N 
 
 
 ^.'*^^*\<^ 
 
 
 -^^ *<» 
 
 O )» 
 
 >• A-^' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o • o^ 
 
 ♦^•v 
 
' 0* >- • 
 
 
 .*^^^>^ V^^ /<^Sh<' ^.. ^^* 
 
 
 5A ^^ -O.I'* G^ ^ - 
 
 
 
 
 
 -a- . ri^ o <• o ^ '>t^ <X^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 , o 
 
 ^* ^y ^. ^y^v^* 4.^^ ^^ ••-^^/ 'i 
 
A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
A GERMAN POMPADOUE 
 
 BEING THE EXTRAOKDINAHY HISTORY OF 
 
 WILHELMINE VON GEAVENITZ 
 
 LANDHOFMEISTERIN OF WIRTEMBERG 
 A Narrative of the Eighteenth Century 
 
 BY 
 
 MARIE HAY 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'DIANNE DE POYTIERS ' AND 
 * AN UNREQUITED LOYALTY ' 
 
 i" 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1909 
 
.«^^ 
 
 ^ .^^ 
 
 
 Originally Published . . June 1906 
 Second Jvipression . ■ . . September 1906 
 Neio Popular Edition . . October 1909 
 
 
 
 '^ 
 
THIS 
 
 BOOK OF MEMORIES 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 TO 
 
 A MEMORY 
 
PREFACE 
 
 * The Past that is not overpast, 
 But present here. ' 
 
 In a dusty, time-soiled packet of legal papers which had lain 
 untouched for nigh upon two hundred years, the extraordinary 
 history of Wilhelmine von Gravenitz is set forth in all the 
 colourless reticence of ofi&cial documents. And yet something 
 of the thrill of the superstitious fear, and the virtuous dis- 
 approval of the lawyers who composed these writings, pierces 
 through the stilted phrases. Like a faint fragrance of faded 
 rose-leaves, a breath of this woman's charm seems to cling 
 and elusively to peep out of the curt record of her crimes. 
 Enough at least to incite the wanderer in History's byways 
 to a further study of this potent German forerunner of the 
 Pompadour. 
 
 To search through the Stuttgart archives, to ferret out 
 forgotten books in dusty old book-shops, to fit together the 
 links in the chain of events of the woman's story, to haunt 
 the scenes of bygone splendour in deserted palace and castle, 
 old-world garden and desolate mansion; such has been the 
 delightful labour which has gone to the telling of the true 
 history of the Gravenitz. The Land-desp oiler the downtrodden 
 peasantry and indignant burghers named her, for they hated 
 her as their sort must ever hate the beautiful, elegant, haughty 
 woman of the great world. They called her sinner, which she 
 was ; and she called them canaille, which they probably were. 
 
 And traces of all this linger in Wiirttemberg.^ They still 
 deem the Countess Gravenitz a subject to be mentioned with 
 
 ^ Wiirttemberg was formerly and more correctly spelt Wirtemberg. This 
 ancient spelling has been retained in the present work. 
 
 h 
 
viii A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 bated breath — a thing too evil, too terrible, for polite conversa- 
 tion. The very guides at Ludwigsburg slur over her name, 
 and if they go so far as to mention her, they say : ' Ja, das war 
 aber eine schlimme Dame,' and turn the talk to something else. 
 But her memory lives magnificently in the great palace built 
 for her, in her little ' Chateau Joyeux ' of La Favorite, and in 
 the many beautiful properties which belonged to this extrava- 
 gant Land-despoiler. She came to Wtirttemberg when the 
 country was at a low financial ebb. Louis xiv. had preyed 
 upon the land for years. Robber raids they called these wars 
 which he waged for trumped-up pretexts. After these invasions 
 came the war of the Spanish succession, and Wiirttemberg 
 lying on the high-road from France to Austria, the belligerent 
 armies swept over the Swabian land on their way to battle. 
 The Duke of Wiirttemberg, loyal to his Suzerain the Emperor 
 at Vienna, joined in the fray and fought bravely at the side 
 of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy against the French 
 terror. When Blenheim had been fought and won, the war- 
 tide swept northwards to the Netherlands, leaving Southern 
 Germany for the nonce at rest, and Eberhard Ludwig . of 
 Wiirttemberg repaired to Stuttgart to attend to his Duchy's 
 government. Now began the love-story of his life, the 
 long-drawn episode which made his name a target for the 
 gossip and scandal of early eighteenth-century Germany ; the 
 episode which changed the simple, stiff family life of the 
 Wiirttemberg ducal circle to a brilliant, festive court, which 
 travellers tell us in their memoirs vied in magnificence with 
 the glories of Versailles itself. 
 
 M. H. 
 
 Stuttgart, 1905. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE INTRIGUE, 
 
 PAGE 
 1 
 
 II. 
 
 THE AVE MARIA, . . . 
 
 13 
 
 III. 
 
 THE FIRST STEP, .... 
 
 27 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE JOURNEY, . . 
 
 50 
 
 V. 
 
 THE PLAY-ACTING, . 
 
 68 
 
 VI. 
 
 LOVE'S SPRINGTIDE, 
 
 82 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE FULFILMENT, . 
 
 90 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE GHETTO, 
 
 103 
 
 IX. 
 
 'SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME,' . 
 
 116 
 
 X. 
 
 THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO, 
 
 129 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE MOCK MARRIAGE, . . . 
 
 153 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE MOCK COURT, . . . 
 
 167 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE duchess's BLACK ROOMS, 
 
 181 
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE SECOND MARRIAGE, 
 
 196 
 
 XV. 
 
 THE RETURN, 
 
 212 
 
 XVI. 
 
 LUDWIGSBURG, . 
 
 224 
 
 XVII. 
 
 THE BURNING IN EFFIGY, . 
 
 242 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 THE sinner's palace, . 
 
 . 261 
 
 XIX. 
 
 THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW, . 
 
 279 
 
 XX. 
 
 SATIETY, . . . 
 
 302 
 
 XXI. 
 
 THE DOWNFALL, . . . . 
 
 . 325 
 
 XXII. 
 
 XvAOXj ■ • • • • 
 
 . 350 
 
A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE INTRIGUE 
 ' E3 ist eine Hofkabale.'— Schiller. 
 
 On the outskirts of the village of Oberhausen in South 
 Wirtemberg stands a deserted house. Eats are its only 
 denizens now ; rats and the * poor ghosts/ so the peasants say. 
 Two hundred years ago this eerie mansion was occupied by 
 living men and women, perchance the ghosts of to-day. Who 
 can tell ? But I, who have grown to love them, having studied 
 the depths of their hearts, I pray that they may rest them 
 well in their graves, and that the Neuhaus ghosts be not my 
 friends of 1705, 
 
 It was a fitting place for intrigues this Neuhaus, standing as 
 it did so near in actual mileage to the court of Stuttgart, and 
 hard by the Jesuit centre of Eottenburg. The high-road was 
 close at hand, yet Neuhaus, shut off by peaceful fields, was 
 hidden from the passer-by, and here began the great intrigue, 
 as it was called then. Of a truth the plot, as it was conceived, 
 was no mighty thing ; it was designed, as many another gossamer 
 web of court gallantry and petty pecuniary gain, for obscure 
 individuals; but great it became through the potent will of 
 a woman. 
 
 On a dreary November afternoon of the year 1705, a party 
 of four was assembled in the Neuhaus, the seldom-used 
 country mansion of Madame de Ruth, an important personage 
 at Stuttgart's court, and of Monsieur de Ruth, an undistin- 
 guished character, who played no role that we know of, save 
 to bequeath his ancient name — and the Neuhaus — to his relict. 
 
 The house was a long, two-storied building, with large, 
 black wooden beams showing quaintly outside against the 
 
 A 
 
2 A. GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 white plastered walls ; it was no imposing structure, but a 
 certain air of melancholy aloofness lent it distinction. 
 
 A high wall shut off the village street on the one side, 
 while to the south and east the mansion was surrounded by 
 a garden. A row of beech-trees grew close to the windows, 
 a narrow pathway led from a side door across the garden to a 
 vast orchard. It was doubtless a beautiful spot in spring or 
 summer, but on this November afternoon it was inexpressibly 
 dreary. The rain had beaten down the unkempt grass, which 
 lay in draggled sheaves along the edges of the pathway. 
 Brown, fallen beech leaves made a sodden carpet around the 
 tree-roots ; the trees themselves, bare and gaunt, lifted their 
 grey, leafless branches towards the hurrying, wind-driven 
 clouds. The wind moaned fitfully round the house ; every 
 now and then, as though in uncontrollable wrath, it broke 
 forth into a whistling howl. At intervals bursts of rain were 
 borne by the tempest against the windows, adding a hurried 
 patter to the tapping of the long beech branches, which grew 
 near enough to enable the wind to drive them against the 
 window-panes, while the greater branches strained and creaked 
 in the blast. Eain-laden clouds swept across the sky, hasten- 
 ing the darkness of approaching night. It seemed strange 
 that on so desolate a gloaming the inmates of the Neuhaus 
 had not drawn the curtains to shut out the sadness of the 
 storm-ravaged garden. The windows remained like despair- 
 ing, unblinking eyes gazing at the desolate scene without. 
 The room wherein was assembled the small company was 
 unlit, save from the glow from the embers in the stove. The 
 upper grating had been opened, and in the furnace a handful 
 of half-dry wood sputtered and crackled, rising sometimes to 
 a momentary flame, in whose glow four persons threw strangely 
 contorted shadows on the ceiling. But for this, and a faint, 
 uncertain light which crept through the windows, the room 
 was entirely dark. When the wood flared, a lady seated to 
 the left of the stove cast a caricature-like shadow slantwise on 
 the ceiling, her head seeming gigantic in its piled-up masses 
 of elaborately dressed hair. In the middle of the room was a 
 huddled figure bending over the centre table. It seemed to 
 be a mere heap of dark garments. The firelight caught and 
 
THE INTRIGUE 3 
 
 illumined a white ruffle and large pale hand belonging to this 
 figure, but as it was flung out across the sombre covering of 
 the table, the arm was invisible, and only the hand in the 
 ruffled sleeve could be seen, and it seemed like some hideous 
 dismembered thing. Outlined against the fading light stood 
 a tall figure with an enormous ringleted wig falling far over 
 the shoulders. When this being moved, his shadow, thrown 
 upon the ceiling by the embers' glow, appeared to join in the 
 wavering, dance-like movements of the other shadows, and 
 seemed like some ungainly monster. One portion of the 
 room was not reached either by light of fire or fading day, 
 and out of this utter darkness came the sound of repressed 
 sobbing, which alone revealed the presence of a fourth member 
 of this lugubrious party. For many minutes the silence was 
 unbroken save for the stealthy sobbing, the sough of the wind 
 without, the pattering rain, and the tap-tap of the twigs on 
 the windows, sounding for all the world like the fumbling of 
 invisible fingers seeking for admittance. The man at the 
 centre table broke silence at length. 
 
 'Impossible!' he said in a harsh voice. * Madame la Baronne 
 cannot imagine we can live in Stuttgart at the court,' this last 
 pompously, in spite of the real distress of the voice. * How can 
 we ? on five hundred gulden a year and debts to pay — alas ! 
 ISTo ! I must return to the army, only coming on leave once 
 a year to fulfil my court appointment ; and, Marie, you must 
 live in Eottenburg with your mother while I am away.' 
 
 At this a figure moved out of the darkness behind the 
 stove, and another fantastic shadow was cast upon the ceiling. 
 
 ' Never, Friedrich ! It is cruel to ask it. You know well 
 enough that, if you did not gamble, we could live quite finely 
 on what we have got. Your duties as Kammerjunker need 
 not keep you for ever in Stuttgart ;- we might live in Eotten- 
 burg.' She clasped her hands, her voice trembled between 
 tears and anger. 
 
 'Eottenburg ' The man's voice was full of scorn, 
 
 vibrating with derision. ' Ah ! yes ! — Mass each morning, 
 and ' 
 
 ' Friedrich, I will never let you return to the army ; rather 
 would I humble myself before that wicked woman, Madame 
 
4 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 de Geyling, and beg her to influence Serenissimus to give you 
 a higher and better paid appointment. I tell you ' 
 
 ' Madame/ broke in a deep voice, and the figure at the 
 window moved forward, ' there are other ways of gaining gold at 
 court ; a beautiful woman need never be poor, I can vouch ' 
 
 ' Monsieur de Stafforth ! • almost shouted the first speaker, 
 ' you address my wife ! I am poor, but the honour of a wife 
 of a Gravenitz shall not be smirched/ 
 
 ' Your pardon, Kammerjunker, but we were discussing 
 necessities, not ideals, and surely I proposed a great honour. 
 Serenissimus is charming ; besides, there are others ' 
 
 The hostess, whose shadow we have seen on the ceiling, 
 rose and joined the three disputants. 
 
 ' My friends, only fools end their conclaves with quarrels. 
 We have been discussing ways and means for the continuance 
 of our friends Monsieur and Madame de Gravenitz's court 
 life, and finding no practical scheme, here is Gravenitz crying 
 out that he will return to the army. Marie Gravenitz, after 
 sobbing her heart out, flies into a rage and declares she will 
 go whining to that upstart Geyling ! And you. Monsieur 
 de Stafforth, Hofmarshall and successful courtier, propose 
 terms to a young husband in so unpolished a fashion, that 
 even a peasant would be obliged to retort with the old 
 affectation of a wife's honour and purity. Now hear me ; I 
 
 know the court better than you do ' The darkness hid the 
 
 meaning smiles which played over the lips of the others, for 
 Prau von Ruth (Madame de Ruth as she was named at court, 
 German being considered as a language only fitting for 
 peasants' use) was well known to have a knowledge of court 
 life not compatible with strictly decorous behaviour. * "Well ! 
 and I say to you, where there is a court there is always a 
 way. And if you will so far honour me as to drink a bowl 
 of punch to lighten our wits, we may find some solution of 
 our friends' difBculties. First let me call for lights, and let me 
 shut out this dreary evening. Courage, my friends ! I warrant 
 we shall smile some day at our present desperate straits, 
 and meanwhile " to wait " is the verb we must conjugate.' 
 
 Madame de Ruth went to the door and called for light. 
 A sullen - faced - peasant boy appeared, carrying two silver 
 
THE INTRIGUE 6 
 
 candlesticks of a handsome old German design. He placed 
 them on the middle table, and the feeble yellow flame of the 
 waxen tapers shed a flicker into the long, gloomy room. Then 
 he stood idly staring, with the heavy duU-wittedness of the 
 Swabian peasant. Madame de Ruth' eyed him for a moment, 
 with that half-humorous, half-pitying glance which she was 
 wont to bestow on those she found stupid. She was an odd- 
 tempered, free - mannered woman, deeply crafty, absolutely 
 unmoral, and yet with a true kindliness of heart and a 
 thorough understanding of human nature which, together with 
 her ready laugh, her clever, indecorous anecdotes and sharp 
 wit, made her attractive. For these traits people forgave her 
 her ugly face and fifty years of a past even less reputable 
 than was usual in the eighteenth century. 
 
 In her early youth, it was whispered, the Duke Wilhelm 
 Ludwig, father of the reigning Duke of "VVirtemberg, had 
 initiated her into the ways of the world in general and of 
 courts in particular; in gratitude wherefore she was reputed 
 to have performed the same office, twenty years later, for his 
 son Eberhard Ludwig. The Duke of Zollern, several Hohen- 
 lohes, and many . Gemmingens had been her slaves; not to 
 mention other less illustrious cavaliers to whom she had been 
 rather more than kind. She was now a useful friend to 
 princes, and new arrivals at court found her friendship in- 
 dispensable, especially if the new arrival happened to be a 
 lady with aspirations to royal favour and a career. Up to 
 date these careers had been brilliant but short, and Madame 
 de Ruth had generally played an important part in each. 
 
 ' Ah ! Dieu ! ces paysans, quelles brutes ! ' she said, as she 
 looked at her servant ; and then speaking in the rough Wirtem- 
 berg dialect she continued : ' Heinrich, thy mother gave thee 
 hands ; God knows thy father did not forget thy big feet. Use 
 both and bring the punch, as I told thee; or I will give thee 
 hay for thy evening meal, as were fitting for an ass's feed ! ' 
 This somewhat drastic speech seemed to please the lad and to 
 stir up his slow wits, but the company looked surprised at the 
 familiarity of the ' thou/ it being the general custom in those 
 days for superiors to address their inferiors in the third person 
 singular. Directly to address a serving-man or maid was deemed 
 
6 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 incorrect, for it would have betokened an unfitting equality. 
 However, Madame de Euth's peasant lad responded with 
 alacrity to his lady's homely speech, and iu an astonishiugly 
 short time he reappeared with an enormous bowl of the stean^ 
 ing hot spirits — the punch, which Marlborough's army had 
 brought into fashion on the Continent, and which the damp of 
 South Germany in the autumn made a welcome beverage. 
 
 ' Come, my friends, and drink to the sharpening of our wits, 
 which are strangely dull this evening. I must announce to 
 you that I await the visit to-night of the Duke of Zollern, but 
 this cruel weather has proved, I fear, too much even for his 
 youthful sixty years.' 
 
 * Madame/ said Monsieur de Stafforth, ' if the Duke of 
 Zollern does not brave the elements, in order to visit you, he 
 must indeed be feeling his sixty years.' 
 
 * Stafforth, do not flatter me in that tone. I adore flattery, 
 but a stupid compliment is worse than an insult. You know 
 the Duke of Zollern and myself have long ceased incommod- 
 ing ourselves for each other's sakes, with the consequence that 
 we are really friends. He sees me when he wishes, and I see 
 him when I feel inclined. After twenty years nous avons fini 
 nos simagrdes-\ but after all, listen, I think I hear wheels.' 
 Her ugly old face flushed through the overlying paint and 
 powder. In spite of her protest, Madame de Euth had a 
 remnant of her youth — a poor, faded flower of sentiment for 
 this old man. A huge lumbering coach drew up at the door, 
 and therefrom descended a small and shrunken figure, with a 
 wrinkled, dried-up face. A voluminous peruke fell over the 
 padded shoulders, rich lace ruffles adorned the sleeves of the 
 brown satin longcoat, a waistcoat of heavily embroidered 
 brocade reached far down, nearly to the shrunken knees, 
 below which were a pair of calves thin as pipe-stems and 
 adorned with brown silken hose; the shoes were of brown 
 leather with high, red heels and enormous ribbon rosettes and 
 diamond buckles. One withered hand held a cane with a 
 china top, on which, could you have examined it, you would 
 have found mythological subjects depicted with much delicacy 
 of workmanship, but less delicacy of sentiment. A beau in- 
 deed, elegant, lavish, and with that air for the which Monsieur 
 
THE INTRIGUE 7 
 
 de Stafforth, adventurer and burgher by birth, would have 
 given many a year of his successful climbing career to have 
 possessed even a shade, — the indescribable and inimitable air 
 of tl e Grand Seigneur. 
 
 Madame de Euth met this gentleman at the door of her 
 abode, her peasant servant standing behind her, holding a 
 flaring torch to light the entry of his Grace. She curtseyed 
 deeply, and Monsieur de Zollern, having successfully hobbled 
 from his coach, returned her salute with so tremendous a bow, 
 that the long feather of his three-cornered hat swept the floor. 
 
 * I had almost given up the expectation of your visit, Mon- 
 seigneur,' said the lady, ' but now you are here, the pleasure is 
 all the greater ' ; and as he bowed once more over her hand, she 
 whispered : ' Pleasure you always gave me, dear friend.' 
 
 * Madame ch^re amie, those times are past, alas ! Enfin ! 
 we can still laugh together.' 
 
 They passed on through the gloomy corridor, and Madame 
 de Euth herself threw open the door of the salon, crying as 
 she did so : ' The Duke of Zollern and Punch together must 
 make even a dark day bright I' 
 
 ' Madame, in these days the last title might describe me 
 perfectly,' he said. Then as he saw the inquiring look on the 
 faces around him, he added : ' Autrefois j'etais polichon, aujour- 
 d'hui, helas ! ne suis-je qu'un vieux Polichinelle — " Punch " 
 they call it in England.' 
 
 * Monseigneur, Punch must be a pretty wit indeed if he 
 be like your Grace/ said Stafforth, with his usual desire to 
 ingratiate himself with the great of the earth ; but Monsieur 
 de Zollern did not deign to answer. Like Madame de Euth 
 he preferred less directly expressed adulation. *The fine 
 flavour of flattery is delicious,' he was wont to aver, * but like 
 all else in life, to practise it requires an expert or a genius. 
 Open compliments on any subject are like sausages, to be 
 appreciated by peasants and our greasy friends the burghers, 
 but for us — we cannot digest them ! ' So he looked away 
 from Stafforth, giving his attention to the Gravenitz couple. 
 * Madame de Gravenitz,' he said, * I observed you at Mass in 
 the Cathedral of Eottenburg a few days since. God forgives 
 the inattention at Mass of an old man when he sleeps; of 
 
8 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 a young man when he loves ; and the wandering attention 
 of an old man blessed with a young heart the Almighty will 
 surely pardon, for He Himself must admire beauty, since He 
 made it.' Madame de Gravenitz looked perturbed. She was a 
 good and conscientious Catholic, and this light way of speaking 
 of things sacred seemed alarmingly daring to her ; also, being 
 rather stupid, it bewildered her, and she had no answer for the 
 old courtier. 
 
 ' Ah, Monsieur de Gravenitz,' continued Zollern, ' what 
 news from Mecklemburg? Does not your heart smite you 
 when you think of the country which gave you birth? ' 
 
 ' Monseigneur, it was the only gift Mecklemburg ever gave 
 me, and indeed, to-night I am hardly grateful for the gift. 
 What is the use of life when it is so fierce a struggle not to 
 die of hunger?' he said, and drained his glass of punch. 'I 
 have such simple tastes. — Madame de Ruth, may I drink 
 another glass of your excellent punch ? — I have such simple 
 tastes, and even these I cannot satisfy ! ' 
 
 The Duke of Zollern watched him, and his fine smile was 
 more of a commentary than many a spoken word. Gravenitz 
 observing it broke into a laugh, which was echoed by the 
 company. 
 
 * Monseigneur,' said Madame de Ruth, * we have been sitting 
 here in the dark for two hours discussing Gravenitz's future. 
 I mean, of course, his fortune ; we always say future when we 
 mean fortune ! He vows that if more gulden cannot be lured 
 into his pocket, he must retire from court. We can find 
 no way out of our friend's dilemma. Can you suggest some 
 course ? ' 
 
 ' Madame, to serve a friend of yours I am always ready ! 
 Surely Serenissimus will not willingly lose a courtier he has 
 delighted in ; but at this moment, I believe, Monsieur de 
 Stafforth will bear me out when I say all the court charges 
 are engaged ; and Monsieur de Gravenitz, not being of the 
 sex, cannot hold the most important charge of any court, for 
 Madame de Gey ling usurps that ! So what can I suggest ? ' 
 
 Madame de Ruth was thoughtful for a moment ; then, throw- 
 ing up her hands, she exclaimed : ' And you call me a woman 
 with wits ? For two long hours have we deliberated and 
 
THE INTRIGUE 9 
 
 found nothing, and it needed the punch-bowl to give me 
 an idea ! We want three things, nay, four : to help Gravenitz 
 with funds ; to dethrone that Geyling, whose airs and graces 
 have become intolerable; Monsieur de Stafforth seeks a 
 friend in the Duke's intimate, most intimate, council ; and 
 our Mother Church desires a friend there too/ She ticked 
 off each succeeding clause on her much-beringed fingers. 
 
 ' Monsieur de Gravenitz, you once told me you had a pretty 
 sister wasting her charms at Gtistrow. Let us put her in 
 the Geyling's place ! A few years of that envied position 
 and we achieve our first two objects ! Stafforth, my friend, 
 you are the man to find means of gaining your aims thereby 
 as well.' The adventurer smiled fatuously. ' And the Church 
 — ah, we forget the Church ! ' At these words the mocking 
 smile faded from Zollern's face; his expression was that of 
 a man whose interest was stirred, as indeed it was ; for though 
 to Monseigneur de ZoUern there was nothing sacred, and he 
 subjected all things to his biting wit, he gave conscientious 
 allegiance to the Church of Eome, which he regarded as the 
 only faith fitted for a gentleman. He belonged to the political 
 party desirous of governing Wirtemberg in conjunction with 
 the Jesuits. No matter that the people were strict and bigoted 
 Protestants, or that the adoption of Eoman Catholicism would 
 mean the revolt of half the population; he considered the 
 religious beliefs of burghers to be but pawns in that vast 
 political game which was being played at that time in Europe, 
 and in Germany in particular, under the name of religion. 
 , Wirtemberg was governed by a Protestant ruler, the people 
 regarded the Eoman Faith as the religion of Antichrist, but 
 the nobles were nearly all Catholics ; and as long as Wirtem- 
 berg remained Protestant, they, naturally, played but small 
 roles in the government The peasants of Wirtemberg had 
 more freedom than any other people of the Empire. A 
 heavy, stubborn race, these Wirtembergers, hating their French- 
 speaking rulers and jealously safeguarding those ancient rights 
 and liberties accorded to them by the testament of Eberhard 
 der Greiner in 1514. This Magna Charta of Swabia granted 
 the people a degree of freedom which was exceedingly irksome 
 to the Dukes of Wirtemberg. The nobles of the land who 
 
10 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 regarded themselves as too mighty to attend the petty court 
 of Stuttgart, for the most part sulked in their castles, or 
 repaired to the imperial court in Vienna. The Dukes of 
 Wirtemberg had perforce accepted this with as good grace as 
 possible, but when Eberhard Ludwig attained his majority he 
 welcomed foreigners from every part of Germany, forming 
 from this band of usually noble, but invariably penniless, 
 adventurers a court of a certain magnificence and brilliance. 
 'Here it is possible to enrich oneself; whereas in all other 
 courts it is impossible not to be ruined,' Monsieur de 
 Pollnitz tells us of the Wirtemberg of Eberhard Lud wig's 
 day. 
 
 It was in this wise that Stafforth, a man of little birth from 
 Hanover, had succeeded in becoming an important person, and 
 even pushed and intrigued himself into the high position of 
 Oberhofmarshall. 
 
 Herr Friedrich Wilhelm von Gravenitz, another courtier 
 and newcomer, was a gentleman of Mecklemburg. He had 
 served in one of the Mecklemburg regiments attached to 
 Marlborough's troops when that great general, with the Im- 
 perial Army, defended the banks of the Rhine from the 
 invasion of Louis xiv. 
 
 Duke Eberhard Ludwig espoused the cause of his suzerain, 
 the Austrian Emperor, and at the head of such troops as he 
 could muster out of Wirtemberg joined the Allied Army 
 serving under the Duke of Marlborough. On his return from 
 the campaign he brought with him, on a visit to Stuttgart, 
 several gentlemen, his comrades in arms, among whom was 
 Gravenitz. This young soldier having little to gain by return- 
 ing to Mecklemburg, and finding Stuttgart a pleasant abode, 
 remained at Eberhard Ludwig's court ; married a Eraulein von 
 Stuben of Rottenburg on the Neckar, hard by Tiibingen ; was 
 created Kammerjunker to the Duke, and, as we have just 
 seen, felt himself in spite of this office but ill-rewarded for 
 having taken domicile in Wirtemberg. 
 
 ' The Church, Madame,' said the Duke of ZoUern, ' is in so 
 sorry a plight in this country, that she will certainly be ready 
 to assist herself by the means you mention. But, in this case, 
 we are not sure if the " means " be willing ; for I fear Made- 
 
THE INTRIGUE 11 
 
 moiselle de Gravenitz, like her brother, is of the Protestant 
 sect ? Is that not so, Gravenitz ? ' 
 
 * Monseigneur, my sister is not made of martyr stuff. I 
 fancy that she would be willing to further the aims of the 
 Church, were it in her power to do so, and if it were clearly 
 to her advantage. We are talking openly,' he added with a 
 slight flush, for he was still young, only four-and-twenty, and 
 more used to the ruder if more honest code of the camp, than 
 to court manners and customs. 
 
 'Now let us consider our strategics,' said Madame de Euth. 
 ' Bonte divine ! How it refreshes one to have a scheme on 
 hand ! Stafforth, you say nothing ? Marie, you are shocked ; 
 how foolish in this workaday world ! Why, girl, each does 
 what he can ; and, believe me, it is not a lazy life I propose for 
 your sister-in-law. God does not forgive the lazy — it is one 
 of the deadly sins — especially at court. AUons ! Let us con- 
 sider : Monsieur de Stafforth remind us of the dates of the 
 coming court festivities ! A ball ? No ! A ball is useful during 
 a well- started intrigue. I have it! there will be theatricals 
 in the Lusthaus on the 29th of April. Three days ? Perfect ! 
 And your sister sings ? Gravenitz, how does she sing ? ' 
 
 ' Well, Madame, divinely well ; but her voice is deep, very 
 low — a dark rich voice that mad old dreamer, the school- 
 master at Giistrow, calls it ' he began, but the garrulous 
 
 lady interrupted eagerly : 
 
 ' Heaven guard the boy for a simpleton ! Do you not know 
 the invincible thrill of the new, the unaccustomed ? We are 
 all sick to death of the Geyling's shrill pipe ; your sister's voice 
 would be invaluable, as a contrast.' 
 
 * When Madame de Euth talks it is like the ripple of the 
 brooks,' said Zollern laughing ; * your pardon, dear friend, that 
 I interrupt ! Your plan is admirable, but first let us get the 
 lady here, see her, hear her, and then we shall know what 
 to do. Meanwhile I must go homewards. Monsieur de Berga, 
 my old friend, who bores me with his virtue but holds me by 
 his well-tried affection, awaits me for supper, and I have a 
 long road before me ere I get to my house.' 
 
 So saying, the Duke of Zollern rose to depart. * Berga ! ' 
 laughed Madame de Euth, ' there is the very man we want for 
 
12 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the end of our intrigue ! When his Highness has plucked 
 the flower and enjoyed its sweetness, we will give it to Berga 
 to dry between the leaves of his Bible ! He shall marry 
 Mademoiselle de Gravenitz in a few years' time ; it will be a 
 pious act for him, and a small reward to us for having borne 
 his lectures with such good grace this twenty years.' Zollern 
 smiled. He knew his austere old friend too well, and he could 
 not picture him in the ridiculous role of husband of a cast-off 
 courtesan. With a profound salute the old beau took leave 
 of the company, and followed his hostess into the ill-lit 
 corridor. 
 
 ' A fine plan, dear friend, a very fine plan ! By the way, let 
 us hope this Gravenitz girl talks a little better French than 
 does her sister-in-law. I verily believe Madame Eriedrich de 
 Gravenitz prefers peasant German to our own speech, and at 
 court no word of that inelegant language could be tolerated.' 
 
 Once more he bent over Madame de Ruth's hand, murmur- 
 ing, ' Merci de mes souvenirs, amie bien chere,' and then 
 he climbed back into his heavy coach and drove out into the 
 stormy darkness. Madame de Ruth watched the lights of 
 the carriage disappearing, and with a sigh re-entered the salon, 
 where she found Gravenitz writing a letter to his sister, helped 
 by suggestions from Oberhofmarshall Stafforth. 
 
OHAPTEK II 
 
 THE AVE MAKIA 
 
 A EOOM with rudely bulging plaster walls, once painted a harsh 
 blue, now toned by time and damp to a hundred parti-coloured 
 patches. A rough, uneven floor; for furniture a narrow, 
 oaken bedstead, a heavy chair lamed by four legs of various 
 heights, a rickety table steadied by a pad of rags beneath one 
 foot, a long chest of painted wood : such was the sleeping- 
 room of Wilhelmine von Gravenitz, in her mother's house at 
 Giistrow in Mecklemburg. And here on a December morning 
 of the year 1705 Wilhelmine sat disconsolately on the edge of 
 the narrow bed. A feeble ray of winter sunshine crept through 
 the small lattice window and made the dust twirl in a straight 
 shaft of haze. The sunbeam kissed a cheerfulness into the 
 dreary chamber, but the girl evidently felt no answering thrill 
 of gladness, for she remained in her dejected attitude gloomily 
 contemplating the dust dancing in the sunray. It was bitterly 
 cold, and the feeble sun seemed only a teasing trick of nature, 
 emphasising the general unfriendliness of the morning. Wil- 
 helmine shivered in her thin bedgown, but she made no 
 movement towards clothing herself ; she was a prey to a mood 
 of profound melancholy, and her expression was mournful, 
 almost sinister. Though hers was a strangely haunting face, 
 giving the impression of loveliness, yet, had one called this girl 
 beautiful, it would have conveyed a totally erroneous picture 
 of her, and but ill defined her subtle fascination. Her features 
 were irregular, a trifle heavy perchance, with high cheek bones 
 and massive square chin, with a cleft in the centre as though 
 the Master Sculptor had said : ' This were too strong a face 
 for a woman ; I will give her a hint of tenderness to make her 
 utterly irresistible,' and so He had planted a child's dimple in 
 
 13 
 
14 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 her chin and another near her lips when she smiled. Wilhel- 
 mine was over-tall, lithe of limb, and spare as a Greek runner ; 
 then suddenly, unexpectedly, full breasted — surprising, when 
 one considered the rest of her proportions. Her hair was deep 
 brown, nearly black, save where the light showed a tinge of 
 red, a glint of gold. It was almost too abundant ; like a rich, 
 virulent weed it grew triumphant. Her lips were thin yet 
 perfectly modelled, a long gracious curve ; the upper lip a 
 trifle thicker and short below the sensitive, wide-open nostrils. 
 The brow serene and white, heavy over the deep-set blue eyes. 
 And the eyes I No one could ever describe Wilhelmine von 
 Gravenitz's eyes, or no two persons could agree concerning 
 them, which comes to the same thing. They were blue and 
 deeply set, the lids heavy, the lashes short and thick, the eye- 
 brows strongly marked, arched and almost joining over the 
 nose. But these are mere outward presentments, and tell 
 nothing of the spirit living in those marvellous eyes. This 
 was a thing of vital force, for ever changeful. Even the colour 
 of her eyes was varying, and yet there was a curious persist- 
 ency of gaze, a power of fixing. The Gustrow citizens called 
 Wilhelmine von Gravenitz witch and sorceress because of 
 these strange eyes ; they said she could freeze men with a look, 
 that she had a serpent's gaze that grew cold and petrifying, 
 when she chose, and yet those who loved her (they were not 
 many) knew that her eyes could dance with laughter like a 
 child's, that they could soften to tenderness, could glow with 
 enthusiasm over a song or poem. But these softer moods 
 were rare ; in Wilhelmine's life there was little to call forth a 
 gentle feeling. She lived alone with her mother in the small 
 dark house, her brother Friedrich was away at the wars, her 
 elder sister had married a middle-class personage of the name 
 of Sittmann, a struggling Berlin merchant ; and thus Wilhel- 
 mine led a dull life enough, for she despised the homely 
 Gustrow citizens, who in return disliked and feared her and 
 called her witch. Erau von Gravenitz was a talkative dame, 
 who passed her days in gossip and in waiting for news of her 
 son Eriedrich — ' my soldier son at the wars with our brave 
 Mecklemburgians, who follow the allied army under the great 
 Englishman Malbruck!' as she informed her neighbours a 
 
THE AVE MARIA 15 
 
 hundred times a day. Upon Willielniine she lavished little 
 affection, grudging her the scanty fare, and continually remind- 
 ing her that she must marry. *And who is more fitting a 
 husband than Herr Pastor Muller ? * sJie would add. ' Though,' 
 she grumbled, ' he is not of noble birth, still he is a solid man ; 
 and really in these days, when all the country is upset and 
 one never knows when the French King and his wicked- 
 ness may come upon us ; what with one thing and another, 
 indeed, a maiden may be pleased to find even a plebeian pro- 
 tector.' Thus she rambled on in her sharp voice, yet there 
 was cause for her anxiety, and truth lay beneath her cackle, 
 but the wisdom of age is often obscured by its presentment. 
 
 Wilhelmine paid little heed to her mother's eloquence ; 
 though this morning, as she sat on the edge of her bed, it was 
 of those daily tirades that she thought. 
 
 Erau von Gravenitz was a sore trial. The food in her 
 house was poor and scanty. The house itself dirty and 
 untidy, with one peasant girl to do all the work. Wilhelmine 
 hated this misery. She dreamed of ease and plenty, of soft 
 linen, of bright garments, of balls and masques, of gaiety and 
 splendour. 
 
 Pastor Muller had none of these things to offer, she reflected ; 
 and she saw in prospect long years of dull sermons to be 
 yawned through, stockings — thick, ugly stockings — to darn, 
 stuffy respectability ! — A timid knock came at the door, and 
 Wilhelmine called the permission to enter, in a voice still 
 clouded and harsh from her dreary reflections. The door 
 opened, disclosing a curious and pathetic figure wrapped in 
 a tattered homespun cloak. 
 
 It seemed to be a child, for it had but childhood's growth ; yet 
 the body had the clumsy decrepitude of old age. The shoulders 
 were high and pointed; the long; emaciated arms reached 
 almost to the ground. Enormous hands hung on these poor 
 limbs — hands for a very big woman, beautiful hands ; for in 
 spite of their huge size they were wonderfully modelled and 
 imposingly strong, with the long, nervous fingers of the artist 
 or the enthusiast. The head was grotesquely oversized, 
 though essentially beautiful ; but it seemed like some sculptor's 
 masterpiece placed upon a ridiculous figure, or some fine 
 
16 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 boulder rock balanced absurdly on a narrow, crooked flower- 
 stem. The face arrested attention immediately ; it was 
 beautiful, finely cbiselled and of classic line, without a hint 
 of deformity or disease on its glowing health. The eyes were 
 large, liquid, appealing, yet painfully watchful, as are the eyes 
 of all the deformed. A yearning soul looked out of them, 
 longing for sympathy, suspicious of pity — pity which is of all 
 things most hateful to the cripple and the hunchback. As 
 she stood in the doorway, there was a look of almost stern 
 disapproval on her face, though the eyes softened with the 
 tenderness of a woman watching the gracious naughtiness 
 of a child. ^ 
 
 ' Wilhelmine,' she said, her grave glance meeting the other's 
 angry frown, ' Wilhelmine, what is it now ? Has the mother 
 been singing her usual song of poverty and marriage ? Come, 
 beloved one, never frown at me so; you know it hurts me 
 when you frown, more than the sneers and laughter which 
 I always hear around me. — My friend ! Nothing is worth a 
 frown, though many things are worth tears.' 
 
 Wilhelmine turned away abruptly. Anna Reinhard was her 
 friend, one of the few people in the world for whom she felt 
 affection ; but the pedantic words of the deformed girl often 
 irritated her, and she found that spoken wisdom of Anna's 
 infinitely wearisome, yet she was seldom querulous to her, 
 partly because of the real affection she bore her, partly from a 
 certain fear of the hunchback's quick wit and vehemence. 
 
 * No,' said Wilhelmine, ' it is not really the recollection of 
 mother's lectures which disturbs me ; but oh, Anna, this 
 existence is becoming unbearable ! It is all very well for 
 you ; you have your beloved books, and your religion to occupy 
 you, but I have got nothing, and I want so much ! Believe 
 me, all those things you call amusement and luxury are neces- 
 sities to me. I want to lie soft in sweet linen, to wear rich 
 clothes, to dance, and — yes, Anna, don't look wise and solemn ! 
 I want admiration, applause, power. Anna, Anna, I wish I 
 had been born like you ' (the hunchback shuddered), * yes, yes ' 
 You know what I mean ! To like those things you like, all of 
 which you can get' 
 
 'What foolishness!' broke in Anna; 'content with what 
 
THE AVE MARIA 17 
 
 one can have is the only happiness. Wilhelmine, some 
 day perhaps you will have the things you pine for, fa:c 
 more perhaps, and then you will want others, always 
 more !' 
 
 ' Give me these things, and I will not ask for more 1 ' burst 
 out Wilhelmine. 
 
 ' So you always say, Wilhelmine, and always will — even 
 when ' 
 
 ' Anna, you do not understand ! how could you ? I want 
 
 life and all that life holds ' She opened her strange, 
 
 grasping hands, and they closed over the other's wrists in a 
 compelling grip. 
 
 At this moment a clatter arose in the narrow, ill-paved 
 street, in which stood Frau von Gravenit^'s house. 
 
 A man on a mud-bespattered horse cantered to the door of 
 the Eathaus and pulled up with a flourish, blowing a shrill 
 blast on a horn. He was accoutred in the blue and silver 
 uniform which the Princes of Thurn and Taxis decreed to 
 be worn by the Imperial Post. 
 
 The Taxis were Hereditary Grand Masters of the Imperial 
 Post, which office- they had found to be a valuable source of 
 income, for the entire return of the exorbitant postal rates 
 went into their pockets ; still the people had cause for grati- 
 tude to the Taxis, as, at least, their care assured a tolerably 
 safe carrying of letters, and, to a certain extent, a systematised 
 postal service. 
 
 In those days the arrival of the mail was an important 
 event. It awoke the small German town from its habitual 
 slumberous dullness, and a letter caused its recipient to be 
 regarded as a person of consequence. 
 
 A crowd of town cronies and gossips immediately formed 
 round the horseman. They did not jask if he brought a letter ; 
 indeed, that was unlikely, but news ! news of the war ! What 
 were the Frenchmen doing ? had they gone back to their 
 godless country ? 
 
 The man answered these questions as best he might. He 
 knew little, he said, for he only carried despatches from 
 Schwerin. News of the war in the South? Well, — they 
 said in Schwerin that Marshal Villars had left Wirtemberg 
 
1§ A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 with his army, but there was a letter in his bag from Wirtem- 
 berg for the Fraulein von Gravenitz, and perchance she would 
 be able to tell them. At mention of this a busybody ran 
 up the narrow street, calling loudly : ' Fraulein Wilhelmine ! 
 Fraulein Wilhelmine ! there is a letter from your brother ! 
 Come and tell us the news of the army. He may tell when 
 to expect our soldiers' return/ 
 
 Wilhelmine, who had dressed hurriedly on hearing the post 
 arrive, came slowly down the street. She looked angrily at 
 the woman, for she hated the familiarity of the townsfolk and 
 resented their open curiosity. Did they expect her to read her 
 brother's letter aloud to a gaping group, as though it were a 
 public gazette ? B at she wanted the letter, and wished to 
 get it before her mother, hearing the tumult, could come and 
 snatch it from her. The people eyed the proud girl with no 
 good will. She was reserved and haughty, and some said she 
 had the evil eye. 
 
 The messenger handed her the letter and she walked quickly 
 away, followed by many a disapproving grunt and sarcastic 
 comment from the crowd. She gained the door of her mother's 
 house and, springing up the creaking stair, went quickly into 
 her room, shutting and bolting the door behind her, 
 
 ' Dear Sister,' — she read — ' Since last I wrote to thee, I 
 have left my Lord of Marlborough's army, being invited to 
 visit the court of my honoured brother in arms, Monseigneur 
 le Due de Wirtemberg. This happened six months since ; 
 meanwhile I have married Mademoiselle Marie von Stuben, a 
 lady of Eottenburg (a small town on the borders of my Lord 
 Duke's territory). I have been appointed Kammerjunker at 
 court, and shall not be returning to Gustrow for some time. I 
 write this news so that thou mayst break it gently to our 
 mother, who, I fear, may be disappointed in that I do not 
 return immediately to visit her. But assure her that I will 
 ride North to see her whenever I can, and that shortly I hope 
 to be in a position to offer her hospitality in Stuttgart. 
 
 ' I am convinced that it would be to thine advantage, dear 
 sister, if thou earnest immediately to visit us. Tell our 
 mother that I kno'w many rich noblemen here, and that I will 
 
THE AVE MAKIA 19 
 
 endeavour to arrange a marriage for thee, more fitting than the 
 alliance of our sister Sittmann. The great thing is that thou 
 shouidst set forth soon, for there will be court festivities in 
 the spring. After which, there is usually little gaiety until 
 the late autumn. 
 
 ' A good friend of mine, Madame de Euth of Oberhausen, is 
 willing to receive thee, and will arrange that thou shouidst 
 take part in these court gaieties. A thousand greetings to 
 our mother, and beg her, for my sake, to permit thee to travel 
 southward without too much delay. — Thy brother, 
 
 ' Eriedkich Wilhelm von Gravenitz, 
 
 ' Neuhaus, Oberhausen, 
 pres Rottenburg sur le Neckar. 
 
 WiRTEMBERG. Ce 29 Nov. 1705. 
 
 ' I hope thy friend Monsieur Gabriel has really taught thee 
 fine French, for no one speaks German here at court ; it is 
 considered as peasants' speech ! As thou wilt see, I do not 
 even write to thee in German ! French talk, French manners, 
 in spite of French battles ! * 
 
 Wilhelmine sat motionless for a few moments after she had 
 perused this effusion. In her mind she saw a succession of 
 pictures of courtly splendour and graceful adventure — and in 
 each she herself was the central figure. She looked around 
 her bare room; the bulging walls, the rude furniture. Her 
 eyes narrowed into that strange look of hers which the people 
 of Giistrow declared was like a serpent's gaze, and could hold 
 animals powerless as long as it was directed upon them. She 
 was thinking deeply — swiftly— and perhaps it was at this 
 moment that Wilhelmine von Gravenitz vowed her soul to 
 worldly success ; her indomitable will directed to the goal of 
 worldly power at all costs and at all hazards. She rose shiver- 
 ing. It was cheerless and cold in her room ; the momentary 
 gleam of the winter sun had died away, and the sky was grey 
 and heavy with coming snow. She unhooked her cloak from 
 the peg, fastened it round her, and with her letter hidden 
 away in the folds she stepped softly out and down the stair, 
 throwing a quick backward glance to see if her mother follow:ed 
 
20 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 or observed her. ISToiselessly she lifted the latch of the house 
 door and took her way up the narrow street. 
 
 She passed the old Rathaus with the quaint fourteenth- 
 century belfry, and the clock whence sprang out the brightly 
 painted leaden figure of a knight, to smite the chime with his 
 sword at each hour. In the market-place beneath, the weekly 
 market was being held ^ 
 
 Many small booths had been erected, and the venders were 
 expostulating with the citizens, who drove hard bargains with 
 them. It was a picturesque scene enough, had Wilhelmine 
 paused to watch — much colour in the peasants' dress, much 
 variety in the women's headgear, and over all the wonderful 
 old building, which would have delighted a painter's ' soul. 
 That morning Wilhelmine noted nothing of all this, though 
 on another occasion she would have taken pleasure in it, 
 for like most sensuous natures she had a keen feeling for 
 colour, and the grouping of a peasant crowd appealed to her 
 artistic eye; but that day she was so absorbed in her own 
 dreams that she did not even observe her mother walking 
 towards her, an expression of annoyance on her sharp features. 
 Wilhelmine started when Frau von Gravenitz, laying an 
 ungentle hand on her shoulder, said close to her ear : ' And 
 where may my fine daughter be going at so early an hour ? 
 Generally Miss Lie-abed is still reposing at nine of the clock ! ' 
 
 ' mother ! ' she answered, ' I am going to Monsieur 
 Gabriel for my singing lesson. God knows, you cannot grudge 
 me that, for he teaches me without payment.' Her quick wit 
 told her that to draw her mother's attention to this fruitful 
 source of complaint, her poverty, would ensure an escape 
 unquestioned. She reflected that she could tell of Friedrich's 
 letter, pretending she had received it on her way home. Or, 
 if her mother discovered the earlier delivery of the post, she 
 would say the angry attack in the market-place had made 
 her forget to mention it. This plan met with success, and 
 Frau von Gravenitz remained in the pleasurable throes of a 
 talkative woman with a grievance, holding forth to an appre- 
 ciative audience composed of several of her gossips, who had 
 gathered round as, soon as they heard her shrill excited tones. 
 A mai'ket- woman or two joined the group and stood with 
 
THE AYE MARIA 21 
 
 hands on hips, listening with open amusement, for the garru- 
 lous dame was a well-known character in the country town. - 
 
 As Wilhelmine gained the shelter of the dark street which 
 ran from the Marktplatz to the cathedral, she saw Pastor 
 Miiller's fat form added to her mother's assemblage. How she 
 hated that stout person, his pompous condescension to her, 
 and his greasy face ! 
 
 The Klosterstrasse seemed deliciously quiet after the noise 
 of the Marktplatz, and before her, at the end of the street, she 
 could see one tall buttress of the cathedral, and a corner of the 
 graveyard. She walked up the pathway between the tombs 
 and pushed open the heavy church door. The cathedral nave 
 was dark. Wilhelmine peered about and, thinking there was 
 no one in the church, turned to go, when from the organ, far 
 away near the high altar (or where the high altar had been 
 before Protestant fury had torn it down), came a whisper like 
 the awakening of the cathedral's soul ; a long-drawn note 
 which grew stronger and fuller, filling the whole building with 
 a pulse of sound. 
 
 Wilhelmine paused, then, turning silently to one of the 
 oaken pews, sat down. A wondrous melody crept through 
 the air, strong, noble, uncomplicated; then followed chords 
 growing each moment more the expression of a soul on fire. 
 They rose stronger, they swelled and strove and implored, they 
 wailed with the passion of finite hearts that yearn infinitely ; 
 then suddenly sank back into the solemn major key whence 
 they started. And it was as the renunciation of som.e terrible 
 striving, as though the organ chanted the litany of some perfect 
 calm reached through an agony of endeavour and suffering. 
 Wilhelmine's eyes were wet, while she leaned her head against 
 the back of the oaken pew. To her music was the only form 
 of prayer, and it never failed to move her to a vague aspiration, 
 she herself knew hardly what. Her dreams of the world faded, 
 and she was only cognisant of the dim church and the inspired 
 improvisation of her beloved Monsieur Gabriel. This was his 
 answer to her as yet unasked question. She had come to him 
 for guidance, to beg his counsel concerning her brother's letter, 
 and he had told her in his music all that he knew of the world. 
 He had shown her the cruel agony of the worldly life, the 
 
22 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 unrest, the bootless seeking, the satiety of realised ambition, 
 and the calmness, the peace of the renunciation of these things. 
 
 The organ was silent for a moment, and then through the 
 stillness of the shadowy aisle floated the first notes of an ' Ave 
 Maria,' which Wilhelmine knew well and had often sung when 
 no disturbing element of disapproving Protestant burgherdom 
 was near. Instinctively she came in at the appointed bar for 
 the voice's commencement. * Ave Maria gratia plena,' she 
 sang, and her powerful notes echoed through the cathedral with 
 all the sombre glory which lay in her great contralto voice. 
 The player at the organ immediately softened his music to a 
 mere accompanying whisper, which yet supported the voice, 
 greeting it with the newly awakened soul of the organ. ' * Ora 
 pro nobis, peccatoribus,' she sang, and surely the Mother of 
 God must have listened to so wonderful a tone prayer ? ' Nunc 
 et in hora mortis nostrae, Amen.' And the organ wandered 
 on repeating the ' Amen ' again and again in a solemn, dreamy 
 deepening of chords, which the beautiful voice followed and 
 answered with that certainty and ease which belong to a few 
 of the world's singers when they sing to the accompaniment of 
 one with whom they are in perfect musical and sympathetic 
 understanding. The music came to an end and the church 
 seemed doubly silent, with the painful stillness one sometimes 
 feels when a song is ended ; it is almost the same sudden for- 
 lorn feeling as when a beloved friend goes away, that sense of 
 the departure of a beautiful presence, or it may be that our 
 souls have returned to earth after soaring towards some 
 beauteous mystic region. Wilhelmine passed up the nave, 
 through a small door in the side of the carven wooden screen, 
 and up a dark and narrow winding stair which led to the 
 organ-loft. It was unusual to find an organ even in a cathedral 
 in those days, but a pious Duke of Mecklemburg-Gustrow 
 had given this one to the church as a thankoffering, and had 
 caused it to be built by the famous organ-makers of Venice. 
 
 The organist's face and figure commanded attention. Tall 
 and spare, with the scholar's stoop, a long narrow head broaden- 
 ing at the brow, a mass of iron-grey hair, — a thin, eager face 
 lit by almost colourless eyes, which looked as though the blue 
 of youth had been washed away by tears, or faded by vigils and 
 
THE AVE MARIA 23 
 
 patient suffering. This was the individual whom the towns- 
 folk called the ' mad French schoolmaster, Monsieur Gabriel/ 
 and whose youth they whispered had been spent at the court 
 of France, till Madame de Maintenon had set his enemies 
 upon him, and he, being proved a heretic, had fled for his life 
 across the frontier and wandered northwards. The course of 
 his wanderings brought him to Mecklemburg where, hearing 
 that the schoolmaster at Gustrow had died, he had sought the 
 post and it had been granted him, because of his proved 
 learning and his skill as a musician. This uneventful calling 
 he had followed for many years, and the people had ceased to 
 wonder at his eccentricities, his silence, and his friendlessness. 
 The children loved him, and his school became famous through 
 the countryside, and on Sundays and feast days the citizens 
 flocked to hear his organ playing, and the performance of the 
 choir of youths and maidens he had trained to sing so well. 
 
 Pastor Muller, according to his coarse nature, was jealous 
 of him and insolent to him, yet he feared the mild gaze of 
 those faded eyes and the imperturbable courtesy of the old 
 Frenchman's manner. The pastor would often question the 
 schoolmaster sharply concerning the music he played. 'Chorales 
 are all very fine,' he said, ' but surely oftentimes you play 
 music from the abominable Mass, not fitting indeed in a holy 
 place set apart for the worship of the Lord according to our 
 pure faith ? ' ' Ah ! Pastor, but the notes cannot contaminate,' 
 Monsieur Gabriel would answer ; ' Luther himself made use of 
 the monk's melodies in his canticles.' And Pastor Muller 
 , retired to his dirty, airless house, feeling rebuked himself 
 where he had wished to chide. 
 
 When Wilhelmine von Gravenitz appeared at the Gustrow 
 school, a curly-haired child, Monsieur Gabriel had immedi- 
 ately fallen victim to her wayward charm, and had lavished 
 much care on her studies. He taught her French thoroughly. 
 ' I am told,' he was wont to say, ' that even in Germany no 
 lady speaks aught save French, and you, my child, must be 
 a great lady some day. Believe me, there is no more iiiap;nifi- 
 cent being than a true grande dame, and for this destiny the 
 good God fashioned you.' He trained Wilhelmine in music, 
 till thorough-bass, counterpoint, and the rest became to her 
 
24 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 an easy exercise. He read her of the history of France; 
 taught her to know and love the Roman de la Rose, and the 
 poems of the singers of La Pleiade. Often he would quote 
 Malherbes, saying with a smile and a sigh as he looked at her 
 radiant youth : * Et rose, elle a vecu ce que vivent les roses, 
 I'espace d'un matin ; for,' he said, ' the flowers of the world fade 
 quickly, and thou art surely a flower, my little one/ He read 
 her the works of Eacine, Corneille, Moliere, all of which learn- 
 ing she assimilated rapidly, and with an accuracy which 
 delighted the old scholar. Sometimes, of an evening, he would 
 keep her with him long after school hours, and one winter he 
 took it into his head that she must learn to dance. He tied 
 an inky tablecloth to her shoulders to serve as a sweeping 
 garment. It was infinitely droll to see the two, mincing, 
 bowing, and pirouetting in front of the mirror. * You must 
 see yourself curtsey,' he said, 'ii you would learn the real 
 movement.' He taught her the gavotte, the pavane, and 
 many other dances, playing the measures on an old violin the 
 while. The school desks served for dummy dancers, and were 
 arranged to give her a notion of the ordering of the figures. 
 The aged recluse, in his musty coat, seemed transformed into 
 a very courtly gentleman, but Wilhelmine always fancied that 
 his eyes were more melancholy than usual after these mimic 
 courts. One day she asked him if it saddened him to revoke 
 the past. ' Ah ! mon enfant ! ' he replied, ' que voulez-vous ? un 
 coeur profondement blesse ne gu^rit jamais ; and the melodies 
 of these dances remind me of my wound, which I thought had 
 healed in your peaceful northern land. Ah ! little one, there 
 is no sadder music to the old than the dance-music of a 
 vanished youth.' 
 
 While Wilhelmine read her brother's letter on that cold 
 December morning, it was to Monsieur Gabriel she at once 
 decided to confide its surprising contents. Her mother, she 
 knew, would raise a dozen difficulties, and it were best to talk 
 with Monsieur Gabriel and devise some means of procuring 
 sufficient money to pay the cost of her journey to Wirtemberg. 
 Then, if they could hit upon a scheme to propose to Erau von 
 Gravenitz, there was, more likelihood of gaining her consent. 
 But the music had changed Wilhelmine's mind, and as she 
 
THE AVE MARIA 25 
 
 climbed up to the organ-loft she was almost prepared to 
 abandon her intended journey. 
 
 * Monsieur Gabriel ! * she said, * I have great news, so 
 strangely unexpected that I wonder if I am dreaming it ! 
 Eead this letter of my brother's, and give me your advice/ The 
 old man stretched out his left hand to take the paper, while 
 his right hand remained on the organ keys, and as he read he 
 played a few chords. * Helas ! ' he murmured as he refolded 
 the letter, 'so the time has come when you must go forth 
 into the world. Well, well — it is right ; you are wasted here, 
 though God knows it will be very dark without you.' 
 
 * But, Monsieur Gabriel,' she said, ' you talk as though I 
 should start to-morrow ! I have not told my mother yet, and 
 I have come to you for advice. Where could I get the money 
 to pay my journey ? It will cost many gulden.' 
 
 The old man smiled. ' Money ? your brother sends you 
 none, of course ? Your mother ? she also has none. Does 
 Friedrich think you can fly southward on a swallow's wing ? 
 And the swallows have gone to the south long ago,' he added 
 dreamily. 
 
 ' Monsieur Gabriel,' cried Wilhelmine, ' help me ! — you 
 have always helped me ! tell me where to get this money/ 
 
 ' My child, I must think ; do you know what the cost will 
 be ? No, nor I either ; but let me see — how long has this letter 
 been on the road ? — sixteen days — and you could not travel 
 so far without rest and refreshment. Well ! you must have 
 a hundred gulden. But, child, to what am I sending you ? ' 
 , Wilhelmine started ; she knew by his last words that he 
 could procure the money. 
 
 * To success ! ' she answered in a low voice. 
 
 * Success ? Yes, probably, but that is the greatest danger ! 
 We can most of us remain pure- of heart, tender, generous 
 while we are poor or sad, but it is when the world smiles that 
 the heart so often grows cold and hard.' 
 
 Wilhelmine clambered on to the organ bench, pushing 
 Monsieur Gabriel gently aside. She struck a chord, but the 
 half-witted bellows-blower, whose presence they had forgotten, 
 had ceased to pump air into the organ, and there came only a 
 painful droning from the empty pipes. She called to him 
 
26 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 imperiously, and with a muttered grumble he resumed his 
 pumping. 
 
 ' A bad omen/ said Wilhelmine ; * I strike a chord and I 
 achieve dissonance and wailing.' She threw back her head 
 and pressed her fingers on the keyboard : this time a thin 
 flute-like chord came forth^ and Wilhelmine lifted her voice 
 and sang : 
 
 * Cher ami de ma jeunesse 
 Souriez a ma liesse — 
 Au Printemps chansons et fleurs ! 
 Pour I'hiver gardons les pleurs. 
 
 Cher ami, la vieillesse 
 
 Est rev^che k I'alegresse 
 
 Je cueillerai les douces fleurs 
 
 Pour I'hiver gardant mes pleurs.' 
 
 She managed the organ wonderfully, and succeeded so well 
 in playing a light, graceful accompaniment to the old French 
 melody, that Monsieur Gabriel, listening with a smile and 
 nodding his head, whispered as though to some invisible con- 
 fidant : ' I have made her a true artist ! — no, God makes the 
 artist, but those who love them teach them to give their 
 genius to the world. Well, my child,' he continued, ' I will 
 find the money for you, but leave me now. Be satisfied, your 
 song has done its work ; I will send you on your search for 
 the flowers, and God grant you may not find the tears too 
 soon ! — I do not love that song with its refrain of fleurs et 
 pleurs, it is so terribly true.' But Wilhelmine was not listen- 
 ing to his rambling talk ; her strange eyes had lost the bright- 
 ness which had been theirs while she sang the gay French 
 song ; they had narrowed to that hard, compelling gaze which, 
 in truth, was curiously serpent-like in its cold fixity. 
 
 Monsieur Gabriel laid his hand on her shoulder, and together 
 they went down into the silent nave of the church. They 
 separated at the door ; the old man going up the Kloster- 
 strasse to the schoolhouse, while Wilhelmine walked rapidly 
 away, through the graveyard, towards the bleak fields and the 
 marshland which surrounded the dreary northern town. 
 
CHAPTEE III 
 
 THE FIRST STEP 
 
 * Happy the nations of the moral North ! 
 
 Where all is virtue, and the winter season 
 Sends sin, without a rag on, shivering forth.' 
 
 Don Juan, Canto ii. 
 
 WiLHELMiNE Walked on for some twenty minutes, the cold 
 morning air bringing a bright colour to her cheeks and a 
 sparkle to her eyes. Her gait was one of her greatest charms ; 
 it never seemed hurried, and yet the long, even steps carried 
 her swiftly onwards. There was vigorous elasticity in her 
 tread; she walked freely and with perfectly assured balance, 
 her shoulders thrown back and head erect. It was in a 
 measure this walk of hers which caused the townsfolk to call 
 her ' the proud hussy,' though they were careful not to let her 
 hear their disparaging remarks, for they feared the compelling 
 power of her strange eyes. It was whispered that it was 
 dangerous to offend her. * Though, of course,' they declared, 
 ' we do not really believe in witchcraft and such Popish 
 abominations, still it is certainly true that Hans Frisch, the 
 blacksmith's child, who threw a snowball at her last winter 
 and had the misfortune to hit her on the face, went home, 
 took to his bed, and nearly died of convulsions.'" Of this 
 talk Wilhelmine was unaware, though, knowing the effect of 
 her eyes upon people, she would often voluntarily narrow her 
 lids, causing the pupils to contract. She practised this feat 
 before the mirror, but she was careful not to do so at night, 
 for it gave her an uncanny feeling, and she sometimes succeeded 
 in frightening herself, as she did others. That cold morning, 
 while she walked, there was none of all this in her face ; she 
 was merely a gloriously healthy young being rejoicing simply 
 and naturally in the morning freshness and in the pulsing of 
 the blood in her veins. She was feeling the elation of health, 
 
 27 
 
28 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 and it chased away her morbid fancies in spite of the dreariness 
 of the wet fields around her. Indeed, it needed the buoyancy 
 of youth to counteract the profound melancholy of the Meck- 
 lemburg lake-country in winter. The enormous flat fields 
 stretching away in unbroken monotony, the road very straight, 
 with a division of colour in. the middle where the summer 
 road marched with the winter road ; the former merely a 
 soaking mud-bog, the latter hard and stony. On each side of 
 the highway a line of apple and pear trees lifted gaunt twisted 
 arms to the leaden sky, as though in protest against the sullen 
 aspect of the world. Wilhelmine paused and looked about 
 her. The snow was surely coming ; there was the hush in the 
 air which precedes a snowstorm, and she was some distance 
 from home. She strained her eyes westward and endeavoured 
 to catch a glimpse of the lake towards which she was journey- 
 ing, but she could see nothing save the drenched fields, and in 
 the dim distance the dark line of fir woods. She turned her 
 face homewards and began to walk with a quickened step. 
 The cold air had made her hungry ; she had only partaken of 
 a lump of black bread and a glass of milk, and it was now late 
 in the morning. She felt a soft cold touch on her cheek, the 
 first snowflake of the gathering storm. At first the snowflakes 
 only added to the slush on the road ; they melted shudder- 
 ingly and were devoured by the brown mud, but as the snow 
 fell the mud was conquered and lay hidden beneath a dazzling 
 white covering. Ever faster came the snow. It beat down 
 on Wilhelmine, the large fleecy patches almost blinding her. 
 She had walked farther than she had realised, and her feet 
 sinking deep through the snow into the mud beneath, the 
 . high heels of her thin shoes stuck and impeded her progress. 
 At length she reached the outskirts of the town, whose red 
 roofs were already almost hidden by a white layer of snow. 
 She hurried up the deserted street, past the cathedral. When 
 she came to the corner of the market-place she saw a dark 
 figure in a cloak of peasant's frieze coming towards her, and 
 with a feeling of annoyance she recognised Pastor Mliller. 
 
