Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff
CZENUKFR

Tuesday, 22 February 1881

We have made peace with Julian. I said to him: "M. Julian — well! Will you always hold a grudge against me for something I did not do on purpose? Come then and correct my work!" And he came with a very dignified air, saying that since I acknowledged having been wrong, that was fine.
I said nothing, because I was not wrong — but I detest quarrels, and it was disrupting my picture.
As for de Daillens — here is her letter. We no longer acknowledge each other. It is stupid — but I detest dramas. I may have been wrong not to call on them, but I was several times on the point of going and did not go solely because they were making scenes about it.
Gavini had sent me tickets for yesterday, but we expected nothing amusing and I gave them to the princess. Read the Figaro.
I nearly wept — first from rage at having missed it, and then from Gambetta's peroration.
"This calculation will be scorned by the nation — she will know how to understand it; she will know how to distinguish between those who deceive her and wish to lead her astray, and those who love her unto death."
That unto death grips me by the throat. I am on my knees before this man, and Cassagnac appears to me meaningless, colourless, wretched. What can I love in that gilded mediocrity? Gambetta with a word dominates and enchants you.
What then if I had heard it instead of reading it!
Mme Gavini and Saint-Amand come towards six o'clock. Saint-Amand has brought me another of his books with a dedication: "Les Dernières Années de Marie-Antoinette" — it is charming, and Marie-Antoinette is a subject that draws tears eternally.

Notes

Léon Gambetta (1838–1882): republican statesman, founder of the Third Republic and dominant figure of its early years. His oratory was legendary; Marie was a devoted admirer. The speech she quotes here was likely from the Chamber of Deputies debates of February 1881. ↩
Les Dernières Années de Marie-Antoinette (1879) by Arthur de Saint-Amand: a sentimental historical account of the Queen's final years and execution, popular with society readers in the early 1880s. ↩