It often happened that the Princess borrowed in
order to give more. The total of her revenues amounted to
1,730,000 francs,--1,500,000 francs from the Treasury, 100,000
francs in Naples funds, coming from her dower, and 130,000 francs
from her domain of Rosny. Madame expended all in alms or in
purchases intended to encourage the arts and commerce.
The Duchess of Angouleme and the Duchess of Berry each had in the
environs of Paris a pleasure house, which was their Petit Trianon,
where they could lead a simpler life, less subject to the laws of
etiquette than in the royal Chateaux. That of the Dauphiness was
Villeneuve-l'Etang; and that of Madame, Rosny. The first had been
bought of Marshal Soult by the Duchess of Angouleme in 1821. When
she rode from Paris, this was always her destination. When she
lived at Saint Cloud, she often set out on foot in the early
morning alone, and followed across the park a little path known as
the "road of the Dauphiness," to a little gate of the Chateau of
Villeneuve-l'Etang, of which she carried the key.
Rosny is a chateau situated in the Department of Seine-et-Oise,
seven kilometres from Mantes, where Sully, the famous minister of
Henry IV., was born, and which had been bought in 1818 by the Duke
of Berry. It was the favorite resort of Madame. She went there
often and passed a great part of the summer. There she lived the
life of a simple private person, receiving herself those who came
to offer homage or request aid.
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