Meantime George William had overcome his belated _penchant_ for Sophia, if indeed it ever existed save in her imagination, and was gratifying his pleasure-loving soul by making a tour of many cities. Among others, he went to Breda, an exceedingly gay place at the end of the seventeenth century, albeit money was somewhat lacking there. It was the chosen home of political refugees, exiled princes, and deposed monarchs, who kept up their spirits despite their fallen fortunes, and maintained phantom courts on nothing a year. Here Charles II. dwelt for some time in his exile with many celebrated cavaliers; here, too, his aunt, the Queen of Bohemia, had held her shadowy court; here, too, was concluded the peace between England and Holland. All these things contributed to the importance and the gaiety of Breda; there were feasts, masquerades, and revelries, and plays with after-suppers and dances. Among the gayest of the gay was the Princess de Tarente, an aunt of the Duchess Sophia, a German princess who had married a French prince. One of her most cherished _protégées_ was Eléonore d’Olbreuse, only child of the Marquis d’Olbreuse, a nobleman of ancient family, of Poitou. He was one of the many French Huguenots who, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, were persecuted by the government of Louis XIV. As he would not recant, his estates were confiscated, he was sent into exile, and found an asylum in Holland. Before the persecution of the Huguenot nobles Eléonore d’Olbreuse had figured at the brilliant court of Louis XIV., where she was greatly admired for her wit and beauty. She was endowed with an exquisite figure, dark brown hair, regular features, and a brilliant complexion. At this time she was in the first bloom of youth, and her loveliness was only equalled by her sprightliness and charm of manner.[8] George William met her at a ball at the Princess de Tarente’s, and being of an amorous, though not of a marrying disposition, he fell in love at first sight. He became a constant visitor at the Princess de Tarente’s, and a closer acquaintance with the accomplishments and graces of the bewitching Eléonore only served to rivet his chains. He affected a great zeal to perfect his French, and the fair Eléonore willingly consented to give the good-looking Duke lessons, thereby offering fine opportunities for flirtation. What progress George William made with the French language is not recorded, but in the art of love there is no doubt he made rapid advances, for after a few lessons in the conjugation of the verb _aimer_, he avowed his passion in most extravagant terms, and swore that he could not live without her. He found that the citadel did not yield to the first attack. Eléonore d’Olbreuse was of a very different calibre to Signora Buccolini; she had only two available assets, her beauty and her virtue, and she was well aware of the value of both. She was not versed in the _menue galanterie_ of the court of the Grand Monarque for nothing.