THE LATE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 245 



nism. The perfect acting of Talma bad no cliarm 

 for me, and when the after-piece began I was 

 too wretched to laugh at the bonhomie of the 

 actor who represented Captain Copp, or to ap- 

 preciate the archness of that child of nature, 

 Mile. Mars as Betty. 



Upon leaving the theatre I becanae so thoroughly 

 distracted that I scarcely knev/ what I w-as 

 about ; unluckily a young horse, who was a 

 little skittish, had on that evening taken the 

 place of the one that I had been in the habit of 

 driving, and, as there was an unusual crowd in 

 the streets, extra care was necessary. 



AYith great difficulty I threaded my way through 

 carriages of all descriptions, and was approach- 

 ing the Rue de Rivoli when I heard a clattering 

 of horses' hoofs behind me and the cheers of 

 some hundreds of people assembled near the 

 entrance to the Palace of the Tuileries. 



" It is the King returning from the Louvre, 

 where His Majesty has been dining with the Duke 

 d'Orleans," said ray companion. 



At that moment my thoughts were entirely 

 eno-rossed with Elmore, and I was rehearsino; to 

 myself how I should break the untoward news 

 of the accident to the Duke. So, instead of 

 pulling the left rein to enable the royal cortege 