 At that moment he too observed her, and hurried to meet 
 her. * Ah ! Eraulein,/ he said as he came up, ' I am grieved 
 to see you exposed -to this inclement weather. May I not offer 
 
THE FIRST STEP 29 
 
 you the hospitality of my house ? ' He spoke in German with 
 a careful affectation of correctness, though his accent was harsh 
 and guttural from his native low German dialect. Wilhelmine 
 particularly detested his speech, and it irritated her to be 
 addressed as Traulein/ as though she were a burgher's 
 daughter, and not of sufficiently noble birth to be styled 
 ' gracious lady/ Of a truth, the pastor was not a person to 
 inspire either liking or respect. He was fat in body, with 
 short plump legs whose common shape was exhibited to the 
 fullest extent by tight knee-breeches and woollen stockings. 
 His face was enormous, and though his jaw showed strcDgth 
 and decision, the weak mouth and large protuberant lips indi- 
 cated that his senses ruled what he himself styled 'the fair 
 habitation of an immortal soul.' His eyes were small, and 
 seemed to express inordinate greed, when they were not, as 
 was usually the case, lifted to the sky in pious self-assurance, 
 yet with feigned humility. Pastor Muller was at once unctuous 
 and insolent, a combination of contending characteristics which 
 is often the possession of those who patronise God Almighty 
 with their approval, and use His ISTame as a convenient adjunct 
 in their homilies against all thino^s human. His health, he 
 was wont to declare, had suffered from his many vigils, and 
 consequently he found himself forced to fortify his body with 
 much nourishment, and with copious draughts of any wine 
 which he could obtain. In spite of this, he dominated his 
 congregation partly by reason of a certain eloquence which 
 was at his command in the pulpit when dealing with theo- 
 ,logical questions, in which, indeed, he was deeply learned. 
 He convinced by his uncompromising attitude towards the 
 sinful members of his parish. In fact, the Gtistrow citizens 
 regarded him as a strong Christian, and rejoiced in his fervid 
 biblical language. Many of the -spinsters of his flock would 
 gladly have become Frau Muller, but he paid no heed to their 
 blandishments, and openly avowed his intention of making 
 AVilhelmine the mistress of the Pfarrhaus, though she appeared 
 strangely insensible to the glory of this prospect In the first 
 place, with the arrogance of youth, she regarded the pastor's 
 forty years as old age, and treated his ponderous attempts at 
 gallantry with levity. However, when she met him in the 
 
30 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 snow that morning she was cold and hungry, and the prospect 
 of probable warmth at his fireside, with a substantial meal 
 provided, proved alluring ; so it was with an unusually gracious 
 manner that she accepted his offer of shelter. A few steps 
 brought them to the door of his abode, and they passed into 
 the small, dark corridor which led to his study. Here the 
 stove sent forth a pleasant heat, and it was with a welcome 
 sensation of returning warmth that Wilhelmine sank down in 
 the large chair which the pastor drew up for her close to the 
 stove. She had flung off her snow-covered cloak, and she sat 
 there in her thin morning blouse, open at the neck and show- 
 ing the contour of her white throat. MuUer begged her to 
 remove her soaking shoes, and, having done so, she leaned 
 back, stretching out her feet towards the little door in the 
 stove, which he had opened in order to permit the red embers 
 to give forth their full heat. He pushed some logs through 
 the aperture, and there was a delightful crackling and the 
 busy burning of well-dried wood. Then he left Wilhelmine 
 while he went to forage in the kitchen for food ; his old house- 
 keeper being at the market, or more probably sheltering from 
 the storm and gossiping in some friendly booth. Wilhelmine 
 reclined in the comfortable chair and surveyed the' room. A 
 number of theological works lay on the table in the centre of 
 the apartment ; and another large table which stood in the 
 window was covered with papers, closely written sheets as 
 her sharp eyes observed. The walls were bare and ugly, but 
 the room had a decided air of comfort ; the windows shut out 
 the cold in a manner unknown in Frau von Gravenitz's 
 dilapidated house ; the chair she lay in was soft ; and, above 
 all, it was very warm in the room. She stretched herself and 
 wondered if, after all, there would not be sufficient creature 
 comforts to atone for the dullness of life as Frau Mliller. 
 
 The pastor returned carrying a dish of cold meat, a loaf of 
 home-baked bread, and under his arm a large bottle. Push- 
 ing some of the theological books aside, he set down the food 
 on the middle table which he drew up near the stove beside 
 Wilhelmine. Then again he disappeared to the kitchen, 
 returning anon with plates, glasses, knives and forks. He 
 placed himself opposite his guest, and turning his eyes towards 
 
THE FIRST STEP 31 
 
 the grimy ceiling, he folded his fat hands and recited a prayer 
 over the victuals. 
 
 * Lord, who hath brought this female into mine house, 
 send a blessing, I pray thee, upon the food which I set before 
 her ! ' He paused, then added : ' May this be the first of many 
 meals she shall partake of here in Christian humility and 
 dutiful affection/ Wilhelmine laughed. At another time 
 the pastor would have been rebuked sharply for a speech of 
 this kind ; but she was hungry, and it did not suit her to 
 postpone her meal to the uncertain date of Erau von Gravenitz's 
 dinner. The pastor helped her liberally to meat, and cut a 
 large slice from the white loaf — a luxury for Wilhelmine, used 
 to the heavy, sour, black bread, which was provided in her 
 mother's house. He poured out a copious draught from the 
 black bottle, and the smell of corn brandy filled the air. 
 Wilhelmine ate hungrily, and drank the liquor with relish, the 
 strong spirits coursing through her with a grateful, tingling 
 feeling, for she was really in need of food. 
 
 ' Dear lady,' said Miiller, pouring a large quantity of the 
 brandy into his own glass, 'I give you of my best; this excellent 
 liquor was a present to me from the noble Herr von Maltzan. 
 He is a generous friend to me. But truly, this beverage is not 
 for those whom the Lord has blessed with health and strength, 
 and I keep it for the use of the sick, though my own deli- 
 cate constitution demands, at rare intervals, a small amount 
 to strengthen me. Dear Fraulein, I give it gladly to you this 
 morning, for it is cruelly cold, and you, my dear one, were 
 exposed to the rigours of the storm.' 
 
 ' I thank you, Herr Pastor ; I feel truly better for your break- 
 fast, though my head is going round a little, I must confess,' 
 said Wilhelmine. 
 
 Miiller looked at her curiously, then, rising, he walked to 
 the window, and watched the driving snow. After a few 
 moments he returned, and drawing up his chair near the stove 
 he spread out his fat fingers, warming them at the fire. There 
 was silence between them, only broken by the wind outside, 
 which had risen and was whistling and howling, and driving 
 the snow in clouds down the street. Suddenly the pastor 
 bent down and laid his hand on her stockinged foot. * Still 
 
32 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 damp/ he said ; ' it would be well if you took off your hose 
 and dried them.' Wilhelmine smiled lazily. 
 
 ' Good Herr Pastor/ she said, ' your plenteous meal has made 
 me sleepy. I cannot take the trouble to take off my hose even 
 though they may be a trifle wet.' She closed her eyes. The 
 walk in the strong winter air, followed by the warmth of the 
 room and the unaccustomed alcohol made her drowsy, and she 
 wished to be undisturbed in her half dream. Miiller's face 
 flushed to a deep purple, then paled. He breathed heavily, 
 and the veins stood out on his temples like cords. 
 
 ^ Wilhelmine/ he said in a hoarse, thick whisper, * you shall 
 indeed be my wife — I promise you — ah, you are fitted to 
 adorn any position, Wilhelmine, my bride ! ' He bent, and 
 kissed her stockinged foot, and his coarse fingers pressed deep 
 into her slight ankle. 
 
 'Your condescension amazes me, Herr Pastor/ she said 
 
 mockingly, * but I fear ' 
 
 • ' Nay, my dear, no maidenly modesty ! Come, we are affianced 
 now ; let me give thee the lover's kiss ! ' He leaned over her. 
 His breath was sour with the smell of corn brandy. His eyes 
 were glassy, staring, and his fat face was livid, hideous. An 
 overwhelming sense of repulsion came to her. She felt herself 
 degraded by this man's admiration, smirched by his odious 
 desire. The recollection flashed through her mind of a white 
 flower she had seen — a gracious, delicate thing — and a huge, 
 slimy, black slug had rested on the petals. She remembered 
 how she had knocked the creature away, feeling that it defiled 
 the flower. 
 
 ' No, never ! do you hear ? Never ! I will not marry you,' 
 she broke out. 
 
 She struggled to remove Miiller's hand from her ankle; but 
 he gripped strongly, and her fingers seemed terribly impotent, 
 childishly weak. 
 
 ' How dare you ! Let me go. I tell you I will never marry 
 you/ she reiterated vehemently. 
 
 ' Ah ! you beautiful wild thing — but I will make you love 
 me — you will see how you will love your husband. Come, 
 no nonsense ! I will soon show you how you love me.' He 
 loosed his grip of her ankle and flung himself over her in 
 
THE FIKST STEP 88 
 
 the chair, endeavouring to press his thick lips to hers. She 
 struggled against him but he kept her down ; with one haud 
 on her forehead he pushed her back into the chair, while with 
 the other he wrenched open the neck of her bodice, tearing it 
 downward to her breast. Always a ' strong man he seemed 
 now transformed into some ruthless, degraded, maddened 
 animal. Apparently she was entirely at his mercy, but she 
 was strong and young, and angry disgust gave her unusual 
 strength. She caught the man's throat in both her hands, 
 working her knuckles inwards on his windpipe with such 
 force that he was almost choked, and instinctively put up his 
 hands to hers endeavouring to remove her grip. But she held 
 him, and, half-throttled, he sank down sideways on the arm of 
 the chair. In an instant she dragged herself from him and 
 was able to raise herself on one knee, still keeping her hold 
 on his throat. He wrenched away her hands, his iron grip 
 on both her wrists, but she was now able to dominate her 
 aggressor from above and could hold him down with the full 
 force of her arms. Eace to face with her enemy, she recalled 
 the potency of her witch-gaze. She narrowed her eyelids and 
 directed her steely glance into the bloodshot eyes of her 
 tormentor. During a few seconds they were thus: the girl 
 half- standing, half-kneeling, rigid, tense, holding the man from 
 her with all her strength. The man sprawling on his side in 
 the chair — a huge, ridiculous being, panting, gasping, helpless, 
 for he could not regain his balance unless he let go the 
 woman's wrists. To Wilhelmine, in spite of her dauntless 
 nature, these few seconds seemed endless. Fortunately for her, 
 no misgivings as to the compelling power of her eyes crossed 
 her mind, or probably her force might thereby have been 
 diminished. At length she felt a slackeniug of the muscles of 
 Miiller's hands — his gaze faltered. Again he struggled franti- 
 cally. She resolved to hazard everything, trusting entirely in 
 her strange power. She bent slowly downwards, all the force 
 of her will focused in her eyes. She felt as though each eye 
 held a dagger wherewith she could stab her enemy s very 
 consciousness. Another moment and the man's hands relaxed 
 entirely and fell limp and inert from her wrists. She sprang 
 up, catching her cloak in her hand as she fled. She reached the 
 
 G 
 
34 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 study door before Miiller moved. For the moment he seemed 
 transfixed, but as she opened the door, to her horror she saw 
 him rise, and as she rushed down the short passage she heard 
 Mtiller's heavy step behind her. For the first time during the 
 whole disgusting scene she felt afraid. Her knees seemed to 
 fail, her feet to grow strangely heavy. She stumbled on till 
 she gained the house door. She fumbled frantically at the 
 latch ; it was unfamiliar to her and she could not unfasten it. 
 The pursuer was up to her now and his breath was on her 
 cheek. Once more he threw his arms round her. She turned, 
 like an animal at bay, and dealt Miiller a blow full on the lips. 
 He staggered for an instant, and she succeeded, at last, in 
 wrenching open the door. He clutched at her skirt as she 
 sprang out. It unbalanced her, and she fell forward on her 
 face into the snow of the street. 
 
 • • - • ■ • • 
 
 The shock of the fall, following the excitement of her struggle 
 with Miiller, stunned Wilhelmine for a moment, and when she 
 dragged herself up to a kneeling position and looked round, 
 she found herself alone in the driving snow. Miiller's door 
 was shut, and the street absolutely deserted. She rubbed the 
 clinging snow off her face and ruefully considered the distance 
 which lay between her and her mother's house. The snow had 
 soaked through her thin stockings. She rose wearily, and 
 drawing her cloak round her, and over her head, she hid both 
 her torn bodice and her thick unbound hair, which had fallen 
 over her shoulders during her struggle with Miiller. 
 
 Then she started homewards through the fast-falling snow. 
 As she passed the market-place, many faces peered out at her 
 from the venders' booths, and one friendly peasant woman 
 called to her to take shelter, but Wilhelmine shook her head 
 and hastened onwards. She feared that her shoeless feet would 
 awaken curiosity, and she dared not let the people see her torn 
 garments as they assuredly would did she tarry in the booth, 
 for in their homely kindness they would insist on removing her 
 wet cloak. 
 
 The Eathaus clock chimed the hour, and Wilhelmine realised 
 with a strange, dream-like feeling that but three hours had 
 gone by since she passed that way to visit Monsieur Gabriel. 
 
THE FIRST STEP 35 
 
 Yet it seemed to her as though days had elapsed since she 
 sang the Ave Maria in the cathedral. At length she reached 
 the door of her mother's house. She knocked loudly, wonder- 
 ing if Frau von Gravenitz had watched her from the windows 
 of the upper story, which commanded a view of part of the 
 market-place and the door of the Eathaus, where she had re- 
 ceived her brother's letter that morning. She knocked again 
 and tried to lift the latch, but it was secured within. She 
 listened, but could hear no approaching footsteps in the corridor. 
 She leaned against the portal, and wondered if it was her fate 
 to remain in the snow for the rest of the day. 
 
 Suddenly a thought came to her, which sent the blood 
 tingling in a hot wave to her cheeks : Where was her brother's 
 letter ? She felt for it in her bosom ; it was not there, and she 
 knew the precious missive must have fallen from her gown 
 during the struggle at the Pfarrhaus. Could she go back and 
 fetch it ? she asked herself. No ! that was out of the question. 
 
 At this moment the door was flung open and Erau von 
 Gravenitz appeared. ' Lord God ! ' she said, when she saw 
 Wilhelmine standing on the threshold, ' where have you been 
 child ? Surely your dear Monsieur Gabriel could keep you in 
 the schoolhouse till this storm passed over, and not send you 
 back to catch your death of cold or cost me an apothecary's fee ,!' 
 
 Wilhelmine pushed past her mother without a word, design- 
 ing to gain her chamber before the old woman observed her 
 torn garments and her lack of shoes ; but Frau von Gravenitz 
 clutched hold of the cloak and, giving it a vicious pull, ex- 
 claimed : ' No, no ! I will not permit you to take your soaking 
 clothes upstairs. Come in here and take them off.' She tuggted 
 at the heavy cloak with such vehemence that the clasp at her 
 neck parted and the cape fell back, revealing Wilhelmine's 
 loosened hair and her torn bodice. - The old woman saw her 
 daughter's shoeless feet. She looked at her searchingly, he 
 face darkening and hardening from annoyance to real anger 
 and distrust. ' Wilhelmine,' she said harshly, ' explain your 
 extraordinary appearance. Where have you been, and why do 
 you come home in this strange and unbecoming manner ? ' 
 
 ' Mother,' answered the girl, ' let me take off my wet clothes 
 and I will tell you everything.' She wished to gain time to 
 
36 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 concoct a plausible story, for she did not intend to mention 
 Miiller's outbreak. 
 
 In the first place she was horribly ashamed, and knowing 
 Prau von Gravenitz's garrulous tongue she feared to be made 
 the subject of the citizens' gossip. But her mother was not to 
 be put off so easily. She. drew the girl into the kitchen, and 
 after shutting the larder door in the servant-maid's astonished 
 face, she planted herself firmly in front of Wilhelmine. * Now,' 
 she said, * you will favour me with your story. It is strange 
 to see a young maiden return in this state of disarray from an 
 interview with a man, and I insist upon your clearing yourself 
 immediately if you can.* 
 
 ' Interview with a man, mother ? ' said Wilhelmine ; *" what 
 do you mean ? ' It flashed across her that Prau von Gravenitz 
 must have seen her enter Miiller's house. 
 
 * Yes ; your fine Monsieur Gabriel, with his mincing airs and 
 his high manners ! You go to him for your studies, after two 
 
 long hours you return looking as though Good Lord! child ! 
 
 answer me — what has that evil old Frenchman done to you ? ' 
 
 Wilhelmine looked at her for a moment in silence; it 
 had not struck her that this interpretation of her dishevelled 
 appearance could be harboured even in her mother's sus- 
 picious mind. It filled her with indignation and dismay for 
 her friend ; yet she realised with surprise that, could such a 
 thing have occurred as for Monsieur Gabriel to lose his self- 
 control and offend as Miiller had, it would not have disgusted 
 her to the same extent. Somehow, she felt it would not have 
 debased her and humiliated her as had the pastor's attack. For 
 a moment she almost decided to let her mother suspect there 
 had been some strange scene with the organist ; anything better 
 than own to the degradation of having suffered the insult of 
 the greasy burgher. Then with a revulsion of feeling, her 
 soul sickened at the injustice of letting Monsieur Gabriel pay 
 the penalty of the pastor's wicked insolence, and she remem- 
 bered that her friend would be exposed to the horrified repro- 
 bation of the sober townsfolk; nay, more, he might even be 
 dismissed from his post. 
 
 * How can you think such a thing, mother ? ' she said angrily. 
 I tell you Mon-sieur Gabriel knows nothing of all this, and as 
 
THE FIRST STEP 87 
 
 you put such an odious construction on my appearance, I shall 
 not give you the satisfaction of telling you how it came about/ 
 
 * As you wish,' the other replied icily ; ' but it will be my 
 duty to forbid any further visits to that Frenchman, and I shaD 
 inform Pastor Muller of the schoolmaster's real character.' 
 
 This was too much for Wilhelmine ; her anger flamed, all 
 her reticence vanished, and she poured forth the whole story. 
 Her mother heard her to the end, and, shaking her head, she 
 made answer: *If this be true, Pastor Miiller should be punished. 
 But I cannot credit it ; you are shielding Monsieur Gabriel. 
 Now go to your room and reflect. You are a sinful woman, 
 Wilhelmine, and a disgrace to your ancient name.' 
 
 The girl turned away. The excitement of the last hours 
 had fatigued her, and she felt an unaccountable apathy. 
 After all, what did it matter if her mother misjudged her ? 
 She would soon be far away ; her present life and surround- 
 ings appeared to her to be absolutely detached from her 
 real self. She went slowly up the creaking stair and into 
 her garret, and flung herself down on the bed. She was 
 asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow. 
 • "• ■ ■ • • 
 
 It was quite dark when Wilhelmine woke, and she wondered 
 why she should awaken during the night ; then, slowly, remem- 
 brance came to her, and she realised that she was still fully 
 dressed. She lay quiet for some time, pondering on the events 
 of the day. The Eathaus clock chimed eight slow notes, and 
 she knew she had slept for nearly nine hours. She listened ; 
 there was some one moving downstairs in the kitchen, probably 
 her mother preparing the meagre supper. Wilhelmine rose, 
 groped her way to the door, and turned the handle. The door 
 remained firmly closed. She shook it gently, pushed it — the 
 doors in her mother's house often stuck fast ; but this time it 
 was no accidental adherence of ill-fitting hinges, the door was 
 securely fastened from outside. Her mother had locked her 
 in ! To be locked into a room had always been a terrible 
 thing to her. When she was a child, her brother had often 
 teased her by pushing her into a dark cupboard and turning 
 the key, and it was the only one of the many tricks he played 
 her which had caused her real alarm. She hated the dark 
 
38 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 and always imagined she was stifling when she knew she was 
 a prisoner in an unlit place. The same feeling came over her 
 now, and she beat her hands frantically against the door, 
 calling her mother loudly the while. But no answer came. 
 She groped her way across the room till she felt her hand 
 touch the window* She found the fastening and, opening the 
 casement, leaned far out into the still night air. Prom across 
 the market-place came the sound of men's voices, and a glow 
 of light shone beneath the hostelry door. An occasional burst 
 of song and drunken laughter told her that the bad characters 
 of the town were carousing, as usual, on a Saturday night. 
 Otherwise the silence was intense and the darkness unbroken 
 by moon or star. The calm air of the winter night soothed 
 Wilhelmine, and she was ashamed of having knocked and 
 called so wildly ; but now a dull feeling of resentment rose in 
 her against her mother for locking her into her room like a 
 naughty child. She leaned her head against the window-frame 
 and wondered if any one on earth had ever been as lonely and 
 miserable as she. Her mother disliked her, her brother was 
 too selfish to care for any one save himself Anna, her friend, 
 was something in her life ; but it is small avail to be loved by 
 those who manage to make their affection tiresome. Miiller 
 loved her ! She smiled bitterly to herself ; yes, that was a love 
 which could give her happiness ! That was what some people 
 called love, she had been told. All at once a wonderful feeling 
 came to her, a wave of infinite relief, like balsam to her wounded 
 heart : it was the thought of Monsieur Gabriel's gentle friend- 
 ship and trust in her. She saw his kind, dim eyes ; the good, 
 discriminating smile, and the thought was as though he laid 
 his delicate, blue-veined hand on her head, soothing her unutter- 
 ably. She heard a step coming on the stair, a flicker of light 
 crept under her door, and some one fitted the key into the lock. 
 * Mother ! ' she called in a softened voice. When the door 
 opened, she saw Prau von Gravenitz standing there, a rush- 
 light in one hand and a plate of food balanced between her 
 breast and the other hand, in which she held a pitcher of milk. 
 The old woman's eyes were red with weeping, and vaguely 
 Wilhelmine realised for the first time in her life that, in spite 
 of grumbling, reproaches, and grudging meanness, her mother 
 
THE FIRST STEP 89 
 
 had for her a spark of that patient, yearniDg tenderness which 
 is maternal love. 
 
 * Here, my child,' she said gently, * eat and drink, and forget 
 the horrible things you have passed through to-day/ Wilhel- 
 mine slipped an arm round the old woman's neck, and kissed 
 her as she had not done for many a long day, perhaps never 
 since she had been a little child. For a moment she leaned 
 her head against her mother's shoulder, and then taking the 
 food she begjan to eat. Frau von Gravenitz stuck the rush- 
 light up between a book which was lying on the table and the 
 edge of the plate, then shutting the window she went out, 
 closing and re-locking the door behind her. 
 
 (•>>■• 
 On the following morning Wilhelmine woke early, and she 
 was dressed when her mother came to the door and bade her 
 descend and help with the housework. All traces of the 
 unwonted tenderness in the old woman's face had vanished. 
 She had, apparently, forgotten the circumstances of the 
 previous day, or at any rate she made no allusion thereto, 
 though her daughter fancied she watched her narrowly. When 
 the morning's work was ended Wilhelmine returned to her 
 chamber to dress for the church service. She was brushing 
 her hair, when she heard a knock at the house door, followed 
 by Frau von Gravenitz's shrill tones as she conversed in the 
 corridor with some person. Then she heard her mother mount- 
 ins; the stairs and callino; ' Wilhelmine ! ' in flustered tones. 
 The girl hastened to the door of her room and stood on the 
 landing waiting to hear the cause of her mother's summons. 
 
 * Your precious Monsieur Gabriel has gone off to Schwerin, 
 it seems,' she said, eyeing Wilhelmine sharply. 'He has sent 
 a message, saying that he prays you take his place at the organ 
 this morning. He says he has urgent business at Schwerin, 
 though what it can be I am sure I do not know ! However, I 
 suppose you will play the organ this morning, and I hope you 
 will make your Monsieur Gabriel pay you in good silver coin 
 for your trouble.' Wilhelmine's lip curled contemptuously. 
 * We have never paid him a groschen for teaching me to play 
 this same organ, mother,' she said. ' Of course I shall play this 
 morning, but I shall persuade Anna to come to the organ-loft 
 
40 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 with me/ she added, as a vision flashed across her of Pastor 
 Miiller, and a possible pursuit down the dark winding stair- 
 way after the congregation had left the church. She dressed 
 quickly, and wrapping her cloak round her went out into the 
 crisp frosty morning air to fetch Anna. When she came to 
 the dreary house in the Stiftstrasse where the deformed girl 
 lived, she was annoyed to find that her friend had already 
 started for church. It was Anna's habit to go to the cathedral 
 before the appointed hour for the church service. She loved to 
 sit in the dim aisle, watching the sunlight creeping through 
 the ancient stained glass windows, while she waited for the 
 first tone of the organ. 
 
 Wilhelmine considered for a moment. It was ridiculous to 
 fear Miiller ; he would not dare to molest her in the precincts 
 of the church; yet she hated to pass the sacristy door alone, 
 for he could follow her, unseen from the rest of the building. 
 She threw back her head with a defiant movement: was she 
 becoming fearful, timid ? Was this a frame of mind in 
 which to face the adventurous life at a court? She turned 
 away impatiently, and went swiftly down the Stiftstrasse to 
 the market-place. The Rathaus clock rang out, and Wilhel- 
 mine realised that there was no time to be lost if she were 
 to play the voluntary to the sound of which the worshippers 
 were accustomed to take their places. She hastened across 
 the market-place, down the Klosterstrasse and through the 
 graveyard, where the old stone slabs on the graves were, 
 for the most part, hidden beneath the frost-bound snow 
 which glittered in the sun, though here and there an upright 
 tombstone showed like a discoloured, jagged tooth in the midst 
 of a white pall. She hurried on and entered the side door 
 near the sacristy. As she lifted the latch of the entrance to 
 the dark stair leading up to the organ-loft she heard a move- 
 ment behind her, and, turning, she saw Miiller's face peer at 
 her from the sacristy. She paid no heed, and springing quickly 
 up the steps gained the small platform, where the happiest 
 hours of her life had been spent with the old musician. She 
 peered down into the well-like space beneath the organ, where 
 the bellows-blower laboured, pumping in the air for the pipes. 
 He was at his post patiently waiting for the signal to com- 
 
THE FIEST STEP 41 
 
 mence his work. Wilhelmine signed to him to begin, and 
 having assured herself that all was in order, she glanced at the 
 sheets of manuscript music. She found that Monsieur Gabriel 
 had appointed hymns and canticles for the day, and she noticed 
 that he had chosen the easiest and simplest, for though her 
 skill almost equalled his own, he had evidently wished to 
 spare her difficulty and trouble. She seated herself upon the 
 high bench before the organ, arranging her skirts so that they 
 should not balk her pedalling. At first she played softly — 
 a wailing melody of her own devising; then, as though she 
 gathered strength and assurance in her music, the chords 
 boomed out, rich and deep, rolling down the church like the 
 relentless waves of some elementary force. She played on and 
 on, not hearing through the music the sound of the shuffling 
 feet of the entering worshippers. It was with a feeling of 
 alarm that she became aware of rows of honest burghers seated 
 stolidly in their accustomed places. Pastor Miiller was kneel- 
 ing in the pulpit waiting for the music to cease ere he began 
 the preliminary prayer. She softened the chords, till they 
 faded and ceased entirely, then taking up a book of canticles, 
 she studied the melodies and read their words, for she felt she 
 could not listen to Mliller's rasping voice exhorting his flock 
 to holiness and purity of living. 
 
 The harsh tones fell unheeded on her ear for some time. 
 A sudden cessation thereof roused her to attention, and she 
 craned her neck over the side of the panelled wainscot which 
 ran round the organ-loft. She saw the congregation atten- 
 tively waiting for the pastor to give out the text of his sermon. 
 Miiller stood in the pulpit; an open Bible lay on the ledge 
 beneath one of his strong, coarse hands; the other hand grasped 
 the pulpit edge, and Wilhelmine could see his knuckles whiten- 
 ing with the force of his grip. His face was ashy, and the 
 deep-set eyes moved incessantly ; he was evidently in a state of 
 that violent excitement which somatimes seized .him when he 
 preached, and which gave him a fervid emotional eloquence. 
 
 * For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the 
 flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof 
 falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. 
 And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto 
 
42 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 you.' He read his text in a husky, raucous voice, and through 
 the assemblage passed a wave of astonishment. This was 
 surely no verse for a Sunday before Christmas ; it was more 
 fitted for a Lenten discourse ! But Pastor Miiller's sermons 
 were the only theatrical performances given at Glistrow, and 
 the citizens revelled in the often startlingly emotional char- 
 acter of his exhortations ; so that day they settled down as 
 usual to listen to his sermon with pleasurable curiosity. 
 
 'Brethren,' he began, miserable sinners, who lightly 
 look towards the season of Christ's birth as a time of re- 
 joicing and merry-making, forgetting the load of iniquity 
 which weighs you down — I call to you to pause! Tremble, 
 ye righteous ! Quake in fearful terror, ye wrong-doers ! 
 All joy is evil, and all things of the flesh accursed. Mourn, 
 ye women ! Cry out and weep, ye little children ! for by 
 lust ye were begot. Yea, sin walks abroad, and corruption 
 liveth in the hearts of men. Boast not thyself of to-morrow, 
 for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Repent, 
 I command you, and scourge yourselves, for though it is 
 true that the Lord Christ came into the world to save sinners, 
 still the security you have made unto yourselves is a 
 vain thing. Without repentance you cannot share in the 
 benefit of the birth of Christ. Prepare for Christmas, by 
 much searchiug of heart and renunciation of the joys of the 
 flesh, not by seeking fresh pleasures and carousing. Por truly 
 the grass withereth and the flower thereof passeth away ! * 
 He stood tense, one arm outstretched ; he was moved by his 
 own incoherent eloquence. The congregation listened spell- 
 bound ; indeed, the man was an orator, and the very 
 unexpectedness of his strange violence held his listeners 
 enthralled. After a pause, during which the silence became 
 nearly intolerable, he continued his oration. His language 
 had a Biblical flavour, and the passion of his utterance seemed 
 like holy inspiration. Wilhelmine listened unmoved ; she 
 knew that the man laboured under an excitement of being, 
 which had little or nothing to do with religious sincerity. It 
 was merely his physical fury, dammed back from a more 
 natural channel, 'VYhich had caused this exaltation of mind. 
 She watched him with a mocking smile as he poured forth 
 a torrent of vehement words — denunciations of all things 
 
THE FIRST STEP 43 
 
 joyful, exhortations to repentance, and thunders of prospective 
 vengeance on sin. Even to her the sermon seemed a master,- 
 piece of eloquence, and the artistic feeling in her rejoiced in 
 the vigorous phrases and fervid declamation, though her 
 whole being revolted against the hypocrite and fanatic who 
 spoke, and she despised the crude bigotry of the actual matter 
 of the peroration. 
 
 His words came ever faster and in ever growing violence, 
 till with consummate skill he made another sudden pause ; 
 then, sinking his voice to a tone of grave warning, he ejacu- 
 lated solemnly : ' my brethren, men of the reformed faith, 
 hearken unto me ! Here, before the Eace of God Almighty, I 
 denounce the hellish instigators of all this abominable lust, 
 the frail instruments of temptations — Women 1 These are the 
 scourges of the world ! accursed by reason of their vanity 1 con- 
 demned everlastingly by reason of their carnal desire and of 
 their perpetual contamination of the pure heart of man 1 ' 
 
 This was more than "Wilhelmine could tolerate coming 
 from the lips of the wretch who, but a few hours before, 
 had proved himself to be a very beast. She would hear no 
 more of his insolent diatribes ! She gave the sign to the 
 bellows-blower to commence his labours, and as she heard 
 Miiller's voice again rising in a burst of wild denunciation, 
 she crashed both hands on the keys of the organ, drowning 
 the preacher's words in a flood of magnificent sound. In a 
 triumph song of the fullness of Earth's beauty and glory the 
 giant chords rang out, and Wilhelmine laughed aloud under 
 .cover of the music. This was her answer to the hollowness 
 of the hypocrite's denunciation of life and happiness ; this 
 was her confession of faith in the joy of living, and this was 
 her revenge upon the man who had humiliated her. She 
 remembered, however, that the congregation must be pro- 
 pitiated for the interruption, and sliding her strong fingers 
 from note to note on the organ she modulated her triumphant 
 rhapsody into the simple, restful C Major; then she played 
 the first bar of the canticle which Monsieur Gabriel had given 
 out to the singers ; who, though sitting among the congregation 
 during the services, were still a very compact and united choir 
 carefully trained by him, for the most part, from childhood. 
 As she expected, they answered immediately to the organ's 
 
44 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 command, and a hundred young voices sang Luther's grand old 
 
 hymn — 
 
 * Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott.' 
 
 fl t A • • • 
 
 On the following afternoon Wilhelmine was sitting discon- 
 solately in her attic. The • book she was reading had fallen 
 from her hands, and her eyes rested on the ugly blue walls of 
 her roonL She reviewed in her mind the events of the previous 
 day ; the scene in the church, and her subsequent departure 
 therefrom, which she had managed so deftly that, though 
 Miiller was in the graveyard when she came out, she had 
 evaded him, and joining Anna, who was waiting for her near 
 the porch, she had succeeded in passing the pastor without 
 staying to hear what he evidently wished to say, Frau von 
 Gravenitz chid her sharply for interrupting the sermon, but 
 she was silenced by Wilhelmine's angry retort and reminder 
 of Miiller's misdeeds. The Sunday afternoon and evening had 
 passed without any unwonted occurrence. Wilhelmine was 
 tortured by the fact that she had not told her mother of 
 Priedrich's letter ; she had not recovered it from Miiller, though 
 twice she had sent the servant-maid to demand its restitution. 
 
 She intended to reveal the whole story to her mother, when 
 Monsieur Gabriel returned with the promised money ; for she 
 guessed that the object of his journey to Schwerin was the 
 procuring of the sum. The light was failing rapidly, and 
 Wilhelmine felt intensely dreary and sad. She turned over 
 the leaves of the book which lay on her lap ; it was a volume 
 lent her by Monsieur Gabriel, a book written by Blaise Pascal. 
 Her eye was caught by a sentence, and she read the wise 
 words of the great thinker : ' Love hath its reasons which 
 reason knoweth not.' Again her attention wandered from the 
 page ; her thoughts were busy with the possibilities of her 
 destiny. With bitterness she realised that, for her. Love must 
 be either a renunciation of ambition, a life passed with some 
 simple countryman, or else a career, a profession, an abnegation 
 of quiet days. Which should she strive for ? ' What does it 
 avail a man though he gain the whole world and lose his own 
 soul ? ' The words came back to her ; but no, she was not made 
 for peaceful days,' she would weary of them inevitably. 
 
 She heard a knock on the house door and, shaking off her 
 
THE FIEST STEP 45 
 
 unusual depression, she hurried downstairs. Monsieur Gabriel 
 stood in the corridor explaining in his scholarly foreign German 
 to the servant-maid, that it was absolutely necessary for him to 
 see Fraulein von Gravenitz, even if madame her mother could 
 not receive him, as he had a matter of importance to com- 
 municate. He smiled when he saw Wilhelmine — that good 
 smile of his, which was at once so kind, so bright, and yet so 
 unutterably sad. 
 
 'Ah ! dear child ! ' he said, in French, * I bring you good news. 
 I have procured the money.' 
 
 "Wilhelmine went quickly up to him, and taking his hand 
 in both of hers, she drew him into the prim little dwelling- 
 room where Frau von Gravenitz received her rare guests. 
 ' How can I ever thank you ? ' she said as she closed the door. 
 
 ' By thinking of me when you are far away,' he answered, 
 
 * and sometimes by sending me a letter to lighten my gloom.' 
 
 ' Yes ! ' she said eagerly ; * but tell me how you procured this 
 great sum ? ' 
 
 'I had a few old trinkets,' he answered, ' which I had carried 
 with me from France. They were hidden in my travelling 
 chest, and I had not even looked at them these many years. 
 They reminded me of another life, a life which has nothing to 
 do with the old schoolmaster of G us trow,' he added with a 
 sigh. He laid a packet on the table, cut the string with his 
 knife, and began to undo four long rolls within, disclosing 
 the bright edges of twenty-five golden gulden in each roll. 
 
 * Twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, a hundred,' he counted out. 
 
 Wilhelmine looked curiously at the coins; she. had seldom 
 seen gold pieces before, and never in a large quantity. She laid 
 her hand on one of the rouleaux. ' Gold is power, they say,' 
 she murmured. 
 
 * The getting of gold is pain,' the old man answered, and he 
 took her hand in his, drawing hers away from the golden heap. 
 
 At that moment the door opened silently, and Frau. von 
 Gravenitz stood on the threshold. She looked from one to 
 the other, she saw the money on the table, and Wilhelmine's 
 sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks. Monsieur Gabriel's face 
 she could not see, for it was turned away from her towards 
 Wilhelmine ; but she could see that he held her hand in his, 
 and all her suspicions re-awoke. 
 
46 A GERMAN POMPADOUH 
 
 ' What is this r she said: ' Monsieur Gabriel, why are you 
 bringing money to my daughter ? ' Both Wilhelmine and her 
 friend started. ' For her journey to Stuttgart, madame,' he 
 answered. ' Her journey ? ' said the old woman, * what journey ? 
 What do you mean V 
 
 ' Ah ! Mademoiselle Wilhelmine has perhaps not had time 
 to communicate her plans to you, madame,' he replied courte- 
 ously. ' She told me of her brother's letter, and as I thought 
 that madame had perhaps not got so large a sum of money at 
 her disposal at the moment, I have ventured to make a little 
 gift to my favourite pupil, to enable her to accept her brother's 
 proposition. Believe me, madame, I esteem it an honour to 
 be of service to one whose wonderful gift of music has made 
 my poor life so much happier than it could have been otherwise.' 
 
 ' Wilhelmine, what is the meaning of this ? ' cried Frau von 
 Gravenitz in her sharpest tones. ^ You have received a letter 
 from my son, of which you have not informed me ! You plan 
 things with a stranger, and I am told nothing ! You receive 
 money from a man — what for, I should like to know ? I dare 
 not say what terrible thoughts all this awakens in me. Give 
 me your brother's letter immediately!* Her voice had risen 
 higher and higher, till she almost screamed the last" words. 
 
 ' I cannot give you the letter, mother,' Wilhelmine returned 
 quietly, ' I have lost it.' 
 
 * Monsieur Gabriel,' said Frau von Gravenitz, ' perhaps you 
 have got it ? I command you to hand it over to me.' 
 
 ' Madame, I am astounded ! Indeed, I have not got the 
 letter, though Mademoiselle Wilhelmine showed it to "me on 
 Saturday morning.' 
 
 ' Yes ! Saturday morning!' Frau von Gravenitz retorted with 
 a sneer. ' Of a truth, you and my daughter have reason to re- 
 member that day. You are a corrupter of youth, and an evil 
 man, Mr. Schoolmaster, and a purloiner of letters as well.' 
 
 Monsieur Gabriel looked from the irate lady to her daughter, 
 in consternation and bewilderment. * I fear, madame, that I 
 do not understand you,' he said gently ; ' you labour under a 
 misapprehension. I have never had the letter in my possession. 
 As for your other accusation, I think you are led away by your 
 anger. Indeed, I- do not know the meaning of your words, 
 madame.' His calmness only served to madden Frau von 
 
THE FIRST STEP 47 
 
 Gravenitz further. She turned away from him, and seizing 
 Wilhelmine roughly by the shoulder, she hissed in her ear-: 
 * Give me the letter, you wanton ! ' Wilhelmine started 
 violently, and Monsieur Gabriel made a step forward, as 
 though to defend her ; his face flushed deeply, and he said in a 
 steady voice : ' Madame de Gravenitz, such an accusation, even 
 from a mother's lips, is a thing to which no woman has the 
 right to submit.' But Erau von Gravenitz was beyond hearing ; 
 her features were distorted by rage, and her mouth twitched 
 convulsively. ' How dare you address me ? ' she screamed ; 
 ' you are my daughter's seducer — go — leave my house, and take 
 the wages of my daughter's sin with you!' She came up to the 
 table, and with a sweep of her arm scattered the gold to right 
 and left. 
 
 ' Mother ! ' cried Wilhelmine, ' you are mad ! ' 
 
 '.Madame,' said Monsieur Gabriel, ' I can but obey your 
 command to depart,' and with a profoundly respectful bow to 
 Wilhelmine, he quitted the apartment with quiet dignity. 
 
 Frau von Gravenitz continued her fierce monologue for some 
 time, without interruption. Wilhelmine stood watching her, 
 till an involuntary breathless pause in her mother's torrent of 
 words gave her the opportunity of speech. ' You have always 
 been unjust to me, mother,' she said, in a hard, cold voice ; ' and 
 to-day you have insulted me, in the presence of one you called 
 a stranger. Yes ; Friedrich wrote, proposing that I should go 
 and seek a more prosperous life in Wirtemberg. Yes ; I told 
 Monsieur Gabriel. Yes ; he said he would give me the money 
 for my journey. I warn you that I shall go, and it will be of 
 no avail if you attempt to hinder me.' 
 
 ' You will not go,' said Frau von Gravenitz harshly. ' The 
 money you have earned by your dishonour I shall give to the 
 poor.' 
 
 ' It is not yours to give,' answered Wilhelmine coldly. 
 
 * We shall see,' replied her mother grimly, and commenced 
 an undignified scramble beneath the table, as she gathered up 
 the scattered gold pieces. When she had found all, and care- 
 fully counted it out, she placed it in an oaken cupboard, 
 double locked the door thereof, and placed the key in her 
 pocket, Wilhelmine watching her the while. 
 
48 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 The evening meal was eaten in utter silence. Fran von 
 Gravenitz superintended the washing up of the plates, knives, 
 and forks ; then going to the house door she fastened it securely, . 
 taking the key with her. While the old woman was occupied 
 at the house door, Wilhelmine slipped up the stairs, with the 
 noiseless tread of a cat, and abstracted the key from her 
 mother's bedroom door, then passing to her attic she undressed, 
 and, wrapping her bedgown round her, lay down on her bed. 
 The stolen key she tied firmly in a knot of her hair, close to 
 her head, well hidden by her thick curls. Having accomplished 
 this, she feigned sleep. As she expected, her mother soon 
 discovered the absence of the key, and after a fruitless search 
 in her own room she stormed into Wilhelmine's attic,' and 
 accused her of having removed it. The girl looked at her 
 from sleepy eyes, and denied all knowledge of the missing 
 article. Frau von Gravenitz searched the room, and then 
 bidding her daughter rise, she felt beneath her mattress and 
 pillow. Then she ran her hand over her daughter's body, but 
 she never thought of examining the waves of hair, under which 
 the key was safely hidden. At length, she was satisfied that 
 it was not in her daughter's keeping, and she retired to bed 
 grumbling. 
 
 Wilhelmine listened attentively for some half-hour, then 
 gently pushed aside the covering and noiselessly unlatched 
 the door. She crept towards her mother's door and listened. 
 For some time she heard nothing, but at length her patience 
 was rewarded by the sound of a long, even breath, and she 
 knew her mother was asleep. Wilhelmine returned to her 
 apartment. Slowly and silently she resumed her clothes. 
 Fortunately there was a moon, and the room was flooded with 
 pale light. She did not put on boots, skirt, or cloak, but 
 deposited these in a heap on the corridor floor. Then she 
 approached her mother's door, and listened once more; the 
 regular breaths were quite audible now. Softly she lifted the 
 latch, and passed into the room. The moon was hidden for a 
 moment, and the room was in utter darkness. She crouched, 
 and carefully drew the door to behind her; it creaked, and 
 Frau von Gravenitz moved in her sleep. Wilhelmine crouched 
 lower, and taking- a kerchief from her breast pushed it beneath 
 
THE FIRST STEP 49 
 
 the door, to steady it. She waited motionless till her mother's 
 breathing told her that she was really asleep, and then, with 
 noiseless tread, she approached the sleeper. The clouds shifted 
 and the moon shone in, showing Erau von Gravenitz's face 
 livid and deathlike in the luminous moonshine. The girl 
 shuddered ; it was like robbing a corpse, she thought. But her 
 hesitation was momentary; she pushed her flexible hand beneath 
 her mother's pillow, and her fingers closed on the cold iron of 
 a key. She drew it out, but she felt rather than saw that it was 
 not the one wanted. She was stretching out her hand to seek 
 for the other key, when the sleeper stirred uneasily, murmur- 
 ing some incomprehensible word, and Wilhelmine cowered 
 down once more. The old woman turned round in bed, so 
 that she faced the crouching girl ; her face was now in 
 shadow, and Wilhelmine could not see whether the eyes were 
 open or shut. She waited for what seemed hours in that 
 hunched-up position. After some time, the even breathing 
 recommenced, and Wilhelmine ventured to kneel up beside 
 the bed, but now a fresh dif&culty confronted her : to reach 
 the other key, provided it lay beneath the pillow, she must 
 pass her hand under that portion of the pillow upon which 
 Erau von Gravenitz's head rested. She wriggled her hand in, 
 and the point of her fingers touched the key ; but it was too 
 far away for her to grasp it, and her efforts only pushed it 
 further. She withdrew her hand, and waited till the clouds 
 floated over the moon. When the welcome darkness came, she 
 bent over her mother, and lifting the further edge of the pillow 
 quickly found the key. Then she crept noiselessly to the 
 threshold, took her kerchief, and shut the door silently. Safe 
 in the corridor, she caught up her bundle of garments and 
 groped her way down the stairs, which creaked under her, but 
 she heard no movement in the house, though she listened 
 attentively at the foot of the stairs. Swiftly she gained the 
 dwelling-room, fitted the key into the oaken press, unlocked 
 it, and took out the rolls of gold. In another moment she 
 stood in the snow- covered street, the money for her journey 
 safe in her hand. 
 
 Wilhelmine von Gravenitz had taken the first step of an 
 extraordinary career, 
 
 D 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE JOUENEY 
 
 * When the meadow glows, and the orchard snows, 
 And the air 's with love notes teeming, 
 When fancies break, and the senses wake, 
 0, life 's a dream worth dreaming.' 
 
 W. E. Henley. 
 
 A HEAVY, leaden sky hung over the small town of Cannstatt, 
 and the people looked with foreboding at the lowering black 
 clouds, and the weather-wise foretold a furious thunder-storm. 
 For many weeks the heavens had smiled as though summer 
 had come, though in truth the spring was but just begun, and 
 May counted but few days. The trees of the forest were 
 donning their leafy garments, the orchards were white and 
 pink with apple, pear, and cherry blossom, and the young 
 grass stood tall and feathery in an unusually early maturity. 
 Of course the -peasants grumbled, as peasants always do ; they 
 complained of the heat and shook their heads over a belated 
 frost, which they declared must come to chastise the forward- 
 ness of the growing things ; they demanded rain from the 
 smiling blue heavens, and contemplated gloomily the tender, 
 green shoots of the vines. But when, in answer to their 
 prayers for rain, the sky lowered and the sun vanished, they 
 grumbled again and spoke of the hailstones, which would 
 come to dash the blossoms of the fruit-trees and break the 
 young vines. All day the thunder had menaced but had not 
 fulfilled the threat, and when evening fell the air was still 
 heavily oppressive. A rumbling sound caused the people to 
 run to their lattice windows and look up at the sky, wondering 
 if the storm had come at last ; but it was only the echo of 
 carriage-wheels rolling through the mediaeval archway, which * 
 led to the fields beyond the town. The diligence drew up 
 ponderously at the 'door of the Hotel Zur Post, and the driver 
 
 50 
 
THE JOURNEY 61 
 
 descended equally ponderously, demanding loudly a drink of 
 good Wirtemberg wine. Meanwhile an imperious voice from' 
 the conveyance could be heard inquiring whether they had 
 arrived at Stuttgart, and if not, where they were. No one 
 answering this query, a hand was visible thrust out of the 
 clumsy diligence, in an attempt to unfasten the catch which 
 held the door firm. A bystander came forward and undid 
 the door, and a tall woman stood on the step of the coach 
 looking around her. As she put her foot to the ground in 
 her further descent, a brilliant flash of forked lightning, 
 followed immediately by a tremendous detonation of thunder, 
 announced the storm's advent. 
 
 Eain began to fall in torrents, as though the clouds were rent 
 asunder and poured long pent-up anger upon the world. The 
 lady hastened to the porch of the Gasthof to seek shelter, and 
 the driver of the coach led his tired horses under cover of a 
 shed in the courtyard. The chief room of the inn was a 
 cheerless apartment, long and dark, with narrow, rough 
 wooden tables fitted round the walls. A strong, stale smell 
 greeted the nose disagreeably. One or two peasants sat at the 
 far end of one of the tables ; they stared rudely as the lady 
 entered, and whispered remarks about her, grinning broadly 
 the while. She glanced haughtily at them and called to the 
 innkeeper, who had followed her from the courtyard, desiring 
 him to bring her food and wine. He went slowly to a painted 
 wooden cupboard, which stood against the wall at the back of 
 the room, and returned with a lump of coarse bread and some 
 raw ham which he set down on the dirty table. Taking an 
 earthenware jug from before the group of peasants, he brought 
 it to add to the lady's unappetising meal. ' Good wine last 
 year here,' he said. * Then, at least, something is good, Herr 
 Wirth, in your inn ! ' she answered ; ' but tell me,' she con- 
 tinued, with a smile which almost charmed even the boorish 
 innkeeper, ' how far is it to Stuttgart, and what is the namC of 
 this village ? ' * Village ? Lady, it is a township, and much 
 older than Stuttgart ! It is Cannstatt, where the Eomans 
 have left a camp, but Stuttgart is the finer because the Duke's 
 court is there. You have travelled far ? ' he added, his curio- 
 sity getting the better of the unfriendly distrust with which 
 
52 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the Wirtemberger regards all strangers. ' From the far north,' 
 she answered shortly. ' You have never been in our country 
 before ? ' he asked ; ' well, you have an ill-omened day for your 
 arrival ; the storm greeted you ! ' The lady started. ' Thank 
 you for reminding me,' she said, * I dislike ill omens.' The 
 man grinned : it delighted his honest soul to have succeeded 
 in annoying a foreigner. ' You will reach Stuttgart to-night, 
 for it is only half a league from here. Is Stuttgart your 
 destination ? ' he asked. * Perhaps,' she answered, and turned 
 away ; the man's curiosity was, evidently, little to her taste. 
 However, another thought seemed to come to her, for she 
 turned again towards him, and, with a smile of infinite 
 sweetness, began to question him on the country, the people, 
 and the court. At first he answered shortly enough, but the 
 lady fixed her eyes upon him. Gradually he felt (he told the 
 tale often in later days) a sort of dream-feeling creep over 
 him, and he replied to all her questions fully, telling her 
 everything he knew of the country gossip : how the Duke was 
 heartily weary of his wife. Duchess Johanna Elizabetha ; how 
 she was eternally jealous of him ; of how a Frau von Geyling 
 held the Duke enthralled ; that the Erbprinz was a sickly 
 child of nine years old, who men said could not be long for 
 this world. He told her of the people's hatred of a Herr von 
 Stafforth, a foreigner, who had become very mighty in 
 Stuttgart ; in fact he gossiped freely, and perhaps, in his 
 half-hour's talk, let her discover more of the people's thoughts, 
 and the dangerously discontented state of the country, than 
 was known to the ministers of Wirtemberg. At length the 
 lady rose and requested him to see if the storm had sufficiently 
 abated for the coach to continue its journey. The man went 
 out rubbing his eyes ; he felt as if he had been half asleep. 
 
 The storm was over, and only the rain fell quietly as the 
 coach rumbled out of Cannstatt and across the bridge over the 
 Neckar. The lady leaned back against the wooden side of the 
 diligence and closed her eyes. She reflected that she must be 
 near Stuttgart, and she wondered what her destiny would be 
 in the town which she was nearing in the darkness. Gradually 
 the monotonous creaking and the jolting of the heavy vehicle 
 made her drowsy, also she felt the warmth of the potent 
 
THE JOURNEY 53 
 
 Wirtemberg wine glow through her tired limbs. The coach 
 passed through the outskirts of Stuttgart, but Wilhelmine, 
 von Gravenitz, for it was she, slept and did not see the 
 outlying houses of that town, where Fate willed she should 
 play so important a part. 
 
 "Wilhelmine had tarried in Berlin with her sister, Erau 
 Sittmann, and the days of her visit had lengthened to weeks 
 ere she had resumed her journey southwards, for she had been 
 sick unto death with smallpox. When she recovered she had 
 almost found it in her heart to return to Giistrow and hide 
 her ravaged beauty ; but in reality the fell disease had been 
 very merciful, and though Wilhelmine's skin was slightly pock- 
 marked, the bloom and colour of her magnificent health and 
 forceful youth rendered the marks inoffensive. Thus, though 
 long delayed, she had at last continued her adventurous quest. 
 
 The coach lumbered on, and Wilhelmine woke with a start 
 as a more than usually violent jolt flung her against the door. 
 She peered out into the darkness but could see nothing, for 
 the night was absolutely starless. The road was so steep that 
 at moments the heavy carriage threatened to run backwards 
 down the hill, in spite of the straining of the wretched horses 
 that struggled onwards, slipping and floundering on the dripping 
 road. At the top of the hill the driver pulled up to breathe 
 the poor beasts ; he came round to the back of the coach and 
 called to Wilhelmine that if she leaned out of the window she 
 would see the lights of the town of Stuttgart beneath her in 
 the valley. She looked out, and far down she saw lights 
 glittering through the night. There were only a few visible, 
 for the windows of most of the houses were probably curtained 
 to shut out the wet night. Wilhelmine drew back into the 
 diligence with a sense of disappointment. She had dreamed 
 of a splendid city, and this seemed like a village. 
 
 She slept again, and it was the morning sun shining on her 
 face which roused her. She looked out of the window once more, 
 and this time a smiling landscape met her eye. The route ran 
 between green fields, and on each side of the road were huge, 
 gnarled apple and pear trees, which spring had crowned with 
 a glory of snowy blossom. In the near distance rose rounded, 
 fir-clad hills, here and there the sombre colour broken by 
 
54. A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 tlie delicate verdure of young beech leaves. A delicious 
 morning air kissed Wilhelmine's cheeks and lips as she leaned 
 out of the window, wafting to her the faint, sweet breath of 
 the fruit blossom mixed with the smell of the wet fields and 
 woods. ' What a glorious country ! ' she said aloud, and she 
 called to the driver to stop and let her rest her aching limbs 
 in a few minutes' walk. The man opened the door and bade 
 her ' Griiss Gott, Fraulein,' and even the surly tone in which 
 the words were uttered could not spoil the beauty of the 
 friendly South German greeting. ' All the fields and the 
 woods say " Grtiss Gott " to-day, I think ! ' she returned. The 
 heavy Swabian peasant stared at her. 'What ridiculous 
 things these foreigners say ! ' was written so clearly in his 
 face, that Wilhelmine laughed outright. 
 
 ' Where do we change horses next ? ' she queried. He 
 told her at Tiibingen in an hour's time, and that they would 
 reach .her destination, Rottenburg, about twelve of the clock. 
 When they rattled in to the old town of Tubingen the driver 
 informed her that they made an hour's halt there. ' Unless 
 indeed,' he added, 'you choose to travel to Rottenburg by 
 special post-chaise, at a cost of twelve gulden.' 
 
 But Wilhelmine had few gulden to spare, and she 
 decided to wander about the town until the ordinary diligence 
 started for Rottenburg. She climbed the steep road to the 
 ancient castle. The moat was filled with flowers and shrubs. 
 It surprised her to see this peaceful garrison of the fortifica- 
 tions of a stronghold so soon after the invasion of Wirtem- 
 berg by the troops of Louis xiv. She questioned a peasant 
 who was loitering near the drawbridge. He laughed at her, 
 and endeavoured to be witty at her expense, after the agree- 
 able manner of the Swabian, who thinks himself entitled 
 to poke clumsy fun at any questioner. He condescended, 
 however, to inform her that in fertile Wirtemberg flowers and 
 all growing things find a home each spring in any and every 
 nook and cranny, careless that their forbears of a twelve- 
 month have been uprooted. 
 
 ' A beautiful land,' she murmured, ' peopled by boors ! ' 
 She turned away from her discourteous informant and con- 
 templated the grey walls of the castle, so strong and grim, yet 
 
THE JOURNEY 55 
 
 dressed with the gracious flowers of a lavish spring. As she 
 stood admiring the wonderful Eenaissance gateway, one side 
 of the huge door was pushed open and a young man in 
 student's dress emerged. His face, though sickly and 
 emaciated, interested her hy reason' of its vivid intelligence 
 and a certain mocking look of eye and lip. 
 
 'Sir/ said Wilhelmine, as the youth approached over the 
 drawbridge, 'could I see the castle, do you think? I am a 
 stranger and have an hour to pass in Tubingen, and I would 
 fain wile away the time of my stay here.' He told her she 
 was at liberty to wander through the courtyard ; he need but 
 request the doorkeeper to admit her. ' I am a student in 
 this university/ he explained, 'for though this castle is in 
 reality a royal residence, the students occupy one side of the 
 quadrangle ; and, in truth, his Highness Eberhard Ludwig 
 seldom visits his fortress of Tiibingen.' She thanked him for 
 his courtesy and would have passed on alone, but the student 
 followed her through the peaceful courtyard, proudly pointing 
 out to her the fine workmanship of the fountain. Then he 
 made her peep through the windows of the library, which 
 filled one side of the building. There she saw black-robed 
 students poring over the books. 'Melanchthon lectured there/ 
 he said ; ' Erasmus was here, and the learned Dr. Eaustus of 
 Maulbronn came and studied here, so legend says.' 
 
 He took her up the moss-grown steps at the end of the 
 courtyard, and out on to the rampart. A view of infinite 
 beauty lay before her : a vast expanse of green fields through 
 which the river Neckar flows gently, a smiling valley 
 glittering in the morning sunshine and radiant with fruit 
 blossom. In the middle distance were fir-clad hills, while 
 behind them rose blue and misty mountains. The student 
 pointed southwards. ' Over there is the ruined castle of 
 Hohenzollern. If you have good eyes you can catch the sun 
 glinting upon one of the few remaining towers. It is the 
 ancient home of that strong race which rules Prussia. This 
 Southern Germany is the birthland of great races. Hohen- 
 stauffen is another mountain in this range ; but you cannot 
 see it from here, it is too far.' The student spoke dreamily, 
 as though the changing destinies of master races lay before 
 
56 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 him in a vision. Willielmine leant against the stone "balus- 
 trade and gazed at the beautiful country. She was interested 
 in the scholar's talk, and she waited, hoping he would con- 
 tinue ; but as he did not speak, she asked him whether the 
 castle of the Hohenstauffens still existed. He told her that 
 not one stone remained upon another. 'Vanished like the 
 proud race which was called by its name, only a memory now 
 to the few who love the past ! ' he said. ' All things vanish, 
 Fraulein,' he continued, ' the good, the great, the wrong, the 
 glory, and the tears ; the wise man must carve his name on 
 the lives of those around him if he would benefit by power. 
 The noble deed carved on stone raised to do us honour after 
 death is almost mockery. Personal power during our lives, 
 riches, enjoyment, all that dominion over others . gives—— — ' 
 He paused and laughed harshly. 
 
 Willielmine looked at him. ' What power do you seek, 
 Mr. Student ? ' she asked curiously. 
 
 Tor myself, little! I wish for a sufficiency of money to 
 be able to pursue my studies, that is all. I am a theologian, 
 and shall be a pastor in a few months' time, and the occupation 
 with the uninteresting peasant souls of a country parish is 
 little to my taste.' 
 
 Wilhelmine observed him narrowly. This man might prove 
 useful, she reflected, if she should desire a service, and if she 
 were in a position to pay for it. ' Tell me your name,' she 
 said. He told her— Otto Pfahler, and in return he begged 
 her to tell him who she was ; but she evaded the question, 
 and asked him concerning the history of Tubingen. There 
 is no being on earth more easy to manage than an historical 
 enthusiast who has seldom the opportunity of expatiating on 
 the legends which he loves ; you have but to turn his mind 
 to the past, he will wander off therein, and you need not even 
 listen, provided you have the wit to nod in an interested way 
 at intervals. Pfahler talked on as he accompanied Wilhel- 
 mine across the courtyard, and she was able to dismiss him 
 with a bow and a word of thanks for his historic anecdotes, 
 without divulging her identity. 
 
 When Wilhelmine regained the diligence, she found the 
 horses already harnessed and the driver climbing upon the 
 
THE JOURNEY 57 
 
 box. She took her place in the clumsy vehicle and recom- 
 menced her journey. 
 
 The road from Tubingen to Eottenburg winds through the 
 valley of the Neckar for some ten miles. It is the usual 
 South German high-road, bordered by large fruit-trees ; but 
 to Wilhelmine, coming from the bleak northern winter, it 
 seemed as though she had been set down in Fairyland. The 
 white and pink blossoms of the fruit-trees, the strong high 
 grass whitened by the luxuriant growth of the cow-parsley, 
 touched here and there with the gold of the giant kingcups, 
 and, as though the Master's palette had been robbed of all its 
 colours to complete this radiant spring picture, the very earth 
 of the vineyards below the fresh green of the vine sprouts 
 shone with the rich red brown of the Wirtemberg soil, which 
 is one more opulent charm added to the beauty of an 
 indescribably lovely spring country. Eottenburg lies in the 
 centre of this valley ; the Neckar flows placidly half way 
 round the small town. The diligence rolled over a mediaeval 
 bridge which spans the river, and Wilhelmine found herself 
 at the end of her tedious, rattling journey. She stepped out 
 of the coach and looked about her, expecting to see her 
 brother. 
 
 The narrow street was empty, save for several black-gowned 
 figures moving slowly towards an enormous building, which 
 flanked one side of a square or market-place, at the end 
 of the street. 
 
 As she stood a moment hesitating, she heard herself ad- 
 dressed from the door of the inn, before which the diligence 
 had halted. Turning she saw a most suave personage bow- 
 ing and smiling, and imploring her to enter the hostelry. 
 Wilhelmine looked with interest at the man, evidently the 
 innkeeper, yet of so clerical an appearance that she thought 
 he must be a particularly prosperous priest. She entered the 
 inn, and was ordering herself some slight refreshment from 
 her obsequious host when bells from some neighbouring 
 church rang out. The innkeeper crossed his brow and breast 
 with the third finger of his right hand, while with his left 
 hand he piously hid his eyes. He recited some prayers in 
 a mumbling undertone, then crossing himself once more, . he 
 
58 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 turned with an oily smile to Wilhelmine. ' The Angelus,' 
 he said ; ' evidently Madame is not of the Faith. Here in 
 Eottenburg we are all members of the true Church. We 
 have had the privilege of having a Jesuit college here these 
 many years/ 
 
 Wilhelmine made some appropriate answer, and noted for 
 the first time in her personal experience the truth of a remark 
 of Monsieur Gabriel's, that one of the strengths of the Catholic 
 Church is the semi-clericalising of the laymen who live in or 
 near any religious centre. It flatters the uneducated to feel 
 themselves akin to their spiritual dictators, and it gives them 
 a spurious refinement. Undoubtedly, the host of the Eomischer 
 Kaiser was an excellent specimen of this class. 
 
 Wilhelmine, having partaken of her breakfast, was setting 
 out to walk towards the Neuhaus, where her brother had 
 directed her to appear, when she saw Friedrich Gravenitz 
 coming down the street. He greeted his sister hastily, and 
 explained that the diligence had arrived before the usual 
 hour. He apologised for not having been at the inn to 
 welcome his sister on her arrival, but it struck Wilhelmine 
 that though her brother had gained in polish of manner since 
 he had become a courtier, he had lost the warmth and friendli- 
 ness which had characterised him in earlier days. She felt 
 chilled and saddened, and it was in silence that she walked 
 beside him across the fields from Eottenburg to Madame de 
 Euth's house. A stout peasant followed them carrying her 
 scanty baggage. Friedrich talked volubly to his unresponsive 
 companion, and though he expressed the hope, with much 
 politeness, that she was not fatigued by her journey, he did 
 not listen to her reply, but plunged into an exact account of 
 his own position at court and of his poverty and difficulties. 
 His sister was weary, and an overpowering sense of loneliness 
 possessed her ; she had always known her brother to be an 
 egoist, but a certain spontaneous, easy kindness had masked 
 his self-love when he was in Mecklemburg. 
 
 They walked over the field before the house, passed 
 through the tree-shaded garden, up the red-tiled garden- 
 path to the side, door of the Neuhaus, and Friedrich 
 knocked loudly with the handle of his cane on the panel. 
 
THE JOURNEY 59 
 
 Madame de Euth's peasant servant admitted them, and 
 led the way through the dark corridor to the panelled 
 room, where, three months earlier, it had been decided that 
 Wilhelmine should be summoned to Wirtemberg to help fill 
 her brother's purse. 
 
 The sunshine streamed down on the garden without, but 
 the room was chilly, and Wilhelmine shivered a little as she 
 stood waiting for her unknown hostess to appear. It could 
 not be said that Wilhelmine was a timid woman, yet hers 
 was one of those natures which, though ready to attempt 
 many things, shrink unaccountably at any touch of dreariness, 
 and almost dread meeting strangers. She looked at her 
 brother, who stood with his back turned towards the room, 
 gazing out at the sunlit garden. She noted his broad 
 shoulders, the graceful pose of the body, the straight, shapely 
 legs, and the slightness of hip which distinguished him from 
 the usual heavily-built German. There was beauty in his 
 lines, and yet a certain strangeness of proportion in the whole 
 figure which puzzled her for a moment ; then she noticed the 
 extreme smallness of his head, and the curious absence of 
 development in the back of the skull, which gave him a well- 
 bred but foolish look. He was quite amiable, and meant 
 kindly towards his sister, yet he was incapable of helping in 
 what was for her a difficult moment ; indeed, he added to her 
 feeling of loneliness by his loud talk and patronising air. 
 At length the door opened and Madame de Euth appeared. 
 She came forward with hands outstretched and a smile of 
 welcome on her kind, ugly face, which became most genial when 
 she saw her guest's undoubted beauty. 'A thousand pardons 
 for keeping you waiting, my dear ! I was not dressed, lazy 
 old woman that I am ! And how fatigued you must be, 
 dear child ; such a journey ! — ^ Grave nitz, have you not 
 offered your sister some refreshment ? Good Lord ! what an 
 idea ! What ? You say you have been talking ? Yes, yes, 
 I warrant you have ! ' Her sharp eyes had taken in the 
 situation. Madame de Euth, though she talked, as ZoUern 
 said, 'like a book," had the faculty of talking and observing 
 at the same time. People think that the talkers of the 
 world are so occupied with their own prattle that their eyes 
 
60 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 remain idle ; whereas some of the most practised observers, 
 especially those of the feminine sex, have learned that it is 
 possible to extract more information from others by appear- 
 ing to impart much, and that a flow of speech masks the 
 observation to a great extent. The garrulous lady saw the 
 brother's pompous attitude ; .she had caught the tones of his 
 unmodulated voice before she entered, and she noticed im- 
 mediately the shadow on the girl's face and guessed what the 
 new arrival felt. 
 
