_La petite_ Mussy, if she had been prudent, might have continued to live a life of luxury and pleasure for many years, for the passion which she had inspired in the heart of _Monsieur le Duc_ was no ephemeral one. But, unfortunately for her, she happened to meet, one night at the Opera, that notorious lady-killer, the Comte d’Albert, who, after being banished from France, on account of his intrigue with Madame de Luxembourg, had recently been expelled from Brussels, for making himself too agreeable to the Mlle. Maupin--the heroine of Théophile Gauthier’s romance--then mistress of the Elector of Bavaria. The count, having no other amorous engagement on hand just then, decided to make a conquest of Madame de Mussy. The task was, of course, easy enough for a gentleman who, we are assured, had only to show himself to ensure an immediate capitulation, and soon Madame de Mussy had become as indifferent to her titular lover as she had formerly been to her husband. _Monsieur le Duc_, “finding that she no longer responded to his caresses with her accustomed ardour,” had her watched, and ere long discovered the truth. His wrath was terrible, though, happily, he contented himself by venting it upon the furniture, mirrors, and porcelain of his perfidious mistress, among which he raged with such fury that in a few moments the apartment was strewn with the wreckage of what had represented a comfortable little fortune. Madame de Mussy, whom love for her fascinating count had inspired with a courage of which she might not have otherwise been capable, boldly faced the storm, and informed the infuriated prince that “she was not his wife, that he had nothing wherewith to reproach her, and that she was in love with the Comte d’Albert, who was far more amiable than his Highness, as he might judge for himself by taking the trouble to look in a mirror.” _Monsieur le Duc_, beside himself with passion, swore that he would hand her over to her husband, who would take good care to have her shut up in a convent for the rest of her days, and took his departure, vowing vengeance.