11 NOVEMBER 1995, Page 35

Death's mystery

Sir: Anne Applebaum on 4 November, (`So farewell then. . '), quoting an earlier Spec- tator article, says `Talleyrand, being told that Czar Alexander would not be attend- ing an impending international conference because he was dead, remarked "I wonder what the real reason is." ' This is a new ver- sion to me of an anecdote which takes many different forms. I believe the correct version is as follows. When King Louis-Philippe was told that Talleyrand had died he was heard to mut- ter: 'Died, has he? I wonder what he meant by that.' It seems a shame to deprive Louis- Philippe of some of his few recorded bons mots and ascribe it to Talleyrand, who has plenty to his credit.

David Hunt

Old Place, Lindfield, Sussex