 Wilhelmine responded readily to Madame de Euth. Soon 
 the girl felt as though she had known her for years. After 
 a few minutes' conversation the two ladies left the formal 
 living-room, and passed up a broad wooden stair to a room' on 
 the first floor, where Wilhelmine found her few belongings 
 already set down. It was a pretty room for those days, 
 though we should now consider it but insufficiently furnished. 
 Bare, brown-stained boards, a narrow wooden bedstead, a 
 couple of carved wooden chairs, a large carved cupboard, 
 and a table, on which stood a tiny washing-basin and ewer of 
 beautiful porcelain, completed the appointments. The hostess 
 rattled on cheerfully while Wilhelmine divested herself of 
 the cloak and hood. She realised that Madame de Euth 
 intended to remain, curious to see the contents of the travel- 
 ling-basket; but this was precisely what the guest did not 
 desire, for she had no wish to expose the scantiness of her 
 wardrobe to her new friend. She sat down on one of the 
 wooden chairs opposite her hostess, and listened to the voluble 
 talk. Both women knew exactly what the other wanted, and 
 both were equally determined not to be beaten ; also both 
 knew that the other knew what they each wanted. It was 
 one of those small feminine conflicts which take place 
 every day. The older woman's tongue ran on, while her 
 sharp eyes noted every shade and change in her guest's face. 
 Wilhelmine answered the many questions frankly enough, 
 but Madame de Euth observed with satisfaction that she told 
 only such things as all the world might hear. There were no 
 outbursts of girlish confidences, no indiscreet questions; she 
 was mistress of the s,ituation, and if she showed any shyness, 
 it was never either. awkward or foolish, but seemed merely a 
 
THE JOUENEY 61 
 
 delightful youthful attribute, an added charm. Her hostess 
 felt a deepening interest. This girl would be a more potent 
 factor in the intrigues for which they had destined her than 
 they had dreamed. She watched Wilhelmine as a full-grown 
 tigress might watch the play of a tiger cub, noting the pro- 
 mise of each movement, gauging the strength of the young 
 animal, and calculating the fighting powers which it would 
 develop. At length Madame de Euth rose, and, drawing 
 Wilhelmine to her, she kissed her affectionately. 'You have 
 a future before you, my dear,' she said, and her fine smile lit 
 her face. 'You have bewitched me, and you will bewitch 
 others of more importance. Now, dress. We dine at three 
 o'clock, and the Duke of Zollern will be with us.' 
 
 • • • • ' • • • 
 
 The Duke of Zollern was seated at Madame de Euth's 
 right hand ; Monsieur de Stafforth, Oberhofmarshall of the 
 court of Wirtemberg, was at her left ; Madame Friedrich 
 de Gravenitz sat beside the Duke to his right ; beside 
 her was the Ereiherr von Eeischach, a gentleman famoua 
 for his fine courtliness and his experience in war and love ; 
 Eriedrich Gravenitz sat next to him, and then came Wilhel- 
 mine seated between her brother and Monsieur de Stafforth, 
 opposite her hostess and the Duke of Zollern. Madame de 
 Euth sat with her back turned towards the light ; she 
 knew the value of shadow to an ageing face, and always 
 declared that the glare hurt her eyes, though, God knows, 
 these were neither weak nor easily dazzled. The Duke 
 of Zollern, too, liked to have the light behind him. ' It 
 is fitting for the old to turn their backs to the sunshine,' 
 he had remarked as they took their places at the table, ' for, 
 indeed, the light of youth is behind us, shining, alas ! on the 
 paths we have already traversed. Eor the young — let the 
 sunshine lie before them, making their youth still more fair — 
 if possible.' And he had bowed in his inimitable way to 
 Wilhelmine, who delighted in this courteous speech, though 
 she was perfectly aware that he and Madame de Euth had 
 placed her in the full light in order to study her the better. 
 Of a truth, Wilhelmine looked wonderfully lovely that after- 
 noon. Her luxuriant hair, innocent of powder, was piled high 
 
62 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 on her head, and turned back from off her white brow ; 
 the glow of perfect health was in her cheeks, and her strange 
 magnetic eyes were softened by shyness. She had fashioned 
 herself a bodice out of the feast-day kerchiefs which Meck- 
 lemburg peasant women wear ; cutting off the flowered borders, 
 she had joined them together and made a deep hem which 
 she had sewn on her dark blue linen skirt. The corsage was 
 cut down at the back, and the front she had cut out in a deep 
 V shape, showing her creamy neck and the gentle rise of her 
 breast. A poor garment indeed, but the kerchiefs had been 
 carefully collected, and were all of the same delicate pink 
 colour, and she had further softened the lines round the 
 contour of her neck by a folded white kerchief. At her 
 bosom she had fastened a spray of apple-blossom, and the 
 petals leaning against her white skin were not more delicate, 
 more divinely young than her breast. She looked like a 
 blossom herself as the sunlight touched her, and the men 
 round the dinner-table gazed so eagerly at her, that she knew 
 she must be more beautiful than the ladies of the court, 
 albeit their gowns were of silk. 
 
 No dinner could be dull if Madame de Ruth was there; 
 and ZoUern, with his courtly grace and witty talk, was a host 
 in himself. Reischach was silent, but his openly admiring 
 looks at Wilhelmine pleased her more than the phrases of a 
 talkative gallant. As for Gravenitz, he talked loudly, accord- 
 ing to his wont, paying but little heed to the random answers 
 of Monsieur de Stafforth, who like Reischach was occupied 
 with Wilhelmine, But, unlike Reischach, Stafforth's admira- 
 tion, though not so open, had that touch of coarseness which 
 is so often the mark of the bourgeois' approval. Madame de 
 Gravenitz, it was evident, entirely disapproved of Wilhelmine. 
 She was a pretty, colourless devotee, and she felt her sister- 
 in-law's beauty and obvious fascination to be almost indecorous. 
 Madame de Ruth chattered as usual, though at moments she 
 paused to whisper a comment to ZoUern, who answered in 
 a low voice by some subtle irony which caused the lady much 
 amusement. The dinnex was very long, and it was with relief 
 that Wilhelmine saw her hostess rise from the table. * Coffee 
 in the garden, mes -amis ! and then Mademoiselle de Gravenitz 
 
THE JOURNEY 63 
 
 shall sing to us. There is a clavichord in the panelled room, 
 and we will leave the garden door open in order to hear the 
 music. Come, Marie ! what a gloomy face ! Why must the 
 pious be gloomy ? Lord, girl ! forget your sins for once, or 
 you will exhaust the stock, and then' there will be nothing to 
 repent of. Think, my dear,' she said, turning to Wilhelmine, 
 * your sister-in-law is a saint. Monseigneur, you shake a 
 finger at me ! Brook ? Who talks of brooks ? Ah, well, I 
 talk too much ! — well, well ! — An account on the Last Day of 
 my words ? I pity the angel who adds up the sum ! But 
 come, coffee ! and a moment's silence, my friends ! ' 
 
 They all laughed. Madame de Euth's vivacity was infec- 
 tious ; and even Marie Gravenitz was smiling, as the party 
 passed through the living-room and into the garden. They 
 went down the red-tiled path, and, turning to the left, came to 
 a stone bench before which, on a square table, the servant had 
 placed the coffee and seven tiny porcelain cups. Madame 
 de Euth busied herself preparing the coffee for her guests, 
 and ZoUern watched her, seated near on the bench. Marie 
 Gravenitz walked a short distance away, her demure figure 
 harmonising well with the peace of the formal garden ; 
 Gravenitz leaned against the back of the bench and looked 
 with complacency at the good brown coffee, which his hostess 
 was pouring into the little cups. Coffee was expensive, and 
 being regarded as a great luxury, was only dispensed in very 
 small quantities. Eeischach and Monsieur de Stafforth were 
 dallying with Wilhelmine, who stood listening to their com- 
 pliments with a smile on her lips. 
 
 ' * Mademoiselle,' Stafforth was saying, * the court will rejoice 
 in your presence. We crave for youth — more still, we crave 
 for beauty ! His Highness will welcome you, though, I trow, 
 Madame the Duchess may not prove so gracious ! But when 
 will you come to Stuttgart? It will be my privilege to 
 herald your arrival' 
 
 'Monsieur, I am guided by my brother in these matters. 
 He is my protector, as is fitting,' she said, a trifle haughtily. 
 Monsieur de Stafforth's obsequious, yet patronising tone dis- 
 pleased her, and somehow she desired him to know that her 
 brother stood at her side in the world. 
 
64 A GEKMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' Mademoiselle is right/ said Eeischacli shortly, ' these 
 things will be arranged. The coffee waits you, Monsieur ; 
 it would be a pity should your portion get cold/ He spoke 
 lightly, but Wilhelmine recognised the man of breeding in 
 the covert hint to Stafforth. It pleased her, and she smiled 
 at him. Stafforth, for his part, apparently paid no heed to 
 the rebuff, though Wilhelinine surprised an ugly glance and 
 a faint deepening of the hue of his coarsely chiselled, hand- 
 some face. At this moment Madame de Euth called them, 
 and they gathered round the table. They drank their coffee, 
 listening to a highly coloured story of the wars which Friedrich 
 Gravenitz was recounting. His Grace the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, the hero thereof, a sorry figure, as the reluctant 
 \rictim of a lady of Ingolstadt, whose advances he refused, 
 trembling lest his haughty Sarah should hear of it and give 
 him a sound rating on his return to England. The anecdote 
 was broad, to say the least, and sure it did not lose in the 
 telling. ' A great captain, but sorely afraid of his lady ! ' 
 finished Gravenitz with a loud laugh. 
 
 ' It is the privilege of the truly brave to. tremble before 
 beauty and gentleness,' said ZoUern sharply. 
 
 ' The prerogative of fools to set them at naught,' he added 
 in a low voice to Madame de Euth. There was a pause. 
 Gravenitz himself, who should have been uncomfortable, 
 seemed to notice nothing, but the rest of the company felt 
 the moment to be one of difficulty. Stafforth offered his 
 arm to Wilhelmine and proposed a short stroll through the 
 garden to the orchard ; and the girl, glad to escape the spectacle 
 of her brothers swaggering tactlessness, accepted, and they 
 walked away together beneath the tender green of the beech- 
 trees. 
 
 The orchard was an enchanted spot, such a marvel of 
 blossom overhead, like rose-tinted foam, while under foot 
 the grass was full of spring flowers, the cow-parsley sending 
 up a delicious faint fragrance, mingled with the smell of the 
 earth wet from the night's rain. Stafforth found a stack of 
 orchard poles, and dragging from beneath the heap the 
 dryest of them, he arranged a resting-place for Wilhelmine. 
 They sat down, ' and he recounted stories of court life in 
 
THE JOUBNEY 65 
 
 general and of Stuttgart in particular. He portrayed the 
 Duchess Johanna Elizabetha, a Princess of Baden-Durlach 
 by birth. He told of her good qualities, but also of her 
 dullness ; of her eternal jealousy of her husband, Eberhard 
 Ludwig, Duke of Wirtemberg ; of ho\^ the Duke sought enter- 
 tainment with other ladies, but that the reign of each was 
 short-lived, for the Duke really had a faithful soul and re- 
 turned to his excellent, wearisome spouse. How a Madame 
 de Geyling was queen of the present hour ; that she was a 
 foolish woman with a bad temper, who offended the courtiers 
 and rated the Duke ; of how the court expected an imminent 
 change of affection, but that no one could imagine who the 
 new favourite would be. He told her that the Duke was 
 a brilliant soldier, the friend and companion-in-arms of his 
 Grace of Marlborough, a polished courtier too, the finest dancer 
 of his day, and a very Phaeton with horses. Withal a man 
 of learning and refinement, a passionate lover of music, a 
 dreamer and a child of Nature, who loved to wander alone 
 in the beautiful Wirtemberg forests, and often in the summer 
 would stay in the woods all night, sleeping upon the soft, 
 brown carpet of last year's leaves. Stafforth spoke of the per- 
 petual intrigues of the Eomish priests to convert the Duke 
 and gain the country back to the Catholic Church ; he told 
 her stories of the French invasion of Wirtemberg, and how it 
 was feared that the French would return to the attack, and 
 that therefore the Duke was occupied in Stuttgart gathering a 
 new army, though he masked those preparations by a series 
 of brilliant court gaieties. 'There is to be a magnificent feast 
 in a few weeks' time at Stuttgart, theatricals, a banquet, a 
 stag-hunt, and a grand ball. Will you honour my wife and 
 me by accepting our hospitality for that time ? Your brother 
 has rooms in the quarters set apart for the Kammerjunkers ; 
 Madame de Euth also has but a small apartment in the 
 castle, not large enough to entertain a guest. But I have 
 a house with ample accommodation, and it would give me 
 much pleasure if you would come. Madame de Stafforth 
 too,' he added as an afterthought. 
 
 Wilhelmine accepted. She felt that this was no sudden 
 proposition but an organised scheme, probably of Madame 
 de Euth's. E 
 
66 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' You must play a part in the theatricals, Mademoiselle. The 
 rehearsals begin next week ; will you come then ? ' 
 
 * Let us go and consult Madame de Euth/ she replied, rising. 
 They rejoined the group round the table, and Stafforth made 
 
 his proposal as though it were a new idea which had come to 
 him. Madame de Ruth feigned surprise; Gravenitz played 
 the part of the grateful brother ; ZoUern acclaimed the notion 
 as excellent. Wherefore all this comedy ? thought Wilhelmine, 
 for she realised that her programme had been fixed by these 
 schemers, and that this was merely the first act. She looked 
 round : ah, yes, Reischach ! he was the audience for this play- 
 acting. He was intended to remain ignorant. Wilhelmine 
 smiled ; she was in the presence of three practised intriguers — 
 Zollern, Madame de Ruth, Stafforth. She herself was to be 
 a tool, as her brother already was. Well, let their scheme 
 carry her as far as it could ; afterwards, she promised herself 
 to go onward aided by her own ingenuity alone, once she knew 
 her ground. At present she was not sure at whom the plot 
 was aimed, though she had a suspicion that it was the Duke 
 himself whom she was designed to capture, in order to further 
 some unknown plans of her three protectors. She did not 
 count her brother ; she recognised him as a mere pawn in the 
 game. 
 
 * Mademoiselle to take part in the theatricals ? ' Madame 
 de Ruth was saying ; ' delightful ! but which part ? You must 
 sing, my dear. Your brother says your voice is wonderful ! 
 Let us hear you now. Come, mes amis ! music ! ' Reischach 
 led the newcomer to the clavichord in the panelled room, and 
 the company gathered near the garden-door to listen. 
 
 Wilhelmine ran her fingers over the keyboard. The instru- 
 ment was old, and though the notes rang true, they were faint 
 and jingly, A lesser artist might have endeavoured to amplify 
 the chords, but Wilhelmine played her accompaniment in thin 
 arpeggios, making the clavichord sound like a stringed instru- 
 ment, and achieving a charming effect. She sang a gay little 
 sixteenth- century song, such a one as perchance Chastelard 
 may have sung to Marie of Scots in their happy days in 
 France — a light melody, with a sudden change to the minor 
 in the refrain, lil^e a sigh following laughter. Wilhelmine's 
 
THE JOURNEY 67 
 
 hearers, who had expected a beautiful, untrained voice from 
 this provincial lady, listened in unfeigned surprise, and when, 
 the song was ended they crowded round her with expressions 
 of delight. 
 
 ' We have found a pearl ! ' declared Madame de Euth. 
 * Stafforth, what is this play which they are going to act at 
 Stuttgart ? Who sings in it ? Madame de Geyling? — of course ! 
 Well, and after ? — no one ? Well, then, Mademoiselle shall 
 sing ! Let it come as a surprise ! ' 
 
 Eeischach approached. 
 
 ' Monsieur de Eeischach, I count you in our plot ! We want 
 our new friend to make a sensation in Stuttgart. We can 
 rely on your discretion ? Let her come as a surprise, I beg 
 you ! Eemember that the lute of Orpheus itself could not 
 have charmed the beasts had they been warned to expect too 
 much.' 
 
 Eeischach bowed. ' No word from me, Madame, to warn — 
 the beasts ! * 
 
 Madame de Euth laughed. *Do not apply my allegory 
 literally,' she said. 
 
 The company broke up ; the Duke of ZoUern's coach was at 
 the door. Also Monsieur de Stafforth took his leave, for he 
 intended to ride to Stuttgart that evening. 
 
 As Zollern bade farewell to his hostess, she whispered, ' She 
 will do admirably ! she will go far.' 
 
 ' Too far, perhaps, Madame,' he answered ; ' too far for all 
 our calculations, and for many people's comfort ! ' 
 
CHAPTEE V 
 
 THE PLAY-ACTING 
 
 At eight of tlie clock on the evening of 15th May 1706, the 
 main street of Stuttgart was crowded with a stream of coaches 
 and foot-passengers. The cries of the running footmen: 
 ' Make way there for his Highness the Duke of Zollern!' 
 ' Eoom for the high and nobly born Freifrau von Geyling ! ' 
 ' Let pass the coach of the gracious Countess Gemmingen ! ' 
 ' Ho, there ! for the Witgenstein's coach ! ' mixed with the 
 comments of the rabble of sightseers, and the retorts of the 
 substantial burghers who were piloting their wives and 
 daughters through the mob. All these wayfarers were bound 
 for the great dancing-hall in the Lusthaus, whither they were 
 bidden by Serenissimus, the magnificent Duke Eberhard 
 Ludwig of Wirtemberg, who had commanded a brilliant ball 
 as commencement of a series of festivities. There was to be 
 a grand hunt in the Eed "Wood, and finally court theatricals 
 in his Highness's own playhouse. The beautiful castle gardens 
 were illuminated with a myriad coloured lamps in the trees ; 
 the rose-garden had become an enchanted bower, with little 
 lanterns twinkling in each rose-bush, and the fountain in the 
 centre was so lit up with varied lights that the spray assumed 
 a thousand hues. Hidden bands of musicians played in the 
 garden, and, in fact, it was said that Stuttgart would never 
 have witnessed such a brilliant festival. The Duke had 
 travelled in many lands — to France, where the court had 
 been so gay and fine before its King Louis xiv. became a 
 death-fearing, trembling bigot, dragging out the last years of 
 a dissipated life in terrified prayers. Poor Eoi Soleil, become 
 the creature of his mistress, Madame la Marquise de Main- 
 tenon ! Still, though Eberhard Ludwig had not been in time 
 to witness this first splendour, he had been able to learn in 
 
 68 
 
THE PLAY-ACTING 69 
 
 France of how fine feasts should be ordered. He had been 
 in England too, though he could not have seen much there 
 in the dull days of William of Nassau, or of good, ponderous' 
 Queen Anne ; yet all travel teaches, and evidently the Duke 
 had learnt its pleasant lesson well. 
 
 Wilhelmine sat in Monsieur de Stafforth's fine coach with 
 Madame de Stafforth — a gentle, silent lady, whom Stafforth 
 had chosen for her noble birth and yielding ways. She was 
 perfectly unimportant ; Stafforth never considered her, and the 
 only person who was known to notice her was her Highness 
 Johanna Elizabetha, who was, indeed, something akin to her 
 in nature. Madame de Stafforth sat meekly on the back seat 
 of her husband's splendid coach, leaving the place of honour 
 on the front seat to her husband and his guest, rewarded 
 sufficiently for her diffidence by a smile which her handsome 
 lord threw her, as he lay back on the yellow satin cushions of 
 his over-decorated coach. 
 
 It was but a step to the castle gate, and as Oberhofmar- 
 shall Stafforth might have walked through the Duke's private 
 garden and gained a side entrance to the castle, and thence 
 traversed the short distance to the Lusthaus, but he chose 
 rather to drive through the crowd in order to arrive with 
 ostentatious flourish. 
 
 The coach drew up at the entrance, and many curious eyes 
 were fixed upon the Oberhofmarshall as he led his guest through 
 the throng to the door of the disrobing room. Madame de 
 Stafforth followed, and, being unable to push her way so 
 quickly past the people, it was a moment or two before she re- 
 joined Wilhelmine, who was removing her wrap in a leisurely 
 way while the other ladies there eyed her rudely. It was 
 very like the advent of a strange bird into a cage* of canaries ; 
 the indigenous birds were all prepared to peck at the 
 intruder. How willingly would they have torn out the 
 strange bird's feathers ! Wilhelmine appeared unconscious of 
 this unfriendly scrutiny, though, in reality, she was disagree- 
 ably aware of it. Madame de Stafforth had torn the hem 
 of her skirt walking through the crowded antehall, and 
 she begged the attendant to sew it for her. Wilhelmine was 
 obliged to wait, and nearly all the company had streamed into 
 
70 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 tlie dancing-hall before the two ladies were ready. Fate 
 played Wilhelmine a nasty trick in this — a throw-back in fact ; 
 for when they reached the hall the effect of their entrance was 
 hidden by the crowd, and his Highness Eberhard Ludwig had 
 already left the dais before which the courtiers passed and 
 bowed. Only her Highness Johanna Elizabetha remained 
 to receive the salutes of the late arrivals. 
 
 Stafforth had hurried away ; the Duchess was so unim- 
 portant, poor soul ! and he could make his bow to her later in 
 the evening. Besides, he had his duties to attend to : he must 
 glance at the long supper- tables in the apartment adjoining 
 the dancing-hall, he must see that all the arrangements were 
 perfect. So Madame de Stafforth presented Fraulein Wilhel- 
 mine von Gravenitz to her Highness Johanna Elizabetha, 
 Duchess of Wirtemberg. The dull, amiable woman gave 
 Wilhelmine her hand to kiss and turned away, indifferent, 
 unconcerned. So little do we know when we first approach 
 the enemies of our lives ! With those we are to love it is 
 often the same. We touch the hand which is fated to give 
 life's gift of joy to us, and we pass on unconscious that Destiny 
 has spoken. Sometimes we would barter a year of our life to 
 recall that first touch. 
 
 Wilhelmine stood at the foot of the dais before the Duchess, 
 who was exchanging moth- dull confidences with Madame de 
 Stafforth. The crowd moved before the girl's eyes, and she 
 felt bewildered, dizzy, in a dream, for she was unaccustomed 
 to crowds. At length she saw Stafforth coming towards her. 
 He looked very fine in his court dress : the long, blue silk over- 
 coat richly embroidered in gold, the embroidered waistcoat of 
 white satin, white silk hose, and blue satin shoes with high 
 red heels and enormous diamond buckles. He carried the 
 Oberhofmarshall's staff of of&ce in his left hand, and on 
 his breast shone the insignia of several high orders. His 
 curled wig was much powdered, and his healthy, coarse 
 face seemed to gain in refinement thereby, softened in 
 outline by the white hair. Very fine was the bow he 
 made as he said : ' Mademoiselle, may I entreat the honour 
 of your hand for the pavane ? Serenissimus dances in the 
 same set. You . know the pavane ? ' he added anxiously. 
 
THE PLAY-ACTING 11 
 
 ' His Highness is quicker to detect a fault in dancing tlian 
 to pardon it/ 
 
 Wilhelmine had danced the pavane with M. Gabriel in 
 the schoolhouse at Giistrow, and he had told her that her 
 dancing was perfect enough for the court of France itself; 
 so she accepted Monsieur de Stafforth's hand without 
 hesitation. 
 
 He led her to the middle of the dancing-hall, and stood 
 beside her, waiting for the Duke to give the sign to the 
 musicians to commence. It was scarcely correct for 
 Wilhelmine to dance in the Duke's pavane before she had 
 been presented to his Highness, but Stafforth told her that 
 the Duke desired all presentations to be made in the pause 
 after the figure dance, which was to take place later in the 
 evening. Wilhelmine reflected that she would be at liberty 
 to observe Eberhard Ludwig at her leisure during the 
 dance. She looked round, but the Duke was not yet visible. 
 Stafforth pointed to an alcove, telling her that his Highness 
 was there talking to Madame de Gey ling. At length the 
 curtains of the recess were pushed aside and a tall figure 
 appeared. Eberhard Ludwig, Duke of Wirtemberg, leading 
 his favourite, Madame de Geyling, by the hand. A princely 
 figure indeed, thought Wilhelmine, as she bent low in the 
 elaborate courtesy with which the dancers greeted their Duke. 
 He was tall and slight, dressed in ivory-coloured satin; his 
 breast glittered with magnificent orders, the broad orange 
 ribbon of the newly instituted Prussian order of the Black 
 Eagle being the only variation in the uniform whiteness of 
 his attire. He looked the very figure of a prince of romance, 
 and the gentlemen who bowed before him seemed to be popin- 
 jays in their over-gorgeous clothes. 
 
 He stood for a moment, his blue eyes flashing round the circle 
 of dancers, then he raised his hand in sign to the musicians 
 to commence, and turning to Madame de Geyling bowed pro- 
 foundly. The music rang out in the stately measure of the 
 pavane, and the dance began : the ladies gliding, bowing, 
 bending, their fans raised above their heads, then pressed 
 to their bosoms as they bowed again ; the cavaliers no whit 
 behind them in elegance and grace. The court of Versailles 
 
72 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 itself had not danced better, for to dance badly meant disgrace 
 with the Duke of Wirtemberg. 
 
 The pavane ended, and Monsieur de Stafforth led Wilhel- 
 mine to a seat near the dais, where she found Madame de Ruth 
 resplendent in a green court dress. The two ladies settled 
 down to await the beginning of the figure dance, in which the 
 Duke himself was to take part. Madame de Ruth, voluble 
 as usual, questioned Wilhelmine closely upon the events of 
 the evening, and her face fell when she heard that the girl 
 had not been presented to his Highness — nay, more, had 
 danced near him without his deigning to notice her. ' Well, 
 my dear, never mind,' said Madame de Ruth, 'the most 
 victorious armies may suffer defeat at first.' As will be seen 
 by this speech, the object of Wilhelmine's campaign was no 
 longer a mystery, and the intriguers now spoke openly before 
 their intended tool. She knew that her goal was Eberhard 
 Ludwig himself, and the future seemed good to her since she 
 had seen Eberhard Ludwig. Also it all spelt 'fine clothes, 
 fine living, fine linen, gaiety, and perhaps power,' and as she 
 had once said to her friend Anna Reinhard at Giistrow, with- 
 out these she could not imagine happiness. ' Mon enfant, it is 
 serious though,' Madame de Ruth was saying, * the Duke never 
 looked at you ? you are sure ? Ah ! he was staring at that 
 odious Geyling, I dare swear ! Lord God ! how I hate that 
 woman ! She once asked me if I had any children, and 
 when I said " no," she inquired if I had any grandchildren ! ' 
 
 Wilhelmine laughed. ' She might have grandchildren her- 
 self, I think,' she said. 
 
 * Yes, my child, if you scraped the paint you might find the 
 grandmother beneath. Indeed, the Geyling is nearly as old 
 as I am,' laughed Madame de Ruth, delighted at Wilhelmine's 
 judgment of the woman whom she hated. ' But see,' she con- 
 tinued, ' here comes the figure dance.' As she spoke the doors 
 at the end of the dancing-hall opened, and the musicians in the 
 gallery began to play a lilting strain. Quite slowly through the 
 gilded doors came a tiny figure dressed in wreaths of leaves 
 and flowers, a golden bow in his hand, and at his side a 
 miniature quiver filled with paper arrows. 'The Geyling's 
 nephew,' said Madame de Ruth, 'and the only good thing 
 
THE PLAY-ACTING 73 
 
 about her ! A charmingly naughty child, who they hope, how- 
 ever, will play his Cupid's role to-night, though he is as likely 
 as not to do exactly the reverse, for he is by nature a god of 
 mischief ! * 
 
 The child walked solemnly to the 'centre of the hall, and 
 there began to dance a rapid skipping measure, waving his 
 bow over his head the while. 
 
 The onlookers burst into applause. Then the music soft- 
 ened to an accompaniment, and boys' voices from the musicians' 
 loft sang in parts. 
 
 * Bad verses, my dear,' grunted Madame de Euth, * yet a 
 pretty air. They say the Gey ling wrote the rhymes — that 
 explains it ! * But her grumble was lost to Wilhelmine, who 
 was observing the entry of four rather lightly clad nymphs, 
 who came forward in a graceful swaying line, encircling the 
 child, who stood stock-still in the midst wondering, poor mite, 
 if this long game would soon be ended. At length the four 
 nymphs sank to their knees before the boy, holding out their 
 arms to him, while the voices in the gallery warbled with 
 ever-increasing rapture. 
 
 The child ran from one kneeling figure to the other : first 
 to Mademoiselle de Gemmingen, then to Mademoiselle de 
 Varnbiiller, to Mademoiselle de Eeischach, and before his 
 aunt, Madame de Geyling, the little fellow stopped and took 
 his aim, with his bow and paper arrows. Everything was 
 going admirably, never had this Cupid behaved so exactly as 
 arranged. Already the Geyling was feigning to fall back- 
 wards in affected alarm, when Cupid whipped round saying, in 
 a high childish treble, ' Non, ma tante, je ne te choisis pas, tu 
 es trop mechante ! * 
 
 An audible titter went round the audience,' for the Geyling 
 was universally disliked. Cupid, now thoroughly entering 
 into the mischief of the game, ran round the group of nymphs 
 calling out, * Ni toi ! Ni toi ! Je cherche une vraie reine ! * 
 He paused irresolute for a moment, then, catching sight of 
 Wilhelmine's smiling face, he made a dash for her, exclaiming 
 loudly, ' Je te choisis, jolie dame ! ' and he shot his paper 
 arrow straight at her breast. There was a pause of conster- 
 nation among the dancers ; this upset all the plans ; and how 
 
74 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 could an untrained stranger execute the elaborate step of the 
 dance especially invented by his Highness's own dancing- 
 master for this occasion ? 
 
 There was commotion in the audience : men pressed forward 
 to observe the scene, women fluttered their fans and whispered 
 together, the three nymphs tittered weakly, while Madame 
 de Gey ling stood in the middle of the hall with heaving bosom 
 and angry face. Madame de Ruth was laughing,, and even 
 the Duchess had risen from her chair and was leaning on 
 Madame de Stafforth's shoulder, smiling and nodding. 
 Wilhelmine had caught Cupid up in her arms, and he was 
 laughing and shouting and sticking the little paper arrows in 
 her hair. The musicians ceased playing, waiting for' the 
 chosen nymph to begin the ' Dance of Joy,' which preceded the 
 entrance of the Duke in the character of Prince Charming. 
 
 Wilhelmine whispered to Madame de Ruth : ' What shall 
 I do ? I don't know the dance — the Duke would never 
 forgive — advise me quickty ! ' 
 
 ' Don't dance, but make the Duke notice you,' whispered the 
 old woman. 
 
 The girl rose, Cupid still in her arms, and began to walk 
 slowly across -the hall towards the door whence the Duke 
 must appear. The musicians, mistaking her for some person- 
 age of the masque, struck up the 'Dance of Joy.' Now 
 Wilhelmine possessed immense dramatic perceptions, also 
 she knew she could dance, so without hesitation she began 
 to execute a long sliding measure in perfect harmony with 
 the music, though it was, of course, an impromptu of her 
 own. She danced half-way round the hall, holding Cupid 
 high in the air in her strong arms. Meanwhile the Duke, all 
 unknowing, appeared in the doorway in his appointed place. 
 Wilhelmine glided up to him, and sinking on one knee with 
 Cupid held up to his Highness, she said, ' Cupid has made a 
 mistake, Monseigneur. He was always a blind god. Pardon, 
 Monseigneur, and permit Sa Majeste 1' Amour to choose 
 again ! ' With that she set the child down and ran through 
 the door past the Duke, who, astounded, remained standing 
 holding Cupid by the hand. He heard the applause which 
 had broken forth -in the hall, and he saw the Gey ling's furious 
 
THE PLAY-ACTING 75 
 
 face, and, realising tliat something unexpected had occurred, 
 he came forward quickly. 
 
 'A mistake, Madame,' he said shortly as he reached the 
 Geyling. ' Let us endeavour to obliterate it by your grace ! ' 
 And he commanded the musicians to play the new dance, but 
 he danced unevenly, constantly glancing in the direction of 
 the door where Wilhelmine had disappeared. Madame de 
 Euth watched for a moment, and then, with a nod to Stafforth 
 who stood beside the dais in evident perplexity, she turned 
 and went to seek Wilhelmine. 
 
 • • • • • • . • 
 
 The next day Stuttgart talked much of the handsome 
 stranger whom Cupid had chosen to dance with the Duke, 
 and conjecture was rife as to who she could be. Then it 
 leaked out that she was to sing in the theatricals that night, 
 and the curious, which means each person in or near a 
 court, were on tiptoe with expectation. 
 
 Many looked for her at the stag-hunt in the Eed Wood 
 that day, and Madame de Euth, who had the reputation of 
 knowing everything, was fairly besieged by questioners. 
 She told them so little, though in so many words, that they 
 were all the more anxious to be informed further. But what 
 part was the unknown to take in the theatricals ? they asked 
 among themselves. She had not been seen at the rehearsals — 
 strange — but Madame de Euth assured them that the mysteri- 
 ous one was indeed to sing that night. 
 
 The chosen piece was La Fontaine's Coupe EncJianUe, a 
 pretty thing, and even decorous enough for the hearing of 
 Johanna Elizabetha ; new too in Stuttgart, though Paris had 
 already forgotten it. . 
 
 You may imagine that the invited guests were in their 
 places at the theatre in good time^ Behind the scenes there 
 was much bustle and confusion. His Highness Eberhard 
 Ludwig, to say the least of it, was perturbed ; he ran from 
 dressing-room to dressing-room, knocking and inquiring if the 
 players were there. When he came to the dressing-room set 
 apart for Madame de Geyling the door was opened suddenly, 
 almost knocking his Highness on the nose, and an angry 
 face appeared through the door's aperture. One side of 
 
76 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 this face was painted for the stage, while the other was only 
 adorned with the pigments with which the Geyling was 
 accustomed to hide her ageing features. The Duke smiled : 
 I regret to say he actually laughed, and this laugh provoked 
 a torrent of angry words from the lady. His Highness retired 
 discomfited, and there were whispers behind the scenes of 
 how this must be one of the closing dramas of this lady's 
 reign. 
 
 The curtain parted and the comedy began. At first the 
 audience paid but scant attention to the play, but soon a 
 severe glance from the Duchess silenced the whispering 
 crowd. 
 
 Madame de Ruth's laughter led the chorus of approval at 
 each subtle speech, and they said ' Ah oui ! que c'est fin ! ' 
 when she said it, for they did not trust their own judgment. 
 The Duke of Zollern leaned his chin on the back of his hands, 
 which he had crossed over the porcelain handle of his stick. 
 He was not amused ; he thought it dull, which it was. The 
 Duchess paid no attention to the play; she was watching, in 
 her ponderous way, the marked respect and affection which 
 Eberhard Ludwig succeeded in showing Madame de Geyling 
 even through his acting, and she suffered, this poor, dull 
 woman. Madame de Stafforth sat near her, saying nothing as 
 usual. Friedrich Gravenitz stood leaning against the pillar 
 by the entrance to the parterre, looking handsome and sombre. 
 La Coupe EnchanUe went on its gay, subtle way, and was 
 followed by an allegorical dance — a medley of gods and 
 goddesses, of conventional shepherds and ' shepherdesses ; a 
 graceful enough conceit withal, but involved and not very 
 amusing. At the end there came the only scene which 
 appeared to interest her Highness Johanna Elizabetha : the 
 little Erbprinz, her son, came on the stage dressed as Mars 
 the God of War, and was greeted with homage from the other 
 gods. Poor Johanna Elizabetha applauded and kissed her 
 hands to him, while she recounted to Madame de Stafforth a 
 hundred details of the child's health. 
 
 The curtain fell, and the audience prepared to depart. 
 Disappointment was yife, for the stranger had failed to appear, 
 and it seemed that- the comedy was finished. The Duchess, 
 
THE PLAY-ACTING 77 
 
 who Lad been seated in the foremost row of chairs, was 
 already moving away followed by her suite, when the 
 musicians recommenced to play, and it was whispered through 
 the assemblage that the Envoi had yet to be performed. Very 
 slowly the curtain was drawn aside . and a darkened stage 
 disclosed. Eor a moment the music ceased, then took up a 
 haunting melody as a tall, white figure approached down the 
 almost unlit stage. It was a young woman in flowing, classic 
 draperies — a goddess she looked ; and after the mincing 
 shepherdesses and their artificial, conventional mannerisms, 
 this woman came as a breath from Nature's grandeur, young, 
 forceful, untrammelled. She came right down to the half-lit 
 footlights, and stood motionless during a bar or two of the 
 music. And then she sang, and the audience, tittering 
 curiously before, remained spellbound, awe-struck, as the 
 first notes of that matchless voice smote upon their hearing. 
 She sang of the sadness of the ending of comedies, of the 
 regret which lingers in the remembrance of past laughter. 
 In a couplet of passionate melancholy she asked, where are 
 the roses of yesterday ? whither vanish the songs of 
 to-day? 
 
 Changing verse and melody to a soft r4citatif, she begged 
 her hearers to give good favour to the evening's festivities. 
 She reminded them that the merry company would soon 
 disperse for many months ; she wished them peace and 
 happiness, and she prayed that another spring would find the 
 company reunited once again. ' Mars, God of War, hold thy 
 hand ; touch not this fair country ! ' 
 
 In her singing she had struck that note of regret which never 
 leaves an audience unmoved ; she appealed to the sadness which 
 lingers for ever in the heart of man, and, after the vapid 
 brilliancies of La Fontaine's comedy, the strain had all the 
 greater power to stir. Wilhelmine, an unseen spectator at 
 many rehearsals of the theatricals, had calculated this to a 
 nicety, with an artist's instinct for playing upon human nature 
 and emotion. 
 
 There were women among the audience who knew that ere 
 the following spring many of those they loved might be shot 
 down by French bullets ; there were men in the parterre who 
 
78 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 knew this, and a wave of emotion swept over the whole 
 audience. To the singer herself all this hardly mattered ; the 
 human hearts were merely instruments upon which she played 
 a melody ; yet her receptive, finely strung being thrilled in 
 response to the feeling she evoked ; a half-sob rose in her throat 
 and flooded her flexible voice with a passion of sadness. 
 When the song ended, there came a moment's breathless 
 silence, then the applause broke forth, and Wilhelmine knew 
 she had achieved a triumph. 
 
 In the banqueting-hall Duke Eberhard*s guests were seated 
 at a magnificent repast. Five hundred ladies and gentlemen 
 at long tables on a raised platform, while in the lower portion 
 of the hall the burghers of Stuttgart were regaled with wine 
 and cake. Her Highness Johanna Elizabetha sat at one 
 table with her retinue ; Serenissimus at another with his suite 
 and closest friends, at his right hand was Madame de Geyling. 
 Stafforth was seated at this table, Madame de Euth was there 
 also, Monseigneur the Duke of ZoUern, of course, and Prelate 
 Osiander. The Geyling discussed the comedy. Lifting her 
 glass she toasted Eberhard Ludwig : ' I drink to your High- 
 ness from la Coupe Enchantee,' she murmured ; but the Duke 
 answered absently, and Madame de Euth smiled when he 
 asked Stafforth, ' Where is the goddess of sound ? Has she 
 vanished with her divine song ? ' He was told that the lady 
 had retired to rerobe herself. ' Eobe herself, you mean ! ' said 
 the Geyling sharply, ' she had, in truth, little to remove ! ' 
 She spoke quickly to the Duke in an undertone, but his 
 Highness turned away and commanded Stafforth to present the 
 singer directly she appeared. 
 
 The Geyling bit her underlip — there was a pause in the 
 talk at the Duke's table. 
 
 At length a door near the platform opened, and Wilhelmine 
 appeared. No one noticed her at first, and she stood for a 
 moment hesitating in the doorway; then Madame de Euth 
 espied her, and, craving the Duke's pardon, she rose and 
 went to Wilhelmine and, taking her by the hand, led her 
 towards the Duke. , It was necessary to pass the Duchess's 
 table ; Wilhelmine immediately recognised her Highness, and 
 
THE PLAY-ACTING 79 
 
 as she passed she swept Johanna Elizabetha a deep courtesy. 
 It was gracefully done, and the neglected lady, unaccustomed 
 to be treated with even ordinary consideration, responded by 
 an amiable smile. As they approached the Duke, his High- 
 ness rose and came forward to meet them. He had seen 
 Wilhelmine's spontaneous good manners and was gratified 
 thereby. Nothing gratifies a grand seigneur more than the 
 grand manner, and in return to Wilhelmine's inclination his 
 Highness bowed as though to a queen. 
 
 * Mademoiselle, I am deeply in your debt,' he said ; ' it 
 would be banal to thank you for your divine music, yet 
 permit me to say that I would willingly keep you for ever as 
 my creditor, if you would but promise to make my debt the 
 greater by singing to me again — and soon.' 
 
 ' Monseigneur, you do me too much honour,' she responded, 
 sinking to the ground in another courtesy. 
 
 *To a feast of the gods you would be welcome. Made- 
 moiselle ; but as we are not in Olympus, let me, at least, lead 
 the Goddess of Song to my poor table for refreshment.' So 
 saying, his Highness offered his hand and led her to his 
 table. He presented her to Madame de Geyling, who gave 
 her a bitter-sweet smile and paid her the compliment of 
 turning her back upon her. The Duke plied his guest with 
 food and wine, declaring that ambrosia and nectar were 
 better fitted for her ; he toasted her ; he praised her ; he 
 exhausted his knowledge of mythology in her honour, calling 
 her Melpomene, the tragic Muse, for had she not made men 
 w^eep with her song that very night ? Song, did he say ? nay, 
 hymn it was ! She was Polyhymnia, singer of sublimity. 
 He named her Philomele, and desired the lute of Orpheus 
 that he might play an accompaniment to her wondrous sing- 
 ing. He asked her in which enchanted ocean she had lived. 
 * Mademoiselle Sirene, lurer of men's souls,' he called her. 
 
 Wilhelmine spoke little in answer to all this, but she acted 
 her part well, smiling at him with glistening eyes. Indeed, 
 she found no difficulty herein, for her heart had played a 
 cleverer trick than ever her brain had devised — she was falling 
 in love with Eberhard Ludwig of Wirtemberg. When supper 
 was over the Duke rose, and, in defiance of etiquette, desired 
 
80 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Staffortli to accompany Madame de Geyling, while he himself 
 led Mademoiselle de Gravenitz from the banqueting-hall. They 
 passed on to the terrace, above the outer colonnade of the 
 Lusthaus, and stood together looking down on the garden, and 
 the strains from the instruments of the musicians hidden in the 
 bowers floated up to them. 
 
 ' I hardly dare propose it. Mademoiselle,* said the Duke after 
 some moments' silence, * but the garden is very fair to-night ; 
 would you honour me by accepting my arm and taking a short 
 stroll towards the fountain ? Only a few minutes, the night 
 is so beautiful — come and look at the stars with me ! ' 
 
 She hesitated ; but the man's face was so noble, so open. 
 Why not ? ' Monseigneur, I know not,' she whispered. - 
 
 ' Mademoiselle, I entreat. If you knew how I hate these 
 crowded rooms. I am a soldier, and I love the memory of 
 those nights encamped in the open, when I left my tent 
 and wandered alone beneath the stars. Forstner — you 
 know Forstner ? No ? Well — a good friend, yet always at 
 my elbow with rebukes and etiquette ! Well — old Forstner 
 used to chide me, saying it was not fitting for a reigning 
 Duke to wander alone " like a ridiculous poet-fellow philan- 
 dering with the stars," as he called it. Ah ! Mademoiselle, 
 will you leave the Duke here on the balcony, and come. and 
 look at the stars with the ridiculous poet-fellow ? will you ? * 
 
 Who could resist him, this man with the pleading eyes and 
 deep, strong voice? And Wilhelmine, coming from Meck- 
 lemburg to make a career, had begun it already, God knows ! 
 by falling in love with the Duke. They went down the 
 steps leading to the garden, and in silence walked along the 
 path towards the fountain. The moon played white over the 
 flowers, and the sound of the violins, harps, and zithers faded 
 away in the distance. They reached an old stone seat 
 beneath a beech-tree and sat down. Before them the fountain 
 rose, like some shimmering witch in the moonlight. 
 
 ' Sing me a snatch of some song, Mademoiselle,' said 
 Eberhard Ludwig. ' There is no one near ; sing to me once, to 
 me alone — to the silly poet-fellow ! 
 
 'Nay, Monseigneur,' she answered tremulously, *I cannot 
 sing — my heart is beating in my throat somehow/ 
 
THE PLAY-ACTING 81 
 
 He looked at her in the moonlight. 
 
 ' Mademoiselle de Griivenitz,' he said, ' I have never been 
 so happy, yet so unutterably sad, as at this moment. I~^ 
 
 [ — Mademoiselle ' and his voice broke. He took her 
 
 hand in his and, raising it to his lips, kissed it once, twice, 
 then in a husky voice he said, *We must go back.' He 
 rose from the seat, offering her his arm. He led her up the 
 dark garden-path and into the glitter of lights in the ante- 
 hall of the Lusthaus, where Madame de Stafforth stood ready 
 to depart, waiting for Wilhelmine. The Duke sent Stafforth 
 for Mademoiselle's cloak, and when he brought it, his Highness 
 himself wrapped it round her. As he did so, his hand involun- 
 tarily touched the soft skin of her shoulder, and Eberhard 
 Ludwig flushed to the edge of his white curled peruke as he 
 murmured : ' Au revoir, Philomele ! ' and Wilhelmine daringly 
 whispered back ; ' Au revoir, gentil poete.' 
 
 9 
 
CHAPTEE VI 
 
 love's spkingtide 
 
 * A queenly rose of sound, with tune for scent ; 
 A pause of shadow in a day of heat ; 
 A voice to make God weak as man, 
 And at its pleadings take away the ban 
 'Neath which so long our spirits have been bent-— 
 A voice to make death tender and life sweet ! ' 
 
 Philip Bourke Marston. 
 
 The Hofmarshairs house stood in the * Graben,' a broad road 
 which ran proudly past the old town ending at the ducal 
 gardens on the west, while to the east began the fields and 
 vineyards leading up to the royal hunting forest, the Eoth- 
 wald. Stafforth's house was a fine stone building decorated 
 with rococo masks. To the back lay a beautiful garden 
 laid out on a plan of M. Lenotre's, from whose book of 
 Jardins Mignons Stafforth had selected it. On the morning 
 after the theatricals Wilhelmine was seated on one of the 
 garden benches, and though her eyes were fixed on the pages 
 of a French translation of Barclay's satirical novel Argenis, 
 her thoughts were busy with the events of the previous 
 evening. Her reverie was interrupted by Madame de Euth 
 who arrived, as usual, in a cloud of her own words. She 
 embraced Wilhelmine affectionately, exclaiming : ' Never was 
 there so great a victory ! One battle and the country is 
 ours ! The hero at your feet, my dear ! Did I not say that 
 you had a great future before you ? Ah ! the Geyling ! 
 Ha ! ha ! ha ! what a face she made when his Highness led 
 you out on to the balcony, and I asked her if she thought it 
 convenable for you ! Ha ! ha ! ha ! she looked sour indeed, 
 and she screeched at me in her peahen voice : " Mademoiselle 
 de Gravenitz seems to be a lady of experience ; she can 
 guard her own young virtue, I suppose ! " " 'Tis not her 
 
 82 
 
LOVE'S SPRINGTIDE 83 
 
 virtue, Madame," I said, with a surprised look and the prim 
 manner of a Pietist, " I know that is safe with so devoted 
 a husband as Serenissimus, but I fear for her reputation ! 
 Ah ! Madame, the evil tongues of older women ! and already 
 no one here to-night can speak of ought save Mademoiselle. 
 But I assure you the theatricals are not even mentioned, 
 Madame ! They can remember nothing save the Envoi 
 and its singer." Wilhelmine! if you could have seen 
 her face ! I suffer, I expire with laughter, when I think of 
 it.' And Madame de Euth laughed till she really was almost 
 suffocated, and was obliged to hold her hands over her 
 heaving sides. 
 
 Wilhelmine leaned her head on her hands. * Poor Madame 
 de Gey ling ! ' she said in a musing tone. 
 
 Madame de Ruth ceased laughing and looked at her pierc- 
 ingly. 'Poor Madame de Gey ling?' she exclaimed. 'But, 
 my child ! Ah ! ' and she caught Wilhelmine by the wrist ; 
 
 * you pity her ? because she has lost the Duke's affection ? 
 Why ? ' She paused a moment — reflected. ' Girl ! you have 
 fallen in love with Serenissimus,' she whispered. 
 
 Wilhelmine sprang up — her cheeks aflame. It was true, 
 and she knew it herself then for the first time. She was 
 angry, and yet there was an immense gladness in her heart. 
 Her eyes were wet, and she felt the pulses throbbing in her 
 temples. She was ashamed and yet gloriously proud. 
 
 Madame de Ruth watched her; at first, with smiling 
 curiosity, then the old woman's face softened, she took Wil- 
 helmine's hand and said gently : ' God give you joy, my child. 
 There, there — I am a foolish old woman — you make me weep. 
 — Lord God ! but hearts are the great intriguers, not brains ! ' 
 
 Wilhelmine turned to her and, bending, kissed the old 
 courtesan on the brow. 
 
 ' Madame,' she said, ' Madame, be my friend ; I shall need 
 one in the days to come.' 
 
 Madame de Ruth drew the girl down beside her on the 
 bench, her face had grown suddenly old and infinitely sad. 
 
 * Yes,' she answered, ' I will be your friend. Do you know 
 that I had a little girl twenty years ago ? She would have 
 been just your age now, had she lived, and perhaps I should 
 
84 A GEKMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 have been a different woman. Well, well — no sentiment, 
 my dear ; it is so unsuitable, isn't it ? but I will be your 
 friend.' 
 
 She kissed the young woman, and, rising hastily, took her 
 way towards the house. 
 
 • <••«•• 
 
 The days dragged slowly on in Stuttgart for Wilhelmine, 
 and there came no message from his Highness, who had gone 
 to Urach, they told her, to hunt. Though the court remained 
 nominally in Stuttgart while her Highness Johanna Elizabetha 
 resided at the castle, most of the courtiers had retired to the 
 country and Stuttgart was more than usually dull. Stafforth 
 had accompanied the Duke to Urach, so "Wilhelmine remained 
 alone with Madame de Stafforth. The heat was terrible in 
 the town, which lay encircled by the vine-clad hills, as in a 
 great caldron. The Stuttgarters told her that such heat 
 was unusual at that time of year, but there was little con- 
 solation for her in that. 
 
 To some natures dullness becomes an insupportable suffer- 
 ing. Loneliness, all you will, they can bear, for they draw 
 occupation and joy from the depth of their own souls; but 
 that dreariness, which has been called dullness, is an almost 
 tangible presence at moments, and seems to blight the beauty 
 of all things. This Wilhelmine felt in those stifling days at 
 Stuttgart. Madame de Stafforth's moth-like personality 
 wearied her. Madame de Euth, who had returned to Eotten- 
 burg, wrote constantly imploring her friend to visit her ; yet 
 something seemed to hold the girl, some mysterious sentiment, 
 that if she left Stuttgart she would turn her back on her 
 life. 
 
 Once or twice Wilhelmine accompanied Madame de 
 Stafforth to the castle. The Duchess received her with 
 amiable indifference, and the young woman stood silently by 
 while the two dull women discussed their habitual uninter- 
 esting topics. 
 
 It was perfectly unreasonable, but she felt a hatred 
 growing in her heart for the wife of Eberhard Ludwig. 
 
 One morning towards the end of June, Wilhelmine awoke 
 to find the grey dawn creeping in at her window ; she rose 
 
LOVE'S SPRINGTIDE 85 
 
 and opened the casement and leaned out. Her room looked 
 on the formal garden. There was a solemn hush in the air, 
 and she realised that even the birds were asleep. Tar 
 in the east, over the top of the one beech-tree which still 
 stood in the garden in spite of M. Lenotre, the rising sun was 
 tingeing the horizon with a delicate rosy glow. A bird 
 stirred — twittered — finally a clear note of welcome to the day 
 rang out, and the world was awake. The radiance in the 
 east grew brighter, long streaks of glorious colour invaded the 
 soft grey of dawn. From the distant field roads came the 
 rumble of a peasant's cart. Wilhelmine dressed herself 
 hurriedly and tiptoed down the dark stair to the house door. 
 The broad street, the Graben, was deserted and silent, save for 
 an occasional rattle in the direction of the market-place, 
 where the peasants were arriving from the country with their 
 carts heaped up with fresh fruit and vegetables. She walked 
 up the street, delighting in the coolness and the scent of the 
 morning air after the long days of oppressive heat which she 
 had endured. A fancy took her to wander in the Eothwald, 
 and she walked briskly along, up the dusty country path 
 which led to the wood on the hill. The sun had risen, and 
 even at that early hour the heat was so great that once or 
 twice Wilhelmine almost turned homewards ; however, the 
 thought of the cool shade of the beech-trees in the forest drew 
 her, and she pressed onward. At length she reached the edge 
 of the wood, and, turning, she contemplated the steep hill 
 which she had climbed from the town. The rough country 
 road wound like some white riband through the green vine- 
 yards which lay between Stuttgart and the Eothwald. A 
 light breeze sprang up and stirred the long, lush grass of the 
 field which bordered the shadow of the trees. There is no 
 part of a forest more beautiful than the line where wood 
 begins and meadow ends ; it is as the lip of the forest breath- 
 ing forth in a fragrant kiss of poesy some mystery of silent 
 dells and fairy's haunts, which it hints of but does not quite 
 betray. Wilhelmine mused on this ; she was gifted with a 
 delicate appreciation of each beauty-forming detail, and the 
 accurate observation without which the enjoyment of beauty 
 is a mere sensuous mood. She paused a while, drinking in the 
 
86 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 freshness and revelling in the solitude ; then she entered the 
 wood and walked onward, her feet sinking deep into the rich 
 moss. She inhaled the delicious smell of the beech-trees, 
 that light odour of the northern forest which is almost imper- 
 ceptible, and yet so fresh, so pungent. It is made up of the 
 smell of earth, of moss, of fern, of grass and leaves, and the 
 resinous health of young pine. As Wilhelmine walked, she 
 whispered a melody half in greeting to the trees, half 
 mechanically. She found a shallow bank, and, seating her- 
 self on the ground, she supported her shoulders against the 
 slope. She leaned her head back and gazed up into Spring's 
 wonderful tracery in the myriad beech-leaves, and the cool 
 green fell like balsam on her eyes. A breeze stirred the 
 tree-tops, and for a moment they swayed and leaned together 
 whisperingly, then, like little children playing at some gentle 
 teasing game, they drew back as the breeze passed. 
 
 Wilhelmine's thoughts wandered to Eberhard Ludwig; of 
 a truth they knew the way, for how often had they sought 
 his memory since that night in the castle garden ? She 
 pondered how she had been told his Highness loved to sleep 
 in the forest. ' Ridiculous poet-fellow ' he had called himself. 
 She drew a deep breath. * Au re voir, Philomeie,' he had said. 
 Ah ! but he had forgotten her ! Madame de Ruth had been 
 mistaken ! The campaign was not won. Wilhelmine's cheeks 
 glowed suddenly, she crushed a leaf of an overhanging beech- 
 branch ; it was intolerable. All those people would ridicule 
 her ! Leaning her head in her hand, she pressed her fingers 
 against her eyes to shut out the sunlight, but it lingered in 
 her eyeballs, and against the blackness she saw dancing rays 
 of blinding light, A feeling of delightful drowsiness was 
 coming over her — a far-away feeling. Presently she raised 
 her head from her hands, and once more contemplated the 
 peaceful wood. What did she care for those people who 
 would mock her ? She would return their malevolent stares 
 with her evil look, which she knew would be eminently dis- 
 agreeable to them. Her thoughts turned back to Giistrow 
 now — Giistrow and Monsieur Gabriel. Almost unconsciously, 
 as she thought of her old friend, she found herself humming 
 an air. At first she but whispered it under her breath, then 
 
LOVE'S SPRINGTIDE 87 
 
 she was gradually carried away by tlie physical enjoyment of 
 letting forth her powerful voice, and she burst into full song : 
 
 ' Bois epais redouble ton ombre, 
 Tu ne saurais etre assez sombre. 
 Tu ne peux trop cach'er 
 Mon malheureux amour ! 
 Je sens un d^sespoir, 
 Dont riiorreur est extreme. 
 Je ne dois plus voir 
 Ce que j'aime — 
 Je ne veux plus souflfrir le jour ! ' 
 
 She sang the old French melody out into the trees, and the 
 great notes thrilled and echoed through the wood till it was 
 as though they had become an integrant part of the forest. 
 Her voice was truly a woman's voice in the ineffable tender- 
 ness and the grand passion of it, but there lay in its tones 
 a depth of strong uncompromising nobility which lives in 
 an organ's notes or in the rich low chords of a violoncello. 
 Truly, as Monsieur Gabriel had said, her voice belonged by 
 right to the shadowy cathedrals, for each note seemed a 
 sacred thing, a homage to God, and itself deserving to be 
 worshipped in reverent devotion. During the song Wilhelmine 
 had not heard the sound of approaching footsteps, nor did she 
 observe how a hand pushed aside some branches not far from 
 where she sat, and a man's head and shoulders appeared. She 
 leaned back on the moss for a moment's rest, and then spring- 
 ing up recommenced to sing. She stood very straight and 
 tall, her hands locked together behind her, like a schoolgirl 
 reciting a lesson; somehow this childlike attitude added by 
 its simplicity to the woman's dignity. Her head was held a 
 little back, chin tilted upwards, and the eyes looked far away 
 as though they beheld a whole world of dreams and lovely 
 melody beyond all save the singer's ken. As she sang the 
 colour mounted slowly to her cheeks, flooding her face with a 
 divine flush ; perhaps her very heart's blood rushed to adore 
 the tones which fell from her lips. The man watching held 
 his breath. She finished her song on a clear high note, and 
 as she gave it forth, she flung back her head in an impulsive 
 gesture, glorying in an ecstasy of sound, a magnificence of 
 accomplishment. 
 
88 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Wlien tlie echo of the last ringing note faded, the man 
 sprang forward, and, throwing himself impetuously on his 
 knees before Wilhelmine, he raised the hem of her gown to 
 his lips in a passionate gesture, though with the adoring 
 reverence that all poets give to great singers. 
 
 ' Philomele ! ' he murmured. ' Ah ! PhilomMe ! Beloved ! ' 
 
 She looked down at him. How strangely natural, necessary, 
 unsurprising it seemed to her that he should be kneeling there, 
 and yet she thought herself in some oft-remembered dream. 
 
 ' Gentil poke,' she whispered back, and her hand fell on his 
 shoulder. His hand sought hers, he caught it and kissed it 
 with a sort of piety. 
 
 * I love you.' He spoke the words like a prayer. She drew 
 away from him. 
 
 * Monseigneur,' she said, *I thought you had forgotten 
 me ! ' He started at her gesture of repulsion and at the 
 formal word. 
 
 ' You are a woman no man can forget,* he answered. Then 
 he told her how that evening in the castle garden he had 
 known he loved her ; how he had dreaded giving himself up 
 to a passion which he divined would prove so absorbing as to 
 turn him from his cherished military ambition. He poured 
 out to her his life's history, all his dreams of brilliant feats of 
 arms, the raising of his duchy to a kingdom ; he told her of 
 his bitter disappointment when he found these ambitions were 
 incomprehensible to the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha ; of how, 
 gradually, he had awakened to the fact that he was tied to a 
 woman who utterly lacked in sympathy, and thus wearied 
 him and drove him to seek consolation and amusement in the 
 light loves and fancies of court gallantry, and then how each 
 lady's charms had palled inevitably. 
 
 * And now,' he paused, ' now I feel that all my life began 
 when first I heard your voice ! I have been fighting with my 
 thoughts ever since. Beloved ! I have nothing to offer you — 
 you are too pure to take the only position I could give you — 
 and I love you too well to ask you.' 
 
 She looked at him, and a smile touched her lips and 
 vanished almost before it was born. 
 
 * Mon poke,' she. whispered, and stretched out both hands 
 
LOVE'S SPRINGTIDE 89 
 
 to him ; he took them in his, and drew her towards him. 
 One thick curl of hair had fallen forward on her neck, he 
 lifted it and buried his face in it, kissing it wildly, breathing 
 in its fragrance. 
 
 * I love you,' he said again, and drew her, unresisting, into 
 his arms. ' Philomele ! Ah ! ' and his lips met hers. 
 
 Overhead a bird burst forth into a rhapsody of song. 
 
CHAPTEE VII 
 
 THE FULFILMENT 
 
 Now began for Wilhelmine a time of strangely mixed and 
 contending emotions. She loved Eberhard Ludwig with all 
 that fervour and lavish freshness which we give to our first 
 love ; she longed to surrender to his passion, yet she held back 
 with a modesty of maidenly reserve which her. many jealous 
 enemies ascribed to calculation, or else entirely denied, 
 alleging that she was a mere adventuress plying her illicit 
 trade according to her habit. Of a truth, there may have 
 been a shade of strategy in her virtuous hesitation, for 
 Madame de Euth, who had returned to Stuttgart post-haste 
 on hearing of his Highness's advent, constantly counselled 
 her to hold back. Wilhelmine herself realised that a battle's 
 importance is generally gauged by its difficulty, and the ulti- 
 mate victory more highly prized if hardly won. Sometimes 
 she wondered why she knew these things, and laughingly she 
 told Madame de Euth of this. 
 
 'Dear child,' said the old woman with her thin, satirical 
 smile, ' we women come into the world knowing such things ; 
 whereas men — poor, beloved fools ! — need experience, philo- 
 sophy, and the Lord knows what, to teach them. Alas 1 by the 
 time they have learned they no longer need their knowledge, 
 for by that time cruel old age has got them in its grey, dull 
 clutches.' 
 
 Another factor in Wilhelmine's life at that time was the 
 Duke's friend Baron Forstner, a man of excellent and ster- 
 ling qualities, but one of those unfortunate mortals cursed 
 with a lugubrious manner which makes their goodness seem to 
 be but one more irritating characteristic of a tiresome person- 
 ality. Forstner was genuinely devoted to the Duke ; he had 
 been the companion of the Prince's childhood^ had shared his 
 
 90 
 
THE FULFILMENT 91 
 
 studies, and had followed him on his travels to the various 
 European courts and in the campaigns where Eberhard Lud- 
 wig had so mightily distinguished himself. How cruel it is 
 that devotion may be so entirely masked by some wearisome 
 traitj as to turn the whole affection into a source of irritation 
 to its object ! Forstner perpetually reminded his Highness 
 of his duty. 
 
 Now Eberhard Ludwig was possessed of a high regard for 
 that stern code of life which is called Duty ; he had all a 
 soldier's respect for rule, for obedience, all a gentleman's 
 reverence for honour and truth ; yet these things, as presented 
 by Forstner, were to him odious, and his first impulse was to 
 go counter to any advice proffered in the drab- coloured guise 
 of Forstner's counsel, and by his deep, dreary voice. 
 
 ' L'osseux,* the Bony One, Madame de Euth dubbed him ; 
 and truly the sobriquet was justified, for the man was so long 
 and thin as to give the impression of bones strung on strings. 
 He walked in jerks : his flat, narrow feet posed precisely, the 
 head held forward, like some gaunt bird seeking with its 
 lengthy beak for any meagre grain which might chance in 
 its way. Somehow one felt the grain he sought must be 
 meagre. *The good God wills that Forstner lives,* said 
 Madame de Euth, ' and God knows he lives according to 
 God's rules ; but oh ! how more than usually tiresome he 
 makes those rules, poor Bony One ! ' 
 
 Forstner naturally disapproved of Wilhelmine, and the two 
 were for ever contradicting each other ; but she often en- 
 deavoured to propitiate him, for she loathed disapproval, and 
 preferred the open hostility of a real enemy to the presence of 
 any merely disapproving person. Eberhard Ludwig suffered 
 intensely in those weeks at Stuttgart ; he was fiercely irritable 
 to Forstner, resenting his comments on Wilhelmine, though 
 he longed childishly for some appreciation of a new and much- 
 prized toy. 
 
 Stafforth, who had returned with the Duke, assisted the 
 intrigue to the best of his ability by constantly arranging 
 meetings, feasts, picnics in the forest, music in the evenings, 
 followed by gay suppers. But he offended Wilhelmine deeply, 
 though she gave no sign thereof, for he treated the whole situa- 
 
92 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 tion as an ordinary court intrigue, which indeed it was, though 
 both people concerned were earnestly and deeply engaged in 
 the one great love of their lives. Forstner sat like a grim, 
 polite skeleton at these feasts, and Wilhelmine grew to hate 
 him in those summer days. Her hatred was destined to 
 wreak a terrible vengeance against him. Triedrich Gravenitz 
 had also returned to Stuttgart, leaving his wife in Rottenburg 
 awaiting the birth of their first child. 
 
 Duchess Johanna Elizabetha continued to reside at the 
 castle, torturing herself with jealous fears. She appeared 
 before the Duke with eyes reddened by sleepless nights and 
 bitter tears, and her habitual dreariness of being was doubled. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig himself, intent upon his love, gave the 
 poor woman scarce a thought, though when he saw her he noted 
 her tear-stained eyelids and her woebegone, reproachful ways 
 with an irritation which, though it could not pierce the studied 
 courtesy of his manner, made itself felt, and further wounded 
 the unhappy woman. Madame de Stafforth was constantly 
 with the Duchess, and thus her Highness was perfectly in- 
 formed of the Duke's daily visits at the Stafforth house. 
 
