LOVE AFFAIRS OF THE COURTS OF EUROPE BY THORNTON HALL, F.S.A., Barrister-at-Law, Author of "Love romancies of the Aristocracy", "Love intrigues of Royal Courts", etc., etc. TO MY COUSIN, LENORE CONTENTS CHAP I. A COMEDY QUEEN II. THE "BONNIE PRINCE'S" BRIDE III. THE PEASANT AND THE EMPRESS IV. A CROWN THAT FAILED V. A QUEEN OF HEARTS VI. THE REGENT'S DAUGHTER VII. A PRINCESS OF MYSTERY VIII. THE KING AND THE "LITTLE DOVE" IX. THE ROMANCE OF THE BEAUTIFUL SWEDE X. THE SISTER OF AN EMPEROR XI. A SIREN OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY XII. THE CORSICAN AND THE CREOLE XIII. THE ENSLAVER OF A KING XIV. AN EMPRESS AND HER FAVOURITES XV. A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY CINDERELLA XVI. BIANCA, GRAND DUCHESS OF TUSCANY XVII. RICHELIEU, THE ROUÉ XVIII. THE INDISCRETIONS OF A PRINCESS XIX. THE INDISCRETIONS OF A PRINCESS--_continued_ XX. THE LOVE-AFFAIRS OF A REGENT XXI. A DELILAH OF THE COURT OF FRANCE XXII. THE "SUN-KING" AND THE WIDOW XXIII. A THRONED BARBARIAN XXIV. A FRIEND OF MARIE ANTOINETTE XXV. THE RIVAL SISTERS XXVI. THE RIVAL SISTERS--_continued_ XXVII. A MISTRESS OF INTRIGUE XXVIII. AN ILL-FATED MARRIAGE XXIX. AN ILL-FATED MARRIAGE--_continued_ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS BIANCA CAPELLO BONAVENTURA GRAND DUCHESS OF TUSCANY CATHERINE THE SECOND OF RUSSIA COUNT GREGORY ORLOFF DESIRÉE CLARY JOSEPHINE DE BEAUHARNAIS, EMPRESS (BY PRUD'HON) LOLA MONTEZ, COUNTESS OF LANDSFELD LUDWIG I., KING OF BAVARIA FRANCESCO I., GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK, WIFE OF GEORGE IV LOVE AFFAIRS OF THE COURTS OF EUROPE CHAPTER I A COMEDY QUEEN "It was to a noise like thunder, and close clasped in a soldier's embrace, that Catherine I. made her first appearance in Russian history." History, indeed, contains few chapters more strange, more seemingly impossible, than this which tells the story of the maid-of-all-work--the red-armed, illiterate peasant-girl who, without any dower of beauty or charm, won the idolatry of an Emperor and succeeded him on the greatest throne of Europe. So obscure was Catherine's origin that no records reveal either her true name or the year or place of her birth. All that we know is that she was cradled in some Livonian village, either in Sweden or Poland, about the year 1685, the reputed daughter of a serf-mother and a peasant-father; and that her numerous brothers and sisters were known in later years by the name Skovoroshtchenko or Skovronski. The very Christian name by which she is known to history was not hers until it was given to her by her Imperial lover.