These failing, the wise counsellors went to Madame Gudin,
and, intimating that they did so with the good-will of the king, said
that she might be received as cousin to the Duke of Wellington, as
daughter of an English general, and of a family which dates back to
the thirteenth century. She could, if she wished, avail herself of her
rights of birth to obtain the same honors with Madame K----. To sit at
the table of the king, she need only cease for a moment to be Madame
Gudin, and become once more Lady L----."
Does not all this sound like a history of the seventeenth century?
Surely etiquette was never maintained in a more arrogant manner at the
court of Louis XIV.
But Madame Gudin replied that her highest pride lay in the celebrated
name which she bears at present; that she did not wish to rely on any
other to obtain so futile a distinction, and that, in her eyes, the
most noble escutcheon was the palette of her husband.
I need not say that this dignified feeling was not comprehended.
Madame Gudin was not received at the table, but she had shown the
nobleness of her character. For the rest, Madame K----, on arriving at
Paris, had the bad taste to boast of having been distinguished above
Madame Gudin, and the story reaching the Tuileries, where Monsieur and
Madame Gudin are highly favored, excited no little mirth in the circle
there.
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