 The days dragged on, and the heat grew to be almost un- 
 bearable. Each day the sun shone more gloriously, and the 
 Duchess longed for one grey, overcast day. To her the sun 
 seemed pitiless and cruel, the summer's amplitude seemed to 
 mock her in her misery. 
 
 Each evening, at set of sun, she heard the rattle and rumble 
 of Eberhard Ludwig's coach, which he drove himself with 
 eight magnificent spirited horses. True, his Highness never 
 failed to send his consort a courteous invitation to join the 
 feast at some Jagd Schloss in the forest; but she invariably 
 refused, alleging that she was weary, that her head ached, or 
 that she would fain rest, for she guessed that Wilhelmine 
 would be there. 
 
 Unrest was in Wilhelmine's heart also. She still held 
 back from giving herself to Eberhard Ludwig, and the future 
 seemed to her dark and difficult. She knew she loved his 
 Highness, but both her sincere love^ and her indomitable 
 pride revolted at tl;ie thought of becoming a mere toy, a 
 mistress to be thrown aside whenever the Duke's whim 
 
THE FULFILMENT 93 
 
 dictated. A thousand times she told herself that this would 
 never happen, that Eberhard Ludwig loved her with a true 
 and lasting passion, yet a wave of haughty doubt swept over 
 her and kept her back. One day it was announced from the 
 castle that her Highness had commanded a famous troupe of 
 Italian musicians to perform a series of madrigals before the 
 court. The Duchess caused a summons to be issued to 
 members of the court at Stuttgart, adding, however, that no 
 foreign visitors could be invited, the concert being strictly 
 private. This was a direct insult to Wilhelmine, for she was 
 the only foreign visitor in Stuttgart. Stafforth announced 
 this news to his Highness, Madame de Euth, and Wilhelmine 
 as they sat at supper beneath the beech-tree in the Stafforth 
 garden. A silence fell upon the party. Madame de Euth 
 leaned back in her chair, fanning herself gently ; Eberhard 
 Ludwig turned to Wilhelmine, his face had flushed deeply, 
 and it was with an unsteady voice that he said : 
 
 ' Mademoiselle, I formally invite you to hear the music to- 
 morrow evening at my castle of Stuttgart. Her Highness, 
 my honoured wife, will gladly make an exception in her 
 arrangements for so famous a musician as yourself.' 
 
 ' Monseigneur,' broke in Stafforth hurriedly, ' I fear your 
 Highness cannot ' 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig silenced him with a look, and turning to 
 W^ilhelmine he said, almost sternly : * I await the honour. 
 Mademoiselle, of your answer, which I shall carry myself to 
 her Highness.' 
 
 Wilhelmine rose. 
 
 'Monseigneur,' she said, and her voice had a ring which 
 caused Madame de Euth to start, — ' Monseigneur, I can refuse 
 you nothing. To-morrow I will do as you desire.' The rich 
 blood mantled to her cheeks. Eberhard Ludwig caught her 
 hand ; raising it to his lips he murmured ' To-morrow ! ' and 
 turning quickly left the garden with hasty strides. Wilhelmine 
 walked away down the garden-path, desiring apparently to 
 commune with herself. Stafforth remained standing. Observ- 
 ing Madame de Euth, who was laughing quietly to herself — 
 
 ' Madame,' he said angrily, ' I see nothing to laugh at ! 
 This will be going too far. It is an insult to her Highness, 
 
94 A GERMAN POMPADOtJE 
 
 and we shall have the whole court against us ! She must 
 not go to this madrigal singing, I tell you ! ' 
 
 ' Dear friend/ Madame answered, ' I am not laughing at 
 that. I laugh because I see once more that a man may 
 plead till his heart breaks, it is when a woman sees another 
 woman absolutely denied for her sake, that she knows she is 
 loved as she approves ; then she capitulates and whispers — 
 to-morrow ! ' The old woman laughed again. 
 
 * Well, Madame ! ' replied Stafforth, ' you will see what this 
 " to-morrow " means ! ' 
 
 • ■ ■ • • • • 
 
 The Italian musicians were grouped together at one end of 
 her Highness's own reception-room in the castle of Stuttgart. 
 The invited audience was small, for only such ladies and 
 gentlemen as were actually obliged, by the holding of important 
 court charges, remained in the town during the hot summer 
 months; thus it had been deemed more fitting for the 
 madrigals to be performed in the castle itself instead of in 
 the fine hall of the Lusthaus where the court festivities usually 
 took place. Her Highness's reception-room gave out on to 
 the Eenaissance gallery of the inner courtyard. The room 
 was hung with sombre tapestries heavy with the dust of 
 centuries ; a number of waxen tapers flamed in silver candle- 
 sticks ; rows of seats were arranged in a half-circle behind the 
 high gilt chairs placed for his Highness Eberhard Ludwig 
 and his consort her Highness Johanna Elizabetha. 
 
 The musicians turned over the leaves of the manuscript 
 music on the desks before them ; sometimes the sound of a 
 violin chord, struck to prove its correctness, broke on the air. 
 The swish of silken skirts on the wooden floor of the gallery 
 without announced the advent of the first guests, and gradu- 
 ally the room was filled by richly clad ladies and finely 
 attired gentlemen. 
 
 The appointed hour was long passed for the music's 
 commencement, but neither the Duke nor the Duchess had 
 left their apartments, and the courtiers whispered that their 
 Highnesses were closeted together, and that angry voices had 
 been heard by one of the pages attendant in the antehall. 
 The clock of the Stiftskirche tolled out nine strokes, and the 
 
THE FULFILMENT ^5 
 
 courtiers murmured angrily that they had been waiting an 
 entire hour. 
 
 At length the door leading to her Highness's apartment 
 was flung open, and Monsieur de Gemmingen, Controller of 
 the Duchess's household, appeared, bowing deeply as Johanna 
 Elizabetha entered, followed by Madame de Stafforth, who was 
 in attendance on her Highness in the absence of Mademoiselle 
 de Miinsingen, the lady-in-waiting. The audience rose to 
 greet the Duchess, and at that moment his Highness Eberhard 
 Ludwig appeared from another door followed by Oberhof- 
 marshall Stafforth, Eeischach, and other gentlemen of the 
 suite. 
 
 Her Highness bowed to right and left. Her face was deadly 
 white and her eyes swollen with weeping; even her usual 
 colourless amiability seemed to have deserted her, for, after 
 the generally inclusive salute to the entire company, she 
 swept towards her gilded chair without a word of direct 
 greeting to any individual. Eberhard Ludwig, on the con- 
 trary, assumed an air of gaiety, as with his habitual grace of 
 manner he passed down the lines of guests, finding a courteous 
 word for each and all. Yet the courtiers remarked that his 
 Highness's face was flushed, and that his eyes held a glitter 
 of angry defiance ; but he gave no other sign of disturbance, 
 and did not respond to Stafforth's whispered inquiry if his 
 Highness had heard news of serious import. 
 
 Johanna Elizabetha summoned the Oberhofmarshall and 
 desired him to command the musicians to commence, and the 
 courtiers watched how Eberhard Ludwig, seating himself 
 beside her Highness, seemed to fix his mind upon the music. 
 It was a matter of comment that Monsieur and Madame de 
 Stafforth were present at the concert without their guest 
 Mademoiselle de Gravenitz ; and the well informed, delighted 
 with their superior knowledge, whispered that the decree ' No 
 Foreigners ' was levelled at this lady alone. Under cover 
 of the music the audience gossiped in whispers/ while they 
 noted the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha's demeanour with 
 interest. 
 
 Her Highness sat beside the Duke in that attitude which, 
 translated from court to market-place parlance, would have 
 
96 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 been 'turning her back upon him'; in more polite circles 
 this attitude becomes a mere inclination of the shoulder. It 
 is less satisfactory to the offended, though certainly not less 
 abashing to the offender, than the ruder, more frankly human 
 market-place manner. And it seemed as though his Highness 
 felt it to be so, for he repeatedly endeavoured to address his 
 spouse over this battlemented shoulder ; but her Highness 
 answered shortly, if at all, and the shoulder became each time 
 more aggressively pointed. 
 
 The musicians meanwhile performed a series of madrigals 
 accompanied by viole d'amore, violins, and viole da gamba. 
 The candles flickered in the draught from the open windows. 
 Madame de Euth sat resignedly beside Monseigneur de 
 ZoUern, whose fine head had dropped forward on his breast. 
 He was asleep ; and Madame de Ruth realised, with a sigh, that 
 her beloved had grown old ; that her youth had vanished too, 
 and even the joy of observing the tragi-comedy of human 
 nature palled for her at that moment, and she felt herself to 
 be old and lonely. At length the music ceased, and was 
 followed by that insolent, half-hearted applause which it is 
 the privilege of the truly cultured audience to offer to 
 musicians or actors. 
 
 Her Highness intimated her approval, and desired the 
 performers to rest a little after their exertions. At this 
 moment a door, directly to the left of her Highness's seat, 
 was flung open, and a bewildering vision of beauty stood 
 framed in the doorway. It was Wilhelmine von Gravenitz, 
 the expressly excluded foreign visitor. Johanna Elizabetha 
 threw a glance towards this apparition and hastily averted 
 her eyes, her face flaming from throat to brow; 
 
 His Highness half rose from his seat, but sinking back he 
 endeavoured to attract the Duchess's attention to the late 
 arrival, who stood on the threshold awaiting her Highness's 
 greeting, without which it was impossible for her to join the 
 court circle, as having entered by the wrong door, she must 
 of necessity pass the Duchess in order to gain the ranks of 
 the audience. There was a moment of intense embarrass- 
 ment; Wilhelmine was as firmly fixed to her place in the 
 doorway as though nails had been fastened through her satin- 
 
THE FULFILMENT 97 
 
 slippered feet to the boards beneath; for etiquette forbade 
 her to advance without her Highness's greeting, and fear of 
 ridicule barred her way back through the door. The Duchess 
 remained immovable, her eyes upon the group of musicians ; 
 the Duke endeavoured nervously to draw her Highness's 
 attention to Wilhelmine ; the audience had fallen into one 
 of those painful silences, with which an assembly invariably 
 adds to the awkward moments of social life. Partly it is 
 that curiosity rules all men and most women; partly that, 
 however cultured and refined the individuals may be, a mass 
 of human beings is like some wild animal — awkward, ungainly, 
 horribly cruel, ready to gloat over the discomfiture of friend 
 or foe. 
 
 The flickering of the candles in the silver candlesticks 
 seemed to become a noisy flaring, and through the large 
 room the falling of a waxen flake on the polished table rang 
 out distinctly; the string of a violin broke, and it sounded 
 like a pistol-shot in the stillness. Her Highness remained 
 unmoved, with eyes, fixed upon the musicians. The tension 
 was almost intolerable. The victory seemed to belong to the 
 stern hostess, and yet it was upon Wilhelmine standing in 
 the doorway that every eye was fixed. She stood perfectly 
 motionless, one hand upon the lintel of the door, the other 
 holding her fan ; her head was poised imperiously, chin tilted 
 as when she sang; her lips were parted in a half- smile, and 
 her eyes were fixed upon her Highness with her strange 
 compelling look. Was the Duchess victorious ? surely not — 
 the homage of the whole company was to the beauty of the 
 V7oman on the threshold. 
 
 At length the Duke, in desperation, boldly touched her 
 Highness's shoulder. ' Your Highness has not observed your 
 Highness's newly appointed lady-in-waiting ! ' 
 
 He spoke so clearly that the audience heard each carefully 
 pronounced syllable. 
 
 'Your Highness will remember summoning Mademoiselle 
 de Gravenitz to attend upon your Highness this evening for 
 the first time in her new capacity ? ' 
 
 Johanna Elizabetha turned. For a tick of the clock she 
 deliberately measured her adversary with her protuberant 
 
 G 
 
98 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 eyes, then slowly she bent her head in formal greeting. Wil- 
 helmine stepped forward, then sank to the ground in the 
 elaborate court courtesy ; rising, she walked a few steps, and 
 again swept her Highness the usual obeisance, and calmly 
 assumed her appointed place as lady-in-waiting behind the 
 Duchess's chair. 
 
 The musicians recommenced to play ; her Highness stared 
 stonily before her; the Duke leaned back drumming with 
 nervous fingers on the gilt arm of his chair; the audience 
 murmured together conjectures and remarks. Wilhelmine 
 was almost as motionless as her Highness ; her eyes were 
 fixed upon the musicians, and her face was inscrutable. 
 The concert came to an end, and the Duchess rose ; she turned 
 towards Madame de Stafforth, summoning her as lady-in- 
 waiting- extraordinary to accompany her, thereby entirely 
 ignoring Wilhelmine, the newly appointed lady-in-waiting, 
 whose office it should have been to attend her Highness. 
 After saluting her guests collectively by one sweeping 
 courtesy, Johanna Elizabetha walked towards her apartments. 
 Eberhard Ludwig made a movement forward as though to 
 stay the Duchess ; but he stopped short, and turned to Wil- 
 helmine, who was standing behind the Duchess's empty chair, 
 uncertain whether to follow her Highness or no. . 
 
 * Mademoiselle de Gravenitz,' he said, ' the Duchess is 
 evidently indisposed, and thus will not be present at the 
 supper this evening, therefore I take it your services as lady- 
 in-waiting will be dispensed with. May I have the hoDour 
 of leading you to supper ? ' and he offered Wilhelmine his 
 hand in the graceful fashion of those days. The last thing 
 her Highness Johanna Elizabetha saw, as once more she paused 
 to bow from the doorway to her guests, was the Duke leading 
 her new lady-in-waiting towards the supper-room. 
 
 The Duchess Johanna Elizabetha's guests were leaving the 
 castle : a constant stream of coaches drew up, one by one, in 
 the courtyard, and having taken up their owners rumbled away 
 through the heavy archway and across the moat towards the 
 town. Only Oberhofmarshall Stafforth, Madame de Ruth, his 
 Grace of Zollern, and Friedrich Gravenitz lingered in the supper- 
 
THE FULFILMENT 99 
 
 room by his Highness's command. Staffortli was anxious and 
 silent ; ZoUern sleepy ; the voluble Madame de Euth was 
 talking rapidly, with the evident intention of making the 
 scene appear unimportant to the flunkeys in attendance. 
 Friedrich Gravenitz said nothing, but looked pompous, and 
 drank ostentatiously with rounded forearm, showing off his 
 fine muscles, in spite of the fact that no one paid any heed 
 to him. He had been invaluable during supper itself, for he 
 had roared out stories, under cover of whose noise those who 
 had real things to discuss had been enabled to talk, while the 
 outsiders imagined that his Highness's circle listened to the 
 Kammerjunker. But now he had been silenced by a per- 
 emptory word from the Duke, and he was thus relegated to 
 the position of onlooker, though, in truth, he evidently believed 
 all eyes to be upon him, for he looked sulkily self-conscious 
 and perfectly foolish. 
 
 At one of the windows stood Eberhard Ludwig, beside him 
 Wilhelmine. They were speaking together in an undertone. 
 Madame de Euth sometimes cast an anxious glance towards 
 them. She wished the conversation would end ; already the 
 servants must have made comment upon so long an interview, 
 and though the opinion of menials was a matter of little im- 
 portance, the wily dame did not desire Wilhelmine's business 
 to become the talk of the town until the intrigue was fully 
 developed. 
 
 ' Monseigneur,' she whispered to Monsieur de Zollern, ' this 
 must end. Believe me, her Highness has many virtue-loving 
 spies who will report to her with the exaggeration of the 
 respectable foul-minded, and we shall be accused of having 
 had a nocturnal carousal.' 
 
 Monsieur de Zollern rose and hobbled across to the pair at 
 the window. He had just reached them when the door opened, 
 and Baron Forstner appeared on the threshold. 
 
 ' Ah ! Serenissimus ! ' exclaimed Zollern, ' that is indeed 
 an excellent story ! Your Highness must pardon an old 
 invalid if he retires with the memory of that witty tale in 
 his mind as a bonne bouche.' He bowed and took his leave, 
 while Forstner, who had arrived on the scene hoping to find 
 the lovers alone together, was entirely put off the scent; 
 
100 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Zollern's quick ruse having made it appear as though the 
 conversation had been general. 
 
 The company now took leave, Zollern ofifering Forstner a 
 seat in his coach, which was accepted ; thus the ' Representa- 
 tive of all the virtues ' (another of Madame de Ruth's names 
 for 'L'osseux') was safely, removed from the scene, leaving 
 Kammerjunker Gravenitz to attend his Highness. Madame 
 de Ruth retired to her rooms in the castle. Stafforth escorted 
 Wilhelmine to his coach, which waited to convey her to the 
 house in the Graben. As he bowed gallantly over her hand 
 he felt her fingers press a paper into his palm. She must 
 have penned it ere she came to the concert, he reflected, for 
 she could have found no opportunity for writing since. When 
 he reached the deserted corridor outside the antehall, where 
 two tall gentlemen-at-arms guarded the door of his Highness's 
 sleeping apartment, he held the missive up to the light of one 
 of the flickering wall- lamps : ' For his Highness's own hand 
 alone,' he read. 
 
 * Ah ! ' he murmured. Passing through the antehall, 
 
 he gained admission to Eberhard Ludwig's apartment. 
 
 ' Stafforth, my friend ! ' cried the Duke, when the Oberhof- 
 marshall appeared, ' this is much courtesy, — you attend me 
 with zeal ! ' and he laughed gaily. 
 
 Stafforth looked fixedly at him ; he wished to convey to his 
 Highness his desire to speak with him alone ; but Friedrich 
 Gravenitz also, unfortunately, had this impression, and being 
 at once the most suspicious and the most tactless of mortals, 
 he had evidently made up his mind to remain in attendance, 
 as was indeed officially correct, though it was usual for the 
 subordinate official to retire courteously when a person holding 
 a superior court charge was present at the Duke's disrobing. 
 It was impossible for Stafforth to give his Highness Wil- 
 helmine's missive in her brother's presence, for the conspirators 
 had long discovered that Friedrich Gravenitz either lost his 
 temper and blustered, if he felt himself excluded from full 
 knowledge of anything concerning his sister's affairs ; or else, 
 were he taken into their confidence, he compromised the 
 situation by some, gross tactlessness the which he himself 
 considered, and represented, to be a master-stroke of diplomacy 
 
THE FULFILMENT 101 
 
 After some moments' conversation, Stafforth hit on a plan. 
 He walked across the room and leaned out of the open window. 
 ' What a glorious night ! ' he exclaimed. ' Ah, Monseigneur ! 
 I understand your Highness's love for the silent woods at 
 night ; even here, in the town, the srtmmer night is full of 
 mysterious poetry ! Gravenitz, if his Highness permit you, 
 come and look at the beauty of the far-off stars. You also 
 have a vein of poetry in your soldier-nature.' This being 
 exactly what Friedrich Gravenitz entirely lacked, it flattered 
 him extremely to be credited with the quality. He craved 
 his Highness's permission to look at the glorious night scenery, 
 and repairing to the window leaned out beside Stafforth. The 
 Oberhofmarshall immediately pressed close against him and 
 encircled his shoulders with one arm, holding the dupe firmly 
 away from the interior of the room ; meanwhile Stafforth's other 
 arm was round his own back, with Wilhelmine's letter held out 
 in that hand towards the Duke. He remained thus expatiating 
 on the beauty of the night, till he felt the Duke withdraw 
 the missive from him. Having assured himself by hearing 
 a faint rustle of paper that Eberhard Ludwig had read the 
 missive, he finished his oration, and removed his strong arm 
 from Gravenitz's shoulder. 
 
 Now it was the Duke who leaned out of the window. * 
 Stafforth ! ' he cried, * the night is too beautiful to sleep 
 through ! Gentlemen, I invite you to hunt with me to-morrow 
 at break of day ! We will meet at the edge of the Eothwald 
 and follow the stag. Till dawn, then, farewell ! I shall 
 wander in the wood till then.' 
 
 His Highness dismissed Stafforth and Gravenitz. As the 
 door closed upon the two courtiers, Eberhard Ludwig snatched 
 a crumpled paper from his breast. It was the Duchess 
 Johanna Elizabetha's formal command to her guests to appear 
 at her private concert of madrigals : — 
 
 ' Le Chambellan de 
 
 Son Altesse 
 
 Madame la Duchesse de Wirtemberq 
 
 a I'honneur d'inviter Madame de Stafforth ce Lundi 
 
 25 Juin a 8 heures du soir. 
 
 Je regrette de ne pas pouvoir inviter des voyageurs Strangers.— J. E.' 
 
102 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Signed and annotated, you will see, by her Highness's own 
 hand. Beneath which, in strong, manlike characters, was 
 written — 
 
 * Ce soir a onzes heures. — PhilomIjle.' 
 
 And it is a matter of history that his Highness Eberhard 
 Ludwig of Wirtemberg did not keep his tryst at dawn with 
 Oberhofmarshall Stafforth and Friedrich Gravenitz in the 
 Eothwald. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE GHETTO 
 
 The new lady-in-waiting was installed in two rooms in the 
 castle, very near the roof and hard by Madame de Euth's 
 apartment. Wilhelmine received a small income, also her 
 food and the services of a waiting-woman of the ducal 
 household. This person was a large, fair-skinned Swabian 
 ■ — a peasant, simple yet suspicious, loud-voiced, rough in 
 manner, very tender of heart. During the first days of her 
 service she feared and disliked her 'foreign' mistress, but, 
 like every one whom Wilhelmine chose to charm, Maria 
 adored her before the week was out with that whole-hearted 
 devotion which servants sometimes give their employers, and 
 which is often so unequal a bargain. But it was not to prove 
 so in this case, for Wilhelmine responded readily to any 
 genuine affection, and, proud as she was, she was too proud to 
 imagine that her freedom of speech and her easy laughter 
 could be met with undue familiarity, which indeed, as is usual 
 with the woman of true breeding, it never was. Maria 
 remained devoted and free spoken, though absolutely respect- 
 ful. To her the ' Gravenitzin,' as people began to call 
 Wilhelmine, poured out the story of the numerous petty 
 annoyances which disturbed her, and the peasant girl learned 
 to regard her as a persecuted angel. Though her mistress's 
 violent temper flamed forth if the smallest detail of the toilet 
 went amiss, and often, indeed, for no apparent cause, the next 
 moment the impression was erased and the waiting- maid's 
 heart soothed by some affectionate word or " hasty, almost 
 childlike, apology. Eew know the extraordinary loyalty, the 
 silence and forbearing, which many servants exercise ; but 
 those who do, and can prize it truly, have an added power in 
 
 their hands and an immense aid to their ambition. Maria, 
 
 loa 
 
104 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 while absolutely silent regarding her mistress's affairs, was 
 fully informed concerning the rest of the inhabitants of the 
 Stuttgart castle and of their various opinions of Wilhelmine, 
 and all this she communicated while the latter lay abed 
 drinking her chocolate of a morning. In this manner 
 Wilhelmine learned many things of which she would other- 
 wise have been ignorant. 
 
 One morning, about a month after the commencement of 
 Wilhelmine's sojourn at the castle, she was dressing at her 
 leisure, her Highness having commanded her presence at a 
 later hour than usual. The window stood open, and she 
 could hear the whirl of wings as the doves flew about 
 from the roof of the inner courtyard or alighted on- the 
 stone balustrade below her window. The heat had abated, 
 and a faint sighing breeze was wafted through the window. 
 Maria had gone to the town to purchase a ribbon for Madame 
 de Ruth's spaniel, and the Gravenitzin remained alone. She 
 leaned back in a tall, carved chair, listening to the million 
 sounds of silence. Ah ! Silence ! — quiet ! how she loved it ! 
 With yearning she realised how she longed foi? the stillness 
 of some deep wood or of some fragrant garden, with Eberhard 
 Ludwig at her side. True, she saw him daily at court ; drove 
 with him on his fine coach drawn by eight horses ; supped 
 with him, sang to him, knew herself to be his acknowledged 
 mistress. There were stolen interviews in her little room, 
 moments of wondrous rapture and thrilling, passionate sur- 
 render. Yet, somehow, she never had the sensation of being 
 entirely undisturbed, of enjoying the delight of solitude with 
 him, safe from possible interruption. She knew that her 
 genuine passion for the Duke was regarded by the court as 
 an ordinary gallant adventure ; her relation with him classed 
 among the unlovely liaisons of princes ; and, like each woman 
 who considers her personal conduct, she imagined her own 
 love to be a thing utterly different to the passions of other 
 women — infinitely purer, absolutely apart. Also, she hated 
 disapproval ; it had the power to vilify her, drawing out the 
 worst in her nature. Then the Duchess, who was possessed 
 of all the harsh cruelty of the untempted virtuous woman, 
 constantly slighted the lady-in-waiting, whose presence she, 
 
, THE GHETTO 105 
 
 perforce, endured, while it afforded her a decided relief to vent 
 her jealous, agonised spleen in the privacy of her apartment 
 upon her victorious rival of public society. She little knew, 
 poor soul, what a sinister list of ' affronts to be avenged ' was 
 being written in Wilhelmine's mind, nor could she gauge, she 
 of the moth-coloured spite, the evil, relentless hatred which 
 she was daily fostering in a heart strong to love and strong 
 to hate. 
 
 Even Madame de Euth was appalled at the dimensions of 
 the affair which she herself had aided in creating. Wilhelmine 
 fascinated her still, but she began to fear her, and though she 
 laughed at those who murmured that ' the Gravenitzin had the 
 evil eye,' a certain disquiet peeped into her mind at times, 
 Wilhelmine had heard, through the maid Maria, that there 
 were whispers of her being possessed of the evil eye ; and it 
 amused her to confront those who offended or irritated her 
 with that strange look which she could command at will. 
 Certainly she had a vast will-power, and the Duke was 
 subjugated, not alone by love but by that marvellous 
 dominion of mind which is exercised by certain beings over 
 others. He told her often that she was a witch ; being doubly 
 a poet since he loved, he raved of the witchery of his mistress ; 
 yet had he dreamed for one moment that there could be any- 
 thing mysterious in her fascination he would have been 
 appalled. He was of his day, and could not explain glibly the 
 mysteries and marvels of personal attraction and repulsion, of 
 will-power and dominion, by the easy word magnetism. He 
 would have called it ' witchcraft, magic, devilry,' and he did 
 later on, and trembled. But all this was only beginning when 
 Wilhelmine sat listening to the silence that summer morning. 
 A heavy footfall on the balcony without aroused her from her 
 reverie, and her window was darkened for a flash by a passing 
 form. A rough knock came on her door, and she heard a voice 
 informing her the Altesse Serenissime the Duchess desired her 
 presence immediately. 
 
 She sprang up. * Tell her Highness I will come imme- 
 diately; but that, as I was not commanded for so early an 
 hour, I am unfortunately not quite ready,' she called after the 
 lackey's retreating form. She flung off her morning gown and 
 
106 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 began hastily to don a silken bodice, but it took ber longer to 
 dress without Maria's help, and it was some time before she 
 stood at the door of her Highness's anteroom. She was met 
 by one of the tiring-women whom she particularly disliked, 
 and whose mulish face and impertinent manners had often 
 irritated her. 
 
 ' Her Highness is waiting, Prauleinle von Gr'avenitz,' said 
 this person, while she treated Wilhelmine to an insolent stare. 
 
 ' That has nothing to do with you,' answered Wilhelmine 
 haughtily, her ready anger flaring at the covert insolence of 
 the woman's manner and the familiar use of the word 
 * Frauleinle.' As she passed she caught a grin of amusement 
 on the woman's face. Ridicule from any one, but especially 
 from the ' canaille,' as she termed most of the inmates of this 
 world, was a thing which always raised the slumbering devil 
 in Wilhelmine. She turned abruptly, confronting the tiring- 
 woman with that fixed evil glance of hers. The smile died 
 on the woman's lips, and she shrank back muttering. 
 
 ' You will regret your insolence,' said Wilhelmine, thereby 
 forging another link in that chain of the witchcraft theory 
 which was destined to have such strange developments in her 
 life and fate. 
 
 *I am accustomed to being attended immediately. Made- 
 moiselle, when I send for my ladies/ said the Duchess icily as 
 Wilhelmine entered. 
 
 ' Your Highness will pardon me ; it was an unexpected 
 summons, and I was not dressed.' 
 
 ' Ah ! I suppose the so evidently recent attack of smallpox 
 makes Mademoiselle a little delicate still ? ' replied Johanna 
 Elizabetha, with a spiteful smile, and looking pointedly at her 
 lady-in-waiting's face. 
 
 At this taunt, once more, though this time involuntarily, 
 the snake look came into Wilhelmine's eyes. Her Highness 
 did not shrink, but returned the gaze fully with a glance of 
 quiet animosity. Johanna Elizabetha was a brave woman, 
 of good blood, and it is remarkable that, through all her 
 dealings with the Gravenitz, she never showed any of that 
 fear, which to arouse was one of this mysterious woman's 
 most potent weapons. * Would it please you were I to give 
 
THE GHETTO 107 
 
 you permission to retire from court for a few months, 
 Mademoiselle, in order to recoup your damaged — er — health?* 
 She paused before the last word, and her adversary knew 
 what she would have said. The lady-in-waiting still had the 
 strength to command the wave of l^itter anger which was 
 surging within her, and she answered calmly : 
 
 ' I thank your Highness for the offer ; but/ here a note of 
 insolent triumph pierced through the studied courtesy of her 
 manner, ' but I find the climate of Stuttgart agrees vastly 
 well with me, and I need no change. Your Highness must 
 remember how much I am in the open air.' 
 
 This allusion to the constant drives with Eberhard Ludwig 
 goaded Johanna Elizabetha past endurance. 
 
 ' You will not be able to be abroad so much in future, 
 Mademoiselle de Gravenitz,' she answered grimly ; * I intend 
 to commence a large piece of embroidery, and the work will 
 keep me more in the house. I shall require your services to 
 read to me while I am working.' 
 
 Wilhelmine bowed. 
 
 ' Eetch me that embroidery frame and the silks, Mademoi- 
 selle,' the Duchess said, in a tone of such imperious command 
 that the other felt an angry blush flame in her cheeks ; but she 
 walked quietly across the room and brought the frame to her 
 Highness, who at once busied herself in matching the coloured 
 silks on the design. Seating herself near the window, and 
 settling the frame on a small table before her, she worked 
 steadily for some time in silence, Wilhelmine standing near, 
 not having been granted permission to be seated. The silence 
 became horrible, tense, gloomy ; the air seemed quivering with 
 the hatred which both women felt. At length the Duchess 
 laid aside her work and, turning, faced her lady-in-waiting 
 directly. 
 
 ' Mademoiselle Wilhelmine von Gravenitz,' she said slowly, 
 ' I will give you one chance of becoming an honest woman. 
 You are unnecessary to me in your present capacity, and 
 I have decided to remove you from my service.' She rose 
 with the dignity she could assume at times. ' The reasons for 
 my decision you know well enough, and, indeed, it were not 
 fitting for me to discuss them with you. If you will resign 
 
108 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 your charge, and leave the country to-day, promising never to 
 return, I will announce that, to my regret, you have been 
 called back to your home. As I know you came here penni- 
 less, I offer you a free present of ten thousand gulden, under 
 the conditions I have named. If you will not accept this I 
 shall have you driven froni my house, and I shall command 
 that no one in Wirtemberg shall shelter you under pain of loss 
 of entry at court.' 
 
 Johanna Elizabetha was really impressive and dignified, 
 infinitely pathetic too ; for it was a futile assumption of an 
 authority hers by right, and, in fact, absolutely non-existent. 
 ' I await your answer,' she added, a little tremulously. 
 
 ' And I give you my answer, here and now, for to-day' and 
 for as long as I choose. And my answer is — No!' She said 
 it boldly, but her heart was beating violently ; after all, she 
 too was fighting for her life, for all she had found beautiful, 
 for the man she loved, and for the ease and charm of exist- 
 ence, the ' fine linen and fair raiment, honour and power,' 
 without which she could and would not live. 
 
 The Duchess looked at her curiously. Certainly she was 
 very beautiful, standing straight, tall, and strong ; radiant with 
 health, magnificent in her proud decision of being ; with head 
 thrown back, hands clasped behind her like a child saying a 
 lesson — the singing attitude, which the Duchess had often seen 
 before with angry, grudging admiration. 
 
 ' Is this your decision ? ' Johanna Elizabetha asked once 
 more. ' God in Heaven ! why did you come here ? I offer 
 you wealth and peace ; cannot you go and leave me what is 
 mine ? ' 
 
 ' Yours ? ' broke out Wilhelmine impetuously. ' Yours ? 
 You know what you say is untrue ! Yours ! ' 
 
 Such an accent of scorn, such an intolerable ridicule of the 
 unbeautiful woman lay in Wilhelmine's voice, that the Duchess 
 drew back as from a blow ; she shrank, feeling herself thrust 
 into the chill dreariness of the world of unloved, unlovable, 
 undesired, undesirable women. Then the pride of race re- 
 asserted itself; after all, she was the mistress, and this, her 
 tormentor, was her, servant. For once, goaded out of her 
 measured correctness, the Duchess became vital, vehement. 
 
THE GHETTO 109 
 
 agonisedly energetic and passionate. She swept past Wil- 
 helmine to the door of her apartment ; she flung it open, and 
 called loudly to the sentry who stood below in the courtyard/ 
 bidding him summon the captain of the guard and a detach- 
 ment of men-at-arms. The man's hurried steps rang out as 
 he clattered across the courtyard. Then the silence was only 
 broken by the heavy breathing of the maddened woman at 
 the door, and once more Wilhelmine heard the swish and 
 whirl of the wings as the doves flew about the balustrade. 
 Then came the even tramp of men, and a captain of the guard, 
 with drawn sword, stood in the doorway before her Highness, 
 the yellow and silver of the men's uniforms making a picture 
 of gay colours framed in the grey stonework of the balcony 
 beyond. 
 
 ' Eemove that woman ! She has insulted me ! Take her 
 across the moat, and close the castle door upon her. She 
 shall not enter here again ! ' The Duchess's voice came short 
 and sharp. 
 
 * But, your Highness ' began the captain. 
 
 ' Do as I command ! ' broke in Johanna Elizabetha ; and 
 never had man or woman heard the ' Dull Duchess ' speak in 
 30 proud a tone. 
 
 The captain approached Wilhelmine ; he feared her and 
 dreaded the Duke's indignation. 
 
 ' Mademoiselle de Gravenitz,' he said hesitatingly, * I must 
 obey ; believe me, I do not understand ' 
 
 '!N'or need you,' answered Wilhelmine haughtily; 'I am 
 ready to follow you. Your Highness,' and she bent in the 
 usual courtesy ; but the poor Duchess could not see it, for she 
 had hidden her face in her hands, and, with convulsive sobs, 
 she wept in a painful reaction of weakness after her outburst 
 of passionate decision. 
 
 • • • t • t m 
 
 Wilhelmine found herself standing beyond the moat, with 
 the iron gate leading to the castle courtyard grimly closed 
 upon her. It was a perplexing moment ; she knew not 
 whither she might seek shelter, and she wished to avoid 
 scandal as far as possible. The Duke had gone to Urach to 
 inspect the coverts for the autumn hunting, and he would not 
 
no A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 return for several days. Madame de Rutli was in the castle, 
 unconscious of the stirring events of the morning. Stafforth 
 had accompanied the Duke, and she knew Madame de Stafforth 
 would not receive her if she made known the cause of her 
 departure from the castle. She realised, with dismay, that 
 when she went to the Duchess she had, naturally, not taken 
 money with her, so that she could not even seek the shelter of 
 an inn. It was an awkward predicament, and yet so ridiculous 
 to this woman, certain of the Duke-ruler's homage, that she 
 laughed gently to herself as she walked slowly away through 
 the castle gardens towards the town. The air was still and 
 heavy, and the sound of cries and traffic from the market-place 
 came to her distinctly. To her right lay the Duke's Jagerhaus 
 and the kennels, from whence came an occasional bark from 
 some of Eberhard Ludwig's numerous hounds. 
 
 Where should she go ? The question was becoming urgent, 
 for the heat of midday approached and already her head ached 
 dully. She walked on, hardly noticing that she had passed 
 beyond the garden gate, and it was with a start that she 
 suddenly realised she had wandered to an unfamiliar part of 
 the town. She was in a narrow street, where the overhang- 
 ing higher stories of the houses approached each other so 
 closely that the sky between them seemed to be but a distant 
 blue streak. Instinctively she had turned into this shaded 
 gangway to escape from the burning sun. To her horror she 
 felt a curious weakness creeping over her, a booming sounded 
 in her ears, and the veins of her throat seemed to have swelled 
 as though the blood would burst through the skin. She put 
 up her hand to the velvet ribbon which she wore round her 
 neck, and her fingers pulled awkwardly, impatiently, im- 
 potently at it. She felt as if her eyeballs were pushed 
 violently outwards by clumsy, heavy finger-tips. She leaned 
 against the wall of one of the houses, and, with the idea of 
 avoidance of scandal still working numbly in her brain, she 
 turned her head this way and that to see if there were any 
 observers of her pitiful plight ; but the street lay to right and 
 left, sordid, silent, and deserted. She reflected that, of course, 
 the inhabitants must be sheltering from the heat — sleeping, 
 perhaps — ^Ah ! sleeping ! — and she was so tired, so deathly 
 
THE GHETTO 111 
 
 weary— and her feet were so heavy— so far away— and 
 heavy 
 
 Surely Monsieur Gabriel would be pleased with that 
 melody ? Wilhelmine turned towards him, then half-con- 
 sciousness returning told her she was n'ot in Giistrow. Where 
 was she ? She moved, tried to sit up ; on her brow a hand, 
 cool and soothing, pressed her backwards, closing her aching 
 eyes. Once more her thoughts sank downwards — flickered, 
 as it were. What did it signify where she was, after all ? 
 Everything was far off. What scent was that ? Wonderful ! 
 She drew it in to her lungs, and it seemed to fill her breast 
 with fragrant freshness. With a sigh, she came back from 
 some dim world and opened her eyes. A strange face bent 
 over her and she stared wonderingly at it. Surely she was 
 dreaming still, for it was the face of a picture she knew. 
 E^.membrance came, ere full consciousness grasped sway of her 
 — Savonarola, the Monk of San Marco. She had seen a wood- 
 cut portrait of the inspired fanatic in a book of Eberhard 
 Ludwig's library. She lay, scarcely returned from her uncon- 
 sciousness, gazing at this face. Yes, Savonarola ! The powerful, 
 broken brow, the small, piercing eyes, the rugged cheeks, the 
 whole face dominated by the huge nose. Then full consciousness 
 returned to her, and she saw that this was no fanatic genius, no 
 monk of Italy, but an old woman with an extraordinary physi- 
 ognomy, who was watching her with patient, kindly eyes. 
 Wilhelmine sat up, pushing from her brow a cloth soaked 
 in some essence, from whence came the delicious pungent 
 scent which had recalled her from her trance. 
 
 ' Where am I ? ' she asked. 
 
 *You are safe, and, I pray you, rest,' answered a hoarse, 
 weak voice. 
 
 ' I thank you,' Wilhelmine said, ' I will rest ; but, at least, 
 tell me where I am and who you are ? ' 
 
 ' I am the widow of Ishakar Ben Hazzim, and you fainted 
 at my door, so I took you in.' 
 
 ' A very Christian action from a Jew, and I thank you,* 
 replied Wilhelmine haughtily. All the unreasoning hatred of 
 the Jewish race lay in her withdrawal from even ordinary 
 gratitude towards the woman who had rescued her. 
 
112 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 The face above her darkened, and the kind eyes changed to 
 flickering pin-points of anger. 
 
 ' Christian ? Nay, girl ; it is Christian to be cruel ! 
 Christian ? God of my fathers ! it is Christian to murder and 
 oppress ! Did you not hear that I told you I am the widow 
 of Ishakar Ben Hazzim, the son of Israel ? and in my house, 
 when I have anointed your head with rare essences to cool 
 you from your sun-faint, you insult me, and you owe me 
 no affront!' There was a pride in the woman's manner 
 which appealed to Wilhelmine. 
 
 ' Indeed, I meant none, and I thank you for your courtesy/ 
 she said, and smiled. 
 
 ' Well, rest you then,' replied the Jewess in a mollified tone ; 
 and again silence fell between the two women. 
 
 ' Why do Jews hate the Christians ? ' Wilhelmine asked, 
 after some time. She was interested, for this was a new and 
 surprising view ; partly, too, she asked the question from lazy 
 curiosity. 
 
 ' Hate them ? Would not you ? * returned the woman 
 harshly. 
 
 ' Why should you ? ' the girl asked. 
 
 ' Do you know anything of the story of our race, you who 
 ask ? No ? Well, I will tell you. For centuries we have 
 been outcasts, treated like beggars, like scum; for ages we 
 have suffered for the acts of our ancestors of hundreds of 
 generations past, and always the Christian has sought to 
 profit by our misfortunes ; and have we been credulous of their 
 promises, they have returned us jibes and disdain.' 
 
 ' But the Jews committed a terrible wrong,' Wilhelmine 
 interrupted ; ' they crucified the ' 
 
 ' Crucified ! crucified ! ' broke in the Jewess angrily, * we 
 are weary of the very word ! We crucified Him as you 
 hang rebels, and He happened to be a Charmer who 
 inspired a new religion — yours ! and for ever since you 
 Christians who rant of pardon, tenderness, moderation, love 
 of all the world — you have oppressed us with a vengeance 
 so terrible, so relentless, that we in our turn have learnt to 
 hate and contrive vengeance.' 
 
 ' But can yout' Wilhelmine smiled mockingly. 
 
THE GHETTO 113 
 
 * Ah ! but wait ! Some day we, who have no heritage — we 
 shall inherit the earth ! ' The old Jewess's voice trailed, and 
 into its muttered tones thrilled the accent of the mystic 
 belief of race destiny which lives so strongly in the children of 
 Israel. Wilhelmine, upon whom no hint of power, of fate, or 
 of belief in the unknown, ever failed to work, listened with 
 growing interest. She questioned the old crone, and succeeded 
 in drawing from her a long and impassioned tirade upon the 
 wrongs of the race of Israel. 
 
 ISTo one could charm people as could Wilhelmine; her 
 vitality, her sonorous voice, the quick sympathy which drew 
 confidences from the most reserved — in fine, her magnetic 
 force, made her, when she chose, the most irresistible of beings. 
 And she exerted herself to exercise her attraction upon the 
 Jewess, for her curiosity was thoroughly aroused, and also 
 with her strange instinct for power she scented a possible 
 use to her, if she could count upon the adherence of a silent, 
 secret force like the Jews. The old Jewess told how her 
 people were constantly in communication with their fellow 
 Jews of every land; she said that one who did a service to 
 a Jew was always sure of finding support from the whole race ; 
 and Wilhelmine's quick brain and vivid imagination wove a 
 romantic web, herself the centre thereof, holding in one hand 
 the power of Wirtemberg's court, and in the other the secret 
 thread commanding the commercial enterprises undertaken 
 by freed and grateful Israelites. Eomantic certainly, but 
 very lucrative to the heroine of this self- woven romance 1 
 
 ' Well, Widow Hazzim,' she said at length, ' destiny has 
 brought me to you. Some day I may have power to help 
 your race, wiU you vouch me gratitude and support in 
 return ? ' She spoke lightly, but her eyes were serious and 
 watchful, and her hands gripped the essence-soaked kerchief 
 which she had taken from her brow. 
 
 The Jewess laughed. * Do us a service and you will see ! ' 
 she answered. 
 
 At this moment the door, which led to some inner room, 
 opened, and a boy appeared on the threshold. 
 
 ' My great-nephew, lady,' said the Jewess ; * his mother is 
 my niece. He can sing like the heavenly seraphim, and great 
 
 H 
 
114 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 beauty of body is his as well.* She whispered the last state- 
 ment in that fatal whisper wherewith the aged often give 
 conceited self-consciousness to children. 
 
 The boy advanced : graceful, perfect in line, glowing in his 
 Jewish youthful beauty, which is usually over-bold, a trifle 
 insolent and hard. He approached Wilhelmine, and bent 
 before her in a salute so' ceremonious that it was at once 
 strangely appealing from a child, and yet unctuous and 
 unnatural. "Wilhelmine gave him her hand and inquired 
 his name. 
 
 ' Joseph Suss Oppenheimer, musician,' he replied gravely. 
 
 ' Indeed ? Musician ! ' she said, laughing. ' Thy profession 
 already fixed and entitled.' 
 
 'My father is a musician; he sings before, courts, and I 
 shall do the same,' he added proudly. , 
 
 Wilhelmine laughed. The boy's calm assurance of success 
 pleased her, and his unusual beauty attracted her, as all 
 personal comeliness invariably did. 
 
 ' He knows what he wants, this Joseph Siiss,' she said ; 
 * and to know what one wants, to know it decidedly, is the 
 first step to achievement. Grasp success firmly and it is 
 yours ! ' 
 
 The boy looked at her, fascinated by her loveliness, 
 dominated by her voice and the creed which she enunciated. 
 The old Jewess sent the boy to fetch his guitar, and when 
 he returned she desired him to sing for her guest's enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 Joseph Siiss, with the too precocious manner of the Jewish 
 child, inquired with another elaborate bow if Wilhelmine 
 would care to hear his voice. She begged him to let her hear 
 the seraphim sing. The boy caught the note of irony in her 
 phrase ; flushing deeply, he laid aside his guitar and would 
 have run away had not Wilhelmine, with her easy self- 
 indulgent kindness of heart to those who did not get in her way, 
 called him back and propitiated him with smiling reassurances. 
 The boy seated himself near her and sang. His voice was 
 deliciously fresh and clear, and Wilhelmine, delightedly, made 
 him sing again and again till the child's repertory was 
 exhausted. She praised him and fondled him, and taking 
 
THE GHETTO 115 
 
 from her breast a small jewelled pin, engraved with her 
 initials, she fastened it in his coat. 
 
 *A remembrance, dear musician,' she said laughing. She 
 was destined to see that jewel again after long years, when 
 humiliation and defeat came to her, striking her down at the 
 zenith of her brilliant career. 
 
CHAPTEK IX 
 
 *SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME* 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig stood before his dull Duchess, his eyes fixed 
 on her heavy, handsome face with a look of such stern anger, 
 that the unhappy woman felt herself to be a criminal before 
 some harsh, implacable judge. The phrases she had prepared 
 in her mind during the two days since she had expelled her 
 rival from the castle faded away, and seemed to falter from 
 proud statements to a mere apology, an anxious pleading. 
 
 The Duke remained standing, one hand leant upon the back 
 of a chair, the other hung at his side, and Johanna Elizabetha 
 could see that his fingers were clenched and reclenched with 
 such force that the knuckles showed bluey white ; otherwise 
 the man might have been made of stone and his eyes of 
 metal, so motionless and rigid was the whole figure. He had 
 entered her apartment, and had demanded in a voice of con- 
 trolled passion, deep with the effort he made to render it cold 
 and courteous, ' Madame, where is your Highness's lady-in- 
 waiting ? ' 
 
 She met the question with a tremulous torrent of words. 
 ^ I have dismissed Mademoiselle de Gravenitz. I required her 
 services no longer ; she did not please me ; she has left the 
 castle, probably the town. I do not know where she is/ 
 
 ' I ask again, Madame la Duchesse, whither you have sent 
 Mademoiselle de Gravenitz ? You must have been aware of 
 her destination before you permitted a young lady to leave 
 the shelter of our castle,' he said. And the Duchess replied 
 by an angry outburst, a hailstorm of reproaches, before which 
 Eberhard Ludwig remained silent, cold, rigidly self-contained. 
 The Duchess paused ; it was like beating one's hand against 
 some adamantine barrier. She had the sensation that all she 
 said, felt, suffered, passed unnoticed ; the man before her was 
 
 116 
 
<SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME' 117 
 
 waiting for information, that was all. It was intolerable, and 
 the hopelessness of any pleading came to her. 
 
 ' My husband,' she said in another tone, calm and cold as 
 his, ' I have endured enough. I have the right to dismiss my 
 lady-in-waiting if I think fit. I have done so, and the lady 
 will not enter my apartments again, nor will she be admitted 
 to any court festivities wherein I take part.' She turned 
 away ; her despairing consciousness of ultimate humiliation 
 seemed to choke her, though her very defeat was transformed 
 to a moral victory by her resigned dignity. The Duke moved 
 forward. 'At least tell me what has occurred,' he said hurriedly. 
 ' When I left you three days ago there was no word of any 
 dispute. I thought I left peace,' he added in a puzzled tone. 
 
 The Duchess came towards him. She held out her hands in 
 a gesture of appeal: 'Eberhard, be just to me I I bore it as 
 long as 1 could, but that woman's presence was a daily tor- 
 ture to me. Have a mistress, if need be,' this last bitterly, 
 ' but at least do not cause her to be my companion. It is not 
 fitting.' The blood rushed to the Duke's face. ' Mademoiselle 
 de Gravenitz is fit to be the companion of saints, of angels ! ' 
 he retorted angrily. ' She will return to court, I warn your 
 Highness.' He turned abruptly and left the Duchess's apart- 
 ment. 
 
 If the Duke, with the blindness of the enamoured, really 
 had imagined peace to reign in his palace prior to his sojourn at 
 Urach, on his return even love and anxiety could not hide the 
 excitement and unrest which the departure of the favourite 
 had caused in the castle of Stuttgart. Madame de Euth, fling- 
 ing etiquette to the winds, had met his Highness in the court- 
 yard when he rode in from Urach, and had greeted him with 
 the news of Wilhelmine's flight. The good lady was genuinely 
 distressed, and had made unceasing search in the town, but 
 naturally no one had thought of seeking in the Judengasse 
 behind the Leonards Kirche. Wilhelmine seemed to have 
 vanished off the face of the earth, and there were not wanting 
 murmurers among the Duchess's servitors who averred that 
 witches had ever been able to vanish at will, and that pro- 
 bably ' the Gravenitzin ' would return in the form of a black 
 cat or a serpent, and suddenly change into a woman again 
 
118 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 when it suited her. They were all in a flutter of superstitious 
 excitement ; and Maria the maid, who loved Wilhelmine, went 
 about with reddened eyes, and was much questioned below 
 stairs. 
 
 The Duke, on hearing the news from Madame de Rath, had 
 repaired immediately to the Duchess, but, as we have seen, 
 he had extracted no information from the lady, she having 
 none to give. When his Highness left the Duchess's apart- 
 ment he stormed up to Madame de Ruth's dwelling-room, and 
 after some deliberation summoned Forstner and charged him 
 with the unpleasant duty of leading a search party which was 
 supplied with a ducal warrant to enter all houses of every 
 grade in Stuttgart. Forstner, of course, urged patience ; the 
 missing one would return or communicate, he said ; but the 
 Duke greeted the word patience with such an outburst of 
 anger that the ' Bony One ' retired discomfited and gave orders 
 for the search with apparent zeal. 
 
 Evening fell on the sun-baked streets of Stuttgart, and a 
 faint breeze wafted a recollection of field and wood through the 
 open windows of the castle. Eberhard Ludwig paced up and 
 down, near the fountain in the castle gardens, where he had 
 been with Wilhelmine on the moonlit night of the theatricals 
 three months ago. He flung himself down upon the stone 
 bench where they had sat together. He covered his eyes 
 with his hands, he was tortured with memories, thrilled again 
 to past raptures ; his desire was aroused, increased a hundred- 
 fold by the anguish of absence. Could it be true that such 
 passion's enchantments were never to be his again ? he asked 
 himself. His memory conjured up a thousand charms of 
 his beloved, her voice, her laugh, her touch. * Wilhelmine, 
 Wilhelmine ! ' 
 
 He sprang up. ' God ! it is awful ! Wilhelmine, my love, 
 my mistress ! ' he said aloud. Ridiculous poet-fellow ! he 
 listened as though he expected an answer. 
 
 In the distance there was a rumble of thunder, and the 
 restless breeze rioted suddenly in the tree-branches for a 
 moment, passed onward, then swept back again rustling, then 
 came a roll of thui^der closer than the last. Another pause 
 — fateful it seemed, as though the garden trembled before the 
 
'SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME' 119 
 
 coming storm. A white flash played intermittently upon 
 the fountain, followed by a thunderclap directly overhead, and 
 a torrent of rain poured down. The Duke stood still a 
 moment, the rain beating upon him. The storm delighted 
 him, it answered to his tempestuous mood. He turned 
 away from the castle and walked in the direction of the 
 garden boundary on the south side, passing the drawbridge 
 over the disused and flower-filled moat of the castle wall. 
 What would have been his emotions had he known that his 
 fancy led him to wander whither Wilhelmine had passed but 
 three days before ? He came to the garden's limit and stood 
 looking towards the dimly discernible openings of several 
 narrow streets, the oldest and most ill- famed gangways of the 
 town. Of a sudden he descried a small form muffled in a 
 sombre cloak. The street was utterly deserted save for Eber- 
 hard Ludwig himself and this forlorn little figure, and the 
 Duke's attention was thus arrested. The pouring rain had 
 not extinguished the light of the two dilapidated hanging 
 lamps, which were fixed upon the walls of the street from 
 whence had issued the diminutive night-wanderer, whom the 
 Duke saw was now making for the castle. 
 
 The true Wirtemberger vanishes like smoke before the first 
 drop of rain, and the Duke therefore concluded that any 
 errand undertaken, and continued, in a downpour must be for 
 a purpose of paramount importance. So he watched with 
 curiosity the approaching figure, observing with surprise that 
 it was a child of some ten years old. 
 
 . ' Ha, young person,' called the Duke, as the child reached 
 him ; ' whither away so fast, and what may he want in the 
 castle gardens at this time of night ? ' 
 
 Thus apostrophised, the figure hesitated ; then apparently 
 alarmed by the sight of the Duke's military cloak, and 
 probably taking him for a sentry or a garden guard, the child 
 ducked forward and would have made a bolt past his interro- 
 gator. But the Duke, who was amused and half- suspicious of 
 the boy's errand, caught the figure by his heavy cloak, and 
 dragged him, a trifle roughly, under the light of the lantern 
 at the opposite street corner. 
 
 ' Now he shall tell me where he was going,' Serenissimus 
 
120 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 said laughing. The disdainful use of the third person singular 
 seemed to anger the boy, who stood silent and sullen, with 
 bent head. 'But he shall tell me,' repeated the Duke, 
 enforcing his command by a rough shake. 
 
 ' I will not tell you ! What concern is it of yours ? * the 
 boy replied at length. 
 
 The Duke bent a puzzled look upon his prisoner, whose 
 voice was refined, and whose German was guiltless of the rude 
 Swabian accent. He did not speak like a gutter child, and 
 the face which he turned upon Eberhard was startlingly 
 beautiful. Still the Duke was suspicious. Why should this 
 boy be slinking to the castle by night ? His Highness dis- 
 liked mysteries, or thought he did ; though, as a matter of fact, 
 he was always attracted by the mysterious, afraid of it, yet 
 anxious to unravel. He gave the boy another shake. It was 
 a physical relief to shake some one after the long hours of 
 anxiety, and the control he had been forced to exercise upon 
 his longing to shake the Duchess — no new wish on his part, 
 and the only desire that estimable lady had inspired in his 
 breast for many years. So the Duke shook his little 
 prisoner again and again. 
 
 The boy remained passive ; he was breathless, but he met 
 the Duke's half-laughing, half-angry eyes with a bold look of 
 defiance. 
 
 His Highness ceased shaking the child, feeling distinctly 
 ashamed. /Will he tell me now ? ' he asked more gently. 
 
 As he said the words, something caught the uncertain light 
 of the lamps — a little jewel which glittered in the boy's coat. 
 It was exposed to view by the disarrangement of the cloak 
 caused by the rough handling. 
 
 ' Lord God ! ' exclaimed the Duke, catching the boy by the 
 arm once more, ' where in the devil's name did you get 
 that?' 
 
 The boy clasped his free hand over the jewel, and proceeded 
 to kick Eberhard Ludwig's shins with all the violence he could 
 muster. ' A lady gave it to me, and you shall never have it ! 
 I will kill you sooner ! ' he cried grandiloquently. 
 
 'Be quiet, boy. I am a friend ; tell me your errand. If it 
 concerns the lady -who gave you that jewel, I alone can be of 
 
'SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME' 121 
 
 assistance/ In his voice lay so pure a note of truth that the 
 boy instinctively turned to him trustfully. 
 
 * I have a message for the Duke from the lady. If you are 
 a friend to her, you can tell me how to find him. The lady 
 says I am to go to the castle and ask for Madame de Euth, 
 who will take me to his Highness if he has come back from 
 hunting ; then she said all would be well.' 
 
 To the boy's astonishment his big questioner suddenly let 
 go his arm, and, leaning against the house wall, covered his 
 face with his hands, shivered as though from an ague fit. 
 When the man took his hands from before his face, the child 
 saw that his eyes were full of tears. The boy wondered why 
 so many grown-up people were so foolish. 
 
 ' Quick, boy ! take me to her ! ' he cried. 
 
 'No ; that is just what I am not to do,' was the reply. * I 
 am to tell her where the Duke will meet her to-morrow 
 morning early.' 
 
 ' To-morrow morning ! A million leaden moments ! a cen- 
 tury to pass ! No ! Boy, take me to her ! I am the Duke ; 
 take me to her, I order you.' 
 
 'No; you may be the Duke, but she has given me her 
 commands, and they mean more to me than yours.' The boy 
 threw up his head proudly. Even in his passionate im- 
 patience Serenissimus was struck by the boy's manner, 
 amused by this small gentleman. 
 
 ' Preux Chevalier I ' he said laughing ; then bowing gravely 
 to the little muffled figure, ' you are perfectly correct, and I 
 stand reproved ; but at least do me the honour to carry this 
 ring to the lady, and tell her that I await either her or her 
 sovereign commands.' 
 
 The boy took the ring and vanished into the blackness of 
 the side street. Eberhard Ludwig remained looking after him 
 into the gloom. A bitter thought came to him of the 
 superiority of this child of the back streets over, the Erbprinz 
 of Wirtemberg — that poor, sickly, excitable boy, whose dis- 
 appointing personality was a source of constant irritation and 
 humiliation to his father. Eberhard Ludwig loved personal 
 vitality, and that vigorous manliness which he himself 
 possessed, and which he saw daily in the sons of his 
 
122 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 poorest subjects; and he suffered intensely when he was 
 brought into contact with his puny, unwholesome son. The 
 Duchess's passionate spoiling and injudicious love made 
 matters worse ; the boy's health was in nowise benefited 
 thereby, and it but served to accentuate the fact that his 
 father had little else save impatient pity to bestow upon his 
 disappointing offspring. This was in Eberhard Ludwig's mind 
 as his eyes rested absently upon the street opening whither 
 had vanished the erect little form of Joseph Siiss — *preux 
 chevalier,' as the Duke had dubbed him. The summer 
 storm had passed, leaving a delicious freshness in the air 
 and a fragrance which penetrated from the gardens to the 
 Duke. Eberhard Ludwig stood waiting near the entrance to 
 the narrow street or gangway, where the overhanging roofs 
 dripped large splashing drops upon the unpaved earth below. 
 Now that realisation was in all probability so near, his wild 
 desire for Wilhelmine seemed to have passed ; a curious 
 anxiety had taken its place. How strange, the Duke reflected, 
 that loss or absence should enhance the value of the beloved. 
 He tried to conjure up his agony of longing for his mistress. 
 What mad rapture, could he have clasped her at the moment 
 of tremendous -desire which had been his half an hour earlier 
 in the castle garden ! Are we really only children crying 
 for the moon ? and if the moon were given to us, should we 
 but throw it away into the nearest ditch — merely another 
 broken toy ? he thought. These moods of Eberhard Ludwig's 
 were frequent. Like all poets, he had a vein of melancholy, a 
 tendency to indulge himself in a half-sensuous sadness, and 
 these dreamings of his, which had never been received with 
 ought save uncomprehending impatience by the Duchess, 
 Wilhelmine had known so well how to assuage — ^not entirely 
 to dissipate, for she would have robbed him of a certain 
 joy had she done so ; but she humoured him, understood him, 
 wandered with him in the paths of his enchanted melancholy, 
 then suddenly brought him back to gaiety by some witty 
 word, some tender pleasantry. It was part of her immense 
 power over him, and indeed, it was no thing of the senses, 
 but rather her womanly genius, her innate knowledge of 
 loving. As he stood awaiting her, his heart cried for her ; he 
 
'SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME' 123 
 
 was no longer stirred by physical desire, but he craved the 
 consolation of her presence as a child wearies for its mother's 
 love. Indeed, in most passions which have outlasted the flash 
 of sheer animal attraction, there has ever been that touch of 
 mother-love in the affection given by the woman to the man. 
 And it is this which eternally makes the entirely desirable 
 woman older than the man she loves. 
 
 The minutes passed slowly as Eberhard Ludwig stood 
 waiting for some sign from Wilhelmine. At length his 
 Highness heard an approaching footstep. He turned quickly, 
 in his excitement not noting that the steps came from the 
 direction of the castle garden. He started forward with 
 outstretched arms. Forstner stood before him, a ridiculous 
 figure as usual ; his large, tiresome nose shadowed on the 
 wall by the uncertain light of the hanging lanterns. 
 
 * Eeally, Monsieur de Forstner ! ' broke out the Duke 
 angrily, ' it is intolerable to be thus followed ! Am I not at 
 liberty to take a stroll unquestioned ? ' 
 
 The astonished courtier attempted to explain that he had 
 not known his Highness to be wandering near the Judengasse, 
 but Eberhard Ludwig cut him short and desired him to go on 
 his way. Forstner begged to be permitted to accompany his 
 Highness. ' This is not a part of the town where it is fitting 
 your Highness should be alone at night.' The reproving tone 
 of the schoolmaster (that inextinguishable dweller of the 
 innermost which abides for ever in the breast of every honest 
 German) crept into the words, and Eberhard Ludwig's irrita- 
 tion was the more aroused. 
 
 ' Will you go and leave me to myself, Forstner, you 
 insufferable ass ! ' The words broke forth half fiercely, half 
 humorously. 
 
 Forstner drew himself up with a certain stiff dignity. 
 *Were that term applied to me by any but my Prince, I 
 should answer with the sword,' he said. 
 
 The Duke laughed impatiently. ' I retract — I apologise — I 
 beg your forgiveness ; you are an excellent fellow, a dear 
 friend — only for God's sake, man, go away ! ' 
 
 ' But youj Highness — I beg you to consider ' the other 
 
 began. 
 
124 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 * Look here, Forstner,' the Duke interrupted, * if you don't 
 go — now, at once, and leave me alone, upon my soul I will run 
 you through ! ' He half-drew his sword. 
 
 'Really, Monseigneur,' replied Forstner, 'I am ready to 
 obey your Highness, but ' 
 
 ' Well, then, go ! ' The Duke was getting beyond himself ; 
 each moment he feared Wilhelmine would appear, and Forstner 
 was not a person he desired as witness either to his meeting 
 with his beloved, or to her advent from the lowest part of the 
 town. 
 
 The estimable Forstner had at length commenced his 
 departure, but he was distant only a few paces when the 
 Duke heard a laugh coming from the gloom of the shadowed 
 Judengasse. It was a laugh which, though low-pitched and 
 quiet, had a resonant distinctness which caused it to carry 
 a long way. 
 
 'Wait, for Heaven's sake, till he is gone,' his Highness 
 whispered over his shoulder into the darkness, observing to 
 his dismay that Forstner had halted. 
 
 ' Did your Highness call me ? ' asked the too - devoted 
 friend, and made as though to return. 
 
 'E"o; I coughed. Do go away!' shouted the Duke in 
 return, and set himself to cough vigorously, for behind him 
 from the darkened street there came the unmistakable sound 
 of Wilhelmine's irrepressible laughter. 
 
 At length the angular figure vanished, and the Duke sprang 
 round with arms outstretched, and into them he received the 
 stately form of his mistress, who lay upon his breast ; for once 
 unresponsive to his passionate kisses, while she laughed in a 
 very agony of mirth. 
 
 ' Forgive me, Monseigneur,' she said at last, her voice still 
 shaking with laughter ; ' but you know the scene was really 
 beyond me. I heard all, and oh ! Forstner was so droll, and 
 you too.' She began to laugh again. ' Oh, how delightfully 
 undignified, mon Prince — when you coughed to hide my 
 laughter.' 
 
 Once more she leaned against Eberhard Ludwig's shoulder 
 and rocked with merriment. The Duke also laughed, but a 
 trifle ruefully; that meddler Forstner had destroyed the rapture 
 
'SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME' 125 
 
 of his meeting with Wilhelmine, had broken the charm of his 
 pensive mood ; and besides, the Duke knew from experience 
 that when Wilhelmine began to langh like that he would 
 probably hear no serious word from her during the evening. 
 Even in their passion's transports he had known his mistress 
 suddenly go off into a series of ' fous rires/ and no man enjoys 
 the most harmless laughter at such moments. 
 
 ' Wilhelmine, for God's sake stop laughing, and tell me 
 where you have been since the Duchess — since the Duchess 
 
 ' he hesitated, not knowing how to express the summary 
 
 ejection from the castle. 
 
 ' Since her Highness had the goodness to turn me out.' 
 Wilhelmine was serious now, though her lips still twitched 
 with mirth, and her eyes were mischievous and teasing. 
 ' Nay, your Highness, that is my secret. I have always a 
 hiding-place whither I can vanish when you are not good to 
 me. Shall I disappear again ? I have but to say a mystic 
 word and your Highness will clasp empty air.' She was play- 
 acting, as she often did, and she looked up at him with such 
 dazzling eyes that he caught her to him with masterful passion. 
 
