XII
THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE DUCHESS OF BERRY
We shall now, commencing with the ladies, throw a rapid glance
over the persons who, at the time of the consecration, formed the
household of the Duchess of Berry. The Princess had one lady of
honor, one lady of the bedchamber, and eleven lady companions, of
whom three were honorary. All were distinguished as much by their
manners and sentiments as by birth and education.
The lady of honor was the Marechale Oudinot, Duchess of Reggio, a
lady of the highest rank, who joined a large heart to a firm mind.
Attached, through her family, to the religious and monarchical
principles of the old regime, by her marriage to the glories of
the imperial epic, she represented at the court the ideas of
pacification and fusion that inspired the policy of Louis XVIII.
Born in 1791, of Antoine de Coucy, captain in the regiment of
Artois, and of Gabrielle de Mersuay, she was but two years old
when her father and mother were thrown into the dungeons of the
Terror. Carried in the arms of a faithful serving-woman, she
visited the two prisoners, who escaped death. She married one of
Napoleon's most illustrious companions in arms, the "modern
Bayard," as he was called, the Marshal Oudinot, Duke of Reggio,
who had received thirty-two wounds on the field of battle, and
who, by securing the passage of Beresina, deserved to be called
the "saviour of the army.
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