Note 31 — Chapter 1 The Fogs of London

Lola Montes was born in 1818 at Montrose in Scotland, of an officer called Gilbert and a creole, and died in New York in 1861. An adventuress whose audacity has rarely been equalled, she was the mistress of the King of Bavaria (and of many other men). Her life, which was spent in roaming over the world as an actress, was a series of scandalous adventures. Her skill in wielding a horse-whip was never contested by those with whom she quarrelled.—(Translator’s Note.)