r anxiety to avoid him had
caused her to leave London hurriedly. In spite of her chequered career,
in spite of the shortcomings at Brussels, Lola Montes was by no means
anxious for the "sweet yoke of domesticity." In another six months, her
name was almost forgotten by all of us, except by Alexandre Dumas, who
now and then alluded to her. Though far from superstitious, Dumas, who
had been as much smitten with her as most of her admirers, avowed that
he was glad she had disappeared. "She has 'the evil eye,'" he said;
"and sure to bring bad luck to any one who closely links his destiny
with hers, for however short a time. You see what has occurred to
Dujarrier. If ever she is heard of again, it will be in connection with
some terrible calamity that has befallen a lover of hers." We all
laughed at him, except Dr. Veron, who could have given odds to Solomon
Eagle himself at prophesying. Fortunately he was generally afraid to
open his lips, for he was thoroughly sincere in his belief that he could
prevent the event by not predicting it--at any rate aloud. For once in a
way, however, Alexandre Dumas proved correct. When we did hear again of
Lola Montes, it was in connection with the disturbances that had broken
out at Munich, and the abdication of her royal lover, Louis I. of
Bavaria, in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian.

The substance of the following notes relating to said disturbances was
communicated to me by a political personage who played a not
inconsiderable part in the events themselves. As a rule it is not very
safe to take interested evidence of that kind, "but in this instance,"
as my informant put it, "there was really no political reputation to
preserve, as far as he was concerned." Lola Montes had simply tried to
overthrow him as Madame Dubarry overthrew the Duc de Choiseul, because
he would not become her creature; and she had kept on repeating the
tactics with every succeeding ministry, even that of her own making. But
it should be remembered that revolution was in the air in the year '48,
and that if Lola Montes had been the most retiring of favourites, or
Louis I. the most moral of kings, the uprising would have happened just
the same, though the upshot might have been different with regard to
Louis himself.

Here is a portrait of him, which, in my literary ignorance, I think
sufficiently interesting to reproduce.

"Louis was a chip of the old Wittelsbach block; that is, a Lovelace,
with a touch of t