It was at her evening reception at her house in Theresienstrasse that Louis came to announce to Lola the dismissal of his old ministers, and his unalterable attachment to her and to her policy. "I will not give Lola up," he declared; "I will never give up that noble princely being. My kingdom for Lola!" Maurer was obliged to consent to the naturalisation that he had described as a national calamity. Lola was soon after raised to the peerage with the titles of Countess of Landsfeld[15] and Baroness Rosenthal. She is described in the register of Bavarian nobility as Maria Dolores Porris y Montez, the daughter of a Carlist officer and Cuban lady. (That the daughter of a follower of Don Carlos should be a deadly foe of all that was Ultramontane must have struck her friends and opponents as odd.) Her titles conveyed with them an estate of importance, and certain feudal rights--the middle and the low justice, perhaps--over two thousand souls. She was made a canoness of the aristocratic order of St. Theresa, of which the Queen was the head. To enable her to support this dignity the King endowed her with an annuity of twenty thousand florins. With this and the money bequeathed her by Dujarier she was now rich. A palace befitting her position was ordered to be built for her in Baererstrasse after the design of the architect, Metzger, who was one of her most impassioned admirers. Her portrait was painted by royal command, and placed in the Gallery of Beauties, where Louis, it is said, was accustomed to spend hours in rapturous contemplation. XXI THE INDISCRETIONS OF A MONARCH Louis, being a lover of the old school, resorted to verse as an expression of his sentiments towards his new favourite. The editor of the _Times_, years after, described His Majesty as something of a poet, in a small way. How very small that way was the following effusions will show. They were translated by Mr. Francis, afterwards editor of the _Morning Post_ and other journals. Unfortunately, or fortunately, they convey no idea of the odd contortions of language characteristic of the original. "TO THE ABSENT LOLITA "The world hates and persecutes That heart which gave itself to me: But however much they may try to estrange us, My heart will cling the more fondly to thine. "The more they hate, the more thou art beloved; And more and more is given to thee. I shall never be torn from thee. "Against others they have no hate; It is against thee alone they are enraged; In thee everything is a crime; Thy words alone, as deeds, they would punish. "But the heart's goodness shows itself-- Thou hast a highly elevated mind; Yet the little who deem themselves great Would cast thee off as a pariah. "For evermore I belong to thee; For evermore thou belongest to me: What delight! that like the wave Renews itself out of its eternal spring.