. The romance of Monaco and its rulers . worst; andif brilliant malice be at any time excusable, assuredlyit is when such a portent has joined the company. Charlotte de Gramont came of an immenselyarrogant family. Her father, Antoine de Gramont,was Sovereign Prince of Bidache and Barnache,Duke and Peer, Marshal of France, and so on—the most accomplished courtier of his age, belovedby Richelieu and Louis XIII. He had married,indeed, a niece of Richelieu—that Marguerite Du-plessis de Chivre of whom her husband said, in laterlife, that she could give Beelzebub fifteen pointsand a bisque. Charlott
. The romance of Monaco and its rulers . worst; andif brilliant malice be at any time excusable, assuredlyit is when such a portent has joined the company. Charlotte de Gramont came of an immenselyarrogant family. Her father, Antoine de Gramont,was Sovereign Prince of Bidache and Barnache,Duke and Peer, Marshal of France, and so on—the most accomplished courtier of his age, belovedby Richelieu and Louis XIII. He had married,indeed, a niece of Richelieu—that Marguerite Du-plessis de Chivre of whom her husband said, in laterlife, that she could give Beelzebub fifteen pointsand a bisque. Charlotte was her fathers borndaughter ; all his arrogance, all his insolence, all hislack of moral sense, were hers. She was very lovely—tall, with a notably beautiful figure, ** throat andshoulders consummately turned ; superb ash-coloured hair, black eyes both sweet and spark-ling, a brilliant complexion, and something verycaptivating in my smile when I dont frown—forwhen I do, Im terrifying. My teeth are dazzlingand my lips From an engraving by Carenave, after the picture by Rigatid. LE DUC DE 218] Lau2un, and a Lobster 219 A beauty of the first rank, one perceives,and not handicapped by any diffidence about hercharms ; highly intelligent, too, though withoutformal education, for I was spoilt as a child;it was the time of the Fronde, when peoplethought little of learning. What chance had ourpoor provincial with such a girl ? and a gir], too,who since her earliest grown-up days had been inlove with that Puyguilhem —otherwise the im-mortal Lauzun—whose fame has come down to usas one of the great beaux-laids of history. Whenthe beau-laid enters the lists, even well-favouredmasculinities find it, as a rule, wise to retire ; yethere is a portrait of the youth who, in an arrogantand reckless womans zenith of beauty, dared tochallenge the lover who ** in one hour, so intoxica-ting is his personal charm, can make up to you forages of torture. ... A fat, shor
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