Her Salon Was The Weekly Rendezvous Of The
Irreconcilable Adherents Of The House Of Bourbon, And The Aristocratic
Beauty That Gathered There Was Too Powerful A Seduction Even For The
Young And Hopeful Partisans Of The Powers That Be.
There was nothing
exclusive about this elegant hospitality.
Beauty and good manners have
always been a passport there. I have seen a proconsul of Prim talking
with a Carlist leader, and a fiery young democrat dancing with a
countess of Castile.
But there is another phase of society in Madrid which is altogether
pleasing, - far from the domain of politics or public affairs, where
there is no pretension or luxury or conspiracy, - the old-fashioned
Tertulias of Spain. There is nowhere a kindlier and more unaffected
sociableness. The leading families of each little circle have one
evening a week on which they remain at home. Nearly all their friends
come in on that evening. There is conversation and music and dancing.
The young girls gather together in little groups, - not confined under
the jealous guard of their mothers or chaperons, - and chatter of the
momentous events of the week - their dresses, their beaux, and their
books. Around these compact formations of loveliness skirmish light
bodies of the male enemy, but rarely effect a lodgment. A word or a
smile is momently thrown out to meet the advance; but the long,
desperate battle of flirtation, which so often takes place in America in
discreet corners and outlying boudoirs, is never seen in this
well-organized society.
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