Has Nicolas Sarkozy's eye wandered from the fine detail of economic reform? Although it could be argued that the man who can tame the well-travelled model, Carla Bruni, is surely the man to bring France's trade unions to heel, the basic question remains, how does he find the time?

Perhaps it is appropriate that the Elysée Palace was once the private home of Madame de Pompadour. For, among the traditions that have survived France's transition from monarchy to republic, is the head of state's preference for a colourful private life.

Those who have focused on Ms Bruni's past affairs with fading British rock stars can rest assured that she cannot possibly compromise the dignity of the French State as much as Marguerite Steinheil, who at the height of the belle époque was the mistress of President Félix Faure.

Like Ms Bruni, her name was linked to leading composers and artists of the day. Besides a number of French politicians, she was also believed to have been the occasional playmate of Russia's Grand Duke Vladimir and the King of Siam.

The official explanation for her daily visits to the Elysée was that she was helping President Faure write his memoirs, often late into the night. Unfortunately, it was during one of these pressing sessions in 1899 that the 58-year-old President, having taking some stimulating pills, suffered an apoplexy and expired après le petit mort.

The President's ecstatic last moments were not long a secret. There were knowing sniggers when his opponent, Georges Clemenceau, pronounced his tribute: “He wished to be Caesar, but ended up as Pompey”; a double entendre in French that could also mean: “He wished to be Caesar and ended up being pumped.”

To be found with one corpse was misfortune enough, but nine years later it was Madame Steinheil's fate to be discovered with two more. Her explanation was not convincing. She claimed to have been tied up and gagged by four mysterious hooded figures who, for reasons unclear, broke into her house and proceeded to strangle her artist husband and her elderly mother. Initially, no charges were brought but, increasingly shunned by society, she was caught trying to plant false evidence to shift suspicions on to her servant. She was arrested and incarcerated in the grim Saint-Lazare prison.

Her trial for murder created a worldwide media sensation. Despite giving contradictory evidence, she put on one of the great performances of her life. To a mixture of cheers and incredulous gasps, the enchanted all-male jury found her not guilty.

She wrote her memoirs, moved to England, married Lord Abinger and eventually died, unnoticed, in a Hove nursing home in 1954. And people worry that Ms Bruni is a bit racy.

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