ABSTRACT
In the era of month-long journeys when people relied on 'occasions' rather than on regular mail for sending letters, spas were the crossroads at which Europeans met and exchanged news. Spas retained their importance for intelligence gathering even after telegraph and railroads made communication easier and swifter. As Alfred de Gramont said, people of their class did not gossip, but they paid attention to other people talking. From this point of view, spa cures doubled as reconnoitering expeditions in case of diplomats and military. Intelligence gathering at spas usually took the form of trading news. The active part that women played in gathering intelligence at spas is understandable: informal, unofficial politics were the only kind in which they could participate. Countess Nesselrode and her friend Daria Lieven were brought up in an environment in which politics was the main occupation. Spa acquaintances produced very rewarding character sketches of statesmen drawn by those who observed and listened to them at leisure.
