on in which Lola had acquitted
herself, and wrote florid letters of thanks to her in New York. With a
supplementary lecture on "Instructions for Gentlemen in the Art of
Fascination," which was added to fill up the book, he declared himself
much impressed. "This," he says, "exhibits a profound knowledge of the
human heart, and is altogether one of the finest and most piquant
criticisms on American manners with which I am familiar." "Who," he
continues, warming to his work, "is more thoroughly qualified to
discuss the development and preservation of natural beauty than the
Countess of Landsfeld?"; and in an introductory puff he adds: "These
observations are very judicious, and as applicable in Europe as in
America. They should, I feel, be indelibly engraved on the minds of
all sensible women."

Perhaps they were. At any rate, the result of M. Chevalier's
enterprise was a distinct success, and the Paris bookshops soon got
rid of 50,000 copies. In fact, Lola was very nearly a best-seller.

In addition to her expert views on "Beautiful Women," Lola had plenty
of other subjects up her sleeve, to be incorporated in a series of
lectures. The list covered a wide range, for it included such diverse
headings as "Ladies with Pasts," "Heroines of History," "Romanism,"
"Wits and Women of Paris," "Comic Aspects of Love," and "Gallantry."
On all of these matters she had plenty to say. On some of them quite a
lot, for they ran to an average of a dozen closely printed pages, and,
when delivered in public, took up three hours. In the one on
"Beautiful Women" precise details were given as to the adventitious
causes contributing to her own sylph-like figure, glossy hair and
pearly teeth, etc., and a number of prescriptions were also offered.
These, she recommended, should be manufactured at home. "For a few
shillings and a little trouble," she pointed out, "any lady can secure
an adequate supply of all such things, composed of materials far
superior to the expensive compounds bought from druggists;" and the
recipes, she insisted, "had been translated by herself from the
original French, Spanish, German, and Italian." Among these were
_Beaume a l'Antique_, _Unction de Maintenon_, and _Pommade de
Seville_; and "a retired actress at Gibraltar" was responsible for a
specific for "warding off baldness." Lola put it in two words--"avoid
nightcaps." But she was sympathetic about scalp troubles. "Without a
fine head of hair, no woman can be reall