ns with England, and did all he
could (within limits) to promote an _entente_. Thus, on the occasion
of a chance visit to Munich by Lord Combermere, he "sent the
distinguished traveller a message to the effect that a horse and
saddlery, with aide-de-camp complete, were at his service." His
companion, however, a member of the Foreign Office Staff, who had
forgotten to pack his uniform--or in John Bull fashion had declined to
do so--did not fare so well, since his name was struck off the list of
"eligibles" to attend the palace functions. Thereupon, says Lord
Combermere, he "wrote an angry letter to the chamberlain, commenting
on the absurdity of the restriction."

But Ludwig's opinion of diplomatists was also somewhat unflattering,
for, of a certain embassy visited by him on his travels, he wrote:

"A Theatre once--and now an Ambassador's dwelling.
Still, thou are what thou wast--the abode of deception."

A strange mixture of Henry IV and Haroun-al-Raschid, Ludwig of Bavaria
was a man of contradictions. At one moment he was lavishly generous;
at another, incredibly mean. He could be an autocrat to his finger
tips, and insist on the observance of the most minute points of
etiquette; and he could also be as democratic as anybody who ever
waved a red flag. Thus, he would often walk through the streets as a
private citizen, and without an escort. Yet, when he did so, he
insisted on being recognised and having compliments paid him. The
traffic had to be held up and hats doffed at his approach.

Nowadays, he would probably have been clapped into a museum as a
curiosity.

Such, then, was the monarch whose path was to be crossed, with
historic and unexpected consequences to each of them, by Lola Montez.

III

On arriving in Munich, Lola called on the manager of the Hof Theatre.
As this individual already knew of her Paris fiasco, instead of an
engagement from him, she met with a rebuff. Quite undisturbed,
however, by such an experience, she hurried off to the palace, and
commanded the astonished door-keeper to take her straight to the King.

The flunkey referred her to Count Rechberg, the aide-de-camp on duty.
With him Lola had more success. Boldness conquered where bashfulness
would have failed. After a single swift glance, Count Rechberg decided
that the applicant was eligible for admission to the "Presence," and
reported the fact to his master.

But Ludwig already knew something of the candidate for terps