Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: J, CHAPTER III Regulations of the palace — The detectives — Inconveniences of the palace — The painting-room of Mademoiselle Hortense de Tascher — Pasini, the artist — Apartments of the Empress — View on the garden of the Tuileries — What it was then — Description of the various rooms — Audiences granted by the Empress—High mass on Sundays — The Emperor's demeanor — The sermon — Etiquette — The wardrobe regions above the apartments of the Empress — "Pepa," the Empress's Spanish maid — The jailer's daughters — Anecdote of the Emperor — The privy-purse of the Empress. ALL the inmates of the palace of every rank were JL. subjected to a sort of military discipline. The gates, always guarded by sentinels, were closed at midnight; any one returning after that hour was noted by the officer in command, and reported the next morning. Every day the picket of guards was changed, and a fresh password was given. Shortly after my arrival at the Tuileries I had gone to an evening party, with the permission of the Duchess, escorted by some friends, who brought me back after the fatal hour—of which, as yet, I did not know the rule. The next morning I was much teased, good-humoredly, by the Duc de Tascher as to my delinquencies; I had been "reported to him as having returned after the gates had been closed," and he looked very solemn. I was a good deal startled, pleading the permission of the Duchess, and the safety of my escort; but after having sufficiently enjoyed my alarm he laughed, and explained that it was a general rule to keep the heads of the different private households informed of the doings of all those inhabiting their quarters in the palace; but that I might safely commit the offense again, under the same circumstances. There was, however, so much trouble and ceremony ...