Baron Leiss

Overview

Baron Leiss, an acquaintance of Marie and her mother at Ostend in August 1874, who speaks «comme les Belges» (028.0096), so a Belgian or Belgian-resident baron; first name not given. Mon Journal t.4 index: «Leiss (baron), 110, 113, 116, 121, 265». He is not the count «Noël de Leiser», the Pole naturalised English who appears in the same weeks (023.0128).

Relevance to Marie

At Ostend: he leaves the Kursaal while Marie stays with Merjeewsky (23 August, 023.0265); on 24 August «Le baron Leiss me fait danser, je le présente à maman» at the Cercle des Bains (023.0311); on 26 August he is a guest at the dinner of thirteen with the Fosters, «Leiss trouve Merjeewsky et l'amène, mais c'est avec lui que nous sommes treize» (023.0348), and gives Marie a bouquet with «une centaine de compliments, comme à Mlle Foster» (023.0351, 023.0353); on 31 August they meet him on the digue with Florence (023.0416). Four months later, on 31 December 1874, she compares a young man of Nice, who has «une allure saccadée» as a rider, to him: «parle comme les Belges, comme le baron Leiss d'Ostende» (028.0096).

References in Diary

• First mentioned: 1874-08-21 (023.0255). Nine tagged paragraphs, carnets 023 and 028.