Helena, Comtesse de Noailles
Helena (c.1826-1908) added to her already considerable fortune by marrying Antonin, Comte de Noailles, in 1849, but after only 3 years of marriage, the couple decided to live permanently apart. This allowed Helena the freedom to indulge in some madcap schemes and become a patroness of the arts. In 1863, perusing the Paris Salon, Helena came across Ernest Hébert’s portrait of a young girl. When she was informed that the picture had already been sold, she instead decided to buy the child-model, Maria Pasqua. Despite her inexperience in child-rearing, Helena had strong views, and the money to enact them.
Maria was sent to a convent school in Sussex, but the Comtesse insisted on strict conditions. The school pond was drained because it was the breeding ground of insects, and Maria, who had her own loose-fitting uniform because Helena did not like the standard one, drank milk from a cow selected and approved by the Comtesse. The latter believed that children raised on milk were less likely to become alcoholics. Maria was also taught grammar and arithmetic according to a system devised by Helena, rather than the standard curriculum. Despite this unusual upbringing, Maria later married, and settled in Norfolk.
Helena had some unusual views on health. She firmly believed that methane had health benefits, and so grazed cows beneath her windows so as to make the most of their flatulence. Her pajamas comprised stockings filled with squirrel fur and a Norwegian wildcat skin. To cure bronchitis, Helena insisted, a diet of soft herring roe was all that was necessary. Once, when visiting Maria in Norfolk, Helena insisted that all trees within the vicinity of the house were cut down before her arrival. Maria’s inheritance even had the strange condition that she wear white in summer and avoid lace shoes.
