The Errant Æsthete

In this season of hearts, flowers and chocolates, what better topic to explore than the gatherer of hearts, the dark and dangerous rogue that women find irresistible; the insouciant rake, recognized for his charm, sparkling conversation, and extraordinary smoothness with women.

We profile two of history’s most accomplished seducers, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838) who by 34 was known as a worldly, womanizing bishop, and equally matched in the charm offensive, the biographer of the aforementioned gentleman who penned the elegant masterpiece Talleyrand in 1932, Duff Cooper (1890–1954), the English diplomat, soldier, statesmen, bon viveur, and Francophile.

Arguably a turncoat, possibly a degenerate (his last mistress was his niece by marriage and the daughter of a former lover), certainly a shameless flatterer and world-class bribe-taker, Talleyrand was also the most skillful and farsighted diplomat of his age and a man of arresting grace, wit, and style. He was said to have had a rare rapport with and understanding of women, counting many of the most intelligent, attractive, and influential of them as his friends or lovers, though one suspects they often adored him despite themselves. A French noblewoman recalled her entirely chaste surrender to his beguilement:

“One couldn’t help regretting that there were so many reasons for not thinking well of him, and after listening to him for an hour one was compelled to banish the recollection of everything one had heard against him.”