The 48 Laws Of Power

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHE

LAW

Bornin

Limerick,Ireland,

in

1813,

Marie GilbertcametoParisinthe

18405 tomakeherfortuneasadancerand

performer.Taking

thename

LolaMontez

(her

motherwas

ofdistant

Spanish

descent),

she

claimed

to

beaflamencodancerfrom

Spain.By

1845 hercareerwas

languishing,

and

tosurviveshebecamea

courtesa.n—-quicldy

oneofthemoresuccessfulin

Paris.

Only

onemancould

salvage

Lola’s

dancing

career:AlexandreDu-

jaxier,

ownerofthe

newspaper

withthe

largest

circulationin

France,

and

alsothe

newspaper’s

dramacritic.Shedecidedtowooand

conquer

him.

Investigating

his

habits,

shediscoveredthathewent

riding

every

morning.

Anexcellenthorsewoman

herself,

sherodeoutone

morning

and“acciden~

tally”

ranintohim.Soon

they

were

ridingtogethereveryday.

Afewweeks

laterLolamovedintohis

apartment.

Forawhilethetwowere

happytogether.

With

Duja.rier’s

help,

Lola

began

toreviveher

dancing

career.

Despite

therisktohissocial

standing,

Dujarier

toldfriendshewould

marry

herinthe

spring.

(Lola

hadnever

toldhimthatshehad

eloped

at

age

nineteenwithan

Englishman,

andwas

still

legallymarried.)AlthoughDujarier

was

deeply

in

love,

hislifestarted

to

slidedownhill.

Hisfortunesinbusiness

changed

andinfluentialfriends

began

toavoid

him.One

nightDujarier

wasinvitedtoa

party,

attended

by

someofthe

wealthiest

young

men

in

Paris.Lolawanted

to

go

toobut

hewould

not

allowit.

They

hadtheirfirst

quarrel,

and

Dujarier

attended

the

partyby

himself.

There,

hopelessly

drunk,

beinsultedaninfluentialdrama

critic,

jean-Baptiste

Rosemondde

Beauvallon,

perhaps

becauseof

something

the

critichadsaidaboutLola.

The

followingmorning

Beauvallon

challenged

himtoaduel.Beauvallonwasoneofthebest

pistol

shotsinFrance.Du-

jarier

triedto

apologize,

butthe dueltook

place,

andhewas shotand

killed.Thusendedthelifeofoneofthemost

promisingyoung

menof

Paris

society.

Devastated,

LolaleftParis.

In 1846 Lola.Montezfoundherselfin

Munich,

whereshedecidedto

wooand

conquer

KingLudwig

ofBavaria.Thebest

way

to

Ludwig,

she

discovered,

was

through

his

aide-de-camp,

CountOttoVon

Rechberg,

a

manwithafondnessfor

prettygirls.

One

day

whenthecountwasbreak-

fastirig

atanoutdoor

cafe,

Lolarode

by

onher

horse,

was

“accidentally”

thrownfromthe

saddle,

andlandedat

Rechberg’s

feet.Thecountrushed

to

help

herandwasenchanted.He

promised

tointroduceherto

Ludwig.

Rechbergarranged

anaudiencewiththe

king

for

Lola,

butwhenshe

arrivedinthe

anteroom,

shecouldhearthe

kingsaying

hewastoo

busy

to

meeta

favorseekingstranger.

Lola

pushed

asidethe

sentriesandentered

hisroom

anyway.

Inthe

process,

thefrontofherdresssomehow

got

torn

(perhapsby

her,

perhapsby

oneofthe

sentries),

andtotheastonishmentof

all,

most

especially

the

king,

herbarebreastswere

brazenlyexposed.

Lola

was

granted

her

audiencewith

Ludwig.Fifty—five

hours

later

shemadeher

debutontheBavarian

stage;

thereviewswere

terrible,

but

that

didnot

stop

Ludwig

from

arranging

more

performances.

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LAW 10 T7