eon. In every way he
tried to cross the path of that great soldier, and, though Neipperg was
comparatively an unknown man, his indomitable purpose and his continued
intrigues at last attracted the notice of the emperor; for in 1808
Napoleon wrote this significant sentence:

The Count von Neipperg is openly known to have been the enemy of the
French.

Little did the great conqueror dream how deadly was the blow which this
Austrian count was destined finally to deal him!

Neipperg, though his title was not a high one, belonged to the old
nobility of Austria. He had proved his bravery in war and as a duelist,
and he was a diplomat as well as a soldier. Despite his mutilation, he
was a handsome and accomplished courtier, a man of wide experience, and
one who bore himself in a manner which suggested the spirit of romance.
According to Masson, he was an Austrian Don Juan, and had won the
hearts of many women. At thirty he had formed a connection with an
Italian woman named Teresa Pola, whom he had carried away from her
husband. She had borne him five children; and in 1813 he had married
her in order that these children might be made legitimate.

In his own sphere the activity of Neipperg was almost as remarkable as
Napoleon's in a greater one. Apart from his exploits on the field of
battle he had been attached to the Austrian embassy in Paris, and,
strangely enough, had been decorated by Napoleon himself with, the
golden eagle of the Legion of Honor. Four months later we find him
minister of Austria at the court of Sweden, where he helped to lay the
train of intrigue which was to detach Bernadotte from Napoleon's cause.
In 1812, as has just been said, he was with Marie Louise for a short
time at Dresden, hovering about her, already forming schemes. Two years
after this he overthrew Murat at Naples; and then hurried on post-haste
to urge Prince Eugene to abandon Bonaparte.

When the great struggle of 1814 neared its close, and Napoleon,
fighting with his back to the wall, was about to succumb to the united
armies of Europe, it was evident that the Austrian emperor would soon
be able to separate his daughter from her husband. In fact, when
Napoleon was sent to Elba, Marie Louise returned to Vienna. The cynical
Austrian diplomats resolved that she should never again meet her
imperial husband. She was made Duchess of Parma in Italy, and set out
for her new possessions; and the man with the black band across his
sightless ey