In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower by Marcel Proust Read Free Book Online Page B

disclosing to us what he thought
of it. My mother insisted upon his taking some more, which he did, but
saying only, in place of the compliment for which she was hoping: "I
obey, Madame, for I can see that it is, on your part, a positive
ukase!"
    "We saw in the 'papers that you had a long talk with King Theodosius,"
my father ventured.
    "Why, yes; the King, who has a wonderful memory for faces, was kind
enough to remember, when he noticed me in the stalls, that I had had
the honour to meet him on several occasions at the Court of Bavaria,
at a time when he had never dreamed of his oriental throne—to which,
as you know, he was summoned by a European Congress, and indeed had
grave doubts about accepting the invitation, regarding that particular
sovereignty as unworthy of his race, the noblest, heraldically
speaking, in the whole of Europe. An aide–de–camp came down to bid me
pay my respects to his Majesty, whose command I hastened, naturally,
to obey."
    "And I trust, you are satisfied with the results of his visit?"
    "Enchanted! One was justified in feeling some apprehension as to the
manner in which a Sovereign who is still so young would handle a
situation requiring tact, particularly at this highly delicate
juncture. For my own part, I reposed entire confidence in the King's
political sense. But I must confess that he far surpassed my
expectations. The speech that he made at the Elysée, which, according
to information that has come to me from a most authoritative source,
was composed, from beginning to end, by himself, was fully deserving
of the interest that it has aroused in all quarters. It was simply
masterly; a trifle daring, I quite admit, but with an audacity which,
after all, has been fully justified by the event. Traditional
diplomacy is all very well in its way, but in practice it has made his
country and ours live in an hermetically sealed atmosphere in which it
was no longer possible to breathe. Very well! There is one method of
letting in fresh air, obviously not one of the methods which one could
officially recommend, but one which King Theodosius might allow
himself to adopt—and that is to break the windows. Which he
accordingly did, with a spontaneous good humour that delighted
everybody, and also with an aptness in his choice of words in which
one could at once detect the race of scholarly princes from whom he is
descended through his mother. There can be no question that when he
spoke of the 'affinities' that bound his country to France, the
expression, rarely as it may occur in the vocabulary of the
Chancellories, was a singularly happy one. You see that literary
ability is no drawback, even in diplomacy, even upon a throne," he
went on, turning for a moment to myself. "The community of interests
had long been apparent, I quite admit, and the relations of the two
Powers were excellent. Still, it needed putting into words. The word
was what we were all waiting for, it was chosen with marvellous
aptitude; you have seen the effect it had. For my part, I must confess
I applauded openly."
    "Your friend M. de Vaugoubert will be pleased, after preparing for the
agreement all these years."
    "All the more so that his Majesty, who is quite incorrigible, really,
in some ways, had taken care to spring it on him as a surprise. And it
did come as a complete surprise, incidentally, to everyone concerned,
beginning with the Foreign Minister himself, who—I have heard—did
not find it at all to his liking. It appears that someone spoke to him
about it and that he replied, pretty sharply, and loud enough to be
overheard by the people on either side of them: 'I have been neither
consulted nor informed!' indicating clearly by that that he declined
to accept any responsibility for the consequences. I must own that the
incident has given rise to a great deal of comment, and I should not
go so far as to deny," he went on with a malicious smile, "that
certain of my colleagues, for whom the supreme law appears to be