The  name  of  Mademoiselle  de  Montijo  was  on
every  lip.  The  quaintness  of  her  ways,  her
somewhat  bold  originality  of  behaviour,  due,  no
doubt,  to  her  cosmopolitan  education,  as  well  as
her  charitable  nature,  which  urged  her  to  relieve
suffering  and  pain  around  her — these  and  other
causes  excited  curiosity  and  awakened  in  her
behalf  the  sympathy  of  all.  This  was  during  the
summer  that  preceded  the  proclamation  of  the
Empire.  Bernard  Bauer,  the  future  preacher  of
the  Tuileries,  was  also  at  Eaux- Bonnes.  His
recollection  of  the  graceful  young  Spaniard  was
committed  by  him  to  his  notes,  which  came  into
my  hands  at  his  death.  So  keen  and  full  was
that  recollection,  that  the  years  which  intervened
between  his  first  meeting  with  Eugénie  and  his
demise  did  not  slow  the  pulse  of  his  enthusiasm.
In  his  conception  she  remained  radiantly  beautiful.
The  future  Empress  pursued  her  moral  and
physical  exercises  with  the  utmost  energy.  Ex-
cursions on  foot  and  on  horseback  through  the
picturesque  valleys  and  o'er  the  majestic  crests  of
the  Pyrénées,  balls  and  parties,  were  all  indulged
in  with  that  gusto  born  of  youth  ;  and  in  the
short  intervals  between  her  pursuits  of  pleasure
she  threw  herself  whole-hearted  into  the  work  of
charity  amid  her  surroundings.
