1816: the Grandest Tour

France: Chapter 16

Before them the chamber fell silent. The modest ballroom – generous in the middle of a packed city – was filled with at least a hundred of the city's beau monde (not counting musicians). The ladies wore glittering jewels and colorful turbans, a few of these sprouting ostrich feathers. The men favored more subdued, dark colors in their jackets, but these were of the finest cut and offset by exceptionally white neck-clothes. The young women – and the gentlemen's innards somersaulted to see quite a few – were more understated than their elders, expressing their taste with pale muslin gowns, pinned-up hairstyles, and decorated fans and reticules. Everywhere the young men looked were attractive, haughty, mildly-interested faces; but what to do next was unclear. Tobias, overcome with the stillness, buckled into a slow bow as if trying to address the whole room. George put a hand on his friend to stop him, while he and the other two did their best to return the self-satisfied dignity they saw around them.

"Welcome, welcome!" said a graceful middle-aged lady who walked up to them, breaking the silence at last. The musicians struck up again and the murmur of conversation resumed without a hiccup. Dr. Boxborough introduced the lady as their hostess, the Comtesse de Montferrat, and likewise presented each young man to her.

"We are so grateful to the English nation," she said in their language. "Without your – unshaking assistance – we could never have freed Europe from that devil Buonaparte." She used the Italian form of his name, as many reactionaries did, to stress his non-royal origins.

"I can assure you, ma'am," said George, "our nation is just as grateful for every ally we could help, including Sardinia. My father was a member of Parliament for many of the wars with France, as he is now, and I have often heard him name your sovereign Victor Emmanuel as one of our staunchest allies."

This was a complete fiction. George blurted it out on the chance it might go over well, and it did. The countess beamed and remarked what a brilliant statesman his father must be, then ushered them further into the room to introduce them to her circle.

Despite the aristocrats' initial looks of pride, the boys found this group to be surprisingly friendly – especially when they learned of Hugh and George's family connections. Champagne was brought and they were asked about their impressions of Paris, prompting Hugh to take the lead as he was eager to impress this company. George listened in some astonishment as his friend rattled off a dozen observations on the city's art, culture, and architecture. Until now, Hugh's blasé looks had given no hint he paid attention to Dr. Boxborough.

With the right tune any man can sing, George thought.

After a while the conversation drifted back to its subject before their arrival: the recent trouble with the corsair kingdom of Algiers on the Barbary Coast. The young men, knowing little of the matter, learned that hundreds of Christians from Italy, Spain, and elsewhere in the Mediterranean were frequently taken captive by the Algerine pirate raiders, then forced to work for years, if not decades, as slaves in this Ottoman outpost. Now that Europe was at peace, the English and Dutch navies had sailed down to negotiate an end to the practice, and to corsair attacks on their own merchant shipping.

Although George found this an intriguing topic, he had little to contribute to it. When the conversation jumped again to the daily goings-on in the National Assembly (of which there were a good dozen members present), George found his gaze drifting over in the same direction as his three friends: toward the dance floor. Here was a dazzling sight. Not only were these the first young French ladies "of quality" the four boys had beheld, they were also engaged in a dance like none they'd ever seen. In fact they were nearly scandalized, as the partners never switched and remained, for the whole dance, in constant physical contact.