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Page 8
It was the fury of the conflict which made the victory uncertain. The
Austrians showed themselves heroes on the day of Wagram, and for a long
time it seemed as if victory would fall to them. But Napoleon, who seemed
to be indefatigable and tireless, who all day long did not leave his horse,
directing and planning everything himself, perceived in time the danger of
his troops and brought speedy and effective reinforcements to the already
yielding left wing of the army. But more than twenty thousand men on both
sides had fallen victims on this terrible field. Though Napoleon, in his
bulletins of victory, exultingly announced to the world another magnificent
triumph, France did not join enthusiastically as usual in the rejoicing of
the commander-in-chief, for she had been obliged to pay for the new laurels
with the corpses of too many thousands of her sons, and the p�ans of
victory were drowned by the sighs and lamentations of so many thousand
orphaned children, widowed wives, and betrothed maidens.
Napoleon seemed to pay little heed to this; he was enjoying at Sch�nbrunn
his victory and his triumph; he gathered his brilliant staff around him,
gave superb entertainments, and by parades and reviews lured the Viennese
to Sch�nbrunn to witness the brilliant spectacle.
In Vienna, also, the conquerors arranged magnificent festivals, seeking to
win the favor of the conquered people by the amusements offered them. The
French governor-general of Vienna, Count Andreossy, zealously endeavored to
collect around him the remains of the Austrian aristocracy, attract the
society of the capital by elegant dinners, balls, and receptions, and since
the armistice of Znaim, which occurred soon after the battle of Wagram had
put an end to hostilities the Viennese appeared disposed to accept the
truce and attend the brilliant entertainments and pleasant amusements
offered by Count Andreossy.
The latter was not the only person who opened his drawing-rooms to the
Viennese; others soon followed; fashionable Parisian society seemed for
the time to have transferred its gay circle from Paris to Vienna; to make
in the German imperial capital propaganda for the gay, intellectual, and
brilliant circle of the imperial capital of France.
Beautiful women, distinguished by illustrious names, by wealth and charm,
suddenly appeared in Vienna, opened their drawing-rooms, and seemed to make
it their object to reconcile the hostile elements of French and German
society, smooth away contrasts and bring them together.
Among these ladies whom the victory brought to Vienna, the beautiful Madame
de Simonie was conspicuous as a brilliant and unusual person. She was
young, lovely, endowed with rare intellectual gifts, understood how to do
the honors of her drawing-room with the most subtle tact, and was better
suited than any one to act as mediator between the Viennese and the French,
since she herself belonged to both nations. A German by birth, she had
married a Frenchman, lived several years in Paris with her husband, one of
the richest bankers in the capital, and now, being widowed, had come to
Vienna in order, as she said, to divert the minds of her countrymen from
the great grief which the loss of their beloved capital caused them.
Beautiful Leonore de Simonie certainly appeared to be thoroughly in earnest
in her purpose to divert their minds from their great grief. Every evening
her drawing-rooms were thrown open for the reception of guests; every
evening all the generals, French courtiers, and people who belonged to
good society in France were present; every evening more and more Germans
and Viennese went to Madame de Simonie's, until it seemed as if she
afforded Viennese and Parisian society a place of meeting where, forgetting
mutual aversion and hatred, they associated in love and harmony.
To be a visitor at Madame de Simonie's therefore soon became a synonym of
aristocracy in the new fashionable society of Vienna, which was composed of
so many different elements. The foreigners who had come to the Austrian
capital, attracted by the renown of the French emperor, or led by
selfishness, strove with special earnestness to obtain the _entr�e_ to
Madame de Simonie's drawing-room, for there they were sure of meeting those
whose acquaintance was profitable; by whose meditation they might hope to
obtain access to the presence of the French emperor.
The day before Baroness Leonore had given a brilliant entertainment. Until
a late hour of the night all the windows of the story which she occupied in
one of the palaces on the Graben were brightly lighted; the curious,
characterless poor people had gathered in the street to watch the carriages
roll up and away, and gaze at the windows whence the candles blazing in the
chandeliers shone down upon them, and behind whose panes they saw in swift
alternation so many gold-embroidered uniforms, so many showy ball dresses.
As has been said, it was a brilliant entertainment and the Baroness de
Simonie might well be content with it; for though the hostess she had also
been its queen. Every one, French as well as Austrians, Russians and
Italians, Hungarians and Poles, had offered her enthusiastic homage; had
expressed in glowing encomiums their greatful thanks for the magnificent
festival she had given.
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