98 THE COURT OF 



at Ragusa, superintending the domestic affairs of a store-keeper to 

 the forces. Mloda now assumed the costume of a lady, and with it 

 an air of ease that astonished every one. 



General Lauriston, who died some years ago at Paris, in odour of 

 sanctity, under the roof of an opera-dancer, and who at this period 

 commanded the French forces in Dalmatia, occupied Ragusa, where 

 he had allowed himself to be blockaded by the Russians. He heard 

 of the Morlakian, and expressed a wish to see her. On the termina- 

 tion of a visit which the storekeeper paid the General, he received a 

 commission of inspector of stores, with an order to depart imme- 

 diately for Castel Novo. Monsieur " Rez-pa'm et sel" as the inspec- 

 tors were nicknamed by the French soldiery, set out, but not without 

 having previously received a hint that the interest of the service 

 required that Mloda should be left behind. 



Mloda, transferred her menage to a splendid suite of apartments in 

 the Piazza del Governo, not far from the residence of the Com- 

 mander-in-Chief, where she nightly held her soirees, that were 

 attended.by all the officers of the garrison. This mode of life con- 

 tinued until General Lauriston was recalled by Napoleon, who had 

 conceived for him one of those unfortunate predilections to which he 

 was so subject. Mloda set out in the General's suite : at Trieste she 

 fell ill, from the fatigue of the journey, and the General recollecting 

 very (f apropos" that he was married, left her there. She, however, 

 soon recovered, and, by the advice of a Signor Marchese, without a 

 Marquisate, whose acquaintance she had made at Ragusa, went to 

 Milan, where she hired a splendid establishment. Some years were 

 passed in the dissipation and pleasures of the highest society of the 

 capital, during which time Mloda managed to ingratiate herself into 

 the esteem of some of the highest members of the clergy. 



One evening, while enjoying the breeze at her balcony, she re- 

 marked an officer of distinguished carriage, who was looking at her 

 with the most particular attention. There was nothing very extra- 

 ordinary in this after all ; for so dazzling had her beauty become, 

 that it constantly attracted the admiring gaze of the passers-by. The 

 officer saluted her with an air of great politeness, but without taking 

 his eyes off her. Mloda returned the salute, and, according to the 

 Italian fashion, which admits of great latitude, she despatched a 

 servant with an invitation to him to enter her hotel. 



There was, soon after, in Mloda' s boudoir, one of the most 

 pathetic recognitions that can well be imagined. Mloda met again 

 her first friend and protector, the identical serjeant who had raised 

 her from the most abject state of misery, and who had become an 

 officer. The very same evening Mloda, who was then styled " Sig- 

 nora Contessa/' did the officer the honour of presenting him to the 

 Viceroy of Italy, accompanied by an urgent request to the excellent 

 Eugene to take care of his promotion. The Prince scrupulously 

 obeyed her injunctions. The officer, besides, sufficiently recom- 

 mended himself to his notice : he was immediately appointed to the 

 Guard, and was promoted, in a short time, to the grade of Chef 

 d'Escadron. In 1812 he had attained the rank of Colonel, and was 

 killed in Russia, at the action beyond Smolensko. 



