The Magnificent Montez: From Courtesan to ConvertWyndham, Horace
History
The Magnificent Montez: From Courtesan to Convert
Wyndham, Horace
Montez, Lola, 1818-1861
"Madame Lola Montez, who is now happily returned to us, is
the legitimate spouse of Sir Thomas James, an officer of the
English Army. Milord Sir James loved to drink and the
beautiful Lola loved to flirt. A wealthy Prince of Kabul was
willing to possess her for her weight in gold and gems. Up
till now, her principal love affairs have been with Don
Enriquez, a Spaniard, Brule-Tout, a well-developed French
mariner, and John, a phlegmatic Englishman. One day Sir
James bet that he could drink three bottles of brandy in
twenty minutes. While he was thus occupied, the amorous Lola
made love to three separate gallants."
"It will doubtless," added a second, "be gratifying to her
pride to queen it again in Paris, where she was once hissed
off the stage. There she will at any rate now be received at
the Bavarian Embassy, and exhibit the Order of Maria
Theresa. She was invested with this to the considerable
scandal of the Munich nobility, who cannot swallow the idea
of such a distinction being bestowed on a dancer."
This sort of thing and a great deal more in a similar strain, was
accepted as gospel by its readers. But for those who wished her ill,
any lie was acceptable. Thus, although there was not a scrap of
evidence to connect her with the incident, a paragraph, headed "Lola
Again?" was published in the London papers:
Yesterday afternoon an extraordinary scene was witnessed by
the promenaders in the Champs Elysees. Two fashionably
attired ladies, driving in an elegant equipage, were heard
to be employing language that was anything but refined. From
words to blows, for suddenly they began to assault one
another with vigorous smacks. The toilettes and faces of the
fair contestants were soon damaged; and, loud cries of
distress being uttered, the carriage was stopped, and,
attracted by the fracas, some gentlemen hurried to render
assistance. As a result of their interference, one of the
damsels was expelled from the vehicle, and the other ordered
the coachman to drive her to her hotel. This second lady is
familiar to the public by reason of her adventures in
Bavaria.
Albert Vandam, a singularly objectionable type of journalist, who
professed to be on intimate terms with everybody in Paris worth
knowing, has a number of offensive and unjustifiable allusions to Lola
Montez at this period of her career. He talks of her "consummate
impudence," of her "pot-house wit," and of her "grammatical errors,"
and dubs her, among other things, "this almost illiterate schemer."
"Lola Montez," says the egregious Vandam, "could not make friends." He
was wrong. This was just what she could do. She made many staunch and
warm-hearted friends. It was because she snubbed him on account of his
pushfulness that Vandam elected to belittle her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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