d seen de Beauvallon, in company with
d'Ecquevillez, having some surreptitious pistol practice on the
morning of the duel. Thereupon, the pair of them were rearrested and
tried for perjury. Being convicted, d'Ecquevillez was sentenced to ten
years' imprisonment and de Beauvallon to eight years. But neither
couple stopped in durance very long. The revolution of 1848 opened the
doors of the Conciergerie and they made good their escape, the one of
them to Spain, and the other to his Creole relatives in Guadeloupe.

CHAPTER VII

"HOOKING A PRINCE"

I

Immediately after the Rouen trial, Lola left France, returning once
more to Germany. Perhaps the Irish strain in her blood made her a
little superstitious. At any rate, just before starting, she consulted
a clairvoyante. She felt that she had her money's worth, for the Sibyl
declared that she would "exercise much influence on a monarch and the
destiny of a kingdom." A long shot, and, as it happened, quite a sound
one.

Her intention being, as she had candidly informed Dumas, to "hook a
prince," she studied the _Almanach de Gotha_, and familiarised herself
with the positions and revenues of the various "notables" accorded
niches therein.

Germany was obviously the best field to exploit, for that country just
then was full of princes. As a matter of fact there were no less than
thirty-six of them waiting to be "hooked." The first place to which
she went on this errand was Baden, where, according to Ferdinand Bac,
she "bewitched the future Emperor William I. The Prince, however,
being warned of her syren spell, presently smiled and passed on."

Better luck befell the wanderer at her next attempt to establish
intimate contact with a member of the _hoch geboren_, Henry LXXII. His
principality, Reuss-Lobenstein-Ebersdorf (afterwards amalgamated with
Thuringia), had the longest name, but the smallest area, of any in the
kingdom, for it was only about the size of a pocket-handkerchief. But
to Lola this was of no great consequence. What, however, was of
consequence was that he was a millionaire (in thalers) and possessed
an inflammable heart.

A great stickler for etiquette, he once published the following notice
in his _Court Gazette_:

"For twenty years it has been my express injunction that every
official shall always be alluded to by his correct title. This
injunction, however, has not always been obeyed. In future, therefore,
I shall impose a fine of one thale