Helena.
In June I saw the annual races at Longchamps for the first time. Great
was the splendour. From two o'clock in the afternoon to six there was an
uninterrupted stream of carriages, five or six abreast, along the Champs
Elysees; there were thousands of _lorettes_ (as they were called at
that time) in light silk gowns, covered with diamonds and precious
stones, in carriages decorated with flowers. Coachmen and footmen wore
powdered wigs, white or grey, silk stockings and knee-breeches and a
flower in the buttonhole matching the colour of their livery and the
flowers which hung about the horses' ears. Some of the carriages had no
coachman's box or driver, but were harnessed to four horses ridden by
postillions in green satin or scarlet velvet, with white feathers in
their caps.
The only great _demi-mondaine_ of whom I had hitherto caught a
glimpse was the renowned Madame de Paiva, who had a little palace by the
side of the house in which Froelich the painter lived, in the Champs
Elysees. Her connection with Count Henckel v. Donnersmark permitted her
to surround herself with regal magnificence, and, to the indignation of
Princess Mathilde, men like Gautier and Renan, Sainte-Beuve and
Goncourt, Saint-Victor and Taine, sat at her table. The ladies here were
younger and prettier, but socially of lower rank.
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