 ' Witch ! enchantress ! ' he murmured. ' What matters it 
 where you were ; you are here now with me, and never to part 
 again ! ' 
 
 ' Till death us do part,' she answered. ' iNay, those are the 
 
 words men say to their wives, not to their ' A note of 
 
 bitterness pierced the mockery of her tone. 
 
 * Ah ! heart of mine/ he broke in vehemently, * would that 
 J could make you Duchess ! You are my wife by all laws 
 of fairest nature and love ! This is a more holy thing than 
 marriage — nay, this is true marriage ! ' It was the eternal lie 
 of lovers : the old futile, pathetic, impossible pleading of those 
 whose love cannot be sanctioned by law. Wilhelmine's face 
 darkened. 
 
 ' Monseigneur, if you could make Eorstner and his sort 
 believe that, I should not be taunted and insulted. But come, 
 now, we cannot discuss this here. Will you tell me where 
 you propose to lodge me this night, or shall I vanish again ? ' 
 Her gaiety had returned. 
 
 'I must ask you to accept the hospitality of my roof 
 
126 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 to-night/ he said gravely ; * to-morrow I will seek a fitting 
 abode for you.' 
 
 ' Ah ! a mistress's separate establishment.' Her voice was 
 bitter again. Was there ever such a difiS.cult woman for lover 
 to deal with ? But that was half her charm. 
 
 ' Wilhelmine, do not torture me. I will do all I can, and 
 I pray you, never call your house a mistress's establishment — 
 call it rather the palace of my heart's queen.' 
 
 * Prettily put, and meaning exactly the same ! ' 
 
 She was laughing once more ; she loved when Eberhard 
 Ludwig spoke in this chivalrous tone, as every woman does, 
 thinking it a tribute to her own especial dignity when it is 
 often only a deft trick of speech. Laughing and talking and 
 teasing her beloved, she allowed him to lead her ^way through 
 the gardens. 
 
 Within the castle commotion prevailed. Serving-men 
 and maids ran hither and thither in an excited and 
 aimless fashion; they started back in surprise and dismay 
 when they perceived Wilhelmine's tall figure beside the 
 Duke, but neither his Highness nor the lady stopped to 
 question the servants on the cause of the disturbance. When 
 they reached the first floor, where dwelt the Duchess Johanna 
 Elizabetha, and would have passed on to gain Wilhelmine's 
 apartments, they found themselves confronted by a group of 
 persons talking in excited whispers. Prelate Osiander, 
 certainly not one whom Eberhard Ludwig desired as a witness 
 to Wilhelmine's re-entry ; Madame de Stafforth, the Countess 
 Gemmingen, one of the Duchess's ladies ; Dr. Mtirger, second 
 court physician ; two of her Highness's waiting-women. 
 Madame de Ruth was also there, and it struck Wilhelmine 
 as ominous that the lady of many words and ready wit stood 
 silent and constrained. 
 
 'What is this?' queried Eberhard Ludwig angrily in a 
 loud tone. The assembled persons turned in startled surprise. 
 Osiander came forward. 
 
 'Your Highness's wife, the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha, is 
 sick unto death, and your Highness was not to be found for 
 all our search,' he said sternly, and without deigning to cast a 
 glance upon Wilhelmine. 
 
•SHE COMES TO STAY THIS TIME' 127 
 
 ' What ails the Duchess ? ' asked Eberhard Ludwig, turning 
 to Dr. Miirger. 
 
 ' It would seem to be a stroke of blood to the brain, your 
 Highness — a dangerous thing to one of the Duchess's robust 
 physique. Dr. Schubart is occupied in bleeding her Highness. 
 Ivly assistance was dispensed with/ he added in an offended 
 tone. 
 
 At this moment the door of the Duchess's chamber opened, 
 and Monsieur le Docteur Schubart, first doctor to the court 
 and a very pompous person, appeared. 
 
 ' I am relieved to be able to declare her Highness the 
 Duchess to be returned from her strange swoon. I have the 
 honour to announce that her Highness's cherished life will be 
 spared to her devoted subjects.' 
 
 The man was odiously unctuous and self-satisfied. Madame 
 de Stafforth burst into weak weeping, while Osiander gravely 
 offered his congratulations to Eberhard Ludwig upon the re- 
 covery of ' his noble and devoted wife.' There lay something 
 of true dignity and sober goodness in the Prelate's whole being 
 which never failed to impress Wilhelmine, and she felt his entire 
 ignoring of her to be a heavy public reproof from a com- 
 petent judge. There was a moment's awkward silence when 
 the Prelate ceased speaking, and every eye was turned to the 
 pair of handsome lovers as they stood side by side, framed in 
 the oaken panelling of the doorway leading to the stairs. 
 Madame de Euth, who hated pauses, came forward and held 
 out her hand to Wilhelmine. 
 
 ' My dear, I am glad to see you,' she said kindly. 
 
 Wilhelmine, whom Osiander's disapproval had irritated, 
 replied calmly : ' Yes, I have returned, and to stay this time ! ' 
 It was said defiantly. 
 
 Now it is well known that love makes the wisest of mankind 
 foolish, and that the poet in love is a perfectly unaccountable 
 being. Eberhard Ludwig was poet and lover, and he lost his 
 head on this occasion. • 
 
 ' Eeturned to stay, dear lady, as long as my poor court can 
 harbour and amuse so fair a visitant ! ' he said ; then, turning 
 to Madame de Euth, he added in a lower tone, which was yet 
 perfectly audible to most of the assembled company : ' The 
 
128 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 rain-cloud brought back sunshine to us. A flash of lightning 
 carried her from Elysium to earth once more. A mysterious 
 Black Capid led her to me ! but we must be very careful, for 
 she can vanish at will, this beautiful enchantress.' 
 
 It was said in extravagant homage, half in pleasantry, but 
 several of those present, and notably the Duchess's waiting- 
 women, heard the unwise words. When Wilhelmine swept 
 past them on her way to her chamber they drew back in 
 superstitious awe, and she heard them murmur, * Witch and 
 sorceress ! we must not offend her.' 
 
CHAPTEE X 
 
 THE ATTACK IN THE GEOTTO 
 
 The court of Stuttgart soon saw to its cost that Wilhelmine 
 had of a truth 'come to stay this time/ as she herself 
 had announced on the evening of her return from the 
 Judengasse. After a few days spent in her old quarters 
 in the castle, she removed to a hastily improvised abode 
 on the first floor of the Duke's Jagerhaus. Here had 
 been the of&cial residence of his Highness's Grand Maitre 
 de la Meute, and this personage, who was relegated to a 
 small and inconvenient dwelling-place, naturally resented 
 his eviction. Public disapproval was excited by the 
 summary commandeering of a well-known official residence; 
 and when, following upon their keeper's ejection, the stag- 
 hounds and hare- coursers were removed from the Jager- 
 haus, the Stuttgarters murmured ominously. It had long 
 been a highly prized privilege of the townsfolk to repair, 
 each Sunday and Feast-day, to view the hounds — in fact, this 
 custom had become one of their social entertainments. The 
 bilrghers and their families were wont to meet together in 
 the stretch of garden which bordered the open rails of the 
 enclosure, where the hounds took their afternoon airing on 
 idle, non-hunting days. The citizens loved to watch the dogs' 
 antics, and regarded it as their recognised Sunday afternoon 
 amusement. In the Graben, or disused town moat, turned 
 road, stood the Jagerhaus — a long, barn-like building, the entire 
 ground-floor whereof was occupied by the dog-kennels, which 
 opened to the back on paddocks. On the first floor were 
 many spacious apartments, hitherto used for the administra- 
 tion of the affairs of his Highness's hunt, and for lodging 
 
 I 
 
130 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the Jagermasters of distant posts in the forests, who came to 
 Stuttgart on official business ; and here, too, was the residence 
 of the Grand Master of the Hunt and hounds. On the third 
 floor, beneath the high sloping roof, were a few garrets and 
 several large lofts filled with the straw destined for the dog- 
 kennels. The mingled odours of hounds and straw displeased 
 Wilhelmine's acute sense of smell, and one of her first 
 commands upon entering her new abode was that hounds 
 and straw should be removed instantly. She declared that 
 therefrom the whole house was infested with fleas, and when 
 the Duke, wishful to propitiate the angry lady, proposed to 
 send for the late occupant of the Jagerhaus to inquire if he 
 had been aware of his neighbours, the fleas, she remarked 
 angrily that fleas were dainty feeders and, like Jews, were not 
 in the habit of selecting pigskin for food. This remark was 
 evidently heard by some unfriendly person, for on the morrow 
 it was the common talk of the town. A few days later the 
 hounds were seen progressing through Stuttgart on their way 
 to temporary kennels hastily arranged in the Eothwald. The 
 populace followed this cortege shouting, ' They are taking 
 away our beautiful hounds, and leaving an accursed bitch in 
 the old kennels ! ' And that day when Serenissimus drove 
 out, accompanied as usual by Wilhelmine, he was met by an 
 angry murmuring crowd. Here was the beginning of that 
 unpopularity of Wilhelmine's which gave the lie to the 
 devotion of her friends, and notably her personal attendants 
 and servants. This unpopularity which had so terrible an 
 effect on her character, hardening her heart, accentuating the 
 underlying cruelty, the indifference to aught save her own 
 pleasure and power. Feeling herself accounted evil, she 
 became so. It was this, taken together with her magnificent 
 success and her extraordinary prosperity, which caused her to 
 become a cruel and self-seeking woman. Monsieur Gabriel, 
 in the far-off days at Glistrow, had feared this development, 
 had trembled before the world-hardness which would mar the 
 being he loved. How many have trembled at the same 
 thought, and in sadness and loneliness have realised that 
 their dread has become a cruel reality ! We can face Death 
 for those we love, mourning them in agony and tears, but we 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 131 
 
 can find no beauty in that bitter and hideous grief which 
 comes to us when those we loved, we trusted, we admired, 
 change to us — worst of all, change in themselves. This is the 
 inexorable Death in Life, and in this Death we cannot dream 
 of a fair consoling Hereafter. The thing we loved has not only- 
 perished — alas ! we realise that it has never existed 1 What 
 we worshipped was the shadow of our own making, a mirager 
 conjured up by our heart's desire. To those who love most, 
 love best, this tragedy comes. 
 
 Wilhelmiiie, who arrived in Wirtemberg a strong, passionate 
 creature, generous, vital, was too responsive to remain un- 
 altered by the alchemising touch of the world. Had she 
 been met with tenderness and purity, and by noble men 
 and women, she might have become a power for good ; as 
 it was, she was received by intrigue, contending interests, 
 disapproval, distrust, the lust of love. As a good woman 
 there was no place for her at Wirtemberg's court, so 
 all the evil, lying dormant in every human heart, rose up 
 in her, and she became a Queen of Wickedness. Monsieur 
 Gabriel would have mourned another lost illusion, had not 
 Death taken him from this world a few months after Wilhel- 
 mine's departure from Giistrow. He bequeathed to her his 
 well-worn books, Les Fensdes de Pascal, Le Roman de la Rose, 
 the poems of the singers of La Pleiade, and the few other 
 volumes wherefrom he had instructed his beloved pupil. He 
 left, besides, a little sealed packet, in which she was surprised 
 to find several beautiful jewels, among them a white enamel 
 cross, in the centre whereof was the image of a dove with 
 outspread wings. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig told her these were the insignia of a high 
 order in France, and she was thereby confirmed in her notion 
 that her beloved old schoolmaster's great air and immense 
 refinement were those of a grand seigneur. She often pondered 
 on why a Huguenot had been permitted to bear the holy order 
 of the St. Esprit upon his breast, but she remembered that 
 Monsieur Gabriel had spoken of the court festivities with 
 that sure accent which told that he had been of the caste 
 which took part in those scenes. She never learnt his secret ; 
 to her credit, she never sought to unravel it. The Gravenitz 
 
132 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 was what the world calls wicked, but vulgarity and vulgarity's 
 attendant, curiosity, could not touch her, and she respected 
 the silence of her friends, though she ever spied upon her 
 enemies. The news of Monsieur Gabriel's death was brought 
 to Wilhelmine soon after her advent at the Jagerhaus, and for 
 many days the favourite refused to see any one save Eberhard 
 Ludwig. She mourned her old friend sincerely, and wept 
 bitterly when she saw the worn volumes he had bequeathed 
 to her. The cross she fastened round her neck on a thin gold 
 chain, and this badge of a sacred order rested for many years 
 on the heart of the strange, evil woman. You can see the 
 tiny line of this chain in the few known portraits of Wilhel- 
 mine von Gravenitz. These pictures are very rare, Time and 
 Hatred have hidden them but too well. Indeed, it is as 
 though all the Swabian virtue had conspired together to 
 obliterate the memory, with the portraits, of the abhorred 
 ' Gravenitzin.' 
 
 For the nonce, life was very peaceful for Wilhelmine in the 
 Jagerhaus ; and the Duke, entirely enthralled by his mistress, 
 humoured her every whim. Madame de Ruth said mockingly 
 to Zollern that a more exemplary young married couple than 
 * Monsieur et Madame Eberhard Ludwig ' she had never seen. 
 But the feeling against the favourite in Stuttgart grew each 
 day, and the fact that his Highness had caused much that was of 
 beauty and value in the castle to be removed to the Jagerhaus 
 gave umbrage to the courtiers. Even Zollern remonstrated, 
 but in vain. Meanwhile the Jagerhaus had become a splendid 
 abode : rich yellow silken hangings hid the bare whitewashed 
 walls of the chamber Wilhelmine had selected for her re- 
 ception-room ; the old wooden floors had been polished till 
 they appeared to be the finest parquet ; gilt chairs deeply 
 cushioned, and also of that delicate yellow colour which the 
 favourite loved, had been brought from Paris* a spinet with 
 a beautifully painted case stood near the window ; a quaint 
 sixteenth-century stove which had been in the state room at 
 the castle had been chosen by her as harmonising well with 
 the yellow hangings, being made of light blue tiles. In 
 an alcove, especially constructed by grumbling, slow-handed 
 Stuttgart workmen for the 'Duke's Witch,' was the pick of 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 133 
 
 the ducal library. The court ladies heard with jealous rage, 
 that the Gravenitzin had a dressing-room entirely panelled 
 with mirrors, that her bed was hung with light blue silk, that 
 she had a silver bath surrounded by mirror screens. How 
 had the Mecklemburg Fraiilein learnt such things ? they asked. 
 How indeed, but in her inborn genius for luxury ! The 
 favourite's servants were magnificently attired in ducal 
 liveries. The lady had her own carriage with painted panels 
 and yellow satin cushions. She gave rich entertainments, 
 and the invitations were coveted, of course, by the good 
 people who were so horrified at their hostess. The Duchess 
 Johanna Elizabetha would not be present at a court feast 
 where the Gravenitz appeared ? Yery well ! there ivere no 
 court feasts ! All the gaiety of the autumn of 1706 and the 
 winter of 1707 took place at the Jagerhaus. 
 
 The Duchess-mother, from her dower-house of Stetten, 
 descended periodically upon Stuttgart, rated her son, 
 condoled with Johanna Elizabetha, and returned utterly 
 unsuccessful to Stetten. 
 
 Forstner's warning voice was never silent. Osiander failed 
 to return Wilhelmine's salutation when she encountered him 
 in the Lustgarten. It was open war between virtue and the 
 Gravenitz. 
 
 Stuttgart in the winter is a vastly different place to the 
 smiling, gay Stuttgart of spring and summer days, and Wilhel- 
 mine often wondered whither had vanished the charm, the 
 delight of Southern Germany. That winter there fell but 
 little snow, a cruel black frost was over the whole valley ; 
 sometimes the frost relaxed his iron grip, and then came 
 torrents of rain. The frost returned when the rain ceased, 
 and taking the wet earth into his gaunt hands turned every- 
 thing into dirty sheet ice. In Wilhelmine's yellow room at 
 the Jagerhaus the blue stove radiated a pleasant warmth, 
 and, if a feeble sunray struggled through the gloomy, leaden 
 sky, the yellow hangings caught it like a lover, and seemed to 
 treasure it, filling the whole room with a hint of spring sun- 
 shine. In the castle the Duchess sat in her sombre apart- 
 ments which she had made as dull, as dreary, as charmless as 
 herself. Eberhard Ludwig seldom visited her, and she spent 
 
134 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 her time in cosseting the sickly Erbprinz, or bemoaning her 
 fate to Madame de Stafforth. 
 
 Slowly the winter left the land, but the spring that year 
 was a meagre starveling, niggardly of smiles. He seemed to 
 have borrowed winter's breath, and the pale young leaves 
 shuddered in the unfriendly blasts. The fruit blossom 
 struggled into a nipped existence, and fell like thin snow to 
 the ground. An eerie spring, and men said there was a spell 
 upon the country, and looked towards the Jagerhaus as they 
 spoke. 
 
 During the winter the French army under Marechal Villars 
 had again threatened Wirtemberg. On a cheerless day towards 
 the end of April Eberhard Ludwig arrived as usual in the early 
 morning to visit his beloved at the Jagerhaus. For several 
 days she had noticed a cloud upon his brow, he had answered 
 her absently, and she knew instinctively that there was some- 
 thing on his mind, which he desired to tell her. Too wise 
 to question him, she watched him closely. When he entered 
 the yellow-hung salon that cheerless April morning, he greeted 
 her almost coldly, and began to play roughly with his huge 
 black wolf-hound, Melac. This animal was the Duke's con- 
 stant companion — an extraordinarily sagacious beast, whom 
 Wilhelmine declared to be a hater of dullness because he 
 had ever been surly towards Johanna Elizabetha. For the 
 favourite the dog had a marked affection ; he would lie near 
 her with his large head resting on her foot, while his patient 
 eyes looked up at her with that strange, unblinking gaze 
 which is characteristic of the wolf-hound. 
 
 There was something brutal in the way Eberhard Ludwig 
 teased the dog that morning ; he hurt the poor brute, pulling 
 his short, sensitive ears, drawing Melac roughly back then 
 flinging him away. It was a cruel game, more like a combat 
 between man and hound; and Melac, good, generous beast 
 though he was, began to get angry. The Duke's hand had 
 been scratched by the dog's sharp teeth, and the wolf-hound 
 tasting blood, grew ferocious. With a growl Melac suddenly 
 reared up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on the 
 Duke's breast, his teeth bared in an ugly snarl. Eberhard 
 Ludwig laughed, but the dog's fangs were dangerously near 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 135 
 
 his Highness's throat ; and indeed it was no laughing matter, 
 for a wolf-hound, once his teeth are fastened in a man's 
 throat, does not leave his prey alive. It was a grim comedy.' 
 Wilhelmine rose from her chair near the window and came 
 forward. 
 
 ' Leave him to me ! ' shouted the Duke, at length aware of 
 his danger. He gripped Melac by the ears and held the 
 beast from him ; but the hound was thoroughly aroused, and 
 Eberhard Ludwig felt that it was an unequal contest in spite 
 of his strength. 
 
 Wilhelmine advanced fearlessly, and laying her hand upon 
 the dog's head, she leaned round till she faced the snarling 
 brute. 
 
 * What are you doing, Wilhelmine ? ' panted the Duke. 
 * Eor God's sake do not put your face so close to his teeth ! ' 
 
 ' I know what I am doing, mon Prince,' she said calmly. 
 
 As at Giistrow, when Mliller had attacked her, she now 
 narrowed her lids and forced her will into her eyes. Gradually 
 she felt her mastery working on Melac ; his jaws dropped, no 
 longer fiercely baring the teeth but as though he had run a 
 long distance, the whole mouth became weak, the red tongue 
 protruding. With a whine the dog fell, his front paws slipping 
 from the Duke's shoulders. Shuddering, the great animal 
 crouched on the floor, his eyes still resting on Wilhelmine 
 with an expression of abject terror. 
 
 ' Lie quiet, Melac ! There — good dog ! ' She stroked his 
 head, and the hound fawned upon her, dragging himself round 
 her feet, crawling, abased. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig caught her hand, and his own trembled a 
 little. * What an extraordinary thing ! Did you put a spell 
 upon Melac ? I have never seen him thus cowed ! Beloved, 
 I believe I owe my life to you this morning,' he said. 
 
 Wilhelmine passed her hand across her eyes. ' So may all 
 your enemies be defeated ! ' she said, laughing. 
 
 ' Could you make me tremble like that with your wonderful 
 eyes ? ' he asked. He was fascinated, yet there was something 
 terrible to him in this woman's power. 
 
 ' Mon Prince, you are my master always,' she returned ; and 
 the subtle flattery of being the avowed ruler of so potent a 
 
136 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 being delighted Mm, as it pleases all men, who are obviously 
 slaves, to be called master by the woman who controls them. 
 
 * Alas ! but I am not the master of destiny,' he said sadly, 
 * and I come this morning to prove it. Wilhelmine, beloved, 
 I must return to the army. We have information that Villars 
 is to invade Wirtemberg once more, and I must be with the 
 forces.* 
 
 ' Is our happiness over then ? ' she queried. 
 
 ' Ah ! no, no, beloved of my life ! You will wait for me here, 
 I shall return in a few months.' 
 
 ' Months ! Months of Stuttgart without you ? Ah ! Eber- 
 hard, you cannot ask it ! ' She pleaded long, but for once the 
 Duke was obdurate : he must go, he said ; honour demanded it. 
 
 On the day fixed for Eberhard Lud wig's departure there 
 was much stir in Stuttgart, and the people crowded the streets 
 to show honour to their Duke, whose popularity was suddenly 
 reawakened by his reassumption of the role of military hero. 
 Johanna Elizabetha was to accompany the Duke out of the 
 town ; once again she was to be permitted to play her part as 
 wife and Duchess. Eorstner had achieved this, with the help 
 of Osiander, who was to pronounce a blessing on the Duke 
 and his body-guard on the market-place ere they set forth. 
 The Prelate declared he would refuse his benediction were the 
 Duchess not accorded her fitting place in the ceremony. Wil- 
 helmine was enraged. It is hard for a woman to see another 
 recognised as the beloved's wife, besides she regarded this as a 
 slight to herself. It was terrible to her, and she stormed and 
 raged and reproached the Duke, demanding what was to be her 
 place in the ceremony. Then, in tears, she caressed him. 
 
 Of course, the Duke blamed Johanna Elizabetha for this 
 scene. When do we ever blame the right person for the dis- 
 agreeable happenings of our lives ? 
 
 At length Serenissimus tore himself away from his mistress, 
 carrying in his heart her picture in her yellow, sunlit room, 
 crying bitterly with face hidden in her hands. He hated tears, 
 but Wilhelmine's weeping was so different from that of 
 other women, he reflected, as he wended his way through the 
 gardens towards the castle to mount his charger and head the 
 procession to the market-place, and thence away to the French 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 137 
 
 frontier. He had taken leave of Johanna Elizabetha that 
 morning, for though she was to assist in the ceremony of 
 departure, he had granted her request for a previous farewell 
 in private. The Duchess had met him with tear-swollen lids, 
 and had wept incessantly during the short interview. The 
 poor soul had shown her grief in a most unbecoming way ; her 
 mouth grimaced ridiculously when she cried, ' like a squalling 
 brat's,' his Highness had reflected bitterly. 
 
 Ah ! the difference when Wilhelmine wept — her head 
 bowed down with sadness, her face hidden. It was so grace- 
 ful, so poetic ; of course the secret was, that when she wept 
 she hid her face. A really clever woman of the world would 
 never show the grimace of sorrow : she may weep, but she 
 hides her face, well knowing that a weeping woman is a 
 hideous sight ; but all this Eberhard Ludwig did not know. 
 
 Meanwhile "Wilhelmine sat in her yellow salon listening to 
 the sounds from the market-place which floated to her across 
 the gardens behind the Jagerhaus. She heard the flare of 
 trumpets which greeted the Duke, the roar of the enthusiastic 
 people acclaiming their warlike sovereign; then followed 
 silence, Osiander . must be pronouncing his benediction, she 
 thought. Again a flourish of trumpets, men shouting, and 
 then she heard the grand hymn, ' Ein' Teste Burg ist unser 
 Gott,' sung by thousands of voices and brayed out by the brass 
 instruments. The sound came nearer : she could hear the 
 tramp of feet, the clatter of horses, the cries of the people. 
 The musicians played a march : it seemed to Wilhelmine that 
 it became more triumphant, more blatant, as the cortege 
 passed near the Jagerhaus ; yet the boisterous military music 
 held a note of pathos, something infinitely moving at this 
 terrible farewell hour, and the listening woman wept bitterly, 
 and, God knows ! she forgot to hide her sorrow-distorted mouth 
 at that moment. 
 
 *•■**•• 
 
 The days dragged on. May came cold and unfriendly, as 
 April had been, and Wilhelmine thought that all the warmth 
 of the world must have departed when Eberhard Ludwig went 
 to the frontier to do battle. The lilacs came to a tardy bloom, 
 and even on the cold ungenial air there floated a divine 
 
188 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 fragrance. News came from the Duke — dull news, all detail 
 of the organising and improvement of troops. Passionate 
 words intermingled in these letters to Wilhelmine, old faded 
 yellow curiosities now. Madame de Euth, Zollern, and 
 Stafforth often visited the favourite at the Jagerhaus, and 
 Wilhelmine's innate desire to. please — that impulse which must 
 ever belong to the ' charmeurs ' and especially to the ' char- 
 meuses ' of the world — taught her to forget her sadness 
 when she was with her friends, and thus some brighter 
 hours were passed. She sang, and if her singing were more 
 truthfully passionate and more sad than of yore, it was surely 
 love which had taught her greater depth. Only Madame de 
 Euth, the old courtesan, realised that not love but love's 
 sadness had given that tone to the glorious voice ; and Madame 
 de Euth looked at Zollern, her eyes full of tears, but Zollern 
 leaned his chin on the mythologically ornamented china 
 handle of his stick and revelled in a thrill, a spark of youth's 
 desire, which the younger woman's voice had rekindled. Men 
 are promiscuous to the end of their lives. Why blame them ? 
 God made them so. 
 
 Towards the beginning of May, shortly after his Highness's 
 departure, Madame de Euth arrived one morning at the 
 Jagerhaus brimming over with words and gossip. * Imagine, 
 ma chere,' she cried^ as she rustled into Wilhelmine's yellow 
 salon, * Osiander is in disgrace with the Duchess ! I heard 
 it was coming, but did not believe it. As you know, her 
 Highness has given orders that, being in spiritual mourning 
 in the absence of her dear spouse at the war, she will see 
 none save her personal attendants and Madame de Stafforth. 
 Well, well, it is quite contrary to every etiquette ; but, indeed, 
 the court of Stuttgart has ceased to exist nowadays, and her 
 Highness can do as she likes.' 
 
 ' Yes, yes ; I know all that. Tell me what the news is ! ' 
 broke in Wilhelmine impatiently. The Duchess's entire 
 seclusion was well known to her, she heard it discussed by 
 her friends daily. 
 
 ' Let me tell you my story in my own way, or I shall not 
 tell it at all ! Well, I live in the castle.' — ' I know that too,* 
 said Wilhelmine; laughing. — * Certainly you do — I live in the 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GEOTTO 139 
 
 castle, and really it is ridiculous if I never see the Duchess, 
 considering that I am her resident Maitresse du Palais ; so at 
 last I wrote to the Duchess saying I begged an audience, as 
 really being of no use to her Highness I wished for leave of 
 absence, but must crave a moment's conversation with her 
 before I left/ 
 
 ' Are you going to leave ? ' said Wilhelmine anxiously. 
 
 ' Jamais de la vie, ma chere ! but I wanted to see the Duchess, 
 and this was the only way. Well, she consented to see me, so 
 I went to her yesterday evening, found her with la Stafforth 
 sewing shirts for the poor — very estimable ! She was far 
 from amiable to me; asked me if I meant to cease being 
 Maitresse du Palais, and become Dame de Deshonneur to 
 Fraulein von Gravenitz. Upon my word, I had not credited 
 her with wit enough for so cutting a saying ; then I told her 
 I should be obliged to resign, and had written to Serenissimus 
 saying her Highness's refusals to see me made my position 
 ridiculous. She replied that I could do as I wished, and just 
 as I was preparing to take leave of her Highness, Osiander was 
 announced. It amused me to hear, so I drew back into the 
 shadow — you know the Duchess's rooms have always much 
 shadow. Well, Osiander declared he had given his best 
 attention to her Highness's demand, but regretted to be 
 unable to accede to her request. The Duchess seemed much 
 annoyed, and said that in this case she would invite the 
 Pietist to preach to her in the castle itself. Osiander told 
 her that this, of course, was as her Highness willed, but that 
 Pietists being members of a sect not recognised by the State, 
 he could not permit a sermon to be preached in the Duke's 
 chapel or in the Stiftskirche by a travelling Pietist preacher. 
 The Duchess bowed to him in dismissal, and remarked that this 
 Mliller was a saint she had heard, and inspired by God ' 
 
 ' Mtiller ? ' cried Wilhelmine — ' Mliller ? a preacher ? Where 
 does he come from V 
 
 ' My dear, that is just the strange thing. Of course, directly 
 Osiander departed, I made my courtesy to her Highness — she 
 didn't try to keep me, you may be sure ! — and I hurried after 
 the Prelate. I found him on the stairs in great distress, 
 poor man, for it appears her Highness has tried to have some 
 
140 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 of these Pietists to preach in cliurcli before. She is filled with 
 curiosity, which she calls sympathy with the simple, stern 
 religion ; and this Mtiller, who goes about preaching, is now at 
 Tiibingen. La Stafforth heard about him from some servant, 
 and has filled her Highness's head with foolish notions, 
 amongst others, that he is sent by God to console her ! 
 
 ' It appears, my dear, and this is the disagreeable part, that 
 he preaches directly against you — naming you by name, and 
 saying you are a walking contamination ; that you are a witch, 
 and that in Mecklemburg it was well known ! He can vouch 
 for it, as he was pastor at Giistrow before God called him — 
 which means before he became a wandering Pietist preacher. 
 All this Osiander told me, and, to do him justice, he was 
 horrified at the whole thing and very angry with her High- 
 ness. I suppose Mtiller is a madman, a fanatic ; but, Wilhel- 
 mine, I think we had best journey to the Neuhaus together 
 and stay there till the Duke's return, for I do not trust the 
 people here. There is a strong feeling against you, and if they 
 are to be stirred up by this preaching rascal, it might really 
 be disagreeable.' She paused breathless. 
 
 ' He is a terrible man, a devil, and I am convinced he has 
 followed me to Wirtemberg for revenge,' said Wilhelniine ; and 
 then she told Madame de Euth of Mtiller's behaviour at 
 Giistrow, and of how she had interrupted his sermon. Madame 
 de Euth laughed, though she was anxious and distressed that 
 this dangerous enemy was working against Wilhelmine in 
 the Duke's absence, especially when she heard that Mtiller 
 was a powerful preacher gifted with the fanatic's vivid 
 eloquence. 
 
 ' One thing perplexes me,' said the Gravenitz, ' why does 
 Osiander oppose this man ? Surely to harm me any means 
 would be welcome ! ' 
 
 ' Yes, doubtless ! ' replied Madame de Euth, * but of the 
 two evils in the land he considers you the lesser ; for you, my 
 dear, are frankly of the devil, and the Church can abhor you, 
 but Pietism is a wolf in sheep's clothing which might eat up 
 the Church ! All these Churchmen fear that the Pietists 
 should get hold of the people — above all, in this case, of the 
 Duchess and her tiresome court. It is simply, as usual, one 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GEOT'iO 141 
 
 faction against the other. Though, of course, Osiander as a 
 gentleman and a scholar is naturally opposed to ranting 
 preachers and religion vulgarised.' 
 
 It was settled that Madame de Euth and Wilhelmine were 
 to start for the ISTeuhaus as soon as fitting arrangements could 
 be made, and the Gravenitz looked forward with pleasure to 
 the quiet summer hours she would spend reading beneath the 
 beech-trees of the ISTeuhaus garden. But Fate was too strong 
 for her ; the very morning fixed for their departure Madame de 
 Euth slipped upon the castle staircase and broke her ankle. 
 
 Wilhelmine was informed of the accident by ZoUern, who 
 was both distressed for the sake of his old friend's pain, and 
 much disturbed that the projected departure could not take 
 place, for he did not consider Wilhelmine safe in Stuttgart. 
 He knew that the feeling against her increased each day, 
 owing chiefly to the gossip concerning her witch practices. It 
 was her habit to read late at night, and the people believed 
 she was occupied in brewing magic philters and composing 
 incantations. They vowed they had seen two shadows on 
 her window-blinds, which of a truth they may have seen, for 
 often old Frau . Hazzim came to visit her secretly at night. 
 The Jewess was entirely under the spell of Wilhelmine's 
 attraction, and the Gravenitz was learning many things from 
 her nocturnal visitor, who had a vast knowledge of herbs and 
 medicaments, the traditional code of doctoring handed down 
 in her family. Strict Jewess though she was, she had many 
 receipts for love potions, and she knew much of various 
 poisons. Thus the Stuttgarters were not mistaken when they 
 averred they had seen a second shadow on the blind, and 
 considering Erau Hazzim's grotesque features, it is hardly 
 surprising that the superstitious and fearful abservers believed 
 that this second shadow was the witch's familiar spirit. 
 
 Wilhelmine's servants were questioned at the market, and 
 they replied that their mistress received no visitors in the 
 dead of night, for Wilhelmine was naturally careful that even 
 her servants should not be aware of Frau Hazzim's visits, 
 which, considering the ill fame of the Jews in those days, was 
 absolutely necessary. She therefore was wont herself to 
 admit her visitor by a small door which opened on to the 
 
142 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 garden at the back of the Jagerhaus. So the terrified, fas- 
 cinated watchers saw, with horror, this mysterious second 
 shadow on the closed blind, and it was said that by incanta- 
 tions the witch summoned this evil being, for her own 
 servants must know had any person from the mortal world 
 been in the house ! 
 
 Of this story ZoUern was not aware, but he knew enough 
 to recognise the dangerous reputation which his friend 
 enjoyedo Wilhelmine herself was perfectly conscious that 
 there was an element of danger for her, and she was dis- 
 turbed that by Madame de Ruth's untoward accident she 
 was obliged to remain in Stuttgart. That she was a 
 reputed witch she knew, but far from being alarmed she 
 was slightly flattered and amused at the notion, and 
 deeming herself secure in the Duke's powerful protection 
 she had no fear of any serious annoyance. Her only appre- 
 hension was that some murderous attack might be made 
 upon her when she drove out, so she remained more than 
 ever secluded and hidden in the Jagerhaus and the walled-in 
 Lustgarten, her one amusement being Frau Hazzim's nightly 
 visitSc 
 
 Wilhelmine was half dupe of her own magical practices, 
 and she was arduous in her studies of old black-letter books 
 on the subject of spirit-raising, love potions, spells, and the 
 rest of those meddlings with the unknown forces which have 
 fascinated mankind for countless ages under various forms. 
 
 Towards the end of May the weather changed, and sultry 
 heat reigned over Wirtemberg. Stuttgart lies deep in a valley, 
 sheltered by hills, and the heat in the town is often terrible. 
 The sudden change from the chill spring to glowing summer 
 was unbearable to Wilhelmine, immured in the Jagerhaus, 
 and she longed for the cool freshness of the Rothwald where 
 she had been accustomed to drive, but ZoUern so strongly 
 advised her not to show herself in the town, that she con- 
 sented to forego this pleasure while Mtlller was in Stuttgart. 
 He had preached before the Duchess, upon whom his pas- 
 sionate eloquence, the Biblical turn of his phrases, and his 
 denunciations of all things joyful, had made a deep and 
 pleasing impression. She caused the Pietist to visit her daily 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 143 
 
 and instruct her in the stern belief. Miiller told her High- 
 ness the story of his conversion : how he had been a worldly, 
 but he hoped a pure, pastor of the State religion ; how that an 
 evil and lustful woman had sought to seduce him, and he 
 mentioned Giistrow as the place w'here his temptation had 
 been offered him. The stroke told : her Highness started 
 visibly. He continued by indicating that this abandoned 
 woman was a witch, and finally let the Duchess understand 
 that, having triumphantly resisted the temptress's sinful wiles, 
 he had sought and found strength in the Pietist movement. 
 Even a slower intellect than that of Johanna Elizabetha could 
 not have failed to associate Wilhelmine von Gravenitz with 
 the temptress of Gustrow ; and when in answer to her High- 
 ness's query, whether the evil woman had been punished for 
 her wickedness, Miiller threw himself at the Duchess's feet 
 and told her openly that the contaminating female was the 
 Gravenitz, whom he had followed from Gustrow — he, the poor 
 instrument of God's righteous wrath, her Highness indeed 
 felt that here was the vengeance of the Almighty coming 
 upon her enemy. Muller was sincere enough in his abhor- 
 rence of the woman who had resisted and then insulted him. 
 The fanatical practices of the Pietists had inflamed his mind, 
 and he really believed God had chosen him to humble the 
 wanton. Old Frau von Gravenitz had talked freely of the 
 favours and honours showered upon her daughter at Stuttgart, 
 and Miiller's mad physical jealousy was aroused, for he at 
 once realised that Wilhelmine had become Eberhard Ludwig^'s 
 mistress. This, together with his fierce fanatical Pietism, had 
 suf&ced to turn the man's brain. Thus mixed and contending 
 motives, as is so often the case, formed a fixed and single 
 purpose, and Mtiller had preached his way to Stuttgart, 
 where he meant to accomplish his object of vengeance upon 
 Wilhelmine or die in the attempt. He knew that to gain an 
 extensive hearing from the crowd in Stuttgart he must earn a 
 reputation as preacher in the neighbourhood, so he began his 
 campaign by lecturing in the open air at many towns and 
 villages of Wirtemberg. Pietism was rife all over the 
 country, and the preacher was received with enthusiasm, and 
 his fame, as we have seen, spread rapidly, even reaching at 
 
144 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 lengtli the Duchess. Miiller had never dreamed of gaining 
 so great a personage as her Highness, and he was astounded 
 when he received her command to preach at the castle ; but 
 this gave him renewed confidence in himself, and it seemed 
 to his half-crazy mind to be a confirmation of his divine 
 mission of revenge on the sinful. At present he had formed 
 no definite plan as to how his vengeance was to be accom- 
 plished ; he merely meant, if possible, to inflame public, 
 opinion against Wilhelmine to such an extent as to cause 
 her to be driven from Wirtemberg. With unfailing energy 
 Miiller preached sometimes four or five sermons daily, when- 
 ever and wherever he managed to attract a crowd. At first 
 he contented himself with pronouncing violent diatribes 
 against sin: the term conveyed to him only one species 
 of human weakness, and all his sermons were on the subject 
 of bodily lust. He had named Wilhelmine *a sinner, an 
 instigator of wickedness,' at Tubingen, and he had quickly 
 noted the approval on his hearers' faces. ISTow in Stuttgart 
 he went further, and actually accused her of witchcraft as 
 well. His zeal grew, each day increased by his own words, till 
 he preached openly a religious crusade against her. Osiander, 
 informed of these sayings, caused him to be warned that the 
 Church could not countenance a religious preacher who thus 
 instigated the people to revolutionary acts. The better sort 
 of Pietists — sober burghers, for the most part — deserted their 
 idol, and his congregations were now chiefly composed of the 
 worst characters of the town. It certainly was unfortunate 
 that the Gravenitz had been unable to seek the shelter of 
 JSTeuhaus, yet Zollern and Stafforth reflected there could be 
 little actual danger if she remained at the Jagerhaus, only 
 taking the air in the walled-in Lustgarten ; but they urged her 
 not to venture out of this shelter for a few weeks, after the 
 expiration of which time they argued the popular excitement 
 would have died out, or if it had not, they would make arrange- 
 ments for her residence in some safe place across the frontier 
 of Switzerland. Neuhaus they considered to be too near to 
 Tiibingen, where, they heard, there was much hostility against 
 Wilhelmine. 
 
 Meanwhile each day the heat became more intense, and 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 145 
 
 the Favourite grew more impatient of being forbidden to drive 
 out. One evening, as she sat disconsolately in her salon, a faint, 
 fresh breeze floated in through the open window. It was fragrant 
 and delightful after the long, stifling hours, and it seemed to 
 her like an invitation from the outer 'world, that world of tree 
 and flower for which she yearned. How she longed to drive 
 away out of the reeking, low-lying town, and wander in the 
 cool Eed Wood ! Still the Lustgarten was a resource, and its 
 quaint sixteenth- and seventeenth-century embellishments 
 delighted her. She rose, and taking a lace mantilla, arranged 
 it round her head. She passed out of the small door at the 
 back of the Jagerhaus, and strolled slowly along in the 
 direction of the grotto. As she passed the gates leading from 
 the garden to the high-road, she called to the sentry, telling 
 him that should Monseigneur de ZoUern seek her before she 
 returned, he should be informed that she had gone to the 
 Duke Christopher's Grotto. At first the soldier pretended 
 not to hear, and the Gravenitz was obliged to approach him 
 and give her message. 
 
 She asked, angrily, if he was deaf, and was informed in the 
 usual peasant idiom that he ' could hear as well as another.' 
 
 ' Well, give my message to any one who inquires for me/ 
 she said haughtily, and walked on. 
 
 The man frowned evilly at her, and she recollected that 
 the maid Maria, once when she had accompanied her mistress 
 on a stroll in the Lustgarten, and they had passed the same 
 sentry, had told her that he was the lover of Johanna Eliza- 
 betha's waiting-maid, the woman who had always been so 
 insolent to Wilhelmine at the castle. 'He would do me 
 harm, that lout, if he could,' Wilhelmine reflected as she 
 walked on, and the man's frowning face haunted her for a 
 time, but soon the freshness of the evening breeze and the 
 garden's beauty drove all unquiet thoughts from her mind. 
 
 She wandered slowly through the trees of the pheasant 
 garden, pausing a moment to look at the gorgeous plumage 
 of the birds in their gilded cages. Then she came to the 
 rosery shut off from the rest of the garden by tall beech-trees, 
 where splashed the fountain near the marble seat on which 
 the lovers had sat together after the theatricals, and where 
 
 K 
 
146 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig had agonised when she was hidden in the 
 Judengasse. She passed the new Lusthaus, and looked up 
 with a sigh at the balcony where Serenissimus and she had 
 stood together, and he had told her Forstner called him a 
 ridiculous poet fellow, because he loved the starlit woods at 
 night. She came to the famous fourteenth-century maze, 
 where the cypress -trees had grown so high and dense that it 
 was really a place to lose oneself in, did one not possess the 
 clue to the intricate windings. She walked outside the maze, 
 breathing in the fragrance of the sun-kissed cypress, and turned 
 into the orangery, and here she lingered a while in the alleys 
 of formally cut trees. Then she walked on, and finally gained 
 the wilderness which surrounded the famous grotto ; this was 
 a long construction of rocks and shells, very quaint, no doubt, 
 in the days when it was built, yet Time had further enchanted 
 it, adding melancholy and mystery to the half-ruined place. 
 There was a deep, stagnant tank before the grotto, covered 
 with weeds and growing things. In the centre of this tank, 
 among lusty nymphs and playful dolphins, a huge Triton 
 sat on his rocky throne, and from his trident a few drops of 
 water still oozed slowly. 
 
 The elaborate waterworks and strange devices could not be 
 quite unhinged, Wilhelmine reflected idly. She recollected how 
 Eberhard Ludwig had shown her the grotto's marvellous springs 
 and tricks ; she recalled how, after much heaving and turning 
 at an iron lever, the whole grotto had suddenly been converted 
 into a place of living waters. She wondered if the works 
 were still more rusty now ; how sad a waste that this curious 
 old-world pleasantry should be allowed to rust to destruction. 
 Wilhelmine fell into a dream : if she were Duchess, she would 
 have the grotto repaired, not Time's handiwork disturbed; 
 the ferns, the lichen, the twining ivy should remain; the 
 wilderness should not be formalised ; only the waterworks 
 should be renewed, and the old devices made perfect. There 
 should be water-fetes by moonlight, with lamps shimmering 
 through the playing fountains, and music, faint and fitful, 
 from unseen players. And she would be mistress of all this. 
 
 She was resting on a moss-grown seat, and the gentle breeze 
 played over her brow. She almost slept for a moment. 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 147 
 
 What was that ? A discordant note smote disagreeably on 
 her hearing. Why must the canaille make so hideous a noise 
 when it amuses itself ? she reflected ; probably some ridiculous 
 popular jaunt, some people's gathering. Her lip curled con- 
 temptuously. Were she Duchess she would teach the canaille 
 what was fitting for it ! 
 
 Again the sound disturbed her; it seemed to be coming 
 nearer — probably along the Bergstrasse from Cannstatt. 
 What could it be? She could hear the hoarse roar of 
 many voices ; it was terrifying somehow. She sprang up. 
 God in Heaven ! could it be a mob incited by Miiller to 
 stone her house ? But no, the sound was not in that direc- 
 tion; surely it came from beyond the eastern wall of the 
 Lustgarten. Impossible ! But it sounded as though the 
 crowd made its way towards the grotto. The sound 
 increased each breathless moment ; she could hear some of 
 the rabble singing hymns. To her horror she realised that 
 they must have passed the Lustgarten walls, that they were 
 actually nearing her. Could she gain the shelter of the 
 Jagerhaus ? She had a vision of a pursuit through the 
 gardens. No ! she must hide — the mob must go past her, 
 that was her only hope. Instinct told her that she was the 
 crowd's quarry. Hide ? But where ? Ah, the grotto. She 
 fled round the water-tank and gained the humid darkness of 
 the grotto. She rushed on, her feet slipping on the slimy 
 stones of the entrance-chamber. If she could only gain the 
 higher gallery she might hide in some dark corner. Ah ! 
 here were the steps. She clambered up; the yelling crowd 
 must be close behind now, for she could hear their words : 
 ' Eat out the witch ! ' ' Death to the sinner ! ' ' Die Hexe ! die 
 verdammte Hexe ! ' — then some coarse witticisms shouted in 
 Swabian dialect, rude laughter, whoops and curses, groans and 
 whistles, all a mob's animal-like ejaculations. 
 
 The Gravenitz shuddered. Would they pass her ? , They 
 were beneath the grotto now ; she could hear their words dis- 
 tinctly : ' To the grotto ! the grotto ! the witch is there ! 
 He told us she was going there ! ' Merciful Heaven ! they 
 knew then — the sentry had told them ! The Gravenitz felt 
 that all was lost now. They must find her. She crouched 
 
148 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 down against the wall. Listen ! What was that ? ' The 
 grotto is haunted ; the white lady walks there/ some one said. 
 They hesitated. She knew no one had entered the grotto yet. 
 ' Nothing worse than a little water haunts the place, comrades,' 
 she heard a voice say, then laughter. A little water ? What 
 had Eberhard Ludwig said ? ■ ' One might stand a siege here if 
 one turned the waters on from inside ; I don't believe anything 
 but a sea-serpent could enter ! ' — idle words spoken in jest. 
 Was there a chance left ? If she could find the lever — but it 
 would not turn — the hinges must be locked with rust. She 
 was seeking wildly along the wall now, her hands rasped and 
 bleeding with scraping against the rough surface. She re- 
 membered Eberhard Ludwig had said, 'The trick of it is on 
 the left side of this gallery.' How the words came back to 
 her ! — the left side. Yes ! But which was the left side of the 
 grotto ? She had lost her bearings in the darkness. Ah, 
 could this be it ? She grasped it with both hands ; it gave 
 slightly ; she wrenched at it, throwing all her weight against 
 it. It resisted, and she felt as though her spine must crack 
 with the immense strain ; the veins of her temples seemed 
 bursting, the tips of her fingers as though the blood must gush 
 out. Still the heavy, rusty iron bar only gave a little. She 
 could hear the noise outside, but it sounded faint to her, for 
 her entire bodily power was concentrated, and her ears only 
 registered the surging of her own blood. With a sudden 
 wrench the bar flew round in her hands, and she fell forward 
 on her knees, flung with her own impetus. Would the aged 
 mechanism respond? Was there more rust on the inner 
 wheels and springs ? Ah ! she could hear a gurgling and a 
 whirling of wheels. Yes ! there came the water ; she heard 
 the trickle, the splashing ; then the whole grotto seemed 
 alive. She ran to a broken place in the outer wall of the 
 shell-and-stucco building; she crumbled off a shell which 
 impeded her vision. Now she could see the mob below, 
 though the rushing of the water deadened the voices, and she 
 could not distinguish the words. She saw two men come 
 tumbling out of the grotto, drenched and dripping objects. 
 She saw them .gesticulating wildly, and guessed that they 
 were describing * their reception in the water-cave. Even 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 149 
 
 througli the noise of the water she heard a roar of laughter 
 go up from those who had not penetrated the grotto. The 
 crowd's humour seemed changed; the men were no longer 
 fierce, they were amused, laughing. All crowds are curiously 
 fickle, easily aroused, easily appeased, and the Swabian 
 especially loves to be overreached by a joke. She saw 
 that the mob's attention was diverted from her, and she knew 
 that the danger was passed for the moment. 
 
 Would Zollern have been to the Jagerhaus, have heard the 
 shouting, realised, and called out the guard to rescue her ? 
 Would the waterworks fail and the rabble catch her, after 
 all ? Or would the people grow bolder, face the water, and 
 hunt her out of her hiding-place ? She listened intently, 
 but even if a detachment of cavalry had been on the way, 
 she could have heard nothing save the noisy merriment below 
 her and the splashing water in the cave. Was that a sword- 
 blade flashing in the distance ? Yes, thank God ! she could 
 see the outer rows of rioters looking anxiously towards where 
 she had seen the glint of steel through the trees. The crowd 
 suddenly dispersed for the most part, men ran hither and 
 thither aimlessly, but a knot of several hundreds remained 
 together, grown hostile again at the approach of hostility. 
 Sitting stiffly on his horse was Zollern, riding at the head of the 
 cavalry beside the captain of the Silver Guard. Monsieur de 
 Zollern reined in his horse before the mob, commanding 
 silence with a wave of his hand. The crowd toned down, 
 though there were still a few angry murmurs. 
 
 ' What do you in his Highnesses Lustgarten ? ' said Zollern 
 in a stern, clear voice, strangely unlike his usual quiet and 
 courtly tones. A confused murmur ran through the crowd. 
 ' Answer, or we shall ride you down,' he said. 
 
 A few voices responded sullenly: 'We seek a witch,' and 
 again an ominous growl went up from the crowd. 
 
 'Learn that the Duke's Lustgarten is no place for you to 
 seek a witch,' thundered the old man. ' There are no witches 
 here or in any of his Highness's domains. And if you dare 
 to molest a friend of the Duke's, you shall be massacred 
 without mercy ! I give you time to remove yourselves from 
 this garden, while I count ten; one, two,' he counted. At 
 
150 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the word 'ten' the guard charged upon the wavering mass of 
 humanity, which fled before the troopers' swords. 
 
 ' Y etes-vous vraiment, Mademoiselle ? ' he called, but the 
 Gravenitz from the gallery's higher level could see that the 
 mob was not yet entirely driven from the garden, and she 
 dared not reply. 
 
 ZoUern guessed that were she in truth hidden in the grotto, 
 she would prefer to postpone her exit until she could appear 
 without being seen by the soldiers, who were returning from 
 chasing the intruders. When the captain of the guard rode 
 up to ZoUern he requested him to withdraw his men, adding 
 that it was unprecedented insolence for the rabble to have 
 dared to break into his Highness's Lustgarten. It struck the 
 old courtier that the captain's answer was but half-hearted. 
 Was even the guard infected with hostility against the 
 Gravenitz? 
 
 'The insolence to dare seek a witch here!' said ZoUern, 
 scrutinising the captain's face closely. 
 
 ' Witchcraft should be punished wherever it hides, Mon- 
 seigneur,' returned the captain gravely. 
 
 * Yes, indeed, if it exists, M. le Capitaine,' replied ZoUern ; 
 ' but I beg you draw off your men ; I will remain here and rest.' 
 
 At this moment ZoUern realised that the Gravenitz must 
 be conveyed out of the country immediately ; the guard itself 
 was not trustworthy where she was concerned. He watched 
 the soldiers till they passed out of sight, and then he re- 
 approached the grotto. 
 
 ' Answer me now if you are indeed there, Mademoiselle ; 
 I am alone,' he called, and he heard Wilhelmine's voice from 
 within, but owing to the rushing waters her words were in- 
 distinguishable. 
 
 Meanwhile Wilhelmine was struggling to draw back the 
 lever, for she could not leave the grotto before the water 
 subsided. It was no easy matter to turn the heavy bar, 
 though the resistance was not so great as when she had 
 turned on the defending streams, still it lasted several 
 minutes ere she accomplished her task and heard the splash- 
 ing and gurgling of the water subside. Thus ZoUern con- 
 cluded he had been mistaken when he had fancied he heard 
 
THE ATTACK IN THE GROTTO 151 
 
 her voice within, and when Wilhelmine reached the doorway 
 of the grotto he was preparing to depart. 
 
 She called him softly : ' Oh, my friend, help me home/ and' 
 there was a tone of appeal in her voice. Zollern came to her 
 quickly, and raising her torn and bleeding hands to his lips, 
 kissed them tenderly. ' Guard me, protect me, Monseigneur. 
 I am very lonely,' she said. 
 
 ' Until death takes me I will be your friend,' he replied, 
 and Madame de Euth would have suffered a jealous pang had 
 she heard. 
 
 With a feeling of unreality, as though she were just 
 awakened from an evil dream, "Wilhelmine found herself 
 once more in her pretty yellow-hung saloon. Maria, the 
 maid, kneeled beside her, bathing the wounds in her palms 
 made by the rough surface of the grotto walls. Slime from 
 the moss-grown stones was on Wilhelmine's dress, and deep 
 red marks of rust from the waterworks' lever had stained the 
 breast of her gown where she had pressed on the bar. 
 
 Zollern stood before her. He was urging her immediate 
 departure from Stuttgart ; the place was unsafe for her in 
 the Duke's absence, he averred. The Gravenitz responded 
 wearily. She was willing to depart — indeed it was impossible 
 for her to remain — but whither ? Giistrow ? Zollern reflected. 
 He owned a small castle at Schaffhausen in Sv/itzerland, and 
 he begged her to accept it as a refuge. ' And I pray you,' he 
 added, ' keep it always if it pleases you ; we never know when 
 a humble refuge may not be welcome.' And so it was decided 
 that Wilhelmine was to depart immediately, accompanied to 
 the frontier by a hundred guards commS^nded by a certain 
 Captain Schrader, whom Zollern knew he could trust, because 
 this officer was anxious to make his way at court by pleasing 
 the Duke. 
 
 The dawn was breaking through the deep blue of the night 
 sky when Wilhelmine started on her journey to Schaff'hausen. 
 The cavalcade rattled down the Graben, Wilhelmine's heavy 
 coach in the midst of the famous Silver Guard. They passed 
 out of the town-gate and gained the open country, where 
 the fields sent forth a fragrant breath, and the woods were 
 pungent, sweet, and fresh from the cool night. It reminded 
 
152 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Wilhelmine of tliat May morning a twelvemontli since, when 
 she had entered Wirtemberg, and yet, though Nature smiled 
 then as on that day, how different it had seemed to her. 
 Then everything had been radiant with Spring happiness, 
 and her heart had responded gladly, though she was but a 
 solitary stranger venturing into an unknown country. Now 
 she felt half angry with the woods and fields for their peaceful 
 joyousness, and her soul gave forth no answering note of 
 gladness, though she rode at ease in a fine coach surrounded 
 by a brilliant escort as though she were a queen. Her 
 thoughts were bitter, poisoned with disgust, for she realised 
 that, in spite of her great prosperity, she was in truth a 
 fugitive before 'la canaille,' and, as she journeyed, she took 
 no pleasure in the gracious loveliness around her. Her mind 
 was busy with plans for revenge upon the brutal mob and the 
 hostile burghers who thus drove her forth, and she vowed to 
 herself that her enemies should repent their insolence, that 
 the canaille should weep tears of blood and tremble before her 
 they had insulted. 
 
CHAPTEE XI 
 
 THE MOCK MARKIAGE 
 
 Mar^CHAL le Due DE YiLLARS was no brilliant, victorious 
 hero, judged by the standard of a century which had seen 
 such military geniuses as Turenne, as the great Conde, as 
 Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy. Villars was essentially a 
 wily tactician, and his exploits were useful, but he lacked the 
 dash, the verve which characterise the great commanders of 
 that epoch. It was his system to overrun an invaded country, 
 skilfully avoiding actual combat with the defending army, 
 which pursued him impotently along the ghastly trail of 
 ravage. Thus Villars, with no loss to his troops, spread 
 famine through the land, for he plundered and devastated 
 wherever he passed. He conducted the brief invasion of 
 Wirtemberg in 1707 on these lines. Crossing the Ehine 
 during the night of May 21st, he plunged unopposed 
 into the very heart of the Swabian land. Eberhard Ludwig, 
 who, along with the Elector c' Hanover, commanded one 
 portion of the Imperial army, executed a turning move- 
 ment mighty like a retreat, but Villars had so over- 
 powering a majority of men that an attack upon their united 
 strength would have been more than hazardous. Thus the 
 whole country lay at the Erenchmen's mercy, and they 
 swarmed over town, village, and farm, harrying, burning, 
 pillaging, and always disappearing ere the would-be defenders 
 came up. Eberhard Ludwig followed hotly, hoping to engage 
 separate columns of the huge army, but it was too late, and 
 after a futile pursuit round the entire country, he had the 
 chagrin of seeing the Erench enter Stuttgart. Here Villars 
 remained but a few days. Wilhelmine said afterwards that 
 ' Tennui de Stuttgard ' had proved a greater defence than the 
 entire Imperial army ! Be this as it may, Villars evacuated 
 
 153 
 
154 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Stuttgart in an amazingly short time, and retired eastwards to 
 the ancient town of Schorndorf. Now the Duchess-mother 
 emerged from her dower-house at Stetten, and craved a meet- 
 ing with the Due de Villars, who, as a gentleman, could not 
 refuse the ancient dame's request. 
 
 There is a popular tradition that they met in a field 
 between Schorndorf and Stetten, neither being willing to 
 accept the hospitality of the other, and that here they dis- 
 cussed and settled the terms of the evacuation of Wirtemberg 
 and the sum of the indemnity, all of which was afterwards 
 solemnly ratified by the Geheimraths of Stuttgart, who, will- 
 ingly, permitted the Duchess-mother to bear nearly the entire 
 cost of the indemnity, a matter of some two hundred thousand 
 gulden. Villars, upon payment of this sum, half of which he 
 is reported by German historians to have retained for his own 
 uses, now left Wirtemberg, and marched towards the French 
 frontier, leaving, however, six thousand men under General 
 Yivant in the country. 
 
 The Imperial army under command of the Elector of 
 Hanover was at Heilbronn in Wirtemberg, a mediseval Imperial 
 free town. Eberhard Ludwig, in command of the Wirtemberg 
 contingent, was with the army. His Highness had taken up 
 his quarters in the ancient Abbey of Maulbronn, between 
 which and Heilbronn spread the encampment of the Imperial 
 army. Eberhard Ludwig had chosen Maulbronn for his 
 quarters, thinking that the peace of the Monastery, with its 
 shadowy, highly vaulted cloisters, and its old-world garden, 
 might soothe the restlessness which had devoured his being 
 since his absence from Wilhelmine. In Maulbronn's garden 
 stands the haunted tower where legend says that Doctor 
 Eaustus, the frenzied searcher for the elixir of eternal life, 
 bartered his soul to Satan in return for a span of youth and 
 love. The Faust tower faces the great cloister, and they say 
 the Doctor, when sealing his pact with the devil, was disturbed 
 by the monks' chanting. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig revelled in the garden and its fantastic 
 legends, but his yearning for Wilhelmine only grew the 
 stronger. Why .was she not with him to dream in the cool 
 silence of the cloister ? How she would love the garden 
 
THE MOCK MAREIAGE 155 
 
 with its luxuriance of old-world flowers — the fragrant 
 roses planted by some long-dead monk — the huge tree- 
 peonies. The very breezes seemed legend-laden. Wilhelmine ! 
 beloved ! It was a futile thing indeed for this poet-prince to 
 endeavour to forget the woman he loved ! In a garden so 
 wondrous beautiful, in this place of dreaming, he could but 
 dream the more. So, when the news came that Yillars had 
 retired, his Highness decided he must follow Wilhelmine to 
 Switzerland forthwith. Forstner was summoned, and the 
 Wirtemberg troops placed under his command. Of course 
 he protested he was not efficient, but, as usual, Eberhard 
 Ludwig the impetuous overruled him. 
 
 The news of his Highness's departure caused angry con- 
 sternation in Stuttgart. Johanna Elizabetha wept, but the 
 Duchess-mother raged. She had fancied that her son, deeply 
 obliged to her for her generous action of the war indemnity, 
 would listen to her reasonable voice as a reward. 
 
 ' Eidiculons ! ' he argued. * I never asked her to pay the 
 indemnity ; if she chooses to do so, well and good, but it does 
 not bind me to obedience.' 
 
 There is a pathetic letter from the Duchess-mother to her 
 son, a dignified epistle with a very human postscriptum, 
 wherein bubbles over a mother's hatred for her son's seducer, 
 the honest woman's furious disdain of the triumphant charm 
 of an adventuress. 
 
 * MON FiLS, — Si j'ai delivr^ le pays du fleau franqois j'attends 
 que vous d^livriez la Cour du fleau de votre peche. Eevenez 
 k Stuttgard et faites votre devoir de mari, de pere, de fils et 
 de Prince Chretien. Vous redonnerez la paix a votre mere, 
 
 * Magdalene Sybille, Pkincesse de Hesse Daemstadt, 
 * duchesse douaieiere de wlrtemberg. 
 
 ' Cette Gravenitz est une p ! J'aurois des preuves si 
 
 je voulois les donner; je vous prie de me croire qu'ellc ne 
 merite pas votre faveur ! ' 
 
 Possibly, had the Duchess-mother denied herself the satis- 
 faction of writing this postscriptum, Eberhard Ludwig might 
 indeed have returned to Stuttgart for a time, and who can tell 
 how a man's fancy may vary in a few months ^ But being a 
 
156 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 lover and a chivalrous gentleman, the unfortunate paragraph 
 roused him to a white heat of championship for his mistress. 
 
 What ! she ' une p ? ' Ah ! how evil was the world ! No 
 
 man, and, above all, no woman, could understand Wilhelmine. 
 She was grossly misjudged, cruelly persecuted. Thus, when 
 he read this letter from his mother (which reached him when 
 he was starting for Switzerland), he only shrugged his shoulders 
 angrily, and crushing the missive into his saddle holster, 
 spurred his horse forward, and galloped southward to the 
 calumniated lady of his heart. 
 
 Wilhelmine had passed a solitary two months at Schaff- 
 hausen. Zollern's castle stood on the left bank of the Rhine, 
 overlooking the great waterfall, whose delicious thunder had 
 soothed her to calmer thoughts. She passed the long hours 
 in reading and making music, and the peaceful days had added 
 brilliancy to her splendid healthfulness. Thus, when Eberhard 
 Ludwig came to Schaffhausen, he found her an even more 
 forceful, vital, fresh-skinned woman than had been the beauti- 
 ful girl he left at Stuttgart. 
 
 She met him with passionate happiness, and for a few days 
 their intercourse was a prolonged rhapsody of the senses. 
 At length, however, their dream was broken by the unwelcome 
 advent of a messenger with despatches from Vienna to Eield- 
 Marshal of the Imperial Army, Commander of the Swabian 
 Army Corps, Monseigneur le Due de Wirtemberg. His High- 
 ness was furious, also anxious. Why had the fool Forstner 
 not attended to these despatches ? They were important com- 
 mands concerning the army, and needed immediate attention, 
 and now, having been all the way to Heilbronn, here they 
 were sent to Switzerland! His Highness fumed, cursed 
 Forstner ; it was exceedingly awkward, orders from Vienna, 
 and Eberhard Ludwig in Switzerland. He nad given full 
 power to Forstner to transact all business in his name. 
 
 ' Of course, a plot,' said Wilhelmine, * a plot to separate us 
 again ! ' 
 
 His Highness was anxious, but she soothed him as usual, 
 and he sent the despatches back with orders to Forstner to 
 attend to the business. Peace again for a day or so, then 
 Forstner arrived 'at Schaffhausen. 
 
THE MOCK MARRIAGE 157 
 
 ' Why in hell's name do you follow me, M. de Eorstner ? ' 
 was the Duke's greeting. 
 
 ' I come because it is my duty, Monseigneur ! ' 
 
 * Your duty ? Let me remind you that your duty lies where 
 I left you — with the army. But now that you have come, kindly 
 tell me your errand.' It was harshly said, and Eorstner was 
 deeply wounded. Could this be the noble, courteous prince 
 he had served for many years, the friend of his childhood, 
 the gallant companion in arms ? Poor Forstner, he had yet 
 to discover that the tiresome friend is always ill-treated 
 eventually. 
 
 'My errand, Monseigneur, will be unwelcome to you, I 
 know, for I have come to urge you to return to the army 
 immediately. The Elector of Hanover is furious at your High- 
 ness's sudden departure. He says openly that it is contrary to 
 both military discipline and, I regret, mon Prince, to honour. 
 He says if all his generals permitted themselves to run after 
 their mistresses when it suited them, the army would be in a 
 parlous state.' Indeed the Elector of Hanover had expressed 
 himself in less measured words. 
 
 * I am a Prince commanding my own troops allied with the 
 Imperial army, and I am at liberty to go and come without per- 
 mission from M. I'Electeur,' said Eberhard Ludwig haughtily. 
 
 ' I implore your Highness to listen to reason,' cried Forstner ; 
 * you are jeopardising your reputation as a soldier for the 
 sake of a ' 
 
 The epithet he used was forcible, and Eberhard Ludwig 
 started forward angrily. 
 
