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Elise K, or, as she preferred to be called in later life, "Camille Selden," was born in Saxony in 1829. She was adopted in infancy by a childless married couple, and her foster parents emigrated to Paris whilst she was still young.

In August, 1847, her foster father went to America to found a business, and she accompanied him as far as Havre. On the return journey from Havre to Paris, she travelled with Alfred Meissner, the Austrian poet and play-wright, then a young man forced to travel abroad for a time by the political unrest in Bohemia. The day after this encounter Meissner left Paris for Germany, and knew his fellow traveller by the name of "Margot" only.

In 1849, Meissner was again in Paris. One April morning, whilst sitting in his