attractions of the daughter of her first. I do not now recall her name,
but she was of a noble family, of which fact the mother and daughter were
very proud, and the young girl was a good musician, and sang agreeably;
but, which appeared to me as ridiculous as indecent, she danced the
ballet before a large company in her mother's house, in a costume almost
as light as those of the opera, with castanets or tambourines, and ended
her dance with a multiplicity of attitudes and graces. With such an
education she naturally thought her position not at all unusual, and was
very much chagrined at the short duration of her liaison with the
Emperor; while the mother was in despair, and said to me with disgusting
simplicity, "See my poor Lise, how she has ruined her complexion in her
vexation at seeing herself neglected, poor child. How good you will be,
if you can manage to have her sent for." To secure an interview for
which the mother and daughter were both so desirous, they came together
to the chapel at Saint-Cloud, and during mass the poor Lise threw glances
at the Emperor which made the young ladies blush who witnessed them, and
were, nevertheless, all in vain, for the Emperor remained unmoved.

Colonel L. B---- was aide-de-camp to General L----, the governor of
Saint-Cloud; and the general was a widower, which facts alone furnish an
excuse for the intimacy of his only daughter with the family of L. B----,
which astonished me greatly. One day, when I was dining at the house of
the colonel, with his wife, his step-daughter, and Mademoiselle L----,
the general sent for his aides-de-camp, and I was left alone, with the
ladies; who so earnestly begged me to accompany them on a visit to
Mademoiselle le Normand, that it would have been impolite to refuse,
consequently we ordered a carriage and went to the Rue de Tournon.
Mademoiselle L. B---- was first to enter the Sybil's cave, where she
remained a long while, but on her return was very reserved as to any
communications made to her, though Mademoiselle L---- told us very