Read Online To the scaffold by Carolly Erickson - Free Book Online
Authors: Carolly Erickson
Ads: Link
indifferent, until you have received your confessor's permission," Maria Theresa went on. "This is a particularly important point in France because books are published there which, although they are full of agreeable erudition, can nonetheless be pernicious to religion and morals."^
France was a dangerous place. The Empress did not say so, but she meant it. It would be very hard, she knew, for a naive and trusting young girl to keep her head and follow common sense at Versailles, even with the best guidance. There would be too much that was unfamiliar, and tempting, too many seductive voices calling her to follow hazardous paths, too few examples of innocence and decency. Her husband was not likely to protect her against any of these temptations, indeed he hardly seemed capable of protecting himself. Still, Antoinette was her mother's daughter, and she had a sweet nature. Perhaps her mettle would show in time.
Two days after the proxy wedding, on April 21, Antoinette got into one of the two huge berlins that had been fitted out for
her comfort. She was allowed to take very few familiar things with her into her new life: some treasured personal belongings, enough clothes to last until she reached the border of France, and her little dog. Abb6 Vermond went with her, but not Countess Lerchenfeld, who had died the previous year, or any of the servants she had known since childhood. One treasured possession she did take: her late father's "Instructions to my children both for their spiritual and temporal lives." This little tract exhorted Antoinette and her siblings to be sincere Catholics, to cultivate reserve and discretion, to be charitable toward the poor and not overly fond of luxury. "The world where you must pass your life is but transitory," Francis admonished her from beyond the grave. "There is nought save eternity that is without end." "We should enjoy the pleasures of this life innocently, for so soon as they lead us into evil, of whatever sort it may be, they cease to be pleasures."^
Some of Emperor Francis's advice he had been unable to follow himself, as when he told his children to "have no particular affection for any one thing," and "above all, to have no passion." His own particular passion for Princess Auersperg had been so intense that, after his death, his widow and his mistress had grieved equally. He had been a famous gambler, yet he instructed his children to have "a horror of high play."
"I recommend you to take two days in every year to prepare for death," he concluded, "as though you were sure that those two were the last days of your life; and thus you will accustom yourself to know what you ought to do under those circumstances, and when your last moment arrives, you will not be surprised, but will know what you have to do." Devotion, religion, virtue: these summed up Francis's ideals. "I herewith commend you to read these instructions twice yearly; they come from a father who loves you above everything, and who has thought it necessary to leave you this testimony of his tender affection, which you cannot better reciprocate than by loving one another with the same tenderness he bequeaths to all of you."^
The tender father was gone, the stem yet loving mother would soon be very far away. The berlin inched forward, then eased into its slow traveling speed. Many people lined the road to watch the dauphine pass by in her gorgeous coach, waving their hands and calling out to her. The more sharp-eyed of them noted that her
§0 CAROLLY ERICKSON
cheeks were wet with tears. She lay back against the velvet cushions, "covering her eyes, sometimes with her handkerchief and sometimes with her hands, now and then putting her head out of the carriage to take another look at the palace of her ancestors which she was never more to enter." The long train of coaches escorting her berlin stretched out along the muddy road for several miles, the outriders covering their handsome blue and yellow liveries with drab
France was a dangerous place. The Empress did not say so, but she meant it. It would be very hard, she knew, for a naive and trusting young girl to keep her head and follow common sense at Versailles, even with the best guidance. There would be too much that was unfamiliar, and tempting, too many seductive voices calling her to follow hazardous paths, too few examples of innocence and decency. Her husband was not likely to protect her against any of these temptations, indeed he hardly seemed capable of protecting himself. Still, Antoinette was her mother's daughter, and she had a sweet nature. Perhaps her mettle would show in time.
Two days after the proxy wedding, on April 21, Antoinette got into one of the two huge berlins that had been fitted out for
her comfort. She was allowed to take very few familiar things with her into her new life: some treasured personal belongings, enough clothes to last until she reached the border of France, and her little dog. Abb6 Vermond went with her, but not Countess Lerchenfeld, who had died the previous year, or any of the servants she had known since childhood. One treasured possession she did take: her late father's "Instructions to my children both for their spiritual and temporal lives." This little tract exhorted Antoinette and her siblings to be sincere Catholics, to cultivate reserve and discretion, to be charitable toward the poor and not overly fond of luxury. "The world where you must pass your life is but transitory," Francis admonished her from beyond the grave. "There is nought save eternity that is without end." "We should enjoy the pleasures of this life innocently, for so soon as they lead us into evil, of whatever sort it may be, they cease to be pleasures."^
Some of Emperor Francis's advice he had been unable to follow himself, as when he told his children to "have no particular affection for any one thing," and "above all, to have no passion." His own particular passion for Princess Auersperg had been so intense that, after his death, his widow and his mistress had grieved equally. He had been a famous gambler, yet he instructed his children to have "a horror of high play."
"I recommend you to take two days in every year to prepare for death," he concluded, "as though you were sure that those two were the last days of your life; and thus you will accustom yourself to know what you ought to do under those circumstances, and when your last moment arrives, you will not be surprised, but will know what you have to do." Devotion, religion, virtue: these summed up Francis's ideals. "I herewith commend you to read these instructions twice yearly; they come from a father who loves you above everything, and who has thought it necessary to leave you this testimony of his tender affection, which you cannot better reciprocate than by loving one another with the same tenderness he bequeaths to all of you."^
The tender father was gone, the stem yet loving mother would soon be very far away. The berlin inched forward, then eased into its slow traveling speed. Many people lined the road to watch the dauphine pass by in her gorgeous coach, waving their hands and calling out to her. The more sharp-eyed of them noted that her
§0 CAROLLY ERICKSON
cheeks were wet with tears. She lay back against the velvet cushions, "covering her eyes, sometimes with her handkerchief and sometimes with her hands, now and then putting her head out of the carriage to take another look at the palace of her ancestors which she was never more to enter." The long train of coaches escorting her berlin stretched out along the muddy road for several miles, the outriders covering their handsome blue and yellow liveries with drab
Similar Books
