became First Consul, she increased her property
by the purchase of church lands, for which she used the proceeds of
her diamonds. As an Opera divinity never knows how to take care of
her money, she intrusted the management of the estate to a steward,
occupying herself with her flowers and fruits and with the beautifying
of the park.

After Mademoiselle was dead and buried at Blangy, the notary of
Soulanges--that little town which lies between Ville-aux-Fayes and
Blangy, the capital of the township--made an elaborate inventory, and
sought out the heirs of the singer, who never knew she had any. Eleven
families of poor laborers living near Amiens, and sleeping in cotton
sheets, awoke one fine morning in golden ones. The property was sold
at auction. Les Aigues was bought by Montcornet, who had laid by enough
during his campaigns in Spain and Pomerania to make the purchase, which
cost about eleven hundred thousand francs, including the furniture. The
general, no doubt, felt the influence of these luxurious apartments; and
I was arguing with the countess only yesterday that her marriage was a
direct result of the purchase of Les Aigues.

To rightly understand the countess, my dear Nathan, you must know that
the general is a violent man, red as fire, five feet nine inches tall,
round as a tower, with a thick neck and the shoulders of a blacksmith,
which must have amply filled his cuirass. Montcornet commanded
the cuirassiers at the battle of Essling (called by the Austrians
Gross-Aspern), and came near perishing when that noble corps was driven
back on the Danube. He managed to cross the river astride a log of wood.
The cuirassiers, finding the bridge down, took the glorious resolution,
at Montcornet's command, to turn and resist the entire Austrian army,
which carried off on the morrow over thirty wagon-loads of cuirasses.
The Germans invented a name for their enemies on this occasion which
means "men of iron."[*] Montcornet has the outer man of a hero of
antiquity. His arms are stout and vigorous, his chest deep and broad;
his head has a leonine aspect, his voice is of those that can order a
charge in the thick of battle; but he has nothing more than the courage
of a daring man; he lacks mind and breadth of view. Like other generals
to whom military common-sense, the natural boldness of those who spend
their lives in danger, and the habit of command gives an appearance of
superiority, Montcornet has an imposing effect whe