e received a solicitor's letter in Munich.
She answered it in the following terms:

MUNICH,

_September 25, 1847._

MONSIEUR BLOQUE,

As I have never given any orders to Messrs. Hamon and
Company, tailors, rue de Helder, they have no claim on me;
and I am positively compelled to repudiate the bill for
1371 francs which you have the effrontery to demand in the
name of this firm.

Last spring Monsieur Leigh made me a present of a
riding-habit and certain other articles which he ordered for
me, and I consider that it is to him you should now address
yourself.

Accept, Monsieur, etc.,

COUNTESS DE LANDSFELD.

Not being prepared to accept this view, the Paris firm's next step was
to bring an action for the recovery of the alleged debt. Once more,
Lola repudiated liability, this time on the grounds that the creditors
had kept back some dress material belonging to herself. The defence to
this charge was that, "on being informed by their representative that
real ladies could not wear such common stuff, she had said she did not
want it back." The court, however, held that the debt had been
incurred; and, "as she considered it beneath her dignity to appear,
either in person or by counsel," judgment for 2,500 francs was given
against her.

Count Bernstorff, a not particularly brilliant diplomatist, had an
idea (shared, by the way, with a good many others) that Frederick
William IV, King of Prussia, was at one time under Lola's spell. He
was allowed to think so by reason of a letter that the King had sent
him from Sans Souci in the autumn of 1847:

"I am charging you, my dear Count, with a commission, the
performance of which demands a certain degree of that
measure of delicacy which I recognise you to possess. The
commission is somewhat beyond the accepted limits of what is
purely diplomatic in character.... It is a matter of handing
a certain trinket to a certain lady. The trinket is of
little value, but, from causes you will be able to
appreciate, the lady's favour is of very high value to
myself. All depends on the manner in which the gift is
presented. This should be sufficiently flattering to
increase the value of the offering and to cause its
unworthiness to be overlooked. My acquaintance with the
lady, and my respect for her, should be adroitly described
and made the mo