Dumas" familiarity with the good things of the table is nowhere more strongly advanced than in the opening chapter of "The Queen"s Necklace,"
wherein the author recounts the incident of "the n.o.bleman and his _maitre d"hotel_."
The scene was laid in 1784, and runs as follows:
"The marshal turned toward his _maitre d"hotel_, and said, "Sir, I suppose you have prepared me a good dinner?"
""Certainly, your Grace."
""You have the list of my guests?"
""I remember them perfectly."
""There are two sorts of dinners, sir," said the marshal.
""True, your Grace, but--"
""In the first place, at what time do we dine?"
""Your Grace, the citizens dine at two, the bar at three, the n.o.bility at four--"
""And I, sir?"
""Your Grace will dine to-day at five."
""Oh, at five!"
""Yes, your Grace, like the king--"
""And why like the king?"
""Because, on the list of your guests is the name of a king."
""Not so, sir, you mistake; all my guests to-day are simple n.o.blemen."
""Your Grace is surely jesting; the Count Haga, who is among the guests--"
""Well, sir!"
""The Count Haga is a king." (The Count Haga was the well-known name of the King of Sweden, a.s.sumed by him when travelling in France.)
""In any event, your Grace _cannot_ dine before five o"clock."
""In heaven"s name, do not be obstinate, but let us have dinner at four."
""But at four o"clock, your Grace, what I am expecting will not have arrived. Your Grace, I wait for a bottle of wine."
""A bottle of wine! Explain yourself, sir; the thing begins to interest me."
""Listen, then, your Grace; his Majesty, the King of Sweden--I beg pardon, the Count Haga, I should have said--drinks nothing but Tokay."
""Well, am I so poor as to have no Tokay in my cellar? If so, I must dismiss my butler."
""Not so, your Grace; on the contrary, you have about sixty bottles."
""Well, do you think Count Haga will drink sixty bottles with his dinner?"
""No, your Grace; but when Count Haga first visited France when he was only prince royal, he dined with the late king, who had received twelve bottles of Tokay from the Emperor of Austria. You are aware that the Tokay of the finest vintages is reserved exclusively for the cellar of the emperor, and that kings themselves can only drink it when he pleases to send it to them."
""I know it."
""Then, your Grace, of these twelve bottles of which the prince royal drank, only two remain. One is in the cellar of his Majesty Louis XVI.--"
""And the other?"
""Ah, your Grace!" said the _maitre d"hotel_, with a triumphant smile, for he felt that, after the long battle he had been fighting, the moment of victory was at hand, "the other one was stolen."
""By whom, then?"
""By one of my friends, the late king"s butler, who was under great obligations to me."
""Oh! and so he gave it to you."
""Certainly, your Grace," said the _maitre d"hotel_, with pride.
""And what did you do with it?"
""I placed it carefully in my master"s cellar."
""Your master? And who was your master at that time?"
""His Eminence the Cardinal de Rohan."
""Ah, _mon Dieu!_ at Strasbourg?"
""At Saverne."
""And you have sent to seek this bottle for me!" cried the old marshal.
""For you, your Grace," replied the _maitre d"hotel_, in a tone which plainly said, "ungrateful as you are."
"The Duke de Richelieu seized the hand of the old servant, and cried, "I beg pardon; you are the king of _maitres d"hotel_.""
The French n.o.blesse of the eighteenth century may have had retainers of the perspicacity and freedom of manners of this servant of the Marechal de Richelieu, but it is hard to picture them in real life to-day. At any rate, it bespeaks Dumas" fondness of good eating and good drinking that he makes so frequent use of references thereto, not only in this novel of a later day, but throughout the mediaeval romances as well.
Dumas" knowledge of gastronomy again finds its vent in "The Count of Monte Cristo," when the unscrupulous Danglars is held in a dungeon pending his giving up the five millions of francs which he had fraudulently obtained.
It is not a very high-cla.s.s repast that is discussed, but it shows at least Dumas" familiarity with the food of man.