Full description The political and social worlds of France, England and Vienna during the period which began with the French Revolution and ended with the Second Empire are engagingly seen through the eyes of a highly intelligent Scotswoman, Margaret Mercer Elphinstone, comtesse de Flahaut. Whereas the life of her husband, the dashing Napoleonic general and diplomat Charles de Flahaut, is well known, Margaret has remained in the shadows. Yet this biographical study, based on unpublished and intimate correspondence in the Archives Nationales, Paris, reveals her to have been the more interesting of the two. It shows how much he depended on her brains, political judgment and artistic taste as well as her fortune to guide him in his career. More than that, their letters to each other also confirm that she made a success of her controversial marriage and that the bond between them was strengthened through all the vicissitudes of their life together. A faithful and sincere friend, she could be an implacable enemy: Talleyrand’s companion, the duchesse de Dino, whom she dubbed ‘that horrid little serpent’, and the Duke of Wellington, ‘that bully’, were favourite targets. Her lively, observant but wicked pen takes us with her on visits to Talleyrand at Valençay, to the marquis de Lafayette, to the duchesse de Praslin at Vaux-le-Vicomte, to house parties in stately homes of England and Scotland – Arundel, Woburn, Bowood, Chatsworth, Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castle. Acknowledged a superb hostess, her descriptions of the menus, and entertainments organized in her homes in Scotland, London, and Paris and at the Flahaut embassies in Vienna and in London capture the flavour of those cosmopolitan gatherings. Her guests were also drawn to the display of her fine French furniture and collection of works of art, acquired during her years in Paris, which set a new fashion in decoration. Interesting, too, are her accounts of sightseeing in Rome before the city of the Grand Tour changed into the capital of united Italy. The enjoyable social life in the continental watering places is also described, for Margaret believed in the curative effects of spas. A lifelong liberal in politics and an upholder of Whig principles, her politicomanie inspires sharp comments on the opponents of Reform in England and on the self-seeking ministers of Louis-Philippe in France. Unusually, for a British woman, the daughter of Admiral Keith, an inveterate enemy of the French, she shared her husband’'s admiration for Napoleon and joined with him in supporting Napoleon III. Born before her time she could have made a name for herself in today’s world as a professional artist or politician in her own right. As it was, she used her talents to become an expert in the art of living the life so amusingly and vividly evoked in letters to her husband, her children and her close friends. These relationships, which are the heart of the book, are presented to the reader by an English woman historian, herself a Francophile.

Charles de Flahaut (1785–1870), portrait by George Hayter (1792–1871) © Mercer-Nairne: with permission

‘There is a little novel going on – Miss Mercer affichera desperate love for Flahaut which he acts a most assiduous return to but is really épris with Lady Cowper.’ Lady Harriet Granville, 3 February 1816 ============================================== ‘It is to the credit of Diana Scarisbrick to have rescued this remarkable lady from oblivion.’                   Ambrogio Caiani, The Court Historian, April 2021 ‘This volume, complete with color plates and a gold ribbon bookmark, reminds us that once books were highly desired objects and once people expressed their ideas thoughtfully in the lost art of letter writing.’                   Helen Mitsios, Wonderlust, October 2020 ‘Diana Scarisbrick tells Margaret’s story expertly and elegantly in this sumptuously produced and illustrated book. She evokes a fascinating world peopled by a cast of striking individuals—including one of the most terrifying mothers-in-law in history, the marquise de Souza.’                   Munro Price, The Art Newspaper, no. 318, December 2019 ‘An . . . extraordinary story . . .’ The Victorian ‘[T]his surprisingly easy to read book is a great way to learn more about a very complex period in the history of Europe.’                   Meikleour Arms, Meikleour, Perthshire ‘Much new information on Princess Charlotte (from whom she received 575 letters), the Duc d’Orleans, son of Louis Philippe, and Napoleon III, and their households, as well as on her husband, Napoleon’s favourite ADC, Charles de Flahaut.’                   The Society for Court Studies

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