 ' Yes, it is the task of a true friend to speak the truth 
 without reserve ' (alas, Forstner !), ' and Mademoiselle de 
 Gravenitz is an abandoned woman.' As he uttered these 
 words Wilhelmine entered the apartment. 
 
 *Mon Prince, is it thus you permit your friends to speak 
 of me ? ' she said in a low voice. 
 
 ' A thousand times no ! ' cried his Highness. * Forstner, you 
 leave my service for ever. Go ! ' He pointed dramatically 
 to the door, but Forstner had not concluded his peroration, 
 and he had no intention of being silenced this time ; he was 
 a diligent, persistent friend, poor soul. 
 
158 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' Mademoiselle de Gravenitz, I appeal to you ; his Highness 
 is playing a ridiculous role in the sight of Europe ! Give him 
 up, send him back to duty, to honour, to his great military 
 career ! ' 
 
 ' Monsieur, you come here to dictate to his Highness, it 
 seems ! Since when is that your right ? ' She spoke sneer- 
 ingly, and Eberhard Ludwig felt that her taunt was directed 
 in part at himself. She did not deem him capable of resisting 
 Eorstner, perhaps ? she considered him as a being whose 
 conduct could be dictated. 
 
 * I know my duty, sir,' he said ; * you have no need to teach 
 it me.' 
 
 ' Indeed, Monseigneur, you have forgotten it since yonder 
 lady's advent ! ' Eorstner was getting beyond himself. 
 
 * I have not forgotten how to defend from insult the lady 
 whom I love and honour,' said Eberhard Ludwig coldly, ' and I 
 request j^ou, Eorstner, to withdraw immediately.' 
 
 * Mademoiselle de Gravenitz, you have ruined his High- 
 ness 1 ' shouted Eorstner ; ' he is untrue to all his vows : you 
 
 are a ' ; but his words are unrepeatable, even Wilhelmine 
 
 shrank back. Eberhard Ludwig drew his sword and forced his 
 over-zealous friend through the door. 
 
 A moment afterwards his Highness returned and, flinging 
 himself upon his knees before the Gravenitz, poured forth a 
 torrent of adoring words, but the lady remained impervious to 
 his pleading. 
 
 ' I cannot suffer such treatment,' she answered ; ' I can but 
 beg your Highness to depart from me for ever. I shall reside 
 here, drag out a solitary existence in this refuge which my 
 friend Monseigneur de Zoilern has given me ! Your Highness 
 cannot defend me from insult, and I do not choose to be flaunted 
 as a wanton.' 
 
 ' Alas, what can I do ? I will give you all, but I have not 
 the power to legalise your position.' 
 
 * So I see, Monseigneur, and therefore I beg you to depart.' 
 ' Wilhelmine, do you love me ? Alas ! alas ! ' 
 
 ' I love you, mon Prince, but these taunts are unbearable. 
 I have no one to protect me — you cannot, for you yourself are 
 the cause of all the indignities heaped upon me. 
 
THE MOCK MARRIAGE 159 
 
 * Ah, would that I could make you Duchess, my wife, safe 
 from insult ! ' 
 
 ' You dare not, though other princes have had the courage 
 thus to shield those they loved/ 
 
 * I dare not ? I ? God ! who shall tell me that I dare not ? ' 
 he cried. 
 
 ' You dare not,' she answered, and again as she swept from the 
 room, over her shoulder she flung scornfully : ' You dare not ! ' 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 In the panelled living-room of the ISTeuhaus, on the morning 
 of the 29th July 1707, Madame de Euth and her peasant 
 servant were busying themselves with a large table and a 
 heap of silken hangings. The lady was draping the table 
 with these, and her efforts had caused her highly piled-up 
 head-dress to become deranged ; the elaborate structure leaned 
 on one side and scattered a shower of powder over Madame 
 de Ruth's shoulders. The servant interrupted his work of 
 hammering nails into the draped silk on the table ; he stared 
 at his mistress and grinned. ' Go on, stupid head, and 
 never mind an old woman's hairdress,' she said good- 
 humouredly. ' I shall be fine enough this afternoon, and so 
 wilt thou, for I shall give thee a new coat.' She rose from 
 her knees and surveyed her handiwork. Taking a large 
 bowl filled with roses, she placed it upon the table, then 
 she went to a cupboard and began to hunt through its 
 varied contents. She sought a Bible, and indeed it was 
 the first time in her life that she had searched the 
 Scriptures, as she reflected grimly. She had a dim recol- 
 lection of having seen a worn Bible consorting oddly with 
 the other books in that cupboard. After some time she 
 found the Bible and placed it upon the silk-draped table. 
 She stood a moment absent-mindedly^ gazing from the window 
 at the sunlight playing through the delicate tracery in the 
 beech branches without, her hands mechanically turning over 
 the leaves of the Bible. Suddenly her fingers touched some- 
 thing between the pages, something that crumbled away 
 beneath her touch, a withered flower, the faded, brittle ghost 
 of some vanished summer day. She drew away her hand 
 quickly as though the flower stung her. It had conjured up 
 
J 60 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the long-past loss and sorrow of a day when she had given 
 birth to a child and Death came hurrying to gather the little 
 life. Madame de Ruth remembered how eagerly she had 
 read in the Book of Life during the sad hours of her recovery, 
 seeking wildly, miserably for consolation, and she recalled 
 how the kind old peasant. woman, who nursed and mourned 
 with her for the baby's loss, had brought her a flower which 
 bloomed near the piteously small mound beneath which the 
 little one slept for ever. And Madame de Ruth had laid the 
 blossom tenderly between the Bible's pages, and now, after 
 long years of forgetful gaiety and dissipation, the yearning, 
 unsatisfied motherhood welled up in her heart and she wept 
 again. 
 
 • ••*>• » 
 
 Once more we are in the panelled room at TsTeuhaus, and 
 again is assembled the company which on that portentous 
 November evening of the preceding year had discussed the 
 plan of summoning Wilhelmine von Gravenitz, she who was 
 to be their tool in an ordinary court intrigue. Madame de 
 Ruth, the hostess ; Monseigneur de ZoUern ; Friedrich Grave- 
 nitz, since a few days become Count of the Empire; Marie 
 Gravenitz, his bigoted Catholic wife ; Monsieur the Hofmarshal 
 Stafforth. 
 
 ' It is madness, rank lunacy ! * Stafforth was saying vehe- 
 mently. ' Illegal and impossible, it will spell disgrace and 
 misfortune to us all. The Emperor will interfere, for this is 
 going too far. We must hinder this farcical ceremony ; his 
 Highness cannot marry two wives ! It will be Mompelgard 
 over again ! Think how absurd, Gravenitz ! Cannot you see 
 that this farce is bigamy ? ' 
 
 Count Gravenitz held his hands over his brow. 'I agree 
 with you. Monsieur de Stafforth. My sister goes too far. It 
 is very hard on me ; I advised her to be satisfied with a 
 settled annuity, and to live peacefully with me, her brother, 
 the head of her house. His Highness can always visit her — 
 
 a great honour indeed ' He broke off, seeing the sneer 
 
 on Monseigneur de ZoUern's face. 
 
 'I wash my hands of the whole affair!' cried Gravenitz 
 distractedly. - 
 
THE MOCK MARRIAGE 161 
 
 'Ce cher Pilate/ murmured Zollern. Madame de Euth 
 laughed. 
 
 ' Gravenitz, your sister will be Duchess, never fear ! 
 Marie, she will befriend the Holy Church in Wirtemberg/ 
 Madame de Euth addressed herself to Marie Gravenitz, but it 
 was Zollern whom she observed as she spoke. ' Stafforth, you 
 will become a Count ; and for myself, I shall see the last of 
 her Dull Highness from Baden. That is my reward.' She 
 laughed, but no responsive gaiety came from the rest of the 
 company. Indeed, the intrigue had assumed proportions 
 which alarmed Wilhelmine's allies. Her brother had learned 
 to fear her — ^he was jealous of her now. Stafforth, having been 
 foolish enough to incur her displeasure by tactless amorous 
 advances, feared that once her position became unassailable 
 she would cause him to be dismissed from court. Marie 
 Gravenitz was horrified at the idea of her sister-in-law's great 
 success; she said it was sinful. Poor soul, she was very 
 jealous. Zollern, however, regarded the strange marriage 
 with favour. He foresaw the complications ahead, and in- 
 tended to steer for a happy landing of the Prince and his new 
 bride on the eternal shores of Eoman Catholicism. The 
 Pope would declare Eberhard Ludwig's former alliance with 
 Johanna Elizabetha to be null and void, and, in return, the 
 Duchy of Wirtemberg would be gathered back to the Holy 
 Church. 
 
 Madame de Euth alone rejoiced honestly in the brilliant 
 ending of the * great intrigue,' and if there was another 
 thought in her mind, it was delight at the discomfiture of the 
 dull Duchess ; but chiefly the old courtesan was happy that 
 this honour befell her friend. She had conceived a real 
 affection for Wilhelmine. 
 
 Zollern tapped his cane on the parquet floor, rhythmically, 
 persistently. To Madame de Euth the tapping sound 
 seemed to beat on her brain, and she put out her hand 
 imploring silence. * How gay, my friends ! ' she exclaimed ; 
 ' really, we owe our friend a little merriment on her wedding 
 day!' 
 
 * I do not think I can permit my sister to go through this 
 marriage ceremony. It would show a nicer spirit towards 
 
 L 
 
162 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 me, the head of her house, if she considered the difficulties 
 she may land me in * 
 
 ' Bonte divine ! Gravenitz, what foolishness ! ' said Madame 
 de Euth sharply. * If you could manage to forget your own 
 
 important existence for a time ' She was interrupted by 
 
 the entry of a personage of clerical appearance. Madame de 
 Euth rose to greet the new arrival. * Hochwiirden,' she said 
 in German, ' you received my letter ? and you are ready to 
 do as I require — ask no questions and marry a couple, you 
 may know who, but on that head silence until your testimony 
 is necessary; and then you are prepared to swear you have 
 married them in all legal and religious form ? In return a 
 hundred gulden, and I undertake also to have the Pfarrhaus 
 repaired. Is that well ? yes ?^well, let me present you : 
 Monseigneur de Zollern you have the honour to know already ; 
 M. le Comte de Gravenitz, Madame la Comtesse, M. de 
 Stafforth, may I present to you Herr Pfahler, Pastor of the 
 Lutheran Church at Aalendorf ?' 
 
 The man bowed deeply to each in turn. Marie Gravenitz 
 scarcely acknowledged his salute for fear of endangering her 
 Catholic soul by intercourse with a Protestant pastor. 
 
 * I^ow, Herr Pastor, are those arrangements complete ? See 
 here, I have draped you an altar. Oh ! unnecessary, you say, 
 for a Lutheran marriage ? I regret, enfin — so much prettier, 
 hein ? Well, you can stand before it to marry our friends, 
 it will not affect you! Then, here are two cushions for them 
 to kneel on ; a Bible, pen, and paper for the legal documents. 
 Yes, is that all ? "Well, I may now call our friends,' and she 
 rustled out of the room. 
 
 A constrained silence fell on the four occupants of the 
 apartment. The Pastor who had followed after Madame 
 de Euth to don his black 'talar,' the clerical gown of the 
 Lutheran divine, returned and took up his position before 
 the altar table. He busied himself turning over the leaves 
 of the Bible, and the faded flower fluttered out and fell 
 on to one of the cushions prepared for the bride and 
 bridegroom. The door opened and Eberhard Ludwig, Duke 
 of Wirtemberg, entered the room. He bowed gravely to the 
 assembled company, then moved forward and stood facing 
 
THE MOCK MAERIAGE 163 
 
 PfaMer before the improvised altar. The guests had risen 
 at his Highness's entry. The silence was intense. Of a 
 sudden a huge black form bounded through the window. 
 Marie Gravenitz screamed shrilly, and the Herr Pastor started 
 violently. 
 
 ' It is only my dog, Madame/ said his Highness. ' He has 
 found me after all. I left him locked up in my sleeping-room. 
 Here, Melac, lie down ! quiet ! good dog ! ' he called, and the 
 wolf-hound obediently stretched himself beside the Duke. 
 
 ' I thought it was the devil,' Marie Gravenitz whimpered. 
 
 ' The devil, Madame, come to attend these espousals/ re- 
 marked Stafforth with a sneer. 
 
 * Silence, Monsieur,' said his Highness haughtily ; and once 
 more a brooding stillness fell on the company, broken only 
 by Melac's heavy breathing, and the flutter of the Bible's 
 pages between the Pastor's nervous fingers. Would the 
 bride never come ? this waiting was intolerable. Eberhard 
 Ludwig stood stern and silent, his hand resting on his rapier's 
 hilt. At length there came the swish of silken garments 
 rasping over the rough wooden boards of the corridor floor. 
 Once more the door was flung open, and Wilhelmine von 
 Gravenitz stood on the threshold. She looked like some 
 lavish flower of a tropic clime, a gorgeous white blossom, 
 surrounded by rich golden outer petals. Her gown was of 
 the delicate yellow colour which she loved, and her bare 
 breast was creamy white, and showing the blue tracery of the 
 veins through the fine skin. Erom her shoulders fell a heavy 
 white brocade cloak, trimmed with ermine like the coronation 
 robe of a queen. Her hair was powdered and piled high on 
 her head, the towering masses adding height to her great 
 stature. She looked a queen among women, a glorious 
 figure of youth and majesty, and it was little wonder that 
 Eberhard Ludwig was enthralled. 
 
 ' Dressed as a royal princess already ! * spitefully whispered 
 Stafforth to Marie Gravenitz, who looked at her radiant sister- 
 in-law with envy written on her narrow face. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig came forward, bowed profoundly before 
 his bride, and led her towards the altar. The Pastor stared 
 in astonishment when he saw the woman he had undertaken 
 
164 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 to marry to liis Prince, for lie recognised the traveller lie had 
 met at Tubingen. The stranger's face had haunted his dreams. 
 And now the brief ceremony commenced. The Pastor, 
 evidently nervous, mumbled his words indistinctly ; and 
 of a truth, no one of the assembled company paid much 
 heed to the sermon and prayers, for each was busy with 
 thoughts of personal ambition and intrigue, excepting Marie 
 Gravenitz, whose lips moved rapidly in prayer that she might 
 be forgiven for taking part in an heretical rite. Madame de 
 Ruth watched Wilhelmine with adoring eyes ; perchance she 
 dreamed this beautiful woman to be her child returned to 
 her. Poor mite, who slept forgotten in its tiny grave ! 
 
 * May the blessing of God rest upon you, and may ' God 
 enable you to keep sacred the vows you have made this day,' 
 concluded the Pastor, and the bride and briqlegroom rose from 
 their knees. 
 
 ' I have the honour to present to you Madame la Comtesse 
 d'Urach, which title I hereby confer upon my beloved wife, 
 pending the bestowal of the first title of my Dukedom, which 
 I shall hope to be able to offer to my wife in a few months' 
 time. Meanwhile, I beg you, my friends, of your good feeling, 
 to pay the same respects and courtesies to the Countess of 
 Urach as you, so kindly, pay to myself.' 
 
 Up jumped Madame de Ruth and kissed Wilhelmine on 
 both cheeks, then sank to the ground before her in a deep 
 courtesy ; but the other friends hung back, save Zollern, who 
 came forward and, bowing over the bride's hand, remarked : 
 ' To every beautiful woman should be rendered homage.' 
 It was an adroit compromise, half reminder, half graceful, 
 tactful compliment, for naturally a Prince of his house could 
 not be expected to pay royal honours to any Countess of 
 Urach — or even Duchess of Wirtemberg, save from courtesy 
 or worldly wisdom. Stafforth, the adventurer, had an ugly 
 sneer on his countenance, and was evidently embarrassed, so 
 took refuge in the frequent attitude of the vulgar when ill at 
 ease — a noisy jocularity. 
 
 * Ha 1 ha ! ' he laughed boisterously, ' and now for the 
 wedding feast.! 'Bride and bridegroom, come along — and 
 weTlhave a song to cheer us ! ' 
 
THE MOCK MARRIAGE 165 
 
 Friedricli Gravenitz, full of fictitious emotion, was kissing 
 his sister's hand repeatedly, and making little speeches to. 
 her, the beauty of which moved him almost to tears ; though 
 when he saw no one was admiring him, he retired in aggrieved 
 silence, thinking * What a bad spirit these people show towards 
 me !' 
 
 Marie Gravenitz stiffly congratulated her sister-in-law, and 
 pressed a meagre cheekbone against Wilhelmine's glowing 
 face ; she called this a kiss. Pfahler bowed before the bride : 
 ' I have had the honour to meet your Highness,' — Wilhelmine 
 started, ZoUern tapped with his stick impatiently — 'to meet 
 your Highness before — one day at Tubingen ; but your High- 
 ness could not recollect. I had no idea then that I was 
 speaking with so exalted a lady.' 
 
 ' Nor were you then,' said Wilhelmine with that bright 
 humorous smile of hers ; ' but indeed, Hochwiirden, I do 
 remember, and I recollect how you told me of the history of 
 master races cradled in the Swabian hills.' 
 
 ' I have assisted to-day at a great historic scene. May a 
 new race of strong men and princes arise herefrom ! ' said 
 Pfahler, the historic dreamer. 
 
 VUmph ! ces bourgeois heretiques ne savent jamais trouver 
 le juste milieu,' growled ZoUern to Madame de Euth. 
 
 ]N"ow his Highness became impatient, the embarrassment 
 of the scene seemed to grow each moment. 'A thousand 
 thanks, dear friend,' he said, turning to Madame de Ruth, ' a 
 thousand thanks for all you have done for us, but we must 
 leave you now. Come, bid us God-speed ! ' He led the way 
 from the panelled room to the house door, before which stood 
 a chaise de poste with six horses, which the three postillions 
 restrained with difficulty. Dressed in his fine new coat, the 
 peasant servant of JSTeuhaus stood grinning in the back- 
 ground. 
 
 ' Come, Madame ! ' called his Highness. . Wilhelmine 
 sprang into the chaise, and Madame de Euth, perilously 
 balanced on the step, wrapped a white lace mantilla round 
 the bride. The horses bounded forward, and, urged by the 
 postillions, raced away at a hand gallop. 
 
 This was the first of that furious driving with which the 
 
166 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 favourite, in after years, habitually dashed through the 
 country. It was one of the causes of her unpopularity with 
 the peasants ; they cursed her and her wild horses. ' Why 
 such haste to do the devil's work ? ' they muttered ; and 
 they cursed the dust which the chariot left, as the hated 
 Gravenitzin thundered through the villages. 
 
CHAPTEB XII 
 
 THE MOCK COURT 
 
 * The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.' 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 After their marriage his Highness and the Countess of 
 Urach took up their residence in the castle of Hohen- 
 TUbingen, where Wilhelmine had wandered, a lonely stranger, 
 on. the morning of her arrival in Wirtemberg. ISTow she was 
 the queen of the grim fortress, and, looking upon the fair 
 valley and the distant hills, she would often ponder on the, 
 marvellous workings of her destiny. 
 
 The court of Wirtemberg naturally held aloof from the 
 unlawful magnificence at Tubingen, and her Ladyship of 
 Urach realised that she must form a circle of her own, so 
 she summoned her family from the north. 
 
 Her sister, Emma Sittmann, came from Berlin accom- 
 panied by her husband, the merchant's warehouse clerk, who 
 it was said, had been at one time hairdresser to a Countess 
 of Wartensleben, and had been dismissed for his insolence. 
 ' A cousin came with the Sittmanns, Schiitz by name, a shady 
 attorney who had been discredited for sharp practices in 
 various towns, including Vienna, where, however, he still 
 retained business relations of a mysterious and probably 
 reprehensible character. A number of friends and relations, 
 both of Schiitz's and Sittmann's, also hastened to Tubingen. 
 Sittmann had been married once before he took Wilhelmine's 
 sister to wife, and of this former union he had two gawky 
 sons, who accompanied their father and stepmother to this 
 land of promise. 
 
 Old Frau von Gravenitz was invited by her successful 
 daughter to repair to Wirtemberg but the harsh old lady 
 
 167 
 
168 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 responded by a bluff refusal and a command to Wilhelmine 
 to return to virtue. She never visited Wirtemberg, and 
 though she condescended to receive small sums from Friedrich 
 Gravenitz, regardless of the fact that the money actually 
 came from Wilhelmine, she remained sternly disapproving to 
 the end of her days. 
 
 It was but a small court, and Wilhelmine found it all 
 insufficient, so she selected from among the Tubingen students 
 half a dozen youths of undistinguished birth but undoubted 
 intelligence, and caused them to be given minor court 
 appointments. Stafforth was dismissed; his wife was 
 Johanna Elizabetha's friend, and the Countess disliked him. 
 Knowing him for an unscrupulous adventurer . himself, she 
 judged him capable of gauging the small social standing and 
 slightly veneered vulgarity of Sittmann, Schutz and company. 
 So Stafforth's Oberhofmarshall's baton was conferred on 
 Friedrich Gravenitz, together with a considerable income. 
 Sittmann was made a baron (of Wirtemberg, not of the 
 Empire) ; Schutz became Geheimrath and personal secretary 
 to his Highness ; Madame de Euth was Oberhofmeisterin — 
 ' Dame de Deshonneur,' Wilhelmine called her in. private — 
 and the two ladies laughed much at the recollection of this, 
 poor Johanna Elizabetha's solitary witticism. The Sittmann 
 was Dame du Palais, her stepsons were Kammerjunker 
 (equerries) to the Duke. Pages were chosen from among the 
 younger Tubingen students, and any chance visitor was given 
 a high-sounding title and a sham office. The only work of 
 the whole heterogeneous collection was to be gorgeously 
 attired ; but this was easy, as the Duke paid all expenses ; to 
 be young and gay, or you were even permitted to be old, 
 could you be witty ; and before every other duty came the 
 obligation of treating the Countess of Urach with all the 
 ceremony and adulation which the world is accustomed to 
 offer to queens. 
 
 The Duke's own guard was commanded to Tubingen, and 
 so much silver was added to their uniforms that the regiment 
 now thoroughly earned its appellation of Silver Guard. 
 Many Tubingen students were enrolled in the corps ; indeed, 
 it was imperative there should be a leaven of Wilhelmine's 
 
THE MOCK COURT 169 
 
 adherents in the troop, for ZoUern said that he did not trust 
 the old guard where she was concerned. 
 
 An erstwhile strolling company of Italian comedians was 
 installed as court play-actors ; a number of French fiddlers 
 and singers arrived, and were officially entitled ' The Countess 
 of Urach's Musicians/ 
 
 It was all very absurd, without doubt ; a mock court, but 
 gay, brilliant, lavish, and gradually various members of the 
 legitimate court filtered in to Tubingen and were swept into 
 the festive stream. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig was supremely happy. If at moments 
 he shrank a little from the Sittmanns, or Schiitz plebeian airs 
 and insolences, still he was really entertained and amused 
 Never a hint of dullness at Wilhelmine's court. The witti- 
 cisms were atrocious, the comedies lewd, the dancing a trifle 
 indecorous perhaps, but her real gaiety, her innate know- 
 ledge of limits, and above all, her unfailing admiration 
 for her ' husband,' made life delightful at Tubingen. Towards 
 the beginning of September the ^ court ' moved to Urach, where 
 the Duke wished to enjoy some shooting and stag-hunting. 
 
 There was but one small cloud on Wilhelmine's sky at 
 this time, and this was the silence maintained by the 
 Emperor and his advisers. Eberhard Ludwig had informed 
 his Majesty of his marriage, craving his suzerain to ratify its 
 legality, and permit him to raise the Countess of Urach to 
 the rank of Duchess of Wirtemberg. He set forth that, 
 during ten years, his former wife Johanna Elizabetha had 
 been sterile, and therefore, as reigning Prince, he was at 
 liberty to declare that alliance null, and for the good of his 
 country take to wife another woman capable of bearing 
 children. He undertook to provide for Johanna Elizabetha 
 according to her royal position, and declared he v^^ould accord 
 her all honours due to an ex-Duchess of Wirtemberg, viz. 
 residence, monies, guards, privileges, titles, etc. • The Duke's 
 epistle was an astounding document enough, especially coming 
 from a Prince whose repudiated wife had presented him with 
 an heir, albeit that heir, the Erbprinz Friedrich Ludwig, was 
 but a sickly specimen of mankind — a youth unlikely to live 
 long enough to succeed his father or to provide successors to 
 
170 A GEHMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 his House. In this imperial silence lay the opportunity of 
 ZoUern and the Catholic party, who believed that if the 
 Emperor proved obdurate, it would be possible to obtain 
 from Eome a decree of annulment of Johanna Elizabetha's 
 marriage, on the pretext of State necessity. Of course, the 
 price of this papal concession was Eberhard Ludwig's con- 
 version to the Roman faith, and the reinstalment of Catholicism 
 as the State religion of Wirtemberg. 
 
 Zollern fully realised that Wilhelmine was playing a 
 dangerous game ; he knew that any day an imperial edict 
 might crush her, branding her as a bigamist. The brunt 
 would fall on her, for Eberhard Ludwig, as reigning Prince 
 and valuable ally of Imperial Vienna, would escape with a 
 reprimand. But for her an Austrian prison was on the cards, 
 or at best perpetual exile and outlawry, which would make it 
 difficult for any State to befriend her. He bethought him of 
 his kinsman, Frederick i. of Prussia, an amiable monarch, 
 and Zollern's personal friend and cousin. If Austria proved 
 obdurate, and Rome objected to entering into a dispute with 
 Vienna, at least Wilhelmine could find powerful protection at 
 Berlin. Zollern wrote to his cousin of Prussia, praying him 
 to grant the Countess of Gravenitz, Countess of Urach, a 
 perpetual Schutzbrief, or Lettre de Sauvegarde — an official 
 document binding the King of Prussia to protect the lady and 
 her property, if she appealed for aid. Frederick i. granted 
 this without ado. 
 
 Still the imperial answer tarried. It behoved Eberhard 
 Ludwig to announce his marriage formally to the officials at 
 Stuttgart. Wilhelmine enjoying the prospect of the scene 
 urged Serenissimus to summon his Geheimrathe, or Privy 
 Councillors, to Urach immediately. They were to arrive at the 
 castle in the afternoon, she decided ; the marriage was to be 
 announced, then a State banquet was to take place in the 
 ancient til ting-hall beneath the castle. This latter, of course, 
 she would not attend ; but it would be followed by a grand 
 ball in the Golden Hall, where all should greet her as Queen 
 of the Revels, as legal wife of their Duke, as Countess of 
 Urach and future t)uchess of Wirtemberg. 
 
 Thus it befell that on the 15th of September 1707, eight 
 
THE MOCK COURT 171 
 
 pompous gentlemen, Geheimrathe of the Dukedom, arrived 
 at the castle of Urach. They were met with much ceremony 
 at the gate and conducted to the Golden Hall. A delightful 
 quaint place this : picture to yourself a large apartment, three 
 sides of which open out in lattice windows through which, 
 if your eye wanders, you see the rounded Swabian hills 
 densely clad in beech and pine. On the summit of one of 
 the nearest of these hills stands the grim fortress of Hohen- 
 Urach, an impregnable stronghold of mediaeval days turned 
 prison in the eighteenth century. The Golden Hall is 
 decorated, as its name portends, with gilded devices on the 
 wall, with stately golden pilasters and formal green-painted 
 trees, whose branches meander quaintly over one entire wall 
 of the room, that wall unbroken by the windows. Over the 
 two heavily carved doors the tree-branches twine and twist 
 into the word 'attempto,' the proud motto of Count 
 Eberhard 'the Bearded,' a great gentleman of the Cinque 
 cento, whose nuptials with a Princess of Mantua were cele- 
 brate'd in the same Golden Hall. In memory whereof their 
 nuptial bed still stood in the hall where Eberhard Ludwig 
 assembled his Privy Council for the announcement of his 
 marriage with Wilhelmine von Gravenitz, the Mecklemburg 
 adventuress. The councillors kept waiting in the Golden 
 Hall guessed the preposterous demand their Duke would 
 make to them. They were in a fine quandary. What to say 
 to a Prince who answered questions of legal right by : ' I am 
 above the law, alter the petty phrase in your code-book.' A 
 Prince, mark you, who could punish resistance with death. 
 And yet at Vienna was a suzerain who might chastise the 
 official participators in a crime against the Empire's laws. 
 
 So the eight councillors stood moodily waiting for their 
 Prince to appear, and contemplating with anger the elaborate 
 preparations for the evening's feast. Such flowers, such rich 
 hangings, and what were those two fine chairs ? 
 
 The Duke was coming ; they heard a woman's voice in the 
 corridor, a woman's laugh — most unseemly. 
 
 His Highness greeted them ceremoniously, and then : 
 
 ' My honourable council, I have summoned you to announce 
 my marriage to the Eeichsgrafin Wilhelmine von Gravenitz, 
 
172 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Countess of Urach, which was solemnised privately, though in 
 all legal and religious form, a year ago.' 
 
 'No one has ever known why his Highness told this useless 
 untruth anent the date of his mock marriage, for he must 
 have known that none would believe that, at least ; besides, 
 why tell an unnecessary lie 1 
 
 ' It is convenient to me to declare publicly my new 
 alliance at this time, and I desire that the news shall be 
 received by you and all my subjects in Wirtemberg, not only 
 without comment, but with fitting expressions of content and 
 with feasting and rejoicing. My late wife, the Princess 
 Johanna Elizabetha of Baden-Durlach, I direct shall receive 
 the honours and respect due to a Princess -Dowager of 
 Wirtemberg, and I appoint you to arrange with her Highness 
 where she shall reside, provided it is not in or near my city of 
 Stuttgart. The appanage I concede to the Princess Dowager 
 Johanna Elizabetha is ten thousand gulden a year beside 
 her own small marriage dowry. To my present legal wife, 
 the Countess of Urach, I appoint royal honours and the castle 
 of Urach as residence, in addition to such lodgings as it may 
 please her to occupy in any other of my castles. . She will 
 receive an appanage of twenty-five thousand gulden a year. 
 Gentlemen, you will take part in the festivities here to-day, 
 and to-morrow I charge you to repair to Stuttgart and to 
 
 acquaint the Duchess ' he corrected himself hastily, 
 
 * Princess Johanna Elizabetha with these facts.' 
 
 There was a moment's pause. The Geheimrathe looked at 
 one another in consternation ; this was an even more astound- 
 ing declaration than they had dreamed his Highness could 
 venture to make. Geheimrath von Hespen, a devoted 
 adherent of the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha, came forward. 
 
 'Your Highness, I speak in the name of my colleagues. 
 This thing you ask is impossible : law, religion, usage forbid. 
 I solemnly adjure your Highness to refrain from ' 
 
 * Herr von Hespen, I have given you my commands. It 
 remains for me to inform you of the penalty I impose upon 
 such as are disobedient to me. All who refuse to carry out 
 my instructions cease to be members of my Privy Council ; 
 those who venture to speak against me or my wife are guilty 
 
THE MOCK COURT 173 
 
 of treason. As I think you are aware, the punishment of 
 treason is death/ 
 
 ' Monseigueur the Prelate Osiander/ announced the page- 
 in-waiting as he fluug open the door of the Golden Hall. 
 Eberhard Ludwig turned excitedly to greet the Prelate. 
 
 ' Osiander/ he cried, ' you have come in time/ 
 
 ' God grant I have, Serenissimus,' returned Osiander 
 sternly. 
 
 ' As a priest of God I pray you to tell these gentlemen that 
 those whom God has joined together no man's power can put 
 asunder ! ' cried his Hisjhness. 
 
 'That is exactly what I have the duty to remind your 
 Highness,' returned the Prelate. 'The Duchess Johanna 
 
 Elizabetha, your wife ' Eberhard Ludwig started 
 
 violently ; he saw that he had blundered. 
 
 'I do not speak of my late wife, Monsieur le Prelat. 
 She is no longer my wife ! She who holds that position is 
 Wilhelmine, Countess of Urach.' 
 
 'Impossible, Serenissimus, as long as the Duchess Johanna 
 Elizabetha lives,' replied Osiander. 
 
 ' By all the rites of the Church, by the law of God and man, 
 I am truly wedded to the Countess of Urach ! ' the Duke 
 answered passionately. 
 
 ' As long as your Highness lives in mortal sin the Church 
 denies you the Sacraments. I am the representative of the 
 Church, your Highness, and in the presence of your Privy 
 Council I pronounce this ban upon you,' said the Churchman 
 severely. 
 
 'Let me remind you that there is another Church. 
 Eemember I am Pope in my land ! If you of the Lutheran 
 confession will not serve me, I will seek consolation in an 
 older faith !' cried Eberhard Ludwig. 
 
 The Geheimrathe, huddled together in a whispering, 
 wavering, frightened group, had listened to Osiander's grave 
 words in silence, but at this speech of his Highness's they 
 broke into agitated exclamations : 
 
 ' His Highness does not know what he says ! Eoman idol- 
 atry ! Ah ! Monseigneur ! It is contrary to the testament 
 of Eberhard the Ancient and the true laws of Wirtemberg .! ' 
 
174 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig paid no heed to these varied ejaculations of 
 his Privy Councillors. He was watching Osiander's stern face, 
 and his own expression was as unrelenting as the Prelate's. 
 
 'Is this your last word, Monsieur Osiander?' he said 
 quietly. 
 
 * Yes, Monseigneur, my last word, and the decision of the 
 Church which I represent' 
 
 * Then, sir, I can dispense with your presence in my castle 
 of Urach,' replied the Duke haughtily. 
 
 The Prelate withdrew without a word. Eberhard Ludwig 
 waited till Osiander passed out of the Golden Hall, then : 
 * Gentlemen, you have heard. Now I require you to sign 
 this document. Those who do not sign, cease to be members 
 of my Privy Council.' He drew a large folded paper from his 
 breast, and laying it open upon the table desired one of the 
 Geheimrathe to read it aloud. It was a repetition in formal 
 legal terms of his Highness's speech to the Council, and had 
 been drawn up and cleverly worded by Schiitz, the fraudulent 
 attorney of Vienna. 
 
 'Your Highness takes the entire responsibility of this 
 act ? ' questioned one of the councillors. 
 
 ' Yes, noble sirs, and I have but to add that such of you as 
 do not sign will be arrested immediately.' He moved back a 
 few paces, and pushing open the door revealed to the councillors 
 a detachment of Silver Guards stationed in the corridor without. 
 Seven Geheimrathe approached the table and without more 
 ado affixed their signatures to the document. Only Herr von 
 Hespen remained. 
 
 ' I await your decision, sir,' said Serenissimus harshly. 
 
 * I shall not sign,' replied Hespen. 
 
 'Arrest this gentleman ! ' called the Prince ; 'and now, sirs, 
 we will repair to the tilting-hall and our banquet.' 
 
 The small town of Urach was in a state of such commotion 
 as it had not known since the far-off day when Count 
 Eberhard the Bearded received his Mantuan bride at the 
 castle. All day coaches rolled into the courtyard of the old 
 inn, and the narrow streets were filled with servants anxiously 
 seeking lodgings.foi" their masters. At every moment coaches 
 drew up in the courtyard of the small hostelry and companies 
 
THE MOCK COURT 175 
 
 of fine gentlemen rode in. Every one demanded accommoda- 
 tion, and quarrels and protestations filled the air. In the 
 streets hawkers called their wares, ribbons, laces, patches. 
 A strolling vender of reputed wonder-working balsams and 
 philtres attracted a laughing crowd ; itinerant musicians 
 arrived on the scene and added the strains of stringed instru- 
 ments and the choruses of gay songs to the general clamour. 
 Urach, the quiet hill-town, where many quaint fountains 
 murmur ceaselessly, seemed turned into a place of carnival, 
 Near the castle gate the crowd of peasants and burghers was 
 dense, every one inquisitive to catch a glimpse of the gay doings 
 within, but the sentries kept the people back and only the 
 foremost watchers could see the interior of the courtyard. 
 Here too was festive bustle, for his Highness sat at the grand 
 banquet in the tilting-hall, and serving-men ran hurriedly 
 across the courtyard bearing steaming viands from the kitchen 
 or laden with platters of delicious cakes. The Duke's Cellar- 
 master appeared in the gateway and, addressing the expectant 
 mob, shouted the welcome statement that his Highness desired 
 his friends of Urach to drink to his health. Barrels of wine 
 were rolled across to the castle gate and the onlookers served 
 with copious draughts. Then the Cellar-master called for 
 silence, and, striking an attitude, he spoke : 
 
 ' His Highness prays you to drink long life and happiness 
 to his noble bride, the Countess of Urach. Come — Hoch ! 
 and again — Hoch ! ' 
 
 ' Bride, indeed ! ' roared the crowd ; * harlot, you mean ! ' 
 gome said, but they drank greedily all the same. 
 
 Wilhelmine was waiting in the Golden Hall, and through the 
 open casement she heard the comments of the rabble. ' Harlot, 
 adulteress, witch,' she repeated slowly, as she listened to these 
 epithets used by the men while they drank her health. She 
 raged. * Ah, you canaille ! ' she whispered, ' it was / ordered 
 you that good red wine ! Blood I will give you to drink 
 another time, blood to choke you.' She drew back from her 
 place near the window. 'But your hatred shall not mar my 
 triumph to-night. God's curse on you, my husband's people ! ' 
 
 The Golden Hall was decked in white flowers, and at one 
 end of the large room, twined and garlanded with roses, a dais 
 
176 A GEKMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 liad been raised, and two huge gilt chairs, the only ones in the 
 apartment, had been placed on this platform. It looked like 
 a throne of King and Queen, and Eberhard Ludwig himself 
 had protested at this uncustomary assumption of a regal 
 superiority over his guests. But Wilhelmine had silenced 
 him with a look. She had pointed to Duke Eberhard's 
 motto. 
 
 'Attempto,' she whispered; 'Prussia is a kingdom now, 
 why not Wirtemberg ? ' 
 
 Now Prussia's advancement was an eyesore to South 
 Germany, and Eberhard Ludwig's envious ambition was 
 stirred. 
 
 * Attempto,' he murmured as he went to prepare to meet his 
 Geheimrathe. The success of this seance we already know. 
 
 The moments dragged. From the window of the Golden 
 Hall Wilhelmine could see the church clock's slow finger 
 lagging from point to point. Below, the crowd was still 
 drinking and shouting, and the hated woman shuddered when 
 she thought what would be her fate were she at the mercy of 
 that throng which celebrated her wedding festivities. 
 
 Coaches rumbled into the courtyard. Soon the Coun- 
 tess heard voices in the White Hall or music-room, where 
 the guests had been requested to assemble, pending the 
 reception in the Golden Hall by his Highness. 
 
 Wilhelmine hurried away to complete her preparations for 
 what she intended to be one of the hours of triumph in her 
 career. 
 
 She found Madame de Euth and the maid Maria polishing 
 the jewels she was to wear. 
 
 ' Quick ! ' she cried, ' the guests arrive ! ' 
 
 ' Yes, my dear,' said Madame de Euth dryly, ' all Stuttgart 
 is coming here, I am told. The virtuous indignation was not 
 strong enough. Curiosity has brought every one to see what 
 you do.' 
 
 ' Give me all the jewels, Maria,' was Wilhelmine's only 
 reply. 
 
 • •••■•• 
 
 * Monseigneur le Puc de Wirtemberg et Madame la Comtesse 
 d'Urach!' called" -Oberhofmarshall Count Gravenitz, striking 
 
THE MOCK COURT 177 
 
 his marshars staff heavily upon the wooden floor of the 
 corridor outside the Golden Hall. Then the doors flew open, - 
 and the new Oberhofmarshall proceeded to the middle of the 
 hall where he repeated his staff- tapping and loud announce- 
 ment. The guests drew back. ' Eeally ! is she to come in 
 procession like a queen ? ' * Upon my soul, this is too much 
 to swallow ! ' ' Quelle insolence ! ' One could hear these 
 murmurs run through the assemblage ; nevertheless the guests 
 fell back obediently, making room for the solemn entry of his 
 Highness. 
 
 *Is she beautiful, at least?' queried a gentleman who, 
 having but recently returned from the army, had not yet seen 
 the famous Gravenitzin. 
 
 'Pockmarked, and as tall as a grenadier,' said a spiteful 
 voice — -a woman's. 
 
 ' She sings divinely,' said another voice. 
 
 ' Her notes are very strong, if you mean that ! She nearly 
 breaks your ears,' replied the same voice. 
 
 Now the musicians struck up a stately measure, and two 
 pages, of the Sittmann family, of course, appeared in the door- 
 way walking backwards. Hofmarshall Gravenitz thundered 
 with his baton upon the ground; it must be conceded he 
 seemed to take fondly to the exercise of his new duties. And 
 now Eberhard Ludwig was seen in the doorway. His High- 
 ness wore a magnificent costume of white brocade, relieved 
 only by the broad ribands of several high orders, and on his 
 breast the chain of Austria's Golden Fleece. Of a truth, 
 Serenissimus looked a fine Prince, but all eyes were upon 
 the tall figure beside him — the Mecklemburg Praulein, the 
 Countess of Urach. Her underskirt was made of cloth of 
 gold, rich and heavy; her huge paniers were of embroidered 
 satin of the Gravenitz yellow, as it came to be called in after 
 years; her corsage was yellow also, and from her shoulders 
 fell the white brocade cloak lined and trimmed with erniine, 
 which she had worn on the day of her secret marriage at the 
 Neuhaus. Her breast was literally ablaze with jewels, and 
 the pearls of Wirtemberg, which two hundred years before the 
 Mantuan princess had brought as marriage dowry, hung in 
 ropes round the favourite's neck. So splendid a vision had 
 
 M 
 
178 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 never mot the eyes of the assembled company. The Duchess 
 Johanna Elizabetha had worn these jewels, but they had some- 
 how seemed to disappear in the awkward masses of her ill- 
 chosen garments. You may imagine, however, that her 
 Highness had given the gems nuwillingly to Eberhard 
 Ludwig's messenger charged to bring them forthwith to 
 Uracil. 
 
 Wilhelmine advanced slowly, led by his Highness. She 
 bowed gravely to right and left. The guests were astounded, 
 struck dumb by the huge presumption of the woman ; some 
 few returned her salute, others, bewildered and indignant, 
 stared her blankly in the face. Serenissimus led her to the 
 dais, and as she took her seat bowed profoundly over her 
 hand. The pages gathered round the steps of the dais. 
 Madame de Euth took up her position beside this pseudo- 
 Duchess's chair. Oberhofmarshall Gravenitz stood to the 
 Duke's right, the Sittmann family ranged themselves in a 
 circle near this mock throne. Schiitz, the fraudulent attorney, 
 mighty fine in brown satin and gaily embroidered waistcoat, 
 took a patronising. and curious air as though, accustomed as 
 he v/as to the ceremony of Vienna's court, he found himself 
 much diverted by this provincial gathering. 
 
 Formal presentations began. The Countess of Urach had 
 a gracious smile for each and all, and the guests found them- 
 selves in an unpleasant dilemma. It is so difficult to be dis- 
 agreeable to a smiling woman without actually insulting her ; 
 and that would have been dangerous, for who could tell what 
 the future might bring forth ? 
 
 Thus the ball progressed right merrily, and Wilhelmine's 
 triumph was complete. The formality of the entertainment 
 wore off a little, and the company danced gaily. Wilhelmine 
 did not dance after the first gavotte, whose stately measure 
 she trod with Monseigneur de ZoUern, but this was a solemn 
 ceremony. For the rest, the Countess of Urach sat in her 
 gilded chair and conversed with chosen courtiers who were 
 led up to her by the Oberhofmarshall or by Madame de Euth. 
 It was noticeablq how the men lingered near her, and the 
 ladies' angry s.pite was increased thereby. His Highness 
 danced much and of tea He was justly celebrated as the 
 
THE MOCK COURT 179 
 
 finest, most graceful, most precise dancer of his day. and 
 Stafforth — who compiled a ponderous, pompous memoir of 
 Eberhard Lud wig's journey to England to the court of Queen 
 Anne, and also to the court of Erancc — has left it on record 
 that ' they all stood surprised before my Prince's great agility 
 and marvellous skill/ 
 
 So pavane followed gavotte and sarabande and the more 
 modern minuet, and the ball was very brilliant and gay. 
 
 Late in the evening Schiitz, his Highness's own secretary, 
 was called away. 
 
 ' Affairs of State ! ' he said airily, but so loudly that many 
 should hear him. A sudden presentiment knocked at Wilhel- 
 mine's heart : could this be some disastrous happening come 
 to mar her triumph ? She signed to Madame de Euth. 
 
 ' A cruel foreboding is over me, dear friend,' she whispered. 
 
 ' Tut ! child, what should it be ? Come, forget it, enjoy 
 your hour.' 
 
 ' Alas ! the best hours are always pursued by evil things ! ' 
 replied Wilhelmine sadly. She turned to Eeischach, who 
 stood near her. ' Come and tell me a story of some gallant 
 adventure, Baron ! [Now let us hear — you and a princess let 
 it be, for I love the stories to which I am accustomed ! ' She 
 smiled maliciously, but the laughter froze on her lips, for 
 Schiitz was making his way towards her, and there was a look 
 on his face which told her the foreboding had not erred. 
 
 * News from Vienna, Madame,' he said in a low voice when 
 he reached her side. 
 
 '' Tell me quickly what it is,' she whispered back. 
 
 ' Imperial mandate to his Highness. I know no more ; but 
 the messengers are of rank, and have the Emperor's commands 
 to read the decree to his Highness in person. I fear it is 
 very serious for you.' 
 
 Eberhard Lud wig came up gaily. 'Come, Madame ma 
 femme — come and tread a measure with me ! ' Wilhelmine 
 rose obediently. 
 
 ' Have the messengers shut into the White Hall, make no 
 disturbance here,' she murmured as she passed Schiitz. 
 
 With smiling face and merry jest she danced the sarabande. 
 
 ' And now, Monseigneur ! ' she cried in a ringing voice, 
 
180 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 when the dance concluded, ' let lis end these revels, it grows 
 late ! I pray you command the lackej^s to bring the Tokay 
 that we may drink our loving-cup with our guests ! ' 
 
 The wine was brought and quickly given round. 
 
 ' My gentle ladies and noble sirs ! ' called his Highness, I 
 drink to your happiness ; I pray you drink to mine ! ' 
 
 The guests raised their glasses, and it was only as they 
 drank that they saw Eberhard Ludwig bowing before Wilhel- 
 mine, and they realised with dismay that they had toasted 
 her under the title of *his Highness's happiness/ 
 
CHAPTEE XIII 
 
 THE duchess's BLACK EOOMS 
 * In God's hands are all things. It is blasphemy to fear.' 
 
 The Imperial decree was uncompromising : ' She leaves yonr 
 court, this adventuress, or ill betide her. If you take a 
 mistress, well and good — that is not in the power of Emperor 
 to forbid ; but you have infringed the Empire's laws by bigamy, 
 Serenissimus, and this we will not tolerate. The lady must 
 depart ; if she goes not, the rigours of the law will crush her. 
 "No more of your mock marriage, no more of your sorry, sham 
 court.' 
 
 Thus the gist of the document which shattered Wilhelmine's 
 hopes and interrupted her triumph at Urach. But to relin- 
 quish her ambition thus easily, instantly to render obedience 
 to Father Vienna, this was not to be expected from so potent 
 a lady, nor indeed from Eberhard Ludwig, who, besides being 
 deeply enamoured, judged his prerogative as an independent 
 reigning Prince to be threatened by this summary command. 
 Then, too, all the parasites of the mock court advised resistance ; 
 urged it in every way, for their own existence depended upon 
 the Countess of Urach and the continuance of her royal 
 retinue. 
 
 His Highness penned a private letter to the Emperor, in 
 which he set forth many arguments and added passionate 
 entreaties. In his reasoning he quoted historical examples 
 of a Prince's right to discard a wife for causes of State 
 necessity or convenience. Even Henry viii. of England was 
 held up as a pattern in this ! One wonders whether the 
 Emperor had sufficient historical learning to smile at this 
 imfortunate reference. 
 
 181 
 
182 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Schiitz was despatched with this private missive and other 
 intricate legal documents. 
 
 Meanwhile the life at Urach went its usual course : hunts, 
 feasts, music, cards, love and laughter. Naturally those few 
 members of the former Wirtemberg court who had suffered 
 themselves to be drawn into the vortex of gaiety, now with- 
 drew, and the Gravenitz circle grew to be more and more the 
 refuge of the brilliant disreputable. Adventurers flocked in 
 from all sides and, were they but entertaining, immediately 
 became bright satellites revolving round the sun of Wilhel- 
 mine's magnificence. Of course, these personages were not 
 welcomed by the older stars — the Sittmanns and company; 
 but the favourite waxed more overbearing, more autocratic 
 each day, and she permitted no censure of her will. 
 
 The Duchess Johanna Elizabetha was not idle; she had 
 summoned her family from Baden-Durlach, and they were 
 moving heaven and earth, or rather Vienna, in her cause. 
 
 Schiitz wrote that things were going badly for the Gravenitz : 
 the Emperor was obdurate, the Privy Council was stern, and 
 public opinion strong against the double marriage. 
 
 Johanna Elizabetha at this crisis fell ill — ' of a colic,' said 
 the court of Urach scornfully; 'of poison,' said Stuttgart, 
 Baden-Durlach, finally Vienna. This was serious, wrote 
 Schiitz. There were not wanting persons who hinted that 
 other inconvenient wives had died of this same class of colic, 
 and that the illness had been caused by the rival mistress. 
 Eberhard Ludwig raged, Wilhelmine laughed, but Zollern 
 looked grave, and spoke of the Prussian letter of royal pro- 
 tection, and of the beauty and safety of Schaffhausen. 
 
 Anger gave place to anxiety, when a private letter from 
 the Emperor to Eberhard Ludwig arrived. It was really an 
 unpleasant letter, and the court, to whom its contents were 
 communicated, felt that it was the beginning of the end. His 
 Majesty wrote that he gave Serenissimus one last chance of 
 saving the lady of his heart. She must yield at once, or the law 
 would proceed against her ruthlessly. The Emperor added 
 that he had commissioned the Electors of Brunswick, Brims- 
 wick-Wolfenbiittel, and Hesse-Cassel to act as intermediaries in 
 the matter. They were empowered to settle the dispute in his 
 
THE DUCHESS'S BLACK BOOMS 183 
 
 Majesty's name and in tlie interests of virtue, law, and order. 
 Serenissimus was overwhelmed. He vowed he would abjure 
 his allegiance to Austria, and as for the Protestant Church 
 which had proved so inconveniently honest, that could go by 
 the board and he would go over to Eome. 
 
 The Pope Clement xi. was unfriendly to Austria politically, 
 and his Holiness would welcome the Duke of Wirtemberg to 
 the fold. For the rest, Eberhard Ludwig talked wildly of 
 approaching Louis XIV. and throwing in his lot and his army 
 with his old adversaries. The Pope was indeed informed of 
 the whole tangle, and had entered into secret negotiations 
 with Zollern on the subject. 
 
 Hereupon Forstner reappeared, and by his reproaches, his 
 tediousness, and his tactlessness nearly confirmed Serenissimus 
 in his frantic decision. Then arrived slander. He was a 
 man of great strength of character and intellect, and he 
 succeeded in demonstrating to the Duke the dishonourable 
 nature of his intentions. Also he induced his Highness to 
 comprehend that the Pope, though ready to gather all men, 
 and especially princes, into the maw of Eome, could not make 
 a double marriage legal where there was no feasible plea for 
 annulment of the first union. To be politically hostile to 
 Austria was one thing, to enter into open combat with her 
 another. "Wirtemberg was not a large enough bribe in any 
 case. 
 
 At this juncture arrived the Electorial ambassadors, and 
 lengthy, tedious negotiations commenced. The deliberations 
 seemed endless. Did the ambassadors believe their task to 
 be nearing completion, the other side had always a fresh 
 plea, a new quibble ; and the winter was far advanced 
 before these unfortunate envoys declared that they could do 
 no more. 
 
 'We have proved the so-called marriage to be illegal,' 
 they wrote to the Emperor ; ' we have offered lands and moneys 
 to the favourite ; we have been conciliatory, then threatening, 
 but Serenissimus is as one blinded, and the woman remains 
 in her preposterous position. We can do no more, save 
 humbly to recommend your Majesty to enforce the rigours 
 of the law against this bigamous female.' So Brunswick 
 
184 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Brunswick - Wolfenbiittel, and Hesse - Cassel retired dis- 
 comfited. 
 
 On the other side, Schutz in Vienna had made no headway. 
 The mock court continued as before, sometimes at Urach, 
 sometimes at Tubingen or Wildbad. Stuttgart was deserted, 
 save for the mournful presence of the unhappy Duchess. 
 
 The Countess of Urach's circle widened considerably, 
 constantly enlarged by inquisitive travellers, and it was 
 marvellous how many of these persons lingered and took 
 root in the easy, evil soil of this unhallowed, unlawful court. 
 The very servants were for the most part of doubtful character, 
 and it is remarkable how successfully the Gravenitz ruled her 
 strangely composed household. She had the power to v^in 
 hearts when she chose, and she did choose where her domestics 
 were concerned. Her method was based on the human point 
 of view. '■ If I take this rascal into my service and treat him 
 well, he will respond by gratitude. At least, he will be bound 
 to me and to my interests. Should he betray me I can punish 
 him ; but he is too disreputable for any one else to defend, 
 therefore he is mine, my creature.' These theories she ex- 
 pounded to Madame de Ruth, never to Serenissimus. He, 
 poor deluded ~ one, thought his mistress a very charitable 
 lady, and loved her the more for her kindness to sinners. 
 Among this motley crew of her choosing was an Italian of 
 the name of Ferrari, who had come to Tubingen with a troupe 
 of strolling actors. 
 
 In Tubingen the man had fallen ill, and Wilhelmine, hearing 
 through the maid Maria of the Italian's misery, caused him 
 to be nursed back to life. Then, when the grateful rascal 
 came to thank his benefactress, she took him into her service. 
 The man proved himself useful ; he was quick and intelligent, 
 and conceived a dog-like affection for the Gravenitz, who 
 rewarded him by employing him in any secret message she 
 desired to be conveyed. He it was who procured for her the 
 various ingredients she used in her maojic brewinsjs. He who 
 spied upon the Duchess, for Wilhelmine had a morbid 
 curiosity to know each action of the woman she injured. 
 The people whispered that Ferrari instructed the Gravenitz 
 in the mysterious and terrible secrets of Italian poisons. 
 
THE DUCHESS'S BLACK ROOMS 185 
 
 This gossip reached the ears of Johanna Elizahetha and she 
 trembled, fearing poison in all she ate, in all she touched, in 
 the petals of the roses of the castle garden, in the dust which 
 lay on the road. 
 
 An ugly story leaked out. The Duchess's head cook, 
 Glaser by name, recounted how Eerrari had visited him and 
 offered him a purse of gold and a little phial which contained 
 a greyish white powder. This, Ferrari had told him, was a 
 rare medicine known in Italy alone ; it would cause a barren 
 woman to become fruitful. The Italian told Glaser that this 
 precious physic was sent for her Highness Johanna Elizabetha 
 by one who loved her well and would fain serve her. 
 Glaser was desired to sprinkle it on the Duchess's food, but 
 her Highness must be unaware of its presence, for such 
 knowledge would destroy the medicine's ef&cacy. Glaser 
 replied that he would willingly serve so noble and unfortunate 
 a lady as Johanna Elizabetha, but he refused to take the 
 responsibility of administering the powder. If, however,. 
 Eerrari first showed it to the court doctor, Schubart, Glaser 
 would undertake to mix the stuff into some dish for her 
 Highness. At mention of the physician, Ferrari disappeared 
 and did not return. Then Glaser averred he had been set 
 upon near the Judengasse one dark night, soon after Ferrari's 
 visit. Two masked bravos attacked him from behind, and 
 it was only by the chance passing of the town guard that he 
 had escaped with his life. Her Highness heard this story 
 and she smiled bitterly, knowing that her barren state pro- 
 ceeded from a very important omission, and that no powder 
 could be efficacious. And who should know this better than 
 the Gravenitz ? the sender of this absurd powder, as the 
 Duchess surmised. ' Poison ! ' said the Duchess, and de- 
 spatched a broken-hearted letter- to Vienna telling of her 
 bodily peril. 
 
 The days lengthened, bright April came with the calling 
 and rustling of Spring in all the air. There were mighty gay 
 doings again at Urach, but Stuttgart held aloof. Things had 
 gone too far ; the story of the white powder had played the 
 Gravenitz an evil turn, and people were genuinely horrified at 
 her wickedness. Not a jot cared Wilhelmine. * The Stutt- 
 
186 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 garters were such provincials, such shabby, heavy, rude 
 louts,' said the lady from Giistrow. There were no festivities 
 at the castle in Stuttgart. How should there be with the 
 agonised, deserted woman as hostess ? 
 
 It was her Highness's custom to pray and meditate in 
 solitude for an hour when the day waned. She led a busy, if 
 sedentary, life ; sewing her eternal garments of coarse flannel 
 for the poor while Madame de Stafforth read aloud from books 
 of piety. A number of poor people came to the castle, and hei 
 Highness was ever ready — nay, eager, to listen to their tales 
 of misery and to distribute alms to these her only courtiers. 
 Then there were the legal reports of the learned doctors- 
 at-law engaged upon her matrimonial business. Johanna 
 Elizabetha welcomed the twilight hour's solitary musing. 
 Poor soul ! often she spent this hour on her knees, mourning 
 her sorrow before God. 
 
 One evening towards the middle of April, the Duchess had 
 withdrawn as usual to her own apartments leaving Madame 
 de Stafforth in the chief salon reading a sermon by an eminent 
 Swiss divine. The two ladies had felt strangely nervous and 
 anxious during the afternoon, and several times it had seemed 
 to her Highness that she heard stealthy footsteps on the 
 inner gallery of the courtyard, but when she questioned the 
 page-in-waiting whose duty it was to watch at the door of the 
 ante-hall leading to her Highness's rooms, the youth replied 
 that he had seen and heard nothing. The Duchess told herself 
 she was becoming a fearsome, anxious old woman, and she 
 endeavoured to smile down the haunting feeling of some 
 unseen, creeping presence. Still it was with a sense of 
 trepidation that she entered the small room where she was 
 wont to meditate each evening when the day's wearisome, self- 
 imposed labours were ended. This room lay beyond her 
 Highness's sleeping chamber and had a small balcony looking 
 over the Lustgarten. 
 
 This apartment was plainly furnished, almost monastic in 
 its simplicity : one chair, a small bureau, a table on which lay 
 a few books of sermons and volumes of theological treatises, 
 and a praying-stool stood against the wall. The only thing 
 recalling the vanities of the world was a mirror let into the 
 
THE DUCHESS'S BLACK ROOMS 187 
 
 panel above the praying-stool. Indeed, this mirror was a 
 relic of one of poor Johanna Elizabetha's few happy hours. 
 Eberhard Ludwig had ordered the whole room to be panelled 
 with mirrors, having seen some such conceit in a chateau in 
 France during his travels. He had thought to please her 
 Highness by this attention, but the dull, awkward woman had 
 forbidden the completion of the plan : it was a wrongful waste 
 of money, she averred, and a French vanity ! So Eberhard 
 Ludwig had angrily commanded the workmen to desist, and, 
 wounded and offended, he had reflected on his wife's lack of 
 appreciation of the little elegancies of life. True, she had 
 seemed pleased by his thought of her, she had thanked him — 
 but she had declined his present ! 
 
 The only alteration in the castle which Johanna Elizabetha 
 had ever been known to order had been done, to the surprise 
 of all, some time after the Duke's desertion of his wife and 
 son. The entire suite of apartments which her Highness 
 occupied had been redecorated. The panelling, which was 
 of time-mellowed oak, the Duchess had caused to be painted 
 black, the chairs and tables of her rooms were covered with 
 black brocade, and the window curtains were fashioned 
 of the same sombre material. It was a strange fancy, the 
 exaggeration of a brain strung up, taut and strained to a 
 quivering line on the border of insanity. Yet the Duchess 
 was not mad, only sad to desperation, utterly humiliated, 
 shuddering with despair and shame. Possibly the unhappy 
 woman, shut into the silence of her dumb personality, had 
 here sought to give expression to her voiceless agony. 
 
 The effect of these black walls, black furniture, black 
 hangings, was odiously funereal. Some one said that her 
 Highness should complete the picture of mourning by donning 
 the sinister trappings of the -Swabian widow — the bound 
 brow, the nunlike hood, the swathing band with which South 
 German widows of mediaeval times hid their lips from the 
 sight of all men, in token of their bereavement and enforced 
 chastity. 
 
 Her Highness looked anxiously round her sleeping apart- 
 ment as she passed through. To her overstrung nerves each 
 darker shadow held an evil menace. A breeze crept in 
 
188 A GEKMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 through the open casement, and swayed the heavy black 
 curtains round her Highness's bed, and she started back, think- 
 ing that some hostile hand had moved the folds. In vain 
 she told herself how baseless were her fears. She chid herself 
 for a craven, but her heart still fluttered fearfully, and her 
 lips were a- tremble when she reached the little room. She 
 sank down in her chair with a sigh of relief. Here in 
 this little room, she reasoned, there could be nothing to fear ; 
 here were no shadowy corners where a lurking enemy might 
 hide. 
 
 ' God ! God ! * she wailed suddenly aloud, ' am I 
 going mad that I should tremble at a gust of wind, that I 
 should suffer this insane consciousness of some haunting 
 presence near me when I know I am, in truth, alone and 
 safe ? ' She covered her face with her hands. 
 
 ' Your Highness,' came a voice, and the unhappy woman 
 started to her feet in renewed alarm — ' Your Highness, have 
 I permission to depart now ? Monsieur de Stafforth 
 wishes me to assist at a supper he gives this evening. 
 As your Highness knows, my husband is very harsh to 
 me since the Duke dismissed him, and indeed I dare not 
 be late.' 
 
 It was Madame de Stafforth who, having finished reading, 
 had come to take leave of the Duchess. 
 
 * Alas ! ' said her Highness sadly, ' I am not permitted to 
 bear my sorrow alone ; my friends must suffer also.' 
 
 ' Ah ! Madame,' said the little moth-coloured woman ten- 
 derly, ' we would all suffer joyfully, could we ease your High- 
 ness ; but think, Madame ! you, at least, have one great 
 happiness : to all women it is not given to bear a son, and the 
 Erbprinz grows stronger each day.' 
 
 Poor little Madame de Stafforth ! The tragedy of her life 
 lay in her words. She was childless ; and Stafforth reproached 
 her — nay, taunted her daily with this, for he desired an heir 
 to carry on his new nobility. 
 
 * Forgive me, dear friend ; indeed I am blessed. And my 
 son grows stronger, you really think ? ' 
 
 Johanna Elizabeth's face lit with a mother's tenderness, 
 and the two ladies plunged into a detailed discourse on the 
 
THE DUCHESS'S BLACK ROOMS 189 
 
 Erbprinz's health. At length Madame de Stafforth took her 
 leave, 
 
 ' Shall I send any one to your Highness ? ' she asked as she 
 reached the door. 
 
 The Duchess's terrors had been allayed by the familiar dis- 
 cussion of the Erbprinz's ailments, but a thrill of nameless 
 fear passed through her when she remembered she would be 
 alone again in her sombre apartment. But this was weakness! 
 What had she read in the Swiss sermon ? ' In the hands of 
 God are all things. It is blasphemy to fear darkness, solitude, 
 or the evil machinations of men. All is in the Great Grasp, 
 and each happening is made and directed by God.' The 
 solemn words came back to her now. 
 
 *Dear Madame de Stafforth, I can ring when I wish for 
 any one. Good night, and God bless you ! ' she said, and laid 
 her hand upon the small silver hand-bell which was on the 
 bureau near her. 
 
 When the sound of Madame de Stafforth's footsteps ceased, 
 her Highness turned to the books on the table and sought 
 the volume of Swiss sermons ; but it was not there ; evidently 
 Madame de Stafforth had forgotten to bring it from the salon. 
 The Duchess decided to fetch it, but she lingered a moment, 
 for it was unaccountably disagreeable to her to pass through 
 the half-light of her sleeping apartment. 
 
 ' In the hands of God are all things ! ' she murmured, and 
 with firm step she moved towards the sombre chamber. Once 
 more she thought she saw the bed-curtains sway ; she fancied 
 she heard a movement behind her. ' It is blasphemy to fear,' 
 she said, but she felt her brow moisten with the sweat of 
 terror. 
 
 She found the book, and resolutely re-entered the sleeping- 
 room. She would not allow her eyes to wander to the bed- 
 hangings, nor to search the dusky corners of the chamber. 
 She passed on, and, gaining the little study,- laid the book 
 open on the table, and, leaning her head on her hands, began 
 to read ; but she could not fix her attention on the page before 
 her. She was tortured by faint stirrings, by scarcely per- 
 ceptible sounds, by an eerie feeling of some lurking presence 
 always behind her. 
 
190 A GERMAN POMPADOUB 
 
 At length slie could bear it no longer. She closed the 
 book and rose, intending to ring the hand-bell and summon 
 her attendants, but the words of the sermon echoed in her 
 brain : ' It is blasphemy to fear/ and she felt ashamed of her 
 impulse. She turned, and, going to the praying-stool, kneeled 
 in prayer. 
 
