During the embassy of Lucien Bonaparte to the Court of Madrid, in the autumn of 1800, Gravina was by his influence restored to favour; and after the death of the late Spanish Ambassador to the Cabinet of St. Cloud, Chevalier d’ Azara, by the special desire of Napoleon, was nominated both his successor and a representative of the King of Etruria.  Among the members of our diplomatic corps, he was considered somewhat of a Spanish gasconader and a bully.  He more frequently boasted of his wounds and battles than of his negotiations or conferences, though he pretended, indeed, to shine as much in the Cabinet as in the field.

In his suite were two Spanish women, one about forty, and the other about twenty years of age.  Nobody knew what to make of them, as they were treated neither as wives, mistresses, nor servants; and they avowed themselves to be no relations.  After a residence here of some weeks, he was, by superior orders, waylaid one night at the opera, by a young and beautiful dancing girl of the name of Barrois, who engaged him to take her into keeping.  He hesitated, indeed, for some time; at last, however, love got the better of his scruples, and he furnished for her an elegant apartment on the new Boulevard.  On the day he carried her there, he was accompanied by the chaplain of the Spanish Legation; and told her that, previous to any further intimacy, she must be married to him, as his religious principles did not permit him to cohabit with a woman who was not his wife.  At the same time he laid before her an agreement to sign, by which she bound herself never to claim him as a husband before her turn—­that is to say, until sixteen other women, to whom he had been previously married, were dead.  She made no opposition, either to the marriage or to the conditions annexed to it.  This girl had a sweetheart of the name of Valere, an actor at one of the little theatres on the Boulevards, to whom she communicated her adventure.  He advised her to be scrupulous in her turn, and to ask a copy of the agreement.  After some difficulty this was obtained.  In it no mention was made of her maintenance, nor in what manner her children were to be regarded, should she have any.  Valere had, therefore, another agreement drawn up, in which all these points were arranged, according to his own interested views.  Gravina refused to subscribe to what he plainly perceived were only extortions; and the girl, in her turn, not only declined any further connection with him, but threatened to publish the act of polygamy.  Before they had done discussing this subject, the door was suddenly opened and the two Spanish ladies presented themselves.  After severely upbraiding Gravina, who was struck mute by surprise, they announced to the girl that whatever promise or contract of marriage she had obtained from him was of no value, as, before they came with him to France, he had bound himself, before a public notary at Madrid, not to form any more connections, nor to marry any other woman, without their written consent.  One of these ladies declared that she had been married to Gravina twenty-two years, and was his oldest wife but one; the other said that she had been married to him six years.  They insisted upon his following them, which he did, after putting a purse of gold into Barrois’s hand.