Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-12-11

rial Majesty has several FIRST cousins o
the name Of Kirkpatrick, sons Of heI
mothers sister, vino married her cous.
in, holding respectable mercantile stu
afions. One Of them was not long ags
settled in trade IT Havre. II Is re.
ported that for some reason the Count q
MontIio soon tired Of has wife's com.
pany, and the pair were separated l0nf
before the Counts death. With heI
two daughters. the Countess then ira.
veled from country 10 country: and
spent some years IN Loadon, where she
IIfved Ga retiremei8t aiSa west ssttlc Sms1
socIety. On leaving London, which, i
is said she found too expensive, Nine
de Montijo returned 10 Spain. and re-
sided for about three years in different
parts oi the peninsula, her place ofpre.
dilection being Seville.
But toward The year 164E she weni
| to Paris, and some documents found al
the prefecture de police under the Com
rnune brought TO light The following
queer notes about her: "There is stay
| ing at No. IS Rue st. Antoine, in Q
rather shabby apartment, on the third
floor, Nine. de Montijo, who profess
ses to be the wife oI Spanish grandee.
Her style OF living is modest, and she
receives no visits from ladies', but three
or four times o week q number of gen.
tlemen, principally foreigners, come
and spend the evening with her and
play cards. Ii is presumable that they
are attracted as much by the beauty oI
Nine. de Montijo's two daughters as BY
the wish 10 gamble" On the margin
OF this police note the project ei that
time, NJ. Delessert, had written, Find
out whether Nine. de Montijo is really
the wife OF a nobleman," and on the pa
per appended 10 the above was this
brief statement: "Mme. de Montijo is
really what she asserts she is, the wife
OF oaunt OF that name, but the couple
were virtually divorced three years at
ter marriage, and the Countess profess
ses to live on her jointure OF 10000
francs year"
The word "professes" was under
lined in both notes, and il is evident
that the foreign lady derived the larger
share Of her income from the maInte-
nance of one OF those private gambling
saloons which have at all times been
common 10 Paris. Whether this was
the case or not need not be conjectured,
but, IL the fact were true, IL would en-
tail none of the discredit which attends
the encouragement Of gambling in other
lands, seeing that the French look upon
games of hazard with a wondrous re-
spect and affection. As to the note
about the beauty Of Nine. de Montijo's
daughters, nothing that could have been
said on this head would have been ex-
aggerated, for they were both.
In 1850 the eldest sister married the
Duke of Alba, and. thanks to his wealth
and rank, the position of the Montijos
was now very different TO what il bad
been before the marriage. The Coun-
tess was no longer obliged to live IN a
third-Aoor lodging OF q second-rate
street, nor 10 lay herself open TO the
suspicion OF keeping card saloon. She
set up sumptuously for q time in the
Duke OF Alba's house m Madrid, and IN
1851, when she went back 10 Paris, had
a mansion in the Champs Elysee. and
became a regular frequenter OF the par
ties given by the President. Prince
LOUIS Napoleon, at the Elysee. II
should be mentioned that this return to
Paris, winch was TO lead 10 such high
results, had not been undertaken spon-
taneously by the Countess, but had been
in manner forced upon her by her du-
cal son-in-law.
The Duke of Alba liked to be master
in his own house: Madame de Montijo,
who had a fairly meddlesome and dom
ineenng temper. loved TO be mistress,
too, so that the Duke would have ended
by leading difficult time Of il IL he had
not hit on the easy expedient oI
allowing his mother-in-law 1O0. 0.000
francs q year, provided she would live
abroad. This she did, as above said.
IN fine style, and her daughter Euge-
ME was enabled to appear every ywhere,
dressed with the grace and richness
suited TO her wonderful beauty. II be-
came 4 marvel TO everybody at this
time how a girl of such attractions as
Mile. de Montijo renamed so long with
out a husband. She was 25. and YET
seemed in no hurry whatever TO De mar
ried.
An English earl. an American bank
er, q young cousin of the Duke of Alba,
both wealthy and titled. all proposed to
her. and so did shoals of Frenchmen,
among whom was a famous novelist,
who is still living. But to all OF them
Eugenie said "No," not hearslessly, but
with firmly settled purpose, as if her
good genius were whispering to her thai
she would lose nothing by being patient
And so it befel that at ball gwen BY
the President at the Elysee. some
nights only before the coup d'etat. Mile
Eugene met her future Emperor and
husband. The Countess was naturally
charmed at the attentions lavished by
Louis Napoleon upon her daughter Eu.
genie, and did much Of the maneuvr.
ing that induced the future Emperor tc
clier his hand and heart to the belle oI
the season.
The Prince Of Bavaria had declined tc
give the hand OF his relative to an lad.
senturer," and Louis Napoleon sought
consolation in the society of the Coun.
tess and her daughter. who had beer
guests in all the Presidential residence.
| -Fontainebleau. Compiegne. and Ct
Cloud Possibly Nine. de- Montijo has
been waiting her opportunity, for two
days after The news Of the Bavariar
snub had begun TO get bFuited. she beg
ged private audience Of the Prince