 * Give me strength, God ! to resist this baseless terror,* 
 she prayed. ' In thy hands are all things ! * Yet her anxiety 
 was unsoothed, and the dread of madness came to her, but 
 with it grew a brave defiance : she would not go mad, she 
 would not ! She saw herself a prisoner in some castle, kept 
 alive and well treated, perhaps, but a piteous object, a thing 
 for all to point at — ' the mad Duchess ! ' And the Gravenitz 
 at Stuttgart a legal Duchess. She believed a Prince could put 
 away an insane wife. ' Not madness, kind Jesus ! ' she prayed. 
 Her heart was wrung in agony as she pictured her son, the 
 Erbprinz, taunted perhaps by the mention of his mother's 
 madness. ' All is in the Great Grasp, and each happening 
 is made and directed by God.' * Christ,' she prayed, ' I 
 believe, I trust, I will not blaspheme by fear ; no madness can 
 strike me down while I believe and pray.' She lifted her hot 
 face from her hands, calmed, soothed, brave once more. She 
 was rising from her knees, and the movement brought her 
 eyes on a level with the mirror panel. As one turned to 
 stone, she stood looking into the mirror, for it reflected one 
 corner of her bed in the next room, and the fading light fell 
 on something white which pushed aside the black brocade 
 bed-curtain — a large yellow- white hand holding a small 
 gleaming knife. The Duchess, still with the dread of insanity 
 upon her, told herself that it was an hallucination, a delusion, 
 the frenzied working of her overwrought brain. She gathered 
 her courage and fixed her eyes on the mirror, which showed 
 her what she conceived to be a phantom. The hand was large, 
 with hair growing hideously over it, and jagged, bitten nails — ■ 
 she could see this distinctly, for the light fell from the window 
 full on the black curtain, and showed up the yellow hand. 
 Fascinated, she gazed into the mirror, wondering the while 
 why, now that th-e horror actually confronted her, she felt so 
 little fear, whereas before she had started and trembled at each 
 
THE DUCHESS'S BLACK ROOMS 191 
 
 gust of wind. Now the haud emerged further from out the 
 hangings. An arm in a brown sleeve appeared. Then the 
 curtains parted, and her Highness saw a ferret-like face appear. 
 She knew that this was no phantom/ Swiftly she calculated 
 the distance between her and the hand -bell. She remembered 
 that only her tiring-maid would come in answer to the usual 
 daily summons. If this man was indeed an assassin, he would 
 do his work immediately ; kill her ere the woman could come, 
 and the unsuspecting maid herself might easily be silenced 
 with one stab from that pointed dagger. All this the Duchess 
 realised in a flash. She had never thought so rapidly in her 
 life. No ! she must not ring ; she must dupe the murderer ! 
 Her eyes met the assassin's in the mirror, but she had the 
 strength to return the gaze in an abstracted fashion, so that 
 the man should be uncertain whether she had seen him, or 
 whether the mirror had failed, by some strange chance, to trans- 
 mit his reflection. Instinctively she felt that her death-warrant 
 would be signed did the man know her to be aware of his 
 presence. She moved towards the table ; thus she was out of 
 the mirror's range, and she therefore could not see what the man 
 was doing in the adjoining apartment. ' Dupe him ! escape by 
 ruse ! get out of the rooms to the ante-hall, let him think I am 
 coming back ! ' Dully this thought struggled in her mind. 
 With extraordinary calmness she commenced to move the 
 books on the table, purposely rustling the pages. Then 
 suddenly she knew her only way of escape. 
 
 ' Curious ! ' she said aloud ; ' I thought my other book was 
 Here. I have left it next door. I must find it and return to 
 read and rest.' As she said the words she walked into the 
 sleeping-room. ' God give me strength not to look towards 
 the bed,' she prayed silently. *Lprd, in thy hands are all 
 things. It is blasphemy to fear.' 
 
 ISTow she was in the shadowy bedroom ; she moved slowly 
 across, saying again aloud: *I will fetch the volume and 
 return.' As the words left her lips she realised she had 
 spoken in French ; her ruse was useless then ! The murderer 
 was probably some illiterate scoundrel ; how should he com- 
 prehend? But her dogged, methodical nature stood her in 
 good stead. If Johanna Elizabetha began anything, she 
 
192 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 invariably completed her task ; so although she imagined her 
 strategy spoiled through her use of the French language, she 
 kept steadily moving across the large dark room. As she 
 gained the door leading to the audience-chamber she heard 
 the man's bitten, jagged nails scrape the silk brocade of the 
 hangings. He had pushed aside the curtains, then — he was 
 following her ! ' God give me strength,' she prayed again. 
 With unhurried step she passed across the whole length of 
 the long audience- chamber, and gently opened the door of the 
 ante-hall. The page-in- waiting, a slight child of fourteen 
 years, sprang to his feet, bowing deeply, as her Highness 
 entered. 
 
 * Are you alone ? ' said the Duchess quietly. * Is no lackey 
 in waiting V 
 
 * No, your Highness ; I have had the honour to guard your 
 Highness alone for the last few minutes. There is no one 
 else at all,' the boy replied, proud of the trust reposed in 
 him. 
 
 * I cannot give up this child to the assassin's dagger,* 
 thought the Duchess. 
 
 To her strained hearing there seemed to be a creeping move- 
 ment behind her. Quickly she pulled the key from the lock 
 on the inner door of the audience-chamber, and with trembling 
 hand fitted it into the keyhole on the ante-hall side. 
 
 'Quick, boy ! fasten the other door leading to my apart- 
 ment ! ' she whispered. 
 
 The youth ran forward to do her bidding, and as she heard 
 the bolt fall under his hand she succeeded in turning the key 
 in the lock noiselessly. 
 
 ' Call the guard ! Quick ! quick ! * 
 
 Instantly the page rushed off, and once more Johanna 
 Elizabetha was alone with the owner of that yellow, hairy 
 hand, but with a bolted door between her and death this time. 
 Still she held the door-handle firmly, and she felt it being 
 gently tried from inside. Then she heard distinctly stealthy 
 footsteps stealing away across the audience-chamber. 
 
 The guard clatl^ered into the ante-hall — fifty men in yellow 
 and silver uniforms, with drawn swords, and pistols showing 
 grimly at their sides. The captain of the guard inquired 
 
THE DUCHESS'S BLACK ROOMS 193 
 
 her Higliness's pleasure. The page had summoned him, 
 saying her Highness was in danger of her life. 
 
 'Yes/ said Johanna Elizabetha shortly, 'assassination. 
 Search my apartments, the doors are, locked.' 
 
 The men poured in : some straight through the audience- 
 chamber, others through the narrow corridor leading round 
 at the back of the Duchess's sleeping apartment. In a short 
 time the captain returned. 
 
 'We have found no one, your Highness; yet I have left 
 my men to search again, though in truth we have inspected 
 every inch of all the rooms.' 
 
 He looked at Johanna Elizabetha curiously as he spoke. 
 Did he guess her mad? She felt guilty, suspected. Could 
 that horrid vision, that creeping, lurking man, have been a 
 phantom ? A thing, then, of her own creation, not a ghost of 
 the. castle — no, a spectre of her own ! 
 
 ' You cannot have searched everywhere,* she said. * There 
 are no ghosts in the castle save the White Lady, and I saw a 
 man skulking in my apartments.' 
 
 ' Your Highness, the search has ,' he began. 
 
 * I will direct your men. Monsieur,' she interrupted 
 hurriedly, and entered the audience-chamber. Carefully the 
 soldiers went through the rooms again, probing each dark 
 corner and under the hangings with their swords, but no one 
 was to be found. The sweat stood on her Highness's brow. 
 She knew she would give all she possessed for the man to be 
 discovered. If he were not, she knew that she must become 
 insane — nay, she would be proved already mad to her own 
 knowledge. 
 
 Suddenly a shout went up from the soldiers, who had pene- 
 trated to her Highness's praying-room, which, owing to its 
 bareness and small size, had received at first but a cursory 
 glance from the searchers. 
 
 Against the balustrade in the angle of the small balcony 
 the murderer crouched. The soldiers dragged him forward 
 and flung him, an unresisting, trembling heap, on to the 
 middle of the floor. Her Highness hearing the commotion 
 hurried forward. 
 
 * You have found him, then ? Oh, thank God ! ' she cried. 
 
 N 
 
194 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' Pardon, pardon, by your mother's heart, I implore ! ' 
 moaned the miserable wretch, dragging himself like a crawl- 
 ing, wriggling animal towards the Duchess. He was immedi- 
 ately hauled back by the soldiers. 
 
 'Stand up, you worm, and give account of yourself,' 
 said the captain sternly, bestowing a kick on the man's 
 ribs. 
 
 * I meant no harm ! By Christ ! I meant no harm ! ' the 
 prisoner wailed. 
 
 ' How came you in her Highness's apartments ? Speak ! * 
 ' I am a stranger in Stuttgart,' replied the man. 
 
 * Here's a lie for you,' broke in a trooper; 'he's the 
 Gravenitz's private servant. I have often seen him at 
 Tiibingen.' 
 
 ' Yes ! yes ! yes ! I am the Comtesse d'Urach's secretary ; 
 but I return to Italy soon, and I wished to see the Duchess's 
 famous black rooms before I left ! Curiosity has been my 
 undoing ! Pardon ! pardon ! ' 
 
 ' If you only wanted to see my rooms,' said, her Highness 
 gently, 'why did you hide from me beneath the hangings? 
 Why had you a poignard in your hand ? ' 
 
 * I had no poignard ! By the Mother of God I I had no 
 poignard,' he whined. 
 
 ' It is in his girdle, your Highness,' said the trooper, draw- 
 ing forth the dagger from the man's belt. 
 
 ' I had a poignard in my girdle, but I meant no harm ! I 
 meant no harm ! Madame, you cannot think I would have 
 hurt you ? Oh, mercy ! mercy ! ' Once more he threw him- 
 self at the Duchess's feet. ' I hid indeed. Madame ! I 
 feared your displeasure. Have mercy on me ! I only wished 
 to see your beautiful black rooms before I went back to Italy. 
 
 When your Highness spoke of fetching the book ' The 
 
 Duchess started. Of course the man was an Italian, and he 
 understood French ; that was how her plan had not miscarried, 
 as she feared it had, when she thought her adversary was 
 some local cut-throat — ' when your Highness spoke, I thought 
 I might escape while your Highness was away, and then the 
 doors were bolted knd the guard came. Oh, mercy ! ' 
 
 ' Poor soul, let him go,' said Johanna Elizabetha gently. 
 
THE DUCHESS'S BLACK ROOMS 195 
 
 'Your Highness, lie shall go — to prison, till he is hanged. 
 My man here tells me he is the person who gave poison to 
 Kitchenmaster Glaser to sprinkle in your Highness's food/ the 
 captain answered. - 
 
 ' Alas ! how evil are men's hearts/ sighed the Duchess. 
 * Take him, then, but treat him gently. He says he meant 
 no harm/ 
 
CHAPTEE XIV 
 
 THE SECOND MARRIAGE 
 
 The news of the discovery of Ferrari in her Highness's 
 apartments spread through Stuttgart during the evening, and 
 there arose a wave of intense indignation. The Gravenitz 
 was loudly denounced as the instigator of the attempted 
 crime, and a mob gathered before the Jagerhaus, clamouring 
 in their fierce, blind rage to destroy the house where the 
 hated woman had resided. The riot grew so serious that it 
 was necessary to call out the town guard, and though the 
 knot of violent rioters was easily dispersed by the soldiers, 
 still duriug the whole night Stuttgart continued in an uproar, 
 and fears of a dangerous disturbance were entertained. 
 
 Messengers sped away to Urach, carrying the news of 
 Ferrari's attempt and exaggerated reports of the unquiet 
 state of the town. 
 
 Early on the following morning Forstner, who resided for 
 the most part at Stuttgart, finding the Gravenitz court little 
 to his liking, arrived at Urach, and pleading urgent private 
 business was immediately admitted to his Highness's audience- 
 3h amber. 
 
 Wilhelmine from her powdering-closet could hear Forstner's 
 deep voice, but, though she much desired it, she could not 
 distinguish the words. Once she caught the name ' Ferrari,' 
 and then again ' her Highness.' Could it be the old story of 
 Glaser and the white powder? she wondered. Impatiently 
 she tapped her foot on the ground. She called Maria and 
 inquired if Ferrari was in the castle. She was told he had 
 left Urach early on the preceding morning and had not been 
 seen since. Wilhelmine grew anxious at this. It struck her 
 disagreeably that the absent Italian should be the subject of 
 Forstner's early visit. Ferrari had been strangely gloomy and 
 
 196 
 
THE SECOND MARRIAGE 197 
 
 preoccupied of late, she had remarked. Indeed, he had brooded 
 in this fashion ever since the Glaser affair. True, Wilhelmine ' 
 had taunted him cruelly with his failure, and the man always 
 took her lightest word to heart. -He had conceived an 
 affection for her which was a trifle inconvenient — a jealous, 
 fierce affection made grotesque by his ugly, undersized 
 person. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig entered the powdering closet. His face 
 was deadly pale, and his eyes held a look of horror and 
 disgust which warned "Wilhelmine of some grave occurrence. 
 
 ' I have news of serious import, Madame,' he said coldly ; 
 ' kindly dismiss your serving- woman. I wish to speak to you 
 in private.' 
 
 Maria left the room with a sniff; she was accustomed to 
 better treatment. In fact, she bade fair to become a tyrant to 
 her lenient mistress. 
 
 ' Mon Prince ! ' cried Wilhelmine as the woman disappeared, 
 * whatever the news, you seem to show me an ugly frown. I, 
 at least, cannot have displeased my beloved master, for I have 
 not left his side, and our commune together cannot have given 
 him offence.' She spoke lightly, but she watched his 
 Highness's stern face anxiously. It softened at her words. 
 
 ' Ah, Wilhelmine, beloved, a terrible thing has happened ! 
 And you are gravely accused.' Then he poured forth the 
 whole story of Ferrari's attempt. Wilhelmine listened in 
 silence ; she knew that his accusation was extremely serious, 
 and the facts most difficult to explain away. To her con- 
 sterDation she saw that his Highness himself half suspected 
 her of having a hand in the matter. 
 
 'Every criminal is allowed to answer his accuser,' she 
 said, when Eberhard Ludwig finished his narration. He 
 started forward. 
 
 'Accuser ! Wilhelmine, am I your accuser ? Do you think 
 I doubt you ? but, God ! the facts are black against you.' 
 
 ' Your words do not accuse me, Eberhard,' she answered ; 
 'but your eyes and the stern soul behind them accuse me. 
 Nay, listen ; how often have you praised me, calling me a 
 woman of much intelligence ? Now, I ask you, consider for 
 a moment how a woman, gifted with even a spark of this 
 
198 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 same intelligence, could act so foolishly as to have her 
 declared enemy, the obstacle to her happiness, removed by the 
 poignard of a servant well known to be in her employ ? That 
 is one plea I would put forward, Monseigneur. Then again, 
 should I select the moment to contrive her Highnesses death 
 when the world is ringing with that preposterous Glaser 
 story ? I am branded as a bigamist,' she added bitterly ; ' do 
 you fancy I wish to add the title murderess to my name ? ' 
 
 ' But explain the circumstance of your servant being dis- 
 covered, poignard in hand, lurking in the Princess Johanna 
 Elizabetha's rooms. And oh ! Wilhelmine, forgive me ; but 
 this preposterous Glaser story, as you call it, has never been 
 properly explained. You have laughed, and I have put the 
 matter out of my thoughts ; but noW' — beloved ! it is so 
 terrible to doubt you, but ' 
 
 Wilhelmine was unprepared for this retrospective attack. 
 She hesitated, and his Highness's face grew dark. 
 
 ' I really must ask you to explain,' he said harshly, moving 
 away from her. 
 
 ' Eberhard,' she said brokenly, * I sent the powder to the 
 Duchess.' 
 
 Serenissimus started forward.. 'You confess? my 
 God ! ' he cried. 
 
 ' Yes ; I will tell you. The powder was a harmless 
 philtre. I brewed a magic draught which causes whoever 
 drinks it to forget the being they love, and become enamoured 
 of the first person they see. Eberhard, believe me ! ' 
 
 ' Fairy tales ! ' he almost laughed. ' But why given in 
 secret ? why given at all ? ' he demanded. 
 
 * If she forgot you, forgot your charm, beloved, she would 
 be happy again. I had pity on her !' 
 
 It was poison she had sent, and even to herself her story 
 seemed too extravagant for credence. To her surprise, how- 
 ever, his Highness believed her in this. 
 
 ' Well, and for the rest ? for Eerrari's being hidden in the 
 castle ? ' he questioned. 
 
 ' Call Maria and ask her if I was aware that the madman had 
 left Urach. She can vouch that I thought him to be here.' 
 
 * Why did he do this thing ? ' said the Duke. 
 
THE SECOND MARBIAGE 199 
 
 ' What explanation did he offer ? ' she queried hurriedly. 
 
 ' That he wished to see the black rooms ! ' he replied. 
 
 ' Well, but surely that is explanation enough ? You know 
 the man's extraordinary love of beauty, his curious seeking 
 for unusual furniture. He is mad, Eberhard ; I tell you he is 
 mad ! We must save him from prison and send him baek to 
 Italy.' She spoke so naturally, so easily, that his Highness 
 felt that sense of the unaccustomed, the unknown evil, the 
 grim suspicion of crime fall away, and an immense relief take 
 its place. 
 
 ' Of course, of course ! ' he said hurriedly; ' I was frightened 
 by that fool Forstner. Forgive me for my insane suspicion.' 
 And he hastened away to assure Forstner of the sheer 
 absurdity of this accusation. 
 
 Perhaps he would have been a trifle shaken in his con- 
 fidence had he seen Wilhelmine fall back in her chair, 
 breathing hard like some wild animal who had escaped the 
 hunter's knife by a hair's-breadth. 
 
 • • • . • • • 
 
 If Serenissimus was thus easily appeased, the authorities 
 and citizens of Stuttgart were not to be put off with a mere 
 tale. Also Johanna Elizabetha's friends and partisans were 
 loud in their accusations of the Gravenitz. Ferrari had been 
 released from prison by the Duke's command. The man was 
 mad, his Highness averred, and it was but merciful to send 
 him back to Italy. It leaked out that the Italian had left 
 Wirtemberg, but it was whispered that he carried a large sum 
 of gold with him. 
 
 ' Blood money,' said the Stuttgarters, and their indignation 
 grew apace. Schiitz wrote from Vienna that things were 
 going badly for the Gravenitz. The Emperor had been in- 
 formed of the Ferrari affair, and was reported to have 
 expressed his opinion in no measured terms. In fact, Schutz 
 strongly advised the Countess of Urach to leave Wirtemberg 
 for a time, but the lady remained firm. * Go, I will not, 
 until I am obliged, and that is not yet,' she declared. 
 
 So the days passed as usual at Urach, outwardly. The 
 Duke shot roebuck daily in the early morning, the Countess 
 often accompanying him. Later, Serenissimus would ride 
 
200 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 young and fiery horses ; but in this the Countess did not take 
 part, she was but a poor horsewoman. Then came a delicious 
 banquet, with the Countess of Urach's musicians in attendance 
 discoursing fair melodies. 
 
 During the afternoon his Highness drove eight, ten, and 
 sometimes twelve horses together, thundering through the 
 country, and the peasants soon learnt to associate their here- 
 tofore beloved ruler with clouds of dust and ruthless speed. 
 A demon driver rushing past, who, they said, would crush 
 them were they not quick to fly to safety in their houses or 
 fields. 
 
 A demon driver with a beautiful, haughty-faced woman 
 beside him. Yerily an appalling picture to the sleepy 
 Swabian peasant accustomed to the heavy swaying motion of 
 quiet oxen or laborious cart-horses. 
 
 Each evening at the castle of Urach there were merry doings : 
 dancing, cards, and music. It all seemed gay and secure 
 enough, but there was unrest beneath this outward peace, an 
 anxious feeling in the revellers' hearts. Madame de Euth 
 chattered wittily ; Zollern, gallant and wise, made subtle 
 ironic speeches ; Wilhelmine sang, Serenissimus adored, the 
 Sittmanns and the parasites were chorus to this- — a chorus a 
 little out of tune at times, perchance, but passable. 
 
 At length the imperial ultimatum arrived, and, like a card 
 house blown by a strong man's breath, the sham court fell, and 
 the Queen of Hearts knew that the game was played out. 
 
 ' Wilhelmine, Countess Gravenitz, masquerading under the 
 title of Countess of Urach, is hereby declared an exile from all 
 countries under our suzerainty, nor can she hold property in 
 these aforementioned countries, nor call for the law's protec- 
 tion. From the date of this writing she is given six days 
 wherein to leave Wirtemberg. After the expiration of this 
 term she must, an she remaineth in the land, stand her trial 
 for bigamy, treason, and implication in attempted murder.' — 
 Signed and sealed by the Emperor this. 
 
 There was no possible gainsaying ; already the time allotted 
 to her for flight wa^ exceeded, and at any moment she might 
 be arrested by the. imperial order. 
 
 She fled to Schaffhausen once more, and in Stuttgart there 
 
THE SECOND MARRIAGE 201 
 
 was great rejoicing; but the joy was dashed to the giound 
 when the news came that Serenissimus had also disappeared.' 
 Had he fled with his evil mistress, then ? It was positively 
 averred, however, that she had gone -alone with Madame de 
 Euth. Witchcraft, of course ! The Gravenitzin had bewitched 
 herself once before when she had disappeared for three days 
 from the old castle. His Highness himself had said openly that 
 she had returned to him in a flash of lightning. What more 
 likely than that she should have spirited Serenissimus away 
 with her to Switzerland ? 
 
 ' Nonsense,' said the Duchess-mother at Stetten ; ' Eberhard 
 is roaming in the woods, crying to the trees that he is a 
 broken-hearted martyr ! ' And she hurried to Urach, taking 
 up her abode in the very apartments which Wilhelmine had 
 just vacated. It is on record that her maternal Highness 
 caused the rooms to be swept and garnished, ere she entered, 
 as though they were infected with the pest. ' So they are,' 
 quoth this plain-speaking dame, ' with the pest of vice ! ' 
 
 It is to be supposed that the Duchess-mother was right in 
 her surmise regarding her son's forest wanderings, for a 
 messenger arrived from Urach saying Serenissimus would re- 
 enter Stuttgart with his mother in a few days' time ; which he 
 did, and was solemnly and publicly reconciled to the Duchess 
 Johanna Elizabetha. The grateful burghers voted their Duke 
 a free present of forty thousand gulden on his return, and to 
 his Duchess ten thousand gulden. 
 
 The Duchess-mother is reported to have remarked that, of 
 a truth, it had been fitting had they paid her back a portion 
 of the war indemnity. 'But it does not matter,' she said, ' so 
 long as that absurd boy, my son Eberhard, remains at his 
 duties in future.' Dear, proud, sensible old lady ! God rest 
 her well ! To her mother's heart, the thirty-seven-year-old 
 Duke of Wirtemberg, hero, traveller, incidentally bigamist, 
 remained eternally ' that absurd boy, my son.' 
 
 • • • • . • • 
 
 It was with mingled feelings that Wilhelmine at Schaff- 
 hausen heard of Eberhard Ludwig's reconciliation with his 
 wife. Anger and scorn of the man's weakness predominated, 
 but despair and humiliation tortured her as well, and a pro- 
 
202 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 found discouragement, which the sound of the rushing, foaming 
 Ehine falls had no power to sooth this time. The enforced 
 inaction was terrible to her. It was her strategy to leave his 
 Highness's passionate letters of excuse and explanation un- 
 answered, and thus she had little wherewith to fill the long 
 summer days. Madame de Euth was a delightful companion, 
 but Wilhelmine was unresponsive and seemed absorbed in 
 some intricate calculation. She would sit for hours, brooding 
 sombrely. Her eyes, narrowed and serpent-like, gazed at the 
 rushing waters, but when Madame de Euth remarked on the 
 beauty of the scene she would answer irritably that she was 
 occupied, and only begged for quiet in which to think. Towards 
 the middle of August Schiitz arrived from Vienna-. He brought 
 with him a document which he prayed Wilhelmine to consider, 
 and to sign if she approved. It was entitled ' Eevers de Wil- 
 helmine, Comtesse Gravenitz,' and set forth that she undertook 
 to relinquish all claims upon the Duke of Wirtemberg and 
 his heirs forever. That she recognised any child, born of her 
 relationship to his Highness, to be a bastard, and that she 
 undertook never to return to the court of Wirtemberg. If she 
 bound herself to these conditions, the Emperor, in return, 
 promised to cancel her exile from his fiefs with the sole ex- 
 ception of Wirtemberg. The right to hold property would be 
 given back to her, and she would be released from suspicion 
 of murderous intent. His Majesty even promised her twenty 
 thousand gulden as compensation for any wrong done to her 
 in Wirtemberg. 
 
 Wilhelmine hesitated, pondered, and finally despatched 
 Schiitz to Stuttgart with a copy of the imperial document. 
 He laid it before the Privy Council, and stated that his 
 client, the Countess Gravenitz, was prepared to accept these 
 proposals, on the condition that Wirtemberg paid her a further 
 sum in compensation for her loss of honour, property, and 
 prospects. 
 
 The Privy Council fell into the trap. Anything to be 
 finally rid of the dangerous woman, done with the whole 
 noisome story. They had the example of Mompelgard before 
 them, and they, feared for Wirtemberg to be involved in a 
 similar tangle. 
 
THE SECOND MARRIAGE 203 
 
 Now Mompelgard, or Montb^liard, as the Erencli-speaking 
 court named it, was a small principality ruled by Eberhard 
 Ludwig's cousin, Duke Leopold Eberhard of Wirtemberg, a 
 liegeman of Louis xrv. of France, - and a man of strange 
 notions. He had been reared in the religion of Mahomet, and 
 with the faith he held the customs of Islam. Thus he had 
 married three women at once, legally, as he averred ; and in 
 any case, the three wives lived in splendour at Mompelgard's 
 castle. These ladies had had issue, and the succession to the 
 Mompelgard honours was complicated. 
 
 Naturally Stuttgart's Geheimrathe, with this cousinly 
 example in their minds, longed for the Gravenitz to renounce 
 all future claims upon the Dukedom of Wirtemberg, both for 
 herself and for any issue of her 'marriage' with Eberhard 
 Ludwig. 
 
 Thus when Schiitz conveyed her demand for money as a 
 condition to her renouncement, they listened to the pre- 
 posterous request,. and declared themselves ready to pay the 
 favourite compensation. Schiitz returned to Schaffhausen 
 with this news, and was immediately re-despatched to 
 Stuttgart with a demand for two hundred thousand gulden 
 as the price of her renouncement. 
 
 The Geheimrathe were aghast. Twenty thousand, nay, 
 even forty thousand, gulden they would pay, but two hundred 
 thousand ! This vast sum to be wrung out of the war- 
 impoverished land ! Impossible ! Besides, it was as much 
 as the marriage-portion of six princesses of Wirtemberg. 
 
 The Duke was approached. He retorted that the Countess 
 of Gravenitz was perfectly justified in any demand she chose 
 to make. The Duchess-mother arrived, and spoke, as usual, 
 plainly to her son ; but he had not forgotten how his mother 
 had dragged him, like a repentant school-child, from Urach to 
 be reconciled to Johanna Elizabetha. He owed the Duchess- 
 mother a grudge, and paid it by remaining firm concerning the 
 justice of Wilhelmine's claim. 
 
 The Privy Council offered her twenty thousand gulden. 
 Then forty thousand. Both sums were refused. ' Two 
 hundred thousand or nothing,' she answered. So the 
 negotiations were broken off. 
 
204 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Meanwhile, had the Geheimrathe but known it, the 
 ' Eevers ' had long been signed, sealed, and despatched to 
 Vienna. 
 
 Wilhelmine again sent Schlitz to Stuttgart with the 
 message that, as she had not been given just and fair com- 
 pensation, she would know how, at a future date, to wring out 
 from Wirtemberg a hundred times the modest sum refused 
 her. 
 
 The Geheimrathe, thinking their foe vanquished and the 
 affair at an end, laughed at this threat. They would have 
 trembled had they known that the Gravenitz had a plan, and 
 that their Duke was cognisant of the whole matter. 
 
 Wilhelmine, gazing at the waters of the Rhine with her 
 half-closed, serpent -like eyes, sought for some device which 
 should enable her to return to Stuttgart. In the first place, 
 she loved power; in the second, she loved Eberhard Ludwig; 
 in the third, she yearned to outwit her enemy Johanna 
 Elizabetha and her opposers generally. Then she longed once 
 more to defy the Duchess-mother, whom she, at the same 
 time, greatly dreaded. 
 
 By this you will see that Wilhelmine was no longer merely 
 the gay, charming, if scheming woman who had come to 
 Wirtemberg sixteen months before. She had developed. 
 Her extraordinary prosperity had poisoned her being. She 
 had grown hard. Could she not achieve the height of power 
 by one road, very well, she was ready to climb back by any 
 circuitous path she could find. Eor many days her ingenuity 
 and her searchings failed to show her any way back to 
 Stuttgart. It was the pretext for returning which she sought ; 
 once there she knew she could grasp power again, and this 
 time she intended to retain it. A chance speech of Madame 
 de Ruth's set her on the track. 
 
 ' Ah ! my dear, we have gone too far ; it is perilous to stand 
 on the top of the hill; better to remain near the summit, 
 indeed, but on some sheltered ledge whence we cannot be 
 toppled over. Had I had my way, you should have married 
 some high court -dignitary, and as his wife you could have 
 ruled undisturbed.' 
 
THE SECOND MARRIAGE 205 
 
 * Can the wife of a court dignitary not be forbidden the 
 court ? ' said Wilhelmine idly. 
 
 ' Naturally, my dear ! The Emperor cannot order an 
 official of a German state to remove his wife from the court 
 where he is employed.' 
 
 ' Only the prince's wedded wife can be exiled, then ? ' said 
 Wilhelmine sneeringly. 
 
 ' My dear ! we climbed too high, alas ! ' Madame de Euth 
 replied. 
 
 Her words had started Wilhelmine on a new track of 
 thought. Married to a courtier holding high office at court, 
 she could return and resume her career. But that would 
 declare her marriage with Eberhard Ludwig to be a farce, she 
 reflected. Still, if this were the only way ? In her mental 
 vision she reviewed each courtier, but she could find none 
 fitting for the position of husband in name. Schlitz perhaps ? 
 She laughed at the very idea. No ; the bridegroom must be a 
 man of much breeding and no morals. 
 
 She wrote to Schiitz requesting him to journey to Schaff- 
 hausen on important business. The attorney arrived, and 
 Wilhelmine observed how shabby was his coat, how rusty his 
 general appearance. He was again the pettifogging lawyer 
 in poor circumstances, and Wilhelmine reflected that he would 
 be all the more anxious to serve her in order to return to his 
 ill-gotten splendour at her illegitimate court. 
 
 Schiitz responded eagerly to her proposal. He acclaimed 
 her a marvel of intelligence, and assured her that in Vienna 
 'he would be able to find the very article — a ruined nobleman 
 ready to sell his name to any bidder. 
 
 On the day following Schiitz's advent at Schaffhausen, 
 Wilhelmine was surprised by a visit from her brother 
 Eriedrich, who arrived in a deeply injured mood. Since 
 Wilhelmine left Urach, he averred, he had been treated in a 
 manner all unfitting for an Oberhofmarshall, and the head of 
 the noble family of Gravenitz. Serenissimus had paid him 
 scant attention, and Stafforth had been reinstated as Hof- 
 marshall to the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha — a brand new 
 dignity, complained this Oberhofmarshall of a sham court. 
 He made himself mighty disagreeable to his sister, varying his 
 
206 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 behaviour by outbursts of despair and noisy self-pity, which 
 would have been laughable had they not been so loud, violent, 
 and disturbing. Wilhelmine informed him of her plan, and 
 after many expressions of disapproval, when she had made it 
 clear to him that it would be entirely to his advantage if she 
 succeeded in her design, he gave the ugly plan his brotherly 
 blessing and his sanction as head of the family. 
 
 Hereupon Schiitz returned to Vienna to seek a bridegroom. 
 In an astonishingly short time, he wrote that he had found 
 an admirably adapted person in the Count Joseph Maria 
 Aloysius Nepomuk von Wiirben, a gentleman of very old 
 lineage, and ex-owner of a dozen castles in Bohemia, alL of 
 which, however, had gradually been converted into gulden, and 
 the gold pieces, in their turn, had vanished into the recollec- 
 tion of many lost card games. This personage, owing to his 
 sad misfortunes, found himself at the age of sixty inhabiting a 
 garret in Vienna. 
 
 Schiitz wrote that he knew Monsieur le Comte well. They 
 met constantly at the eating-house. He further assured her that 
 Wiirben was a very pleasant companion. Wilhelmine replied 
 that it was profoundly indifferent to her whether her future 
 husband was an agreeable companion or not, as she intended 
 only to see him once — viz., at her own marriage, after which 
 ceremony he could follow his namesake St. Nepomuk into the 
 waves of the Moldau, for aught she cared ! It angered her 
 that Schiitz wrote concerning Wiirben, as though he were in 
 truth to be the companion of her life, and she winced under a 
 new note of familiarity which had crept into the attorney's 
 tone. 
 
 Friedrich Gravenitz, who had taken up his abode in 
 Wilhelmine's house at Schaffhausen, made matters worse by 
 what he conceived to be witty and subtle pleasantries. He 
 was never done with his allusions to * mon cher futur beau 
 frere k Vienne,' and he playfully called his sister ' la petite 
 fiancee.' 
 
 On a golden evening of late September, Wiirben, accom- 
 panied by Schtitz, arrived at Schaffhausen. Wilhelmine and 
 Madame de Ruth -saw the coach crawling up the steep incline 
 which led to the little castle that Zollern had given to the 
 
THE SECOND MAREIAGE 207 
 
 favourite. With difficulty Madame de Eutli had induced 
 Wilhelmine to offer her future husband one day's hospitality. ■ 
 The wedding was fixed for the morning after Wiirben's arrival, 
 and the bridegroom had agreed to return to Vienna immedi- 
 ately after the ceremony. 
 
 ' I have the honour to present to you Monsieur le Comte 
 de Wiirben ! ' said Schutz, as he ushered in the noble 
 Bohemian. Wiirben bowed to the ground, and Wilhelmine 
 and Madame de Euth bent in grand courtesies. 
 
 ' Delighted to see you, mon cher ! Welcome to our 
 family ! ' cried Friedrich Gravenitz ostentatiously, departing 
 entirely from the ceremonious code of those days, which 
 hardly permitted the nearest friends to greet each other 
 in this informal manner. But Friedrich Gravenitz prided 
 himself on his friendliness and geniality, and, like most 
 genial persons, he constantly floundered into tactlessness 
 and vulgarity. On this occasion his misplaced affability was 
 received with undisguised disapproval. Madame de Euth 
 tapped him on the arm with her fan ; Wilhelmine shot him a 
 furious, snake-like glance ; Wiirben himself looked surprised, 
 and merely responded with a bow to the effusive speech. 
 Schiitz, of course, was the only one to whom it appeared 
 natural, nay, correct. In his world geniality, translated into 
 jocoseness, was indispensable before, during, and after a 
 wedding — even at these scarcely usual nuptials ! 
 
 Now Wiirben came forward. ' Mademoiselle de Gravenitz,' 
 lie said, ' believe me, I am deeply sensible of the great honour 
 you will do me.' 
 
 ' Monsieur, I thank you,' began Wilhelmine ; but Friedrich 
 Gravenitz interposed pompously : 
 
 ' As the head of the family, Monsieur, I wish to express to 
 you my pleasure at the thought of my sister bearing your 
 ancient name.' 
 
 ' My name is much at Mademoiselle your sister's service,' 
 responded Wiirben ; and Madame de Euth surprised a covert 
 sneer on the old roue's lips. 
 
 ' Come, mes amis ! ' she cried, ' the travellers must be in 
 need of refreshment. Will you not repair to the guest- 
 chamber, gentlemen? and when you have removed the dust 
 
208 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 of travel from your clothes, we will partake of an early 
 supper/ 
 
 'Madame de Ruth, I will escort the gentlemen to their 
 apartments, if they wish it,' said Friedrich pompously, 
 opening his eyes wide in what he thought was a reproving 
 look, but in truth was only angrily foolish. 
 
 ' Thank you, Friedrich. I will tell you when I wish your 
 assistance,' said Wilhelmine calmly. ' Dear Madame de Ruth, 
 you are right. I think Baron Schtitz knows the way to the 
 guest-chamber ? or shall I tell my brother to summon a lackey? ' 
 Her tone was haughty to insolence. The irritation, the dis- 
 gust, the hatred of her odious though necessary plan, made her 
 mood evil. She was grateful to Wiirben for his silence, and 
 his fine, if somewhat contemptuous manner, and she bestowed 
 a smile on him as he passed out of the room. 
 
 A constrained silence fell on the remaining three. Wilhel- 
 mine leaned back in the chair into which she had sunk 
 directly Schtitz and Wiirben disappeared ; her elbows rested on 
 the chair-arms, and her fingers were pressed together at the 
 points in an attitude of fastidious, artificial prayer. Madame 
 de Ruth fanned herself slowly and watched Friedrich Grave- 
 nitz, who stood paring his nails with a small file he had 
 taken from his pocket. 
 
 ' I certainly do not like your way towards me, Wilhelmine,' 
 he broke forth, puf&ng out his fine torso. 'You show a spirit 
 which is not nice towards the head of your family ! I 
 think ' 
 
 'Dear Friedrich, if you could but realise that I do not 
 care what you think,' Wilhelmine interrupted icily. 
 
 ' And your manner was not kind to Wiirben — a nice man, 
 I like him ! ' said her brother in an almost ecstatic tone. 
 
 ' How fortunate ! ' she called after Friedrich's retreating 
 figure, as he strode across the room with such pompous haste 
 that the affairs of the whole Empire might have waited his 
 directions. 
 
 The two ladies smiled at one another wearily when he had 
 gone ; then, without honouring this self-sufficient person with 
 a word of comment, they fell to discussing Wiirben. This 
 Bohemian nobleman was not an altogether unpleasing person- 
 
THE SECOND MARRIAGE 209 
 
 ality. Of middle height, he had a stoop which caused him to 
 appear short ; it was not the stoop of the scholar, but that bend 
 which ill-health, caused by debauch, often gives to a com- 
 paratively young man. His face was' sallow, hollow beneath 
 the eyes, emaciated between chin and cheek-bone. The 
 brown eyes were feverishly bright and a trifle blood-shot. 
 The well- shaven mouth had loose, sensual lips, and the teeth 
 were large and discoloured. And yet one knew that this man, 
 repulsive though he had become, must have been a youth 
 of promise and some personal beauty ; and his manner be- 
 tokened the man of breeding, and one with knowledge of the 
 great world. His sneer at the unholy bargain he was about 
 to make told Madame de Euth that he was fully aware of 
 the degradation of it. An admirably adapted person for the 
 purpose, she reflected ; for, being ashamed of his bargain, he 
 would hide in Vienna, content so long as he had sufficient 
 money to risk at I'hombre and faro. This she and Wilhel- 
 mine discussed while SchUtz and Wiirben were upstairs 
 removing their dusty garments. 
 
 Suddenly Friedrich Gravenitz burst into the room. 'His 
 Highness has just ridden up to the door ! This is really most 
 inconvenient, most difficult for me.' He spoke loudly. 
 
 * Hush ! be careful ! Wiirben must not hear/ implored 
 Madame de Euth, while Wilhelmine sprang up. She 
 breathed in laboured gasps, her eyes fixed wildly on her 
 brother. 
 
 ' His Highness ? You are mad, Friedrich ! or is this some 
 absurd plot against me ? ' She turned on her brother fiercely. 
 ' Is this some foolishness you have arranged ? ' 
 
 ' It has nothing to do with me. I am never consulted,' he 
 began ; but his further utterance, was cut short, for Eberhard 
 Ludwig entered unannounced. 
 
 ' Leave us together,' he said shortly. ' Eor God's sake, 
 Madame de Euth, manage that I may speak with her undis- 
 turbed.' Madame de Euth hurried Friedrich Gravenitz away 
 with scant ceremony. 
 
 ' My beloved ! oh, to see you again !' Serenissimus clasped 
 her to him. ' Tell me you are mine, as you were at Urach ! 
 Am I in time to hinder this terrible sacrilege ? ' 
 
210 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 She told him that the marriage had not yet taken place, 
 that it was for the morrow. 
 
 ' It cannot be ; you are my wife by the laws of God and 
 man ! I cannot suffer you to be called the wife of another. 
 Tell me that you will not do this thing. Wilhelmine, my 
 
 beloved, you cannot — you cannot ' He held her hand in 
 
 his, speaking rapidly, indistinctly. 
 
 ' There is no other way,' she said sadly. 
 
 ' But it is not possible ! You cannot, it is a shameful thing. 
 I forbid you to do it. I will never leave you again. My son 
 may reign at Stuttgart. See, beloved, we will live here to- 
 gether — live out our days in peace and love. It shall be a 
 poem, an idyll — far from all interruptions, far from intrigues ! ' 
 
 He looked into her face with shining eyes, but he found there 
 no answering spark of enthusiasm. Dropping her hand he 
 turned away. She was aghast. True, she loved Eberhard 
 Ludwig, but she realised at that moment how much more 
 potent was her love of splendour and power. What ! to 
 drag out her life at Schaffhausen — even with him at her side ? 
 !N"o, it was impossible. 
 
 ' Eberhard,- be reasonable. This marriage is no marriage, 
 it is simply the purchase of a name. You know well enough 
 the conditions which are accepted by Wurben. Twenty 
 thousand gulden on the day of our contract, twelve thousand 
 gulden a year for his life. Various fine titles and court 
 charges, provided he undertakes never to appear in Stuttgart, 
 never to claim his marriage rights ! He is to sign this 
 document in the presence of the lawyers to-morrow before 
 our ' she hesitated, ' before our marriage.' 
 
 ' But you will vow before God to love and obey this man ; 
 you will give him your hand and kneel with him in prayer. 
 Something of the sanctity of our true vows will be filched 
 away. Sacred you are to me for ever, but oh ! this will be 
 desecration ! you cannot, you must not ' he moaned. 
 
 ' You knew this before. You knew and approved, and now 
 you hinder the completion of the only plan by which I can 
 return to you. You cannot give up your Dukedom, you can- 
 not leave Stuttgart, and we cannot live apart.' She spoke 
 harshly. . . 
 
THE SECOND MARRIAGE 211 
 
 ' But is Stuttgart so mucli to you ? Wilhelmine, do you 
 love me only as Duke of Wirtemberg ? ' His eyes were 
 full of tears. ' Alas ! I am the most miserable of men/ 
 
 ' Eberhard, heart of my life, look in my face and see if I 
 love you ! But because I love you I dare not take you away 
 from your great position, from your ambition/ 
 
 ' Ambition,' he broke in, ' ambition ! I am ready to 
 renounce everything ' 
 
 ' Will you let yourself sink into a mooning poet, my hero 
 of great battles ? No ! you shall go back, dear love — back to 
 your grand, soldier's life ! See, I will stay here and dream 
 of you, if you will not let me take the only path back to 
 Wirtemberg. You shall write to me, sometimes send me a 
 poem, a jewel perhaps — but we shall be parted ! Eberhard !' 
 She sighed deeply, but her strange, hard eyes watched him 
 narrowly. He turned away his face. She saw that her 
 reminder of his military ambition had succeeded as she 
 expected. 
 
 ' You are right. Alas ! this horrible degradation, this mas= 
 querading before God — and yet it is the only way/ 
 
 Her arms stole round him. Against his cheek he felt her 
 smooth skin, her warm lips sought his. 
 
 'I love you, only you,' she whispered. * In a few days I 
 follow you to Stuttgart. Come to me ! ' 
 
 He flung her from him almost roughly. 
 
 ' Not now ! God in heaven ! not now ! Can you dream that 
 at such a time I could ? It would make the hideous bargain 
 you contemplate to-morrow one degree more vile.' He turned 
 from her and fled. In a moment she heard the clatter of his 
 horse's hoofs in the courtyard. 
 
CHAPTEE XV 
 
 THE EETUEN 
 
 A TKAVELLING coach and six horses thundered into Stuttgart, 
 driven at a hand gallop, and raised clouds of white dust as 
 it passed down the Graben. An escort of Silver Guards rode 
 with this coach. One of the soldiers' horses knocked over a 
 child playing in the roadway, but the cavalcade passed on 
 unheeding, leaving the little crushed figure lying limp and still 
 in the dust. 
 
 The coach drew up at the Jagerhaus, where the doors 
 stood wide open, disclosing a company of servants drawn up 
 in solemn line. Two sentries were posted at either side 
 of the entrance. A black-clad major-domo bowed on the 
 threshold, while half a dozen lackeys sprang forward to receive 
 the tall woman who was slowly descending from the coach. 
 Madame la Comtesse de Wtirben, her Excellency the Land- 
 hofmeisterin of Wirtemberg, Countess Gravenitz, had arrived 
 at Stuttgart to attend to the duties connected with her invalid 
 husband's court charge. 
 
 This exalted lady was the first personage of the court 
 after the reigning Duchess, and his Highness had offered her 
 apartments in the castle, but these were refused, her Excel- 
 lency preferring to occupy an independent residence. 
 
 Thus it fell out that Wilhelmine returned to the Jagerhaus 
 towards the end of September, some four months after she 
 had fled from Urach, and a few days since the mock marriage 
 with Wtirben, ' ce cher ISTepomuk, mon mari,' as she ironically 
 named him to Madame de Euth. 
 
 There had been grievous storms at Stuttgart during the 
 days succeeding his Highness's return from hunting in the 
 Schonbuch, that' .shooting expedition which had been but a 
 pretext to leave Stuttgart and hurry to Schaffhausen, in order 
 
 212 
 
THE RETURN 213 
 
 to hinder the celebration of the ceremony of Wilhel mine's 
 
 marriage. 
 
 Serenissimus returned in a mood which would brook no 
 contradiction. He announced to the Geheimrathe, and to the 
 court, that it was his pleasure to revive the ancient office of 
 Landhofmeister, and that he had conferred this, the highest 
 charge of his court, upon a Bohemian nobleman of the name 
 of Wurben, but that this gentleman being seriously indisposed, 
 his lady- wife had undertaken to fulfil the various duties of 
 Landhofmeisterin, and would reside at the Jagerhaus. Private 
 information came to the astonished Geheimrathe that this 
 new evil was but the old poison with a new label ; that this 
 Countess Wurben was the hated Gravenitzin. Bitterly they 
 regretted their refusal of the two hundred thousand gulden, 
 but it was too late now. 
 
 To Johanna Elizabetha this announcement was made by 
 his Highness in person and with cruel frankness. She was 
 told that she had refused a life of ease and peace, leaving 
 his Highness to enjoy a happiness which she herself could 
 never have provided, and that he took this way to save him- 
 self from despair, for without Wilhelmine he would not, nay, 
 could not, live. 
 
 ' You must abide by this, Madame, and if you are peaceably 
 disposed, and behave with becoming consideration to her 
 Excellency the Landhofmeisterin, it will be possible for you 
 to remain in Stuttgart,' he told her. 
 
 Her Highness made no reply to this surprising speech, but 
 immediately wrote to Stetten, imploring the Duchess-mother 
 to come and put order into the family affairs. The dear 
 lady arrived in high dudgeon, and according to her custom 
 stated her opinion to Eberhard Ludwig in words he could 
 not misunderstand. But in vain, and it was a very 
 crestfallen, angry old lady who drove back through the fields 
 to Stetten. • - 
 
 The court was in a quandary, in comparison to which the 
 former perplexities in regard to the Gravenitzin were mere 
 bagatelles. If they refused to go to court festivities where 
 the Landhofmeisterin, after the Duchess, held the first rank, 
 they would risk being excluded from court perhaps for years 
 
214 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Again, who knew how soon the favourite might fall into 
 disgrace, or be banished once more by some unexpected event ? 
 There was much talk and fervid declarations of noble senti- 
 ments, loyalty to the Duchess, love of purity, and the rest ; 
 but when Wilhelmine invited the entire court to visit her at 
 the Jagerhaus, on the occasion of a grand evening rout, it was 
 noticeable that those few who did not appear sent copious 
 excuses, pretending illness, and adding almost medical descrip- 
 tions of their ailments, so anxious were they that Wilhelmine 
 should believe them to be really indisposed ! Already it was 
 considered dangerous to offend the Gravenitzin, as they still 
 called the Countess of Wiirben, her Excellency the Lan'dhof- 
 meisterin, but to her face she was ' your Excellency,' and 
 they paid her great court. 
 
 N"aturally the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha held aloof, but 
 she knew she must one day meet her rival face to face, one 
 day take part in a court festivity where the woman would be 
 only second in formal rank, in reality the first in the estima- 
 tion of all. 
 
 The winter days grew short and dark, and Christmas 
 approached. . Christmas rejoicings with this sinful woman 
 queening it at masque and dance ! Even from informal family 
 gatherings the Landhofmeisterin, as first lady in the land, 
 could not be excluded. 
 
 ' Dear and honoured Madame my Mother,' Johanna Eliza- 
 betha wrote, ' I have to meet this woman again. Let the first 
 encounter not be before the world. I will invite her to our 
 Christmas tree. Come you too, dear Madame my Mother, 
 even if there is snow on the ground, to help your unhappy 
 daughter, Johanna Elizabetha/ Thus she wrote to the 
 formidable dame at Stetten. 
 
 It must be conceded that for the favourite this family 
 gathering to which she was bidden presented disagreeable 
 prospects of extreme difficulty, and she craved Eberhard Ludwig 
 to permit her to decline the honour, but Serenissimus implored 
 her to consent. It would be unwise to rebuff the Duchess's 
 overture, and after all, possibly it was her Highness's 
 intention to live peaceably with her husband's mistress. 
 Other ladies had done so. He quoted history and recent 
 
THE RETURN 215 
 
 events : Louis xiv., Louise de la Valliere, and Marie Th^rese 
 of France, and so on. Also he represented to her that the 
 first meeting with Johanna Elizabetha would be a trifle 
 awkward with the whole court agape^ so perhaps this private 
 family gathering was an excellent opportunity; besides, as 
 Landhofmeisterin, it was correct she should be included in 
 the Petit Cercle. 
 
 She mocked at the homely custom of the Christmas tree, 
 calling it unfitting for a grand seigneur's household to indulge 
 in such old-fashioned peasant-like rejoicings. 
 
 ' Can you dream of such a festivity at Versailles ? ' she 
 asked, laughing. 
 
 He told her that his mother clung to the habit. It was an 
 ancient German custom thus to celebrate the Birth of Christ. 
 
 ' I love the notion, too, that in all my villages the peasants 
 can have the same as I have, for once, poor souls ! ' he added 
 simply. 
 
 Eberhard, you are ridiculous ! — yes, a ridiculous poet- 
 fellow. But I will come to your peasant celebration, if it 
 pleases you.' She was touched by this gentle saying of his. 
 
 And thus it fell out that on Christmas eve Wilhelmine ordered 
 her coach to convey her to the castle. She drove through the 
 snow in no happy frame of mind. Christmas trees and the 
 favourite ! — could anything be more incongruous ? and she 
 knew it. Angrily she sneered at the simple homeliness of 
 the old German custom. Peasants could do these absurdities, 
 but the Duchess of Wirtemberg ? 
 
 In the long room where the madrigals had been sung on 
 that well-remembered evening when Wilhelmine was installed 
 lady-in-waiting to her Highness, a tall fir-tree was planted 
 in a gilded barrel. A thousand' twinkling lights burned on 
 the branches, and little trinkets dangled temptingly. Over- 
 head, on the topmost branch, the waxen Christmas angel with 
 tinsel wings hovered over this family gathering. Symbol of 
 peace and goodwill, this angel would look down pitifully on 
 the men and women round the Christmas tree, whose hearts 
 were full of bitterness, of envy and hatred ! Lackeys were 
 fastening candles on to the branches, and Johanna Elizabetha 
 
216 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 and Madame de Staffortli were hanging up trinkets and play- 
 things for the Erbprinz. 
 
 The Duchess-mother entered. She glanced round the room. 
 * Has the enemy not arrived ? ' she said humorously. 
 
 Johanna Elizabetha sighed. 
 
 ' No, she has not come yet. It is hard she should spoil our 
 Christmas Eve ; but it is better than meeting her for the first 
 time as Landhofmeisterin with all her friends to stare at me.' 
 
 ' She will not enjoy her evening, my dear/ returned the 
 Duchess-mother, with a grim smile. 
 
 At this moment Eberhard Ludwig entered, leading the 
 Erbprinz by the hand. He sometimes endeavoured to be a 
 kind father, but it was no easy matter for him. The Duchess- 
 mother's face softened as she greeted her son, and bent to 
 kiss the little boy, who scarcely responded to the old lady's 
 embrace. His shining, excited eyes were fixed upon the 
 Christmas tree, and snatching his hand from the Duke's grasp, 
 he began to dance round in frantic childish rapture. Johanna 
 Elizabetha forgot her troubles watching her son's joy, and she 
 commenced cutting off the playthings for him. 
 
 ' It were fitting to await our guest's arrival, Madame, before 
 you strip the tree,' said the Duke coldly. 
 
 'Nonsense!' interrupted the Duchess - mother, 'surely 
 Elizabetha can give her child the playthings if she wishes to ? ' 
 
 * Her Excellency the Landhofmeisterin ! ' announced a page, 
 throwing open the door, and Wilhelmine appeared on the 
 threshold. 
 
 His Highness hurried forward to greet her, while Johanna 
 Elizabetha instinctively drew nearer to the Duchess-mother, 
 catchiDg the Erbprinz by the arm. 
 
 Wilhelmine bent low in an elaborate courtesy. Her Highness 
 held out her hand shyly for her rival to kiss. The Duchess- 
 mother watched the comedy for an instant, then turning to 
 the Duke who stood behind Wilhelmine, nervously fingering 
 his rapier-hilt, she said : 
 
 ' Serenissimus will have the kindness to present to 
 me the Landhofmeisterin, as I have not the pleasure to 
 know her.' 
 
 * Madame, my mother permits me — This is Madame la 
 
THE RETURN 217 
 
 Comtesse de Wnrben, Landliofmeisterin/ lie stammered, and 
 the Duchess-motlier threw him a contemptuous glance. 
 
 ' Ah, Madame de Wurben ! how sad it must be for you to 
 be obliged to leave your husband in Bohemia,* she said. ' Have 
 you good news of him now ? I am so interested in illness. 
 Tell me exactly what ails poor Count Wurben.' 
 
 Wilhelmine stared at this formidable dame in consternation. 
 Wiirben's fictitious ailments were difficult to name. 
 
 ' He suffered — from — from — smallpox some years ago, your 
 Highness, and has never recovered his health,' she said haltingly. 
 
 * Ah ! smallpox ; yes, indeed, a terrible malady, and but too 
 common. Did your husband contract it at the same time 
 as you did, Madame ? I see you must have been a great 
 sufferer,' said the Duchess-mother, fixing her sharp brown 
 eyes on the few hardly distinguishable pockmarks on Wilhel- 
 mine's face. The favourite flushed. 
 
 ' I was not married to Monsieur de Wurben at that time, 
 your Highness,' she. answered. 
 
 ' Oh, indeed ! Madame, forgive me ; I did not know how 
 long you had been married. Have you any children, Madame 
 de Wurben ? No ? Ah, a sad pity ! The little ones would 
 doubtless have been a consolation to you while you are forced 
 to be absent from your husband ; but perhaps we may have the 
 pleasure of seeing Monsieur de Wiirben in Stuttgart before long?' 
 
 ' I do not know, your Highness,' said Wilhelmine shortly. 
 Each word the Duchess-mother spoke cut her to the quick, 
 and she hated the tall, gaunt old lady as even she had never 
 hated before. 
 
 'Well, I hope for you sake, Madame, your husband will be 
 able to reside here soon. It is hard for a young woman 
 to be alone. And besides, really you should pray for a son 
 to succeed to the Wiirben family honours. I used to know 
 a Count Wiirben at Vienna many years ago. A Count 
 Nepomuk Wurben — ' Nepi,' they called him — perhaps an uncle 
 of your husband's ? ' 
 
 'That is my husband's name, your Highness,' replied 
 Wilhelmine in a toneless voice. 
 
 ' Impossible ! Why, the man I mean will be sixty years old 
 by now, and he disgraced himself and squandered a fortune. 
 
218 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 No ; that man cannot be your husband, dear Madame I I 
 heard he had made a fearful marriage — some adventuress who 
 had amassed money and wished for an old and honourable 
 name. It interests me much ; pray ask your husband if that 
 Wiirben was a cousin of his. A disagreeable subject though, 
 for, of course, no nobleman would care to own so vile a 
 person as cousin.' 
 
 Wilhelmine threw up her head proudly. ' Your Highness, 
 Count Nepomuk Wiirben is my husband, and I must request 
 you not to criticise him in my presence.' 
 
 Her spirit pleased the Duchess-mother, who replied in a 
 different tone : ' That then, Madame, is your misfortune. - We 
 will not mention it again.' 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig during this painful scene stood in. 
 embarrassed, angry silence. He durst not interfere, for know- 
 ing his mother's character, he was well aware that any inter- 
 vention on his part would only draw down upon Wilhelmine 
 a flood of free-spoken remarks. 
 
 Meanwhile the other members of her Highness's intimate 
 circle had entered from a small withdrawing- room, leading out 
 of the larger apartment. 
 
 The Stafforths, Madame de Gemmingen, a young gentleman 
 of the household, Monsieur de Eoder, and the Erbprinz's 
 governor. Monsieur le Baron de Walchingen, his tutor, and 
 various other unimportant persons. The Duke's mother and 
 Wilhelmine stood together in the centre of this group. The 
 older woman wore the sombre garb of a widow's mourning, 
 which she had never put off since Duke Wilhelm Ludwig's 
 death thirty years ago. 
 
 Wilhelmine was dressed, as usual, in delicate yellow 
 brocade with profusely powdered hair and flashing jewels. 
 They made a striking contrast — sober sadness and old age, 
 radiant youth and brilliant, lavish joy. And near by 
 was Johanna Elizabetha, clad in dull, unnoticeable garments 
 of grey blue silk. To Eberhard Ludwig the group was 
 symbolic of his life's history, and he sighed heavily as he 
 turned to greet Madame de Stafforth. 
 
 The Erbprinz, attracted by Wilhelmine's beautiful face 
 and bright clothe^i had begged a paper flower from the 
 
THE RETURN 219 
 
 Christmas tree and offered it to her. Partly because she 
 loved to tease children, partly because the child's talk 
 made a diversion from the Duchess-mother's acid remarks, 
 Wilhelmine began bantering with - the little boy, telling 
 him the wildest tales, witty absurdities, sheer delightful 
 fooling. The Erbprinz, accustomed to Johanna Elizabetha's 
 prim stories always adorned with obvious moral endings, 
 acclaimed Wilhelmine's phantasies with enthusiastic cries, 
 begging her to tell him more. He was fascinated, half-afraid, 
 puzzled, excited. Johanna Elizabetha watched this pair 
 with jealous, disapproving eyes, and several times called the 
 child away; but he shook his head, and holding on to 
 Wilhelmine^s gown looked up into her face in rapturous 
 enjoyment and admiration of this beautiful new being and her 
 wonderful stories. At length her Highness could bear it no 
 longer. She approached the strangely assorted couple, and 
 drawing the Erbprinz to her she tried to fix his attention upon 
 the burning candles and glittering toys on the tree. But the 
 boy pushed her from him ; he wanted to hear the lovely lady's 
 stories ; they were much finer than any his mother ever told 
 him, he said. Johanna Elizabetha could stay and listen too, 
 if she liked, but she must not interrupt, he commanded. He 
 struggled from his mother's encircling arm and, drawing near 
 the favourite, he leaned his head against her, nestling close. 
 Wilhelmine, really touched by the child's confiding ways, bent 
 down to him and slipped her arm round his shoulders. 
 
 At this moment the Duchess-mother turning, saw the 
 unexpected sight of her grandson in the embrace of the 
 Gravenitz. She looked at them with stern disapproval. The 
 Erbprinz lifted his hand and stroked Wilhelmine's face. This 
 was too much for Johanna Elizabetha. She sprang forward 
 like a tigress defending her young, and snatched the boy away 
 from Wilhelmine. Immediately the delicate, over- excitable 
 child set up a wailing cry ; he wanted to stay with the lovely 
 lady who told such diverting stories, he said. Johanna 
 Elizabetha in vain endeavoured to soothe him. Now the 
 Duchess-mother bore down on the group and commenced rating 
 the child for his disobedience. Johanna Elizabetha, emboldened 
 by the old lady's approach, turned fiercely upon Wilhelmine. 
 
220 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' You have frightened my boy with your horrible stories ! * 
 she cried, and dragged the wailing Erbprinz towards the 
 door ; but he resisted manfully, crying that he would stay with 
 the lovely lady. His granddame caught him, and bestowed 
 a ringing box on his ear. The child raised a very tempest of 
 sobs, and flinging off his mother's arm, fled howling towards 
 Wilhelmine. Johanna Elizabetha, beyond herself with anger 
 and disgust, horrified at the notion of the child being brought 
 into contact with the woman she regarded as debased, rushed 
 forward and, pulling the child violently away, she cried wildly — 
 
 ' Do not touch her ; it is not fitting ! * 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig, who had been conscientiously conversing 
 with the few guests, hurried up. 
 
 * What is this ? ' he asked angrily. ' Madame, why does 
 your son howl like a beggar's brat ? ' 
 
 The Duchess-mother came forward. 'A sorry spectacle, 
 indeed,' she said grimly. 'The Landhofmeisterin, not being 
 used to children, has frightened the Erbprinz.' 
 
 ' Monseigneur,' broke in Wilhelmine, white to the lips, 
 ' I crave permission to depart at once. I am not well.' 
 
 ' Not well, Madame ? ' cried the Duke in an anxious tone ; 
 ' let me escort you immediately to your coach.' . 
 
 Wilhelmine bowed to the two Duchesses, but her salute 
 remained unacknowledged. 
 
 A petty social annoyance, a commonplace occurrence of 
 disagreeable import, a moment's pique, have often brought 
 about historic changes, the real cause whereof lies deep 
 in the secret working of men's hearts and can only be 
 understood by each one to himself. Thus in Wirtemberg's 
 eighteenth-century record, the homely, unpleasant, trifling 
 scene on Christmas Eve wrought a change in the history, 
 destined to influence the affairs of the country for many 
 years. 
 
 The Gravenitz returned to the Jagerhaus profoundly 
 humiliated, deeply wounded. The Duchess-mother's remarks 
 had been embarrassing and painful; each word as a finger 
 of scorn pointed at that disgraceful bargain with Wiirben, 
 at the recollection whereof Wilhelmine winced. But when 
 Johanna Elizabetha snatched the Erbprinz away from her as 
 
THE RETURN 221 
 
 though her very touch was contamination for the child, her 
 whole being had shuddered with the ignominy. She knew herself, 
 to be accounted vile, one of the outcasts from whose proximity 
 every virtuous woman must shrink and instinctively seek to 
 protect all she loves, all she esteems pure. There is a terrible 
 anguish to the outcast woman in this withdrawal from her 
 of a child. Suddenly, she learns to measure her shame with 
 a new gauge : by the lofty instinct of a mother's reverence 
 for her child's fair innocence. Then the pariah realises that 
 she is thrust beyond the pale of human purity. She has 
 chosen the black mud of vice as her portion, and her presence 
 reeks ; she is tainted, and may not approach the pure. 
 
 If in the stillness of that Christmas night Wilhelmine, 
 realising this, agonised, as countless women have realised and 
 suffered, the next morning she showed no sign of the night's 
 anguish. Unless her mood of unrelenting decision was the 
 outcome thereof. 
 
 She had decided to present to Eberhard Ludwig two alterna- 
 tives : either Johanna Elizabetha must retire to a dower-house, 
 leaving the favourite mistress of Stuttgart, or the court of 
 Wirtemberg must follow their Duke and the Landhofmeisterin 
 to Ttibingen, Urach, or wherever it suited her to direct, leaving 
 the Duchess in a mournful, deserted Stuttgart. 
 
 In any case, it must be provided that no possibility should 
 exist of an humiliation such as she had suffered on the 
 preceding evening. And as she intended to remain at the 
 head of Wirtemberg's court, it was imperative Johanna Eliza- 
 betha should be removed. Murder no longer being politic — 
 the Emperor had frightened the Gravenitz off that track — 
 it remained to devise some other scheme whereby the Duchess 
 could be rendered unobnoxious. 
 
 Upon Eberhard Ludwig's arrival at the Jagerhaus, he was 
 immediately informed of his mistress's decision. Again a 
 small event precipitated the formation of an important ■ plan. 
 Johanna Elizabetha had wept incessantly during the Christmas 
 Eve supper, and the Duchess-mother's sharp tongue had 
 rasped the Duke's irritable nerves till he had lost control of 
 his temper and had roughly bidden his wife and mother to 
 leave him in peace. There had followed a painful scene. Thus 
 
222 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 his Highness was well disposed towards any scheme which 
 would release him from his inharmonious family circle. Yet 
 he hesitated to acquiesce in the daring project of the entire 
 removal from Stuttgart of court and government. Wirtemberg 
 had been governed at Stuttgart, and the chief ducal residence 
 had been there since the twelfth century. As to Johanna 
 Elizabetha's retirement to a dower-house he reminded 
 Wilhelmine that the proposal had been made, and that the 
 Duchess's answer was decisive : so long as she did not mourn 
 her husband's death she would remain in residence at Stutt- 
 gart's castle. The Duke added that he had no power to force 
 her to leave. 
 
