Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/200

210 Russia, deserves the beautiful name of Liberator, a far more beautiful, and at the same time a far happier surname than that of Conqueror!

I left the grand-duchess with the feeling of having seldom enjoyed a more interesting, or more satisfactory conversation.

The next time I saw her was at her soirée. She did not enter the room until the company had assembled, slightly nodded to the right and left, after which she went from one group to another, sometimes seating herself, and conversed with all. I could not but admire her skill in entering upon every kind of subject, and having something to say on them all. She never stops short in the superficial or the insignificant, nor does she ever lose herself in the profound, she immediately gives the subject under discussion a practical turn, or brings it within the range of human experience. She is evidently a woman of quick comprehension, great integrity of mind, and clear understanding. Her demeanor and mode of speaking are so easy and free, that they make others also feel perfectly at their ease.

I had an especial pleasure this evening from the conversation of two young Russian princesses, lively, agreeable, and also more well-read than I expected to find young Russian ladies. A young maid of honor, fair, handsome, and rigid as a wax figure, sat in grand attire, and made tea during the whole evening. The singer of the grand-duchess's chapel, a very handsome young German lady, with a splendid voice, sang various pieces. At half-past eleven the grand-duchess saluted the company with a short nod, and