want to see."
"See him," urged the King. "We will resume this conversation when you
have done so."
The next day M. Guizot waited upon King Leopold. He had with him an
enormous portfolio filled with papers. The King received him. His manner
was cold in the extreme. Both were reserved. It is probable that M.
Guizot communicated to the King of the Belgians all the documents
relative to the marriage and all the diplomatic papers. No one knows
what passed between them. What is certain is that when M. Guizot left
the King's room Leopold's air was gracious, though sad, and that he
was heard to say to the Minister as he took leave of him: "I came here
greatly dissatisfied with you. I shall go away satisfied. You have,
in fact, in this affair acquired a new title to my esteem and to our
gratitude. I intended to scold you; I thank you."
These were the King's own words.
The Prince de Joinville's deafness increases. Sometimes it saddens him,
sometimes he makes light of it. One day he said to me: "Speak louder, I
am as deaf as a post." On another occasion he bent towards me and said
with a laugh:
"_J'abaisse le pavillion de l'oreille._"
"It is the only one your highness will ever lower," I replied.
M. de Joinville is of somewhat queer disposition. Now he is joyous to
the point of folly, anon gloomy as a hypochondriac. He is silent for
three days at a time, or his bursts of laughter are heard in the very
attics of the Tuileries. When he is on a voyage he rises at four o'clock
in the morning, wakes everybody up and performs his duties as a
sailor conscientiously. It is as though he were to win his epaulettes
afterwards.
He loves France and feels all that touches her. This explains his fits
of moodiness. Since he cannot talk as he wants to, he keeps his thoughts
to himself, and this sours him, He has spoken more than once, however,
and bravely. He was not listened to and he was not heeded. "They needn't
talk about me," he said to me one day, "it is they who are deaf!"
Unlike the late Duke d'Orleans, he has no princely coquettishness, which
is such a victorious grace, and has no desire to appear agreeable. He
rarely seeks to please individuals. He loves the nation, the country,
his profession, the sea. His manner is frank, he has a taste for noisy
pleasures, a fine appearance, a handsome face, with a kind heart, and
a few feats of arms
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