 Serenissimus and the Landhofmeisterin were together in 
 the famous yellow damask room of the J'agerhaus. The 
 blue-tiled stove radiated a pleasant warmth, and from the 
 windows the lovers could see the snow-covered Graben, 
 the main thoroughfare of the town. The cheerful jingle of 
 sleigh-bells rang out as the peasants' sledges glided over 
 the snow. The Christmas Day service in the Leonards Kirche 
 had ended, and the traditional dole of silver pieces had been 
 distributed in the Duke's name, an old custom of mediaeval 
 times. 
 
 It was one of those absolutely still winter mornings, so 
 fraught with peace, so purified by the great white silence of 
 snow. Something of the artificial elegance, the stilted for- 
 mality of the eighteenth century with its scrupulous apeing 
 of French airs, mannerisms, and vices, seemed to fall from the 
 lovers in the Jagerhaus, and for an hour they dreamed of 
 simple natural homely peace. Alas ! their dream was of such 
 a life together. Like most dreams it was based on an 
 impossibility. 
 
 A peasant couple in a sledge passed the window. The 
 man, a sturdy, thick-set figure in the Wirtemberg peasant's 
 short, well-fitting, dark-blue coat, adorned with rows of round 
 knob silver buttons. He wore a peaked fur cap drawn down 
 over the ears. The woman was in a thick blue frieze cape 
 and elaborate Sunday headdress. She had slipped her hand 
 through her husband's arm and they were talking gaily 
 together. Eberhard Ludwig pointed towards them and a 
 sigh escaped his lips. 
 
THE KETURN 223 
 
 ' There is the peace of two loving hearts. They are happier 
 than we, for their love is duty, their duty love,' he said sadly. 
 
 'Alas!' she answered; but she knew that for her such 
 peace was not, and that she would not have wished for it ; yet 
 a regret smote her, a yearning to be all she was not. And 
 with this pang came the bitter recollection of her painful 
 humiliation. Her face hardened. ' That happiness is only 
 possible in the protection of the strong,' she said. ' Do you 
 think yonder peasant would suffer his beloved to be scorned, 
 to be insulted ? The Duke of Wirtemberg alone cannot protect 
 the woman he loves.' 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig drew back from her. 
 
 * How cruel you are, dear heart,' he said, and a great sadness 
 lay in his voice. She told him that the truth was often cruel to 
 hear ; that she but spoke these things because he let himself 
 drift into weak conniving at the intrigues of Johanna Elizabetha. 
 Then she recounted the petty spite and the thousand taunts 
 to which she was subjected. She painted Stuttgart in sombre 
 colours, the dullness, the stiffness. Why should Wirtemberg 
 be the least brilliant, least gay, of all the German courts ? 
 She talked of Berlin and the splendours of the newly made 
 King Frederick l. Of Dresden with the Elector-King of 
 Poland, Augustus the Strong ; of his splendid residence, the 
 Zwinger, which, like an enchanted palace, had been built in 
 so short a span, and to whose marvels each day was added a 
 wonderful chamber, a gilded dome, or a fair work of art. 
 
 Why should not peace and happiness reign in Wirtemberg 
 with splendour and gaiety ? Why should not a gracious 
 palace rise to rival even the glories of Versailles ? She drew 
 the picture with sure strokes, each word an added colour in 
 the vision of a life of tranquil yet brilliant ease and distin- 
 guished magnificence. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig, caught by the flame of her eloquence, 
 flared into enthusiasm, and they fell to discussing which town 
 or castle should be the chosen spot for their new court. 
 Urach, Tubingen, Wildbad, all were reviewed. They spoke 
 no longer of whether the great flitting should take place ; it 
 was now merely a question of where and how it should be 
 accomplished. From which it may be seen that Wilhelmine, 
 as usual, had won the day. 
 
CHAPTEE XVI 
 
 LUDWIGSBUEG 
 
 * And pile him a palace straight, to pleasure the Princess he loved.* 
 
 Abt Vogler. 
 
 Five leagues nortli of Stuttgart, in the heart of the forest, 
 stood the small hunting castle, the Erlachhof, whither 
 Eberhard Ludwig often fled from the world and for many 
 peaceful days lived the life of hunter. In these woods he 
 wandered in early spring, here on summer nights he had slept 
 beneath the trees, dreaming the dreams of his poet nature. 
 
 The Erlachhof had been greatly rebuilt, his Highness 
 having commanded many alterations and improvements in 
 the old castle. Since the year 1704 the various works had 
 progressed right well. The gardens were already famous far 
 and wide, and all Europe had added to their wealth : tulips 
 from Holland, carnations and roses from France, oleanders 
 and passion-flowers from Italy, while Spain had furnished 
 orange-trees and myrtles. And here it was that Wilhelmine 
 decided the great palace should be built. 
 
 The Erlachhof, from a gentle, simple, old-world German 
 maiden, was to be transformed into a queen among palaces. 
 Thus the daring favourite willed it : a princely pleasure-house 
 to rival Versailles. 
 
 The Italian architect Erisoni was called. An artist of no 
 mean merit, and pupil of Jules Hardouin Mansard, the chief 
 architect of Versailles, where Erisoni had worked at the plans 
 together with his master. The Italian arrived : a small, dapper 
 man, ridiculous in his huge powdered wig, his little brown 
 monkey face peering out of the curled white locks. Her 
 Excellency desired a palace on the same model as the fine 
 Erench palazzo ? Nothing easier ! No ? An original design, 
 then, but of that style ? Ah ! more facile still ! Cost ? A 
 trifle to so noble -and magnificent a prince as Monseigneur 
 
 224 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 225 
 
 Altissimo the Duke of Wirtemberg. One almost expected 
 the vast structure to rise from the ground in a night, so easy, 
 did it seem from the man's account ! 
 
 The German gentlemen employed at the Erlachhof were 
 deposed from power, and their dominion given over to Frisoni. 
 ISTever was there such a stir in Wirtemberg. All the quarries 
 rendered stone. Each village sent its most skilled work- 
 men, and Frisoni despatched messengers to Italy to summon 
 all the disengaged talent to the tremendous enterprise. In 
 swarms they arrived — black-browed, olive-skinned, chattering 
 like apes. And the little monkey in the flowing white 
 peruke took direction. But first, the spiritual needs of the 
 workmen must be considered ; and the Gravenitz, raging with 
 impatience in Stuttgart, was forced to look on while a 
 Catholic chapel was built near the Erlachhof, ere ever the 
 palace was begun. 
 
 The Wirtemberg workmen murmured, grumbled, finally 
 mutinied. They would not work with chattering idolaters. 
 
 ' Let them go, the German louts,* said Frisoni ; ' I have 
 better workmen in Italy.' So a new army arrived. 
 
 ' Popery in our midst ! The witch is bringing back Anti- 
 christ to Wirtemberg ! ' said Stuttgart. 
 
 The Geheimrathe informed Serenissimus that Frisoni's 
 monetary demands were excessive. Forstner was despatched 
 to look into the affair. He was appointed Grand Master of 
 the works. Frisoni raged. The gulden had a way of flowing 
 into Forstner's pocket, and, so Frisoni vowed, but few came 
 out again. 
 
 Constantly the Duke and the Landhofmeisterin thundered 
 up to the Erlachhof in their coach and six. Three times a 
 week the favourite flew into a passion and rated Forstner for 
 the tardiness of the building. He referred her to Frisoni, 
 who referred her back to the Grand Master of the works. 
 The plans were completed, the men worked hard, yet delays 
 were frequent, he owned ; but the builders, knowing them- 
 selves worthy of their hire, struck work when they went 
 unpaid. 
 
 ' Unpaid ? ' roared the Duke ; ' when I have disbursed four 
 hundred thousand gulden ? ' 
 
226 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' Look into the matter, your Highness, and you will know, 
 answered the architect. 
 
 Porstner was arraigned at Stuttgart. He arrived, accom- 
 panied by a secretary and several big ledgers. The accounts 
 seemed in order, certainly. 
 
 * Justice ! ' implored poor Forstner, ' for my honour as a 
 gentleman ! * 
 
 ' Ask the workmen ! ' shrieked Prisoni, and they summoned 
 a deputation of the Italian stone-cutters. They swore they 
 had not been paid for months. The Madonna and all the 
 saints knew how they starved. 
 
 * Where is the money ? ' asked the perplexed Duke, and 
 was answered by so many contending truths from each side 
 that he could but be aware that some one, many, or all 
 parties were lying. 
 
 Obviously some one must be removed in order to simplify 
 this tangle, but who ? ' Who is guilty ? ' mourned Serenis- 
 simus. The Landhofmeisterin's argument was clear enough : 
 ' We cannot waste time in seeking the criminal. Some one has 
 to disappear from the scene ; exit therefore the least useful ! 
 Probably Prisoni lies, but he is an admirable architect. 
 Surely the Italian workmen lie ; they do not look like starving 
 creatures, but they are wonderful masons. Porstner is of no 
 use to me; on the contrary, he incommodes me with his 
 virtuous reasonings. Therefore, exit Porstner ! ' 
 
 ' My honour is wounded, I will depart ! ' wailed this estim- 
 able personage; and he forthwith craved Eberhard Ludwig's 
 permission to leave Wirtemberg. 
 
 ' God speed you hence ! ' cried the Landhofmeisterin ; 
 and Porstner departed, thinking he went of his own free 
 will. 
 
 ' My four hundred thousand gulden ! ' bewailed Serenis- 
 simus. 
 
 ' Procure more from the Geheimrathe, and refuse to pay 
 arrears to the workmen,' counselled Wilhelmine. Which 
 course being adopted and peacefully accepted by the Italians, 
 it would look as though they had, in truth, received their due. 
 But no one has ever known where went the four hundred 
 thousand gulden: 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 227 
 
 Forstner retired to Strassburg, and for several years there 
 was no word of him. 
 
 The building at the Erlachhof went on apace now. Gulden 
 flowed regularly and without stint; and each day more 
 foreigners arrived to give their talents in return for broad 
 gold pieces. Painters, sculptors, gilders came from north 
 and south, and the Wirtembergers looked on aghast. Then 
 was issued an astounding order. His Highness commanded 
 some seven hundred of Stuttgart's rich merchants and burghers, 
 also each trade guild in the country, to construct at their 
 expense a number of houses near the Erlachhof. In this 
 arbitrary decree, for the first time, the new palace was officially 
 styled Ludwigsburg, after its lavish creator, Eberhard Ludwig. 
 
 The guilds of trade protested loudly, asking what it would 
 advantage them to have houses in Ludwigsburg. The mer- 
 chants and burghers followed suit. They received scant 
 consideration of their protest. If they would not obey, his 
 Highness would find himself compelled to levy a tax upon 
 them. A tribute so exorbitant as to cripple them for years ; 
 whereas did they obey, he promised to purchase each mansion 
 which the builder did not desire to inhabit. It was the better 
 way, and forthwith the building began. But there was a 
 further clause in the ducal mandate : the houses must be con- 
 structed according to Erisoni's plans and drawings, approved 
 by his Highness. Again the burghers protested, but they 
 were silenced by the Duke's promise to purchase. 
 
 Not only was a magnificent palace to be erected, but a 
 town was to be conjured up as well, and from Erisoni's plans 
 it appeared that it was to be a town of courtiers' houses. 
 Bitter discontent reigned at Stuttgart, and the guards round 
 the Jagerhaus were doubled. 
 
 But there was rejoicing in the Gravenitz camp. Things 
 were going admirably for the satellites, the grasping, hungry 
 parasites. Madame de Ruth and Zollern alone " might have 
 spoken some moderating word, but the old courtesan was 
 swept off her feet by Wilhelmine's brilliancy, and Zollern 
 dreamed of Ludwigsburg as a new Catholic centre. 
 
 Time did not hang heavy on Wilhelmine's hands during 
 the years which elapsed ere the Corps de Logis and the two 
 
228 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 small pavilions at Ludwigsburg were completed. In spite 
 of the frantic haste with which the work was carried on, it 
 was found impossible for the Duke to take up his residence 
 in his new palace till the spring of 1711. 
 
 Meanwhile a new project engrossed the Landhofmeisterin's 
 attention. Although she fully intended to occupy the palace 
 itself, she deemed it expedient to possess an independent 
 castle at Ludwigsburg, and on the foundations of the Schafhof, 
 another small hunting lodge near the old Erlachhof, she caused 
 a miniature summer palace to be erected. This she named 
 La Favorite. It was constructed according to a plan in 
 Mansard's ' Chateaux Joyeux.' 
 
 The Schafhof had been connected with the Erlachhof by a 
 magnificent avenue of chestnut-trees, which remained for the 
 most part intact save where a few trees had been cut to leave 
 space for the fine terracing on the north side of the new Corps 
 de Logis of Ludwigsburg. Still there was a shady avenue, 
 commencing from the lowest terrace and following the gentle 
 rise of the ground up to the Schafhof. This avenue she of 
 course retained, merely causing the branches to be cut back, 
 in order to leave an unbroken view of La Favorite from the 
 windows of the Corps de Logis. 
 
 A host of gardeners laboured at the wood round the 
 Chateaux Joyeux, turning the rough ground into a series of 
 gracious flowering parterres. 
 
 The interior of Wilhelmine's little palace was a dream of 
 beauty. Every room was panelled in white, and each panel 
 encircled by a graceful design in gold, which terminated in 
 gorgeous devices on the ceilings. For the most part the 
 rooms were curtained with the Gravenitz yellow. The floors 
 were a triumph of the wood-inlayer's art, the chairs and tables 
 were of gilt or of inlaid rosewood. It was a house of sun- 
 shine : all Wilhelmine's windows looking full southward or 
 westward, while on the colder north and east sides were the 
 domestics' apartments. 
 
 At length, in the July of 1711, the Corps de Logis and the 
 small adjoining pavilions were ready for occupation, and the 
 long eastern and western side-wings were so nearly completed 
 that it was possible to lodge the chief personages of the court, 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 229 
 
 and tlie army of serving men and women. The garden 
 terracing was terminated, and the water for the numerous 
 fountains laid on. 
 
 La Favorite was ready for its capriQious namesake, and the 
 town of Ludwigsburg counted some two hundred new houses. 
 The old posting inn, formerly a dilapidated peasant's habita- 
 tion, barnlike and unpromising enough to the traveller, had 
 become a fine mansion with many guest chambers. The 
 peasant innkeeper, who regarded every foreigner as an in- 
 truder, was replaced by a magnificent gentleman with con- 
 descending manners. 
 
 Enterprising venders of all sorts hurried to the new centre 
 of opulence. Already an obsequious personage from Paris 
 had taken up his abode in a room of one of the new houses, 
 and a painted board hanging from his window informed the 
 passers-by that he was permitted to style himself Coiffeur 
 to her Excellency the Landhofmeisterin, to Serenissimus the 
 Duke, and to the court in general. Along with this gentle- 
 man arrived several spruce ladies, one of whom was reported 
 to be his wife, but opinions varied as to which of the eight 
 possessed this honour. These demoiselles were expert dress- 
 makers, and plied many other trades necessary for the beauti- 
 fying of court ladies. A French corset-maker appeared on the 
 scene, and a famous vender of cosmetics. In fact, there were 
 not wanting all the elements which must ever be at hand for 
 serving the whimsies and necessities of noble dames. The 
 titles of these court purveyors were in the Landhofmeisterin's 
 keeping, and were only procurable by payment of a good 
 round sum. 
 
 The sun was sinking in a glory over the grim mount of 
 Hohenasperg, that sinister, frowning fortress-prison which 
 threatened conveniently near to Ludwigsburg, ready to lodge 
 those unfortunate enough to incur the displeasure of Serenis- 
 simus, or, more accurately, of her Excellency the Landhof- 
 meisterin. The departing sun left a flaming radiancy which 
 hung over the ' mansard^ ' roofs of Ludwigsburg, and was 
 reflected again and again in the waters of the hundred garden 
 fountains. 
 
230 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 All day a hurrying stream of vehicles had rumbled into the 
 courtyard, setting down the servants and effects of his High- 
 ness of Wirtemberg, and of the lady who ruled his destiny. 
 Frisoni was in a mighty pother; he ran round the room 
 excitedly, moving a chair, smoothing out a fold in the curtains, 
 drawing a table to another position. He hopped hither and 
 thither like some gay little monkey. Suddenly a tremen- 
 dous shout went up from the three thousand Italian workmen 
 who had been permitted to assemble near the gilded gates to 
 witness the arrival of the court. 
 
 First came a large detachment of the Silver Guard, which 
 were to take up quarters in the newly completed barracks at 
 Ludwigsburg. Then followed a company of Cadets k Cheval, 
 two hundred youths of noble family attired in crimson uni- 
 forms with black velvet slashings and silver braidings. After 
 these rode an hundred equerries to his Highness, uniformed 
 in light blue with silver facings. Then came a file of richly 
 painted coaches conveying the holders of court charges, each 
 coach escorted by four mounted troopers. Then the musicians 
 on white horses with gorgeous red velvet and gold trappings. 
 A second detachment of the Silver Guard numbering about 
 five hundred, and at last the great gilded coach and six hove 
 into sight. On both sides rode Cadets k Cheval, their ordinary 
 crimson and black slashed uniforms embellished by short 
 cloaks of silver cloth, which fell from each youth's shoulders 
 on to the horse's haunches. In the coach sat his Highness on 
 the left, and the Landhofmeisterin on the right, the seat which 
 custom, etiquette, and morality set apart for the Duchess, 
 who, poor soul, mourned in solitude at Stuttgart, while her 
 place in the pageant was taken by the beautiful, evil woman, 
 Wilhelmine von Gravenitz. But oh ! how lovely she was, this 
 adventuress ! She looked indeed well fitted to be the chief 
 personage of this magnificence. Her garments, as usual, were 
 of golden yellow ; on her flowing, powdered curls she wore a 
 little round hat with a waving white plume, fastened by a 
 diamond clasp. On her breast glittered the broad riband and 
 the white enamel stag, whose antlers bore the diamond cross 
 of the order of St! Hubertus. The little hat was strangely 
 like a crown : the baton of the Landhofmeisterin's of&ce, which 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 231 
 
 she held in her hand, resembled a sceptre : it was of gold, and 
 ablaze with precious stones. A travesty, no doubt, an absurdity, 
 an insolence, but how fine it all looked ! The Duke wore a 
 white satin long-coat, embroidered with gold, and on his breast 
 shone the St. Hubertus stag and cross. Truly the prince of 
 some fable, seated beside a gorgeous princess. 
 
 Behind the golden coach followed two hundred life guards, 
 uniformed in white and silver, and with drawn swords. Then 
 came his Highness's forest guards, in green, with silver bando- 
 liers and hunting horns, each with the white St. Hubertus stag 
 and cross embroidered large upon the breast. After these rode 
 the court pages, the Duke's secretaries, the officers of the house- 
 hold. And finally, three companies of the Wirtemberg regiments 
 which had foug^^t at Blenheim under Eberhard Ludwig. 
 
 A crowd of peasants from neighbouring villages had 
 gathered outside the gates of Ludwigsburg ; they raised a 
 shout when they saw their Duke. He bowed, and the Land- 
 hofmeisterin also bent her head in dignified salutation. 
 Immediately the shouting ceased, and a low ominous groan 
 went up, intermingled with sibilant hissings. Wilhelmine 
 grew pale, and shot a glance of hatred towards the peasants. 
 His Highness spoke rapidly in a low tone to the cadet who 
 rode at his elbow. The youth galloped back along the line 
 of the cortege, and delivered an order to the captain of the 
 1st Eegiment of Wirtemberg Cavalry. And as the gilded 
 coach rolled in at the palace gates, Wilhelmine heard with 
 satisfaction the howls and curses of the peasant crowd, which 
 was being dispersed by the soldiers' swords. 
 
 When the Landhofmeisterin entered the palace of Ludwigs- 
 burg, the military brass instruments and drums in the court- 
 yard ceased playing, and as the lovers passed over the 
 threshold a strain from graceful, delicate, stringed instruments 
 greeted them. 
 
 ' Welcome to our house of harmony ! ' whispered Serenissi- 
 mus, bending to kiss his mistress's hand. 
 
 Slowly and with dignity they were led by Frisoni through 
 the beautiful rooms — the huge, gilded banqueting hall, the 
 ball-rooms, the withdrawing-rooms, the picture-gallery, the 
 audience-chamber, the card-rooms, the theatre. The little 
 
282 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Italian caught the note of Wilhelmine's ceremony, and he 
 showed Liidwigsburg to her as though she were a princess 
 bride, entering for the first time the palace of her new 
 dominions, instead of an enterprising mistress, part designer 
 and wholly inspirer of each nook and corner of a nation's ruin 
 in stone and marble. 
 
 They passed up the broad white marble staircase, and 
 Frisoni solemnly conducted them to his Highness's private 
 apartments — the antechamber, the audience-closet, the 
 writing-room, and the sleeping-room. 
 
 ' The apartments of her Excellency are situated in the 
 west pavilion. If your Highness wishes to inspect them 
 we must pass downstairs once more, to gain the entrance to 
 the pavilion,' he said gravely. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig, smiling, bade him lead the way, though, 
 of a truth, he knew a shorter way by a small door leading 
 through the statue gallery directly from hi^ apartments to 
 the decorously closed pavilion. 
 
 In solemn procession, Serenissimus leading the Landhof- 
 meisterin, preceded by Frisoni as guide, passed down the chief 
 stair, and from the lower antehall to the door of the west 
 pavilion. Here were the apartments of the great Landhof- 
 meisterin. On the ground floor the room for her personal 
 attendant, the wardrobe-room, her Excellency's library and 
 business-room, where the various affairs of the Landhof- 
 meisterin's office were to be transacted. Then up a narrow 
 stair to the first floor to a large antechamber, a sleeping- 
 room, a private writing-room, and above another small stair 
 leading to the powdering-room. 
 
 All these rooms were little masterpieces of various arts, 
 chief among which that of the wood-inlayer — the floors, the 
 walls, the doors being profusely inlaid with precious woods. 
 Everywhere the arms of Wirtemberg were interwoven with 
 the Wiirben and Gravenitz devices, and with the emblems of 
 the chase and of music — symbols of the Duke-hunter and 
 his beloved musician-mistress. 
 
 The courtiers who followed his Highness and the Landhof- 
 meisterin expressed their admiration discreetly, Zollern and 
 Madame de Euth leading the chorus of approval. 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 233 
 
 At lengtli tlie ceremonious inspection was concluded, and 
 the courtiers hurried away to view their own quarters, leaving 
 her Excellency in the pavilion, and Serenissimus in his 
 sumptuous Corps de Logis. 
 
 "When the courtiers' steps ceased to echo in the corridor, 
 Wilhelmine drew a little golden key from her bosom and, 
 approaching a panel in the antechamber wall on the first floor, 
 fitted it into a keyhole which was artfully hidden in the intri- 
 cacies of the inlaid design. She turned the lock and a small 
 door flew open. She stepped through and found herself in the 
 corridor of statues. Directly facing the hidden panel door 
 she found another similar lock masked beneath the out- 
 stretched hand of one of the many plaster Amorini. Here 
 again a small door sprang open beneath her touch, and she 
 entered the Duke's sitting-room. Her entry, however, was 
 further hidden by an arras of Gobelin tapestry fitted on a 
 wooden partition running down one side of his Highness's 
 room. At the end nearest the entrance to his sleeping- 
 chamber, a small portion of this partition flew back upon 
 touching a spring, and revealed a narrow doorway. Little 
 wonder that both Eberhard Ludwig and Wilhelmine smiled 
 when the Italian conducted them down and up the staircases 
 and through innumerable rooms ere they reached the apart- 
 ments of the Landhofmeisterin ! 
 
 Serenissimus was standing at the window of his writing- 
 room overlooking the courtyard. In his hand was a closely 
 written page, and his face wore a look of distress and per- 
 plexity. He turned sharply when he heard Wilhelmine's step, 
 and, flushing deeply, he crushed the paper into the breast of 
 his coat. She was quick to note the movement, and the 
 Duke's evident embarrassment. 
 
 ' A letter, Monseigneur, which you would hide from me ? * 
 she said. Like most women in illegitimate positions she was 
 easily suspicious, and all letters, petitions, every scrap of 
 paper destined for her lover, were carried for inspection to 
 the omnipotent Landhofmeisterin ere they were permitted 
 to reach their destination. 
 
 ' Yes, Madame, a letter from a private friend,' returned the 
 Duke, his embarrassment turning to anger. 
 
234 A GEEMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' Ah ! sometMng not intended for me ? I crave your 
 Higlmess's forgiveness. I came to say a word of my great 
 happiness in being indeed installed in our House of Har- 
 mony/ she sneered bitterly, and turning, would have hurried 
 back to her apartments ; but Serenissimus followed her, and 
 laying his hand on her arm drew her towards him. 
 
 'There are things in each life which can never be told. 
 Beloved, there is a seal on my lips which honour has 
 impressed with her fair image. I cannot tell you what is in 
 this letter. Believe me, it is no pleasant thing that I hide 
 from you ; it would not make you happy to read these lines. 
 Also, they are unimportant, for I do not heed them.' 
 
 She prayed him to tell her. How could she rest if she 
 knew he had a thought apart from her ? It gave her anxiety, 
 she said, that it was something disagreeable. She used all 
 her arts of attraction, of seduction, but he remained obdurate. 
 Then she flamed into anger and left him with a bitter word. 
 
 To celebrate his Highness's entry into Ludwigsburg, a 
 masked ball had been commanded to take place on the even- 
 ing following the arrival of the court. The Duke and his 
 mistress met at supper after the episode of the letter, but the 
 Landhofmeisterin avoided his Highness's eye and seemed 
 absorbed in conversation with Zollern. During the evening she 
 played faro at her own table, and early took her leave, plead- 
 ing that she was fatigued. On the morning of the masked 
 ball his Highness attended a stag-hunt, and thus it fell out 
 that he and Wilhelmine did not meet to discuss the vexed 
 question of the letter. 
 
 The beautiful ballroom at Ludwigsburg was brilliantly 
 illuminated by a thousand waxen tapers which burued in the 
 huge crystal chandeliers. The Landhofmeisterin's own musi- 
 cians discoursed rhythmical strains from the gallery, and a gay 
 motley crowd moved on the inlaid polished floor. There were 
 dominoes of every colour, bizarre, fantastic shapes ; and some- 
 how this masked assemblage had a strangely sinister appear- 
 ance, a mysterious lurking menace seemed to emanate from it. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin was easily recognisable from her 
 great height. Eoj a moment she had contemplated dressing 
 in man's clothes, but Serenissimus had dissuaded her. The 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 235 
 
 Duke's domino was of ' Graveuitz yellow ' of the same hue as 
 that of the Landhofmeisterin. Madame de Euth had refused 
 to go masked. 
 
 'My old face is mask enough,' .she said; and Zollern, 
 delighted to escape the ordeal of a travesty, had declared he 
 would keep his old friend company. So the two sat together 
 and made merry over the grotesque appearance of the other 
 guests. 
 
 At first, many had approached the undominoed couple 
 and, under cover of carnival licence, some had ventured to say 
 sharp things to the old courtesan, but each in turn retired 
 discomfited before the sting of Madame de Euth's quick wit. 
 The Landhofmeisterin stood near to her friend. She felt 
 strangely lonely in this disguised crowd, and Serenissimus 
 held aloof from her. She saw him exchanging compliments 
 with a light blue domino, from whose supple movements 
 Wilhelmine guessed to be a young and graceful woman. 
 
 A sudden waveof jealous fear invaded the Landhofmeisterin's 
 heart. And leaving her safe place behind Madame de Euth 
 and Zollern, she walked out into the crowd of revellers. 
 Instantly several masks left the dancing, laughing, whirling 
 main stream and approached the newcomer. ' Fair mask, come 
 tread a measure ! ' 'Do you seek love or amusement here ? ' 
 and many other meaningless absurdities were squeaked into 
 her ear by some unwary ones who had not recognised the 
 much-feared Landhofmeisterin in the tall yellow-clad figure. 
 She shot a glance of contempt at her interlocutors and 
 pushed past them. Of a sudden she was surrounded by a 
 circle of red-garbed gnomes who danced round her. ' Let me 
 pass, good people,' she said ; and when they would not, she 
 broke through the chain of their arms and hurried on. They 
 would have followed, but a black mask caught the ringleader 
 and whispered in his ear, and the laughing gnomes fell back 
 murmuring together. 
 
 The Duke was still dallying with the blue domino ; Wilhel- 
 mine saw him lead her to one of the windows which opened 
 out on to the terraces. She followed swiftly, hardly hearing the 
 comments and whispers of the revellers who took this occasion 
 to convey insulting words to the hated woman. As she 
 
236 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 readied tlie window in whose balcony she knew her lover to 
 be, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned angrily. 
 
 ' What do you want ? how dare you hinder me ? ' she said. 
 It was a tall, thin domino who accosted her, entirely black, and 
 with a skull and crossbones embroidered in white upon the 
 breast. A startling figure, and to Wilhelmine's overwrought 
 nerves it seemed to be the figure of Death come to snatch her 
 life's glory and happiness from her in this her triumph of the 
 completion of the palace. 
 
 ' What do you want of me ? ' she said again, conquering her 
 superstitious fear. 
 
 * I would speak to you, Madame ; I have a warning to give 
 you.' The voice was deep and low, and after the squeaky 
 tones which the revellers affected in order to disguise their 
 natural voices, this man's bass notes sounded hollow and 
 funereal, 
 
 ' Speak then here,' she answered. 
 
 ' No ; my warning must be given to you where none can 
 hear,' he responded ; and once more laying his black-gloved 
 hand on her arm, he. drew her away from the window towards 
 a door which led down a short flight of steps into the moonlit 
 garden. Did the man mean murder? It flashed across 
 Wilhelmine that she was going blindly into danger. She 
 paused on the topmost step of the flight. 
 
 ' I will go no further ; speak now, or I leave you here.' 
 Her voice was calm, though her hands were trembling a little. 
 
 ' 1 am sent to tell you that your hour has come ; that your 
 ill-gotten power, your evil triumphs, are waning.' His voice 
 was deep, sonorous, impressive. 
 
 'Who sends you?' she asked. Coming from the bril- 
 liantly lit rooms and the stir and noise of the ball, this 
 sudden interlude in the still, moonlit garden, with the strange, 
 sinister, black-robed figure, seemed to her like a dream. 
 
 * I am sent by one you have ruined, in the name of the 
 many you have injured ! and yet, in mercy, I bid you fly 
 while there is time ! ' the stranger answered. 
 
 ' Ah ! Mercy ? This is some absurd fiction ; no one has 
 mercy upon me,'' .she said bitterly. 
 
 ' Yes, I have. I came to deliver my message, and yester- 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 237 
 
 day I saw your entry into Ludwigsburg. I saw the peasants 
 cruelly driven back by the soldiers' swords. I saw the great 
 monument you have raised here to your shame, this mad, 
 mock court of yours, and I hated you ! but then I saw your 
 youth, your beauty, and I vowed I would warn you, that you 
 might carry this, your true wealth, to some atonement for 
 your sins. I bid you fly ; the Duke has information against 
 you which must spell ruin for you — ruin and death.' 
 
 ' You are mad,' she said quietly. 
 
 ' No ; I am not mad, unless compassion is madness.' 
 
 She drew off her mask, and, in the clear white moonlight, 
 turned her face upon him — that strange, haunting face of hers, 
 which Eberhard Ludwig said no man could forget. 
 
 'And so you had compassion because you saw me?' she 
 laughed. ' Your mission is absurd, but I forgive you because 
 soriie generous thought was yours even for the Gravenitzin 
 She was all woman at that moment ; the hard, cruel oppressor, 
 the ruling Landhofmeisterin, was banished from her being, she 
 was fascination incarnate. 
 
 ' How beautiful you are — how beautiful ! ' the black 
 
 mask whispered. 
 
 ' Tell me who you are,' she said, and smiled at him. 
 
 ' An enemy who would turn friend, and more — if he looked 
 too long at you,' he answered slowly. 
 
 ' Tell me your name,' she asked once more. 
 
 ' No ; my name you will never know, only I have warned 
 you.' 
 
 ' I thank you,' she said gravely, and gave him her hand. 
 He bent and kissed it, and vanished into the shadow of 
 the garden. She stood a moment looking after her unknown 
 visitor. Euin and death, he had said. She pondered on 
 why this stranger should have 'warned her. Evidently an 
 enemy with an evil plan against her, turned aside by some 
 man's whim, some sudden mood caused by the sight of her 
 beauty. Flight, he counselled, flight for her ! No ! she 
 would battle to the last, but she would not neglect the un- 
 known's warning. In a flash it came to her that this man 
 was connected with the letter which the Duke had refused to 
 communicate to her. She replaced her mask and returned to 
 
238 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the ballroom. Still the same monotonous whirling crowd, 
 the pattering feet of the dancers, the din of the music. 
 
 She searched for Serenissimus. He was standing with a 
 group of masks at the lower end of the hall, and did not 
 observe her. She made her way slowly through the crowd to 
 the other side of the room, and slipped through the door into 
 the ante-hall. Immediately two lackeys sprang forward to 
 inquire her Excellency's pleasure. She waved them away and 
 passed onward, out to the terrace, and towards her pavilion. 
 The sentry at her door saluted her, but she gained her own 
 ante-hall without meeting any of her waiting men, even Maria 
 was gaping in the crowd in the courtyard probably. 
 
 Wilhelmine paused a moment in her antechamber on 
 the first floor. She listened attentively, and called Maria 
 under her breath, but no answer came. Then she drew 
 out the little key, approached the door leading to the 
 statue gallery and opened it gently. The gallery was in 
 darkness, save where a faint white radiance was reflected 
 from the moonlit garden without, but that side of the 
 palace lay in deep shadow. She crept on and groped for the 
 lock beneath the plaster Amorino's hand. At first she could 
 not find it, but after some moments she felt the tiny keyhole, 
 and, fitting the key, she turned it and the door swung open. 
 She glided in behind the arras, and found the spring which 
 opened the partition. She listened ; there was no sound 
 from the room within. She pressed the spring, the tapestry 
 door opened silently beneath her touch, and she passed into 
 the Duke's writing-closet. Here the moon shone full in, 
 white and ghostly. Wilhelmine's mind flew back to that 
 far-off night at Giistrow, when in the moonlight she had 
 stolen the key from under her mother's pillow. How she had 
 trembled ! She had been a child in experience then, a very 
 different being from the strong, self-confident woman she 
 knew herself to be nowadays. And yet she trembled in the 
 moonlit room as she had trembled then. What was that ? 
 The moonlight falling in sheeny silver through the window, 
 seemed to her to take the shape of a taU, white woman's 
 figure. She remejnbered the grim old leger^d of that Countess 
 of Orlamunde, murderess of little cliil^^ren, who haunted all 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 239 
 
 the palaces of her descendants. In the castle at Stuttgart, 
 they said, the White Lady walked, her pale trailing garments 
 streaked with blood. Could she wander here too in new, 
 gorgeous Ludwigsburg ? Almost Wilhelmine turned and fled, 
 but the remembrance of her dire peril came to her. She 
 looked bravely at the moonlight — there was no ghost there ; 
 it was only the Lady Moon, witch of the night, throwing 
 her cold, false smiles through the casement. Wilhelmine 
 went forward boldly. She must find the letter at any cost ; 
 its contents threatened her, and she must know. 
 
 The Duke's bureau was locked. She pressed the secret spring 
 in vain. Was she doomed to be baffled, after all ? She 
 remembered that her own bureau was identical with his 
 Highness's. Eesolutely, with that patience which is born 
 of hazardous undertakings, she glided away through the arras 
 door,- through the black gallery, and regained her apartments. 
 She heard a movement in her sleeping-room, and Maria came 
 to her. 
 
 * Your Excellency, pray forgive that I was not here.' 
 
 Even Maria must not know why she had left the ballroom, 
 she thought. 
 
 ' Go to Madame de Euth's apartments. A black silk domino 
 lies in the wardrobe ; go, bring it to me. I would change my 
 colour and play a merry jest upon some friends.' The maid 
 departed. Now all was clear for some time, for Madame de 
 Euth's apartment lay at the far end of the east wing. 
 Swiftly she sought the key of her bureau ; it was hidden 
 in a secret drawer beneath the writing-desk. She took it, 
 and passed through the little door again. Once more she 
 listened behind the arras ; it seemed to her as if something 
 moved. She paused, then gently reopened the tapestry door 
 and peered in. The room lay silent, deserted, white and 
 ghostly as before. She passed in, and fitted her key into the 
 bureau. The lock yielded and the bureau flew open. Letters, 
 documents, drawings, plans for hunting excursions — all the 
 usual occupants of Eberhard Ludwig's bureau. She could 
 see enough in the moonlight. Ah ! here a creased paper. 
 She caught it up and examined it. Yes; this must be the 
 thing she feared — four large pages filled with cramped 
 
240 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 characters. She looked more closely. Forstner's writing ! 
 She almost laughed. This, then, was what his Highness 
 had hidden so scrupulously from her ! Thanks to the un- 
 known's warning, she had come on the track of her most 
 deadly enemy. Had the black mask not spoken, she might 
 have forgotten the letter. ' She closed the bureau carefully and 
 stepped behind the arras, shutting the tapestry door carefully. 
 She was now in perfect darkness. She groped along the 
 wall to find the lock of the gallery door. Great God ! what 
 was that ? A movement near her, an icy touch on her hand. 
 The White Lady's death-grip ! and yet better that, she thought, 
 than any human being's presence ; better that than for any 
 mortal to have seen her rifling the Duke's bureau. She 
 sought wildly for the lock. At last she found it and slipped 
 in the key. As the door sprang open something pushed past 
 her— a huge, black shape. 
 
 ' M^lac ! ' she called in a strained voice, and the powerful 
 beast came to her and rubbed his cold nose upon her hand. 
 Only the wolf-hound, then, who had been , sleeping in the 
 darkness behind the arras. She laughed when she re- 
 membered her ghastly fear of the White Lady's death-grip ! 
 
 She regained her own room. Maria had not returned from 
 Madame de Ruth's apartment. She kindled a light from her 
 steel tinder-casket and set a waxen taper aglow. Then she 
 began to read Forstner's letter. 
 
 ' Monseigneur, my Prince, and once my friend! Though 
 it has been your pleasure to discredit me, I cannot rest until 
 I have let you know the truth. You are being grossly 
 abused, your noble trust and love made mock of by a 
 creature too vile for human words to describe. A woman, 
 who to her other lovers holds you up to scorn and ridicule ! 
 yes, ridicule of your passion, making mock, betraying the 
 secrets of your bed. Besides, it is she who has the gulden 
 which you accused me of purloining ; she to whom half your 
 revenues are carried, and you are doled out a paltry sum 
 which, after all, you spend again upon this creature. You 
 are weary of her, too ; all your Dukedom knows that right 
 well — weary -of her, and you dare not dismiss her! The 
 people laugh : your subjects, your friends, strangers, other 
 
LUDWIGSBURG 241 
 
 princes, all Europe laughs. See her ! observe her hideous 
 faults, her foul blemishes of mind and body, her filthy actions ! ' 
 Then followed the names of his rival lovers, and a list of the 
 vast sums she had filched from the ducal treasury. All this set 
 forth so cleverly, with such apparent proof, that she trembled 
 as she read. There were official business transactions accur- 
 ately quoted and put in such a light as to seem to be robberies. 
 It was a dangerous letter for her — half truth, half falsehood, 
 difficult to unravel, impossible to deny entirely. ' Honour binds 
 you, you say,' the epistle continued. ' Ah ! my Prince ! you 
 have a toy which has turned to a viper in your hand ! Throw 
 it from you ! Other princes have done so, and the world has 
 applauded. Take a fair and noble mistress, one younger, 
 less rapacious. Consider this woman : already she grows 
 gross ; in a few years' time she will be a mountain of flesh ; 
 her eyes are dimming, her lips are paler, her teeth less white 
 than they were when she came from her obscure home.' 
 
 Wilhelmine, in all the magnificence of her beauty, of her 
 maturity, read thus far quietly ; then, raging, she sprang to 
 her feet. 
 
 ' I could have forgiven you some of your insults, Forstner, 
 but this is too much ! By God ! by God ! you shall suffer ! 
 I swear it by my salvation ! ' 
 
 She read on : details too disgusting, too gross to write down 
 here, foul accusation upon accusation, hideous blasphemies 
 against her bodily beauty. 
 
 Of a truth, not even a saint could have forgiven the writer 
 of that letter — and Wilhelmine von Gravenitz was no saint. 
 
 Q 
 
CHAPTEE XVII 
 
 THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 
 
 On the morning following the masquerade, his Highnesses 
 Chief Officer of the Secret Service of Wirtemberg craved 
 audience. The Secret Service had been instituted by Eber- 
 hard Ludwig after the murderous attack upon the Gravenitz 
 in Duke Christopher's grotto. In the unquiet state of the 
 country, rife with discontent and its attendant conspiracies, 
 such a service was absolutely necessary ; but, of course, this 
 system of espionage was most unpopular, and as the Landhof- 
 meisterin was credited with the institution of the Secret 
 Service, the people's fear and hatred of her increased. 
 
 The Chief Officer had grave matters to communicate to his 
 Highness : a plot to murder her Excellency the Landhof- 
 meisterin had been discovered, and from intercepted papers 
 it would appear that the conspirators also aimed at the 
 Duke himself. It seemed that many influential persons 
 were implicated. 
 
 The design was to induce his Highness to abdicate in 
 favour of the Erbprinz, during whose minority Eorstner was 
 to be Premier, and the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha Eegent 
 of Wirtemberg. This portion of the conspiracy could be 
 dealt with easily, but the murderous intent upon the Land- 
 hofmeisterin took a more serious aspect, as the Secret Service 
 agents had procured information which led the Chief Officer 
 to infer that the would-be assassins were actually in, or near, 
 Ludwigsburg. It was, however, impossible to arrest every 
 stranger on mere suspicion, for both Ludwigsburg and Stutt- 
 gart were full of country gentlemen who had been commanded 
 to appear at the Mask Ball. 
 
 At mention of, Eorstner, his Highness went to his bureau 
 to seek his erstwhile friend's letter. In vain he searched in 
 
 242 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 243 
 
 drawer and secret panel. The letter had vanished. The four 
 cadets, who stood sentry at the door of the Duke's apartment, 
 were questioned ; they had seen none enter. His Highness's 
 private waiting-men were examined, aijd the soldiers of the 
 guard who stood in the lower antehall. All answered that 
 no one had passed through. The Chief Of&cer of the Secret 
 Service himself had watched the entrance of the Corps de 
 Logis during the preceding evening. 
 
 The Duke searched his bureau once more. He was greatly 
 disturbed. Open warfare, a hand-to-hand combat, he said, 
 were child's play to the horror of this lurking enemy, who 
 evidently had access even to the private bureau. Zollern 
 was requested to come and speak with the Duke ; his advice 
 was asked. 
 
 * Have you mentioned the matter to the Landhofmeisterin ? 
 She is very wise, and may be able to suggest some explana- 
 tion,' said Zollern. 
 
 No; his Highness had not seen her Excellency. Then 
 a sudden suspicion came to Eberhard Ludwig. She wished 
 to see the letter ; could she have purloined it ? 
 
 'Do you know if the Landhofmeisterin left the ballroom 
 during the last evening ? ' he asked Zollern. 
 
 No ; the old Prince had observed her Excellency con- 
 stantly, and she had not been absent from the dancing-hall, 
 save for a few moments which she passed on one of the 
 balconies in the company of a black domino, whose identity 
 Monseigneur de Zollern had been unable to ascertain. 
 Serenissimus dismissed his suspicions with relief. It is pain 
 to doubt those we love. 
 
 Zollern took his leave, and the Duke desired the Secret 
 Service officer to retire. He would ask her Excellency's 
 advice in private. The Landhofmeisterin was summoned to 
 attend his Highness on important business. After some 
 little delay she arrived. Passing up the grand stairs, she was 
 ceremoniously ushered into his Highness's presence. 
 
 His suspicion, though dismissed, rankled. Serenissimus 
 greeted her coldly, and informed her of the letter's 
 disappearance. 
 
 'Your Highness refers to a letter which I was not per- 
 
244 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 mitted to peruse ? I regret that it should be lost, but you 
 will remember that you considered it to be unimportant.' 
 
 The relationship between the lovers was strained. 
 
 ' I do not discuss the importance of the document, Madame. 
 Indeed, the smallest scrap of paper missing from my bureau 
 would be a grave matter to me, as I should thus ascertain 
 that some person had access to my private papers.' 
 
 The Duke spoke with cold displeasure. He had felt a 
 pang of jealous suspicion when Zollern informed him of 
 Wilhelmine's interview with the black domino ; also, he was 
 still angry with his mistress for her stormy exit after his 
 refusal to show her Forstner's letter; and further, he- was 
 greatly incensed at the plot to force him to abdicate. All 
 these causes wrought an iron firmness into his usually gentle 
 voice. Wilhelmine felt this to be a crucial moment in 
 her life. 
 
 ' It would appear that your Highness sees fit to question 
 me in a strange manner upon this trivial matter ! I am not 
 aware that the Landhofmeisterin's office is concerned with 
 the superintendence of your Highness's private bureau,' she 
 said haughtily. 
 
 * You know my meaning perfectly, Wilhelmine,' the Duke 
 broke out furiously. * Alas ! like a pack of cards built in 
 a card-house, my happiness, my pride, my triumph, my joy in 
 my new palace, come falling about my head ! How sad, how 
 futile a tiling is earthly joy ! ' He turned away, and bent to 
 stroke Melac's head. The good beast had approached in 
 seeming anxiety upon hearing the Duke's distressed voice. 
 
 Wilhelmine looked at his Highness for a moment in 
 silence, and her face softened. After all, she loved Eberhard 
 Ludwig, and in spite of her overweening prosperity, 
 coupled with the world-hardness which marred her, there 
 lingered something of tenderness in her love. Then, too, 
 she was a consummate actress, and a being gifted with 
 the womanly genius for charming, and therein lies sympathy. 
 It is when this sympathetic spark is killed by the terrible 
 blight of over-prosperity, that the deterioration of a woman 
 takes place. ^N'ot all in a day, but gradually, the poison 
 works : the first stage signalised by a cruel hardness to those 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 245 
 
 they love ; then an entire incapacity for tenderness ; 
 ultimately the hideous blight falls on the woman's charm,- 
 her voice, her face, her laugh, the essence of her being. God 
 knows the tragedy of it ; God alone can gauge the agony 
 inflicted by the world-hardened women upon the hearts of 
 those who love them ; and God Himself punishes eventually, for : 
 
 * The mills of God grind slow, but they grind exceeding sure.' 
 
 Still in Wilhelmine there lingered a little tenderness for 
 Eberhard Ludwig, and this taught her a surer way to her 
 own safety than ever her brain could have shown her. She 
 came to him and, laying her hand on his shoulder, she said : 
 
 * The world and my heart lie at your feet, Eberhard, 
 beloved. You are fighting with some wild phantasy, some 
 spectre which exists only in your own mind. See, we share 
 all things, let me share your sorrow. Is it only the loss 
 of this letter which distresses you ? Oh ! tell me ; surely you 
 will not shut me out from your life ? ' 
 
 Her voice charmed him as on that first day when he had 
 called her Philomele, and he turned to her with his love 
 shining in his eyes. 
 
 * Am I, indeed, scaring myself with a phantom ? ' he said, 
 and a note of almost childlike appeal lay in his tone. 
 
 'Yes, only that,' she made answer, and, smiling, drew him 
 to her. Then he told her the story of the plot against them, 
 but he did not mention Forstner as the prime conspirator. 
 She laughed. 
 
 ' You are safe, for none can make you abdicate against 
 your will; and I am safe because you protect me, beloved.' 
 
 ' Safe ? Yes ; but ah ! the letter ! Who slinks past our 
 guards and robs my bureau ? It is hateful. I love to fight 
 a man, but this lurking danger which I guess hidden behind 
 each arras ' 
 
 ' The letter ? Are you sure you sought in each hiding-place 
 of your bureau ? ' she said. Already in her mind a plan was 
 forming whereby she could allay his fears and conquer his 
 suspicions. Forstner's letter lay hidden in her bosom ; she 
 would replace it in the bureau-drawer while they searched, 
 then, with the Duke's knowledge of Forstner's plot, she would 
 break this dangerous enemy. 
 
246 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 * Forgive me, Eberhard, but so many people search frantic- 
 ally and thus overlook the very object they seek ! See, let 
 us look through the papers together/ 
 
 She approached the bureau, and made believe to be mighty 
 awkward with the fastening. His Highness unlocked the 
 panel, and together they began a review of the tumbled 
 documents within, Wilhelmine talking gaily the while. 
 
 ' What is it like, this precious letter ? — large ? small ? ' she 
 asked. 
 
 'A large paper in Forstner's writing,' returned the Duke, 
 forgetting that she did not know whence came the letter. 
 
 ' In Forstner's writing ! ' she exclaimed. ' And this you hide 
 from me ? The man is my deadly enemy, and, as you know 
 now at last, but a false friend to you ! You say the world is 
 dark and evil to you ; what is it to me when you, the love of 
 my life, can harbour letters from my cruel enemy ? ' 
 
 She flung herself down on the chair beside the bureau, and 
 burying her face in the papers on the writing-desk, burst into 
 a flood of tears. Eberhard Ludwig fell on his knees at her 
 feet, and in broken words implored her pardon. He kissed 
 the hem of her garment, accused himself of treason to her, 
 prayed her to be consoled. 
 
 ' Give me water, I am faint ! ' she moaned. He sprang up 
 and hastened to his sleeping-room to bring water for her. 
 Now was her moment : with incredible swiftness she drew 
 the letter from its hiding-place and slipped it under a bundle 
 of papers and plans on the bureau. When his Highness 
 returned carrying a goblet of water, he found his mistress 
 still weeping bitterly with her face hidden on the writing- 
 desk. 
 
 She drank the water while Eberhard Ludwig hung over her 
 in anxious rapture, heaping reproaches upon himself for his 
 cruelty, but she refused to be consoled. 
 
 'What can I do to prove to you that all my unworthy 
 suspicions have vanished ? ' he cried in desperation. 
 
 ' Tell me what was written in that letter ; let me defend 
 myself,' she answered quickly. 
 
 ' You ask the otie thing I may not do. I cannot/ he said 
 sadly. 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 247 
 
 *And the letter is lost!' she cried; 'who knows what 
 enemy of mine has got it ? Alas ! perhaps all the world will' 
 know the vile things this man has written, and yon have let 
 him go unpunished. All will know save the accused criminal ! 
 Oh ! the injustice ! the cruelty ! ' 
 
 The Duke shuddered. 
 
 ' Yes, it is true ; that terrible thing I had not remembered. 
 God ! if I could but find that accursed letter ! At least, 
 no one but myself need have known of the foul accusations ; 
 but now that the letter is lost ' 
 
 Wildly he began to search once more in the bureau, and 
 Wilhelmine almost laughed when she saw him lift the packet 
 of papers under which she had slipped Forstner's letter. 
 With a cry the Duke turned to her. 
 
 ' Thank God ! I have found it ! It lay here beneath this 
 bundle. Wilhelmine, beloved, now none can read these 
 blasphemies against you,' he cried. 
 
 ' So you tell me. to my face that yonder paper is a blas- 
 phemy against me, a foul accusation, and you will not let me 
 clear myself ! ' she cried wildly. 
 
 ' I swore to Forstner that I would never, in spoken or 
 v/ritten word, divulge his communications — never give or 
 voluntarily let another take his letters. Unless you can 
 divine what you wish to know, there is no help.' He laughed 
 harshly. 
 
 'Divine what is in that letter?' she said in a musing 
 tone. 
 
 Suddenly a thought came to her. She remembered each 
 word of that horrible letter. It was necessary his Highness 
 should know she knew, yet imperative that her knowledge 
 should appear to have been gained in his presence. 
 
 Wilhelmine had studied many books of magic and 
 innumerable accounts of occult manifestations. She was 
 half-dupe, half- charlatan, and indeed she possessed much 
 magnetic power. 
 
 Now in Bavaria, some years before this scene at Ludwigs- 
 burg, there had been discovered an extraordinary peasant-girl 
 gifted with rare faculties of clairvoyance, thought-reading, 
 ecstatic trances, prophecies, and the rest. An account of her 
 
248 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 short twenty years of vision-tortured life had been published 
 by the doctor of her village — a crank, and supposed wizard 
 himself. This pamphlet Wilhelmine had read, as she read all 
 books concerning mysterious manifestations. His Highness, 
 however, would never look at anything treating of magic or 
 witchcraft. He honestly disapproved of such things, and 
 feared them ; though, in contradiction, he was much attracted 
 by his mistress's strange powers, which he affected to doubt, 
 yet, in truth, he was terribly afraid at times. 
 
 It was certain that he knew nothing of the Seer of 
 Altbach, and thus "Wilhelmine felt assured she might risk 
 the shamming of one of the peasant-girl's feats, palming it 
 off as an original accomplishment. 
 
 She continued to implore the Duke to show her the letter, 
 but he was obdurate ; honour bound him, he said. 
 
 At length Wilhelmine's scheme had matured in her fertile 
 brain, and she was ready to begin her daring comedy. 
 
 ' I cannot rest while I am ignorant of the accusations in 
 that letter. There must be something terrible, some fearful 
 wickedness against me, which you will not tell me, but which, 
 like poison thrown into a well, will pollute each thought of 
 me in your mind, till at length your love of me and your 
 trust will die. Whereas, if I know of what I am accused, I 
 can wrench out this poisonous root with the sword of Truth, 
 for oh ! love of mine, I am innocent, save for the sin of loving 
 you.' 
 
 ' And yet honour closes my lips ! I swore to Forstner that 
 his letters to me should never be divulged ; and though he is 
 doubtless a traitor to me, still I cannot absolve myself of my 
 oath,' he answered sadly. 
 
 She stood up, and holding out both hands towards him, she 
 said solemnly : 
 
 'Take both my hands in one of yours, look in my eyes, 
 hold the letter on my brow, and I will tell you what he says. 
 Thus your honour is cleared, for you have neither spoken 
 nor given me the writing, but I shall have guessed.' 
 
 'What madness is this?' he cried angrily; 'your witch- 
 working again ! But if it calms you to play like this, I am 
 ready to humour so ridiculous a whimsey.' 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 249 
 
 Half-laughing, half-annoyed, he took the letter from his 
 pocket. Wilhelmine laid her two hands in one of his and 
 gazed into his eyes. 
 
 For a moment she stood as though hesitating, and the 
 Duke felt her hands flutter like caught birds. Her eyes 
 seemed to look into some far distance. Slowly she began in 
 a low voice : 
 
 ' Monseigneur, my Prince, and once my friend, you are 
 being grossly abused, your noble trust and love is made mock 
 of by a creature too vile for human words. A woman, who to 
 her other lovers holds you up to scorn and ridicule — yes, 
 ridicule of your passion/ Her voice grew faint and faded 
 into a whisper, and the hands which the Duke held trembled 
 and twitched violently. Slowly, falteringly, she went on, 
 sometimes reciting a whole sentence in the very words of 
 the letter, sometimes only giving the gist ; but always in the 
 same low, monotonous voice, like the utterance of one who 
 speaks in sleep. 
 
 The Duke stood rigid, fear and amazement written on his 
 face. Once his hand, which held the letter to her brow, 
 dropped to his side. Immediately the subtle comedian 
 paused, moaning as though in physical pain. It was a 
 magnificent bit of trickery ; small marvel that his Highness 
 was deceived. 
 
 When she had told him all the paper contained, she 
 covered her face with her hands and fell to trembling as in 
 an ague, moaning and sighing incessantly. In truth, she had 
 worked herself into a fit of frantic emotion, and had her 
 will been less strong, she must indeed have raved off into 
 hysterics. 
 
 Now consider this thing. Here is a man who had lost 
 a letter ; who sought it ; at length finding it safe in a locked 
 bureau.. The search takes place in the very presence of a 
 being he had half accused of purloining the missing letter. 
 This person, he is assured by a prince of the highest honour, 
 has never left a crowded ballroom during the only hours when 
 it would have been possible for her to have stolen the 
 paper. Then he himself proposes, in jest, that she should 
 guess the contents of a document, which he feels certain has 
 
250 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 been read by himself alone, and has merely been mislaid in a 
 carefully locked bureau. This extraordinary feat she accom- 
 plishes in a seeming trance. Add to all this, that the woman 
 is his beloved mistress, whom he ardently wishes to trust, and 
 that often before she had told him she was gifted with occult 
 powers. Is it matter of surprise that he implicitly believed 
 Wilhelmine had accomplished a magic feat? White magic 
 though ; nothing evil here ; on the contrary, almost a 
 miracle, like some mediaeval ordeal through which her purity 
 and innocence alone could have sustained her. Yet he 
 questioned her. 
 
 Could she read any paper in that manner ? She answered 
 that she had never tried before. She spoke to him in gentle 
 words, praying him to give good faith to her. She clung 
 to him like a tired child. What man could resist her ? 
 
 Then she talked of Forstner's conspiracy. She depicted 
 the vileness of one who could write such a letter at the 
 very hour when he was plotting to ruin the man to whom 
 he penned words of passionate exhortation and affection. She 
 laid stress upon the treason against Eberhard Ludwig, and he 
 in return flamed into anger concerning the design . to murder 
 this clinging, appealing woman. Chivalry, honour, duty, 
 bound him to protect her. Very subtly she led him on : to 
 protect in this case must be to revenge her. 
 
 Then she lashed him to a fury against the traitor who had 
 plotted against so lenient a prince. Taking the letter from 
 his Highness (he let her have it now without demur), she 
 went through the list of accusations, refuting each statement, 
 throwing the blame upon Forstner for the various monetary 
 defections which he himself, in this letter, had proved to exist 
 in the Ludwigsburg building accounts. She pointed out that 
 Forstner should be punished heavily, both in just revenge and 
 as a warning to others. At last Eberhard Ludwig yielded, 
 and promised that she should dictate Forstner's sentence. 
 
 Forstner tarried at Strassburg. He believed his letter 
 would awaken the Duke from his long, evil, delicious dream; 
 but when days;. weeks, months passed without any change 
 taking place at Ludwigsburg, and the Landhofmeisterin's 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 251 
 
 triumph continued, Forstner's hopes waned. He dared not 
 return to Wirtemberg, yet the care of his properties demanded 
 his presence. 
 
 Meanwhile Eberhard Ludwig had permitted the Landhof- 
 meisterin to work her will in the Forstner affair. Little 
 guessed the poor fool, waiting at Strassburg, what a terrible 
 net was being woven round him. Slowly, silently, with 
 deadly patience, the Landhofmeisterin was collecting a 
 thousand threads for this fabric. Documents, statements, 
 even the accounts of Forstner's private monies, were bribed 
 from his estate agents ; each letter that he wrote, every- 
 thing, was gathered by the Secret Service and brought to the 
 Landhofmeisterin's office, where the long chain of evidence 
 was being linked together by the Gravenitz and Schtltz. She 
 intended Forstner to be condemned, not only by the Duke's 
 orders, but publicly, and on a charge so damning as to 
 alienate all from him. Incidentally, the Duchess Johanna 
 Elizabetha would be deeply implicated. 
 
 In the January of 1712 Forstner at Strassburg received 
 some warning, and fled to Paris. Here, at least, he believed 
 himself safe from the machinations of the all - powerful 
 Gravenitz. True, he was implicated in that feeble plot to 
 murder her, which had failed because the young man he had 
 hired to do the deed had unaccountably disappeared, his 
 fellow-conspirators having never seen or heard of him since 
 the night of the Ludwigsburg masquerade. Forstner often 
 wondered whether the youth was imprisoned in one of 
 Wirtemberg's grim fortresses — Hohenasperg, Hohen-Urach, 
 or Hohen-Neuffen. He shuddered when he remembered how 
 men vanished into the gloom of these strangholds, which are 
 built into the rock of the steep hills, and are inaccessible as 
 an eagle's eyrie. 
 
 Yet proof was wanting to convict him of contriving murder 
 or political disturbance, and, at least, he was safe in Paris. 
 Lulled into carelessness by the silence from Wirtemberg, he 
 showed himself abroad, even attending the genial, informal 
 receptions of the Duchesse d'Orleans, that Princess of 
 Bavaria w4io had succeeded, and by her sturdy, uncom- 
 promising treatment of the Due d'Orleans, had revenged 
 
252 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 poor Henriette of England, his beautiful, brilliant, but little 
 appreciated jQrst wife. 
 
 Elizabeth Charlotte received Forstner with much con- 
 descension. Death had relieved her, in 1702, from her sickly, 
 despicable spouse, and she was free to open her house to every 
 German traveller, which, in his lifetime, Monsieur had always 
 endeavoured to prevent. 
 
 One day when Forstner was journeying to visit the 
 Duchesse d'Orleans, he was arrested in the King's name and 
 conveyed to the Bastille, where he was informed that he was 
 accused of treason to the Duke of Wirtemberg, and of intent 
 to murder several great personages of his Highness's court. 
 He was further informed that he would be sent to Stuttgart 
 under escort as soon as the necessary arrangements could 
 be completed. 
 
 In vain Forstner remonstrated that he could not be im- 
 prisoned in France for a political offence in Wirtemberg. In 
 vain he protested and claimed the protection of Louis xiv. 
 The King at Versailles was busied with the saving of his soul 
 and with the doctoring of his gangrened knee. So the doors 
 of the Bastille closed on Baron Forstner, and he was left to 
 reflect upon the danger of casting aspersions on a woman's 
 beauty. 
 
 After some months the rumour of Forstner's imprisonment 
 reached the Duchesse d'Orleans, who had believed her com- 
 patriot returned to Germany. ]N"ow it was a ticklish thing 
 for the Duchess to undertake intervention on behalf of a Pro- 
 testant, for though she had joined the Church of Rome on her 
 marriage to ' Monsieur,' still it was whispered in Paris that 
 she had reprehensible leanings to the faith of her childhood. 
 
 Madame de Maintenon and the King were more than ever 
 hostile towards heretics, and the Bavarian princess had received 
 several sharp reproofs on the subject already. 
 
 Then came the news that Forstner had been condemned to 
 death in Stuttgart, and that he was to be conveyed thither 
 without delay. 
 
 TheDuchesse d'OrMans journeyed to Versailles, and demanded 
 an audience of her uugust brother-in-law. The King was in an 
 ungracious mood. He received his late brother's wife coldly. 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 253 
 
 He regretted that she should espouse the cause of this foreigner. 
 Eeally, he had no intention of interfering in the affairs of any- 
 petty German prince. This was merely a question of inter- 
 national law. If this ' Baron de Forstnere ' were in the Bastille, 
 let him stay there. Louis asked angrily if he were expected 
 to interest himself in such unimportant details, when he was 
 so profoundly troubled with affairs of State. Little wonder 
 that the King was not in a favour-granting humour. The 
 Congress of Utrecht was discussing peace, and Louis saw that 
 though he had actually gained the day in the Spanish Succes- 
 sion War, still France had lost hugely in blood and gold, and 
 was to lose still more in colonies. 
 
 But Elizabeth Charlotte was not to be put off thus easily. 
 If it came to hard words, no one was more competent than she 
 was to utter truth unshrinkingly. Petty German princes 
 indeed ! Louis had been anxious enough to share in the 
 inheritance from a petty German prince, when, at the death of 
 her father without male heirs, the Roi Soleil had seen a chance 
 of grasping a portion of the Bavarian Palatinate ! And so she 
 told him in her loud voice and uncouth French. Madame de 
 Maintenon interposed : Why did her Eoyal Highness take so 
 deep an interest in this ' Forstnere ? ' she asked. 
 
 'Because he is a Bavarian, and his father and mine were 
 friends,' she was told by the Duchess. 
 
 'Ah ! a Bavarian — then a Catholique ? ' the saintly Marquise 
 supposed. 
 
 ' No indeed ! ' 
 
 Things looked very black for Forstner. But the Duchesse 
 d'Orleans played her trump card. Though a Protestant, 
 Forstner was a virtuous man, and the reason of his disgrace 
 in Wirtemberg was simply that he opposed the terrible licence 
 of the Duke's mistress. 
 
 Now the Marquise de Maintenon was a little sensitive on 
 the subject of mistresses, and when Elizabeth Charlotte invoked 
 her aid against the machinations of a wanton, old Veuve 
 Scarron changed her tone. Then in the midst of the discus- 
 sion the King had a twinge in his gangrened knee, and signed 
 Forstner's release, in order to be rid of this pertinacious 
 princess. 
 
254 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Meanwhile there had been storms at Ludwifijsburg. In 
 December 1711 the new Emperor Charles vi., former pretender 
 to the Spanish throne, was crowned Emperor at Frankfort. 
 The reigning princes of the various allied German states 
 attended the coronation of the German king, crowned 
 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Eberhard Ludwig of 
 Wirtemberg repaired to Frankfort for the historic ceremony, 
 and it was the right of the Duchess of Wirtemberg to attend, 
 if she so desired ; but Johanna Elizabetha remained in her 
 dreary black-hung apartments, sewing coarse linen garments 
 for the poor, and weeping her desolation. Pageants were not 
 for her obviously. 
 
 But the Landhofmeisterin demanded to go to Frankfort 
 with her Duke. Zollern and Madame de Ruth advised her to 
 refrain from so preposterous a request ; but she had set her 
 mind upon it, and she importuned Serenissimus, who, poor 
 man, was indeed all unable to grant her this whim. 
 
 There were pleadings, tears, angry words, finally a serious 
 quarrel between the lovers. Friedrich Gravenitz, now a Privy 
 Councillor and Minister of State, remonstrated pompously 
 with his sister. He had gained nearly all he desired through 
 her, and now affected to be the serious official, the hard- 
 working minister and grave man of the world. She bade him 
 return to his petty businesses of administration, and warned 
 him that, did he interfere with her, she would cause him to be 
 dismissed. Friedrich aimed at being Premier of Wirtemberg, 
 