Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall sp3.djvu/92

 seeming highly to enjoy the animated scene. Then came the Grand Duchess, with her husband Michael, the brother of the Emperor. She was in white, with a great many gems set in diamonds, and had her usual arch look, and playful, intelligent smile.

“The music now struck up, and the Duke led the Empress in a polonaise, followed by the Emperor and all the most distinguished persons, through the suite of apartments into the ball room. Here all was arranged with elegance and good taste. This room, about sixty feet long and fifty in breadth, was lighted up in the centre by some two or three hundred wax lights, placed in a single row, in a circular chandelier covered with roses, and suspended from the lofty ceiling with airy lightness, and almost by imperceptible means; while round the sides, and in each corner, were chandeliers, giving forth a mass of light that was reflected from the walls, which were of a white colour, like polished marble. The eye rested with pleasure on the tastefully simple ornaments of these walls. On one side was the united initials of the Emperor and Empress, formed by a wreath of red roses; on the opposite wall was traced in roses the letter G. with the number IV., giving the initials of our own illustrious sovereign; and on the third wall, the letters N. and A. detached, shewed the separate initials of the Imperial visitors. A wide open space between columns led into an additional room. A temporary building, the sides of which were covered with a light red coloured drapery, intermingled with white, tastefully arranged, and festoons of red roses over a white ground, ran round and adorned the columns. At the extreme end of the ball room, yet distinctly visible from all parts, a recess was formed, where was placed a full length portrait of the Emperor, in his imperial robes, painted by Dawe, the English artist, and an excellent likeness. The unexpected sight of this picture was quite a coup de theatre. It was known to few that the artist had been employed by his Grace, and the Russian nobility were wholly unprepared for the view of this portrait of their Czar, the first, and the only one they could see of him in his imperial dress. Their surprise and admiration was unbounded. “''Quelle gallanterie! quell bon gout!''” exclaimed the women; while the adroit and respectful courtiers expressed their approbation in tolerably audible whispers. Certainly nothing could have been better imagined. It was the prettiest compliment that could have been paid.

“Quadrilles and waltzes followed. In the former the Empress danced with the Duke of Devonshire, having for their vis-à-vis the Grand Duchess and Prince Charles of Prussia, between twelve and one o’clock the supper room was thrown open, a long and spacious gallery, where upwards of 500 persons sat down at once to supper. There were three rows of tables, over which some thousand tapers shed a brilliant light, besides a separate one, in the form of a crescent, for the imperial family, with some of tht first ladies of the court, and the principal foreign ambassadors. This table was placed on an elevation, a few feet above the level of the floor, at the end of the gallery, in a kind of alcove, richly and tastefully hung round with a drapery of crimson and green silks. – From her seat, at