Alexander had
acknowledged this flattering reception with the affability and the
smiling grace peculiar to him; Frederick William, with the gravity
and calmness that never left him. After the first presentations and
official addresses were over, Alexander requested the presiding
burgomaster to set aside the embarrassing ceremonial, and to allow
every one to yield without restraint to the enjoyment of the
festival. In order to give an example to the assembled guests, the
emperor suggested to the managers that dancing might begin, and,
offering his arm to the wife of the presiding burgomaster, he opened
the ball with the Polonaise. After the dance he moved about the hall
with the most amiable affability, always endeavoring by his kindness
and politeness to cause all to forget the gulf separating them from
the emperor. The king had, like him, participated in the opening of
the ball; but he retired, grave, silent, and cold as ever, into the
adjoining apartment which was destined for the private audience-room
of the two sovereigns, and which none wore permitted to enter but
those whom the footmen of the king and the emperor expressly
invited. As long as Alexander and Frederick William were in the
large hall, they only desired to be the guests of their kind hosts,
and affable and unassuming members of the party; no sooner, however,
had they crossed the threshold of their audience-room than they were
again the king and the emperor, whom no one was allowed to approach
without being requested.
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