The Duchess of Berry was to
preserve this confidence until the Revolution of 1830.
Charles X. had a kindly feeling, founded on very real sympathy,
for the Duke of Orleans and all his family. During the Emigration,
as under the reign of Louis XVIII., he had always maintained very
cordial relations with the Duke, and had tried to efface the bad
memories of Philippe Egalite. Charles X. was as confiding as Louis
XVIII. was distrustful. Optimist, like all good natures, the new
King would not believe evil. He attributed to others his own good
qualities. Louis XVIII. always had suspicions as to the Duke of
Orleans. "Since his return," he said, in 1821, "the Duke of
Orleans is the chief of a party without seeming to be. His name is
a threatening flag, his palace a rallying-place. He makes no stir,
but I can see that he makes progress. This activity without
movement is disquieting. How can you undertake to check the march
of a man who makes no step?" Every time the Duke attempted to
bring up the question of exchanging his title of Most Serene
Highness for that of Royal Highness, the King stubbornly resisted.
"The Duke of Orleans is quite near enough to the throne already,"
he replied to all solicitations. "I shall be careful to bring him
no nearer."
This refusal was very depressing to the Duke. One circumstance
rendered it still more annoying. As a king's daughter, his wife
was a Royal Highness.
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