t
five-franc pieces; when he had no more, he promised to pay. He was as
badly off as his famous uncle before the turn of fortune came.

[Footnote 49: During the sacking of the Tuileries, the mob
ruthlessly destroyed the busts and pictures of every living son
of Louis-Philippe, with the exception of those of the Prince de
Joinville.--EDITOR.]

In connection with this dire impecuniosity, I remember a story for the
truth of which I can vouch as if I had had it from Louis-Napoleon's own
lips. In front of Siraudin's confectioner's shop at the angle of the
Boulevard des Capucines and the Rue de la Paix, there sits an old woman
with two wooden legs. About '48, when she was very pretty and dressed
with a certain coquettishness, she was already there, though sitting a
little higher up, in front of the wall of the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, which has since made room for the handsome establishment of
Giroux. Behind her, on the wall, were suspended for sale some cheap and
not very artistically executed reproductions of Fragonard, "Le Coucher
de la Mariee," etc., all of which would fetch high prices now; also
songs, the tunes of which she played with great taste on her violin. It
was reported that she had been killed during the attack on the ministry,
but to people's great surprise she reappeared a few days afterwards.
Prince Louis, who was staying at the Place Vendome, then used to take a
short cut by the Rue Neuve des Capucines to the Boulevards, and it seems
that he never passed her without giving her something. In a few weeks
she came to look upon his contributions as a certain part of her income.
She knew who he was, and, curiously enough, seemed to be aware not only
of his political preoccupations, but of his pecuniary embarrassments. I
am unable to say whether she was in sympathy with the former, but she
was evidently concerned about the latter; for, one evening, after
thanking Louis-Napoleon, she added, "Monseigneur, je voudrais vous dire
un mot."

"Parlez, madame."

"On me dit que vous etes fort gene dans ce moment. J'ai trois billets de
mille francs chez moi, qui ne font rien. Voulez-vous me permettre de
vous les offrir; vous me les rendrez quand vous serez empereur."

Prince Louis did not accept them, but he never forgot a kindness, and
when he did become Emperor, he offered her a small annuity. The answer
was characteristic of her independence. "Dites a l'empereur qu'il est
bi