Warren sheaf., 1891-12-17
THE STRANGE STORY 81 PEpA.

a Maid servant Who Exeroised Power.
.ul influence on thSesDs5tlOG OG o.
Europe. 81
A few days ago there died In France
2 women who, although illfavored and
aisagreeable, exercised q most power
ful influence on the destinies 81 Europe.
extraordinary though it may appear,
sne was nothing but servant girl,
WIN 80 little education that she barely
knew how to write her name, which
was Pcpa She was Spaniard BY birth
and was the maid and onfidential facto-
tum OF the Empress Eugenie both be-
fore and after her marriage to Ma.
poleon.
1t is generally admitted that the EN-.
press Eugenie was principally respons-
ible for many }of the most cruel of
Frances disasters She was entirely
under the control Of her maid, who DOS
sessed all the vices and none Of the vir.
tues OF tho Spanish character. The
emperor and many of Eugenie's friends
and relatives repeatedly implored her
TO dismiss Pepa, but without avail, and
1T was current at the time that she
owed her exceedingly strong position to
some dangerous secret of her mistress,
which the latter feared she would re-
veal.
Pepa commenced her career as mere
maid, with white apron and cap, in the
service of the old Countess of Montiio.
taking her meals in the kitchen. She
afterward became the maid and conf
dante Of 8Eugenie, being aware of all
her dirtations and adventures prior to
her marriage to Napoleon. On becom-
ing empress Eugenie appointed her first
femme de chambre, and subsequently
gave her the place of treasurer of her
household. just before the latter pro.
motion she married corporal of the
Imperial Guard. whose good looks
pleased her, and at the emperor's re-
quest the corporal was advanced to tho
rank Of lieutenant on the wedding day.
Every purchase made by the empress
passed through Pepa's hands-not only
those Of clothes, but also of pictures,
statutes, brio brac, and jewels. In
each case Pepa insisted upon obtaining
commission, and thus it was that
when the empire came to an end, in
1870, she possessed fortune of s, 900, 900
francs in money and 800, 600 francs in
Jewels deposited in the vaults of the
Bank Of France The amount of her
wealth became known Just before the
declaration Of war, through the death
of her husband, which rendered it nee
essary that an inventory should be
taken of her property.
All tho dresses, and, in fact, the
whole garderobe of the empress, with
the exception of certain valuable furs
and laces, were included in Pepa's per.
quisites. The empress rarely wore q
dress more than once-or at the most
twice-and accordingly they accumu-
lated fast Every month or two Pepa
used to organize regular auction sale
OF all these dresses in her apartments
in the Tuilleries, which were situated
in the Pavilion de Flore. Great ladies
and demi-mondaines alike attended
these extraordinary sales, when it was
possible to obtain dress worth many
thousand francs at q cost Of only a few
hundred francs
Pepa was small, swarthy and an
gular, her lips were thin and cruel, and
her small eyes vicious and cunning. At
the palace she was hated, but feared.
Indeed, the familiars of the court were
wont to regard her in much the same
manner as the courtiers of Richelieu
looked upon the cardinals confessor.
pEminence Grise.-N. Y. Recorder. ~ 9