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kitewithfishfrom the Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu:
THE countess of Cozelle is kept prisoner in a melancholy castle, some
leagues from hence; and I cannot forbear telling you what I have
heard of her, because it seems to me very extraordinary, though I
foresee I shall swell my letter to the size of a pacquet.--She was
mistress to the king of Poland, (elector of Saxony) with so absolute
a dominion over him, that never any lady had so much power in that
court. They tell a pleasant story of his majesty's first declaration
of love, which he made in a visit to her, bringing in one hand a bag
of a hundred thousand crowns, and in the other a horse-shoe, which he
snapped asunder before her face, leaving her to draw the consequences
of such remarkable proofs of strength and liberality. I know not
which charmed her most; but she consented to leave her husband, and
to give herself up to him entirely, being divorced publicly, in such
a manner, as, by their laws, permits either party to marry again.
God knows whether it was at this time, or in some other fond fit, but
'tis certain, the king had the weakness to make her a formal contract
of marriage; which, though it could signify nothing during the life
of the queen, pleased her so well, that she could not be contented,
without telling it to all the people she saw, and giving herself the
airs of a queen. Men endure every thing while they are in love; but
when the excess of passion was cooled by long possession, his
majesty began to reflect on the ill consequences of leaving such a
paper in her hands, and desired to have it restored to him. But she
rather chose to endure all the most violent effects of his anger,
than give it up; and though she is one of the richest and most
avaricious ladies of her country, she has refused the offer of the
continuation of a large pension, and the security of a vast sum of
money she has amassed; and has, at last, provoked the king to confine
her person to a castle, where she endures all the terrors of a strait
imprisonment, and remains still inflexible, either to threats or
promises. Her violent passions have brought her indeed into fits,
which 'tis supposed, will soon put an end to her life. I cannot
forbear having some compassion for a woman that suffers for a point
of honour, however mistaken, especially in a country where points of
honour are not over scrupulously observed among ladies.
This seems to contain the germ of the idea of Sherlock Holmes' literary adversary, Irene Adler... I cannot find any other reference of a countess of Cozelle anywhere, and I wonder if it's not a Pseudonym.
THE countess of Cozelle is kept prisoner in a melancholy castle, some
leagues from hence; and I cannot forbear telling you what I have
heard of her, because it seems to me very extraordinary, though I
foresee I shall swell my letter to the size of a pacquet.--She was
mistress to the king of Poland, (elector of Saxony) with so absolute
a dominion over him, that never any lady had so much power in that
court. They tell a pleasant story of his majesty's first declaration
of love, which he made in a visit to her, bringing in one hand a bag
of a hundred thousand crowns, and in the other a horse-shoe, which he
snapped asunder before her face, leaving her to draw the consequences
of such remarkable proofs of strength and liberality. I know not
which charmed her most; but she consented to leave her husband, and
to give herself up to him entirely, being divorced publicly, in such
a manner, as, by their laws, permits either party to marry again.
God knows whether it was at this time, or in some other fond fit, but
'tis certain, the king had the weakness to make her a formal contract
of marriage; which, though it could signify nothing during the life
of the queen, pleased her so well, that she could not be contented,
without telling it to all the people she saw, and giving herself the
airs of a queen. Men endure every thing while they are in love; but
when the excess of passion was cooled by long possession, his
majesty began to reflect on the ill consequences of leaving such a
paper in her hands, and desired to have it restored to him. But she
rather chose to endure all the most violent effects of his anger,
than give it up; and though she is one of the richest and most
avaricious ladies of her country, she has refused the offer of the
continuation of a large pension, and the security of a vast sum of
money she has amassed; and has, at last, provoked the king to confine
her person to a castle, where she endures all the terrors of a strait
imprisonment, and remains still inflexible, either to threats or
promises. Her violent passions have brought her indeed into fits,
which 'tis supposed, will soon put an end to her life. I cannot
forbear having some compassion for a woman that suffers for a point
of honour, however mistaken, especially in a country where points of
honour are not over scrupulously observed among ladies.
This seems to contain the germ of the idea of Sherlock Holmes' literary adversary, Irene Adler... I cannot find any other reference of a countess of Cozelle anywhere, and I wonder if it's not a Pseudonym.
