CHAP

I. A comedy Queen
II.  The “Bonnie Prince’s” Bride
III.  The peasant and the Empress
IV.  A crown that failed
V. A Queen of hearts
VI.  The regent’s daughter
VII.  A princess of mystery
VIII.  The King and the “Little dove”
IX.  The romance of the beautiful Swede
X. The sister of an Emperor
XI.  A siren of the eighteenth century
XII.  The Corsican and the Creole
XIII.  The enslaver of A King
XIV.  An Empress and her favourites
XV.  A seventeenth-century Cinderella
XVI.  Bianca, grand duchess of Tuscany
XVII.  Richelieu, the roue
XVIII.  The indiscretions of A princess
XIX.  The indiscretions of A princess—­continued
XX.  The love-affairs of A Regent
XXI.  A Delilah of the court of France
XXII.  The “Sun-King” And the widow
XXIII.  A throned barbarian
XXIV.  A friend of Marie Antoinette
XXV.  The rival sisters
XXVI.  The rival sisters—­continued
XXVII.  A mistress of intrigue
XXVIII.  An ill-fated marriage
XXIX.  An ill-fated marriage—­continued

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

BIANCA CAPELLO BONAVENTURA GRAND DUCHESS OF TUSCANY

CATHERINE THE SECOND OF RUSSIA

COUNT GREGORY ORLOFF

DESIREE CLARY

JOSEPHINE DE BEAUHARNAIS, EMPRESS (BY PRUD’HON)

LOLA MONTEZ, COUNTESS OF LANDSFELD

LUDWIG I., KING OF BAVARIA

FRANCESCO I., GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY

CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK, WIFE OF GEORGE IV

LOVE AFFAIRS OF THE COURTS OF EUROPE

CHAPTER I

A COMEDY QUEEN

“It was to a noise like thunder, and close clasped in a soldier’s embrace, that Catherine I. made her first appearance in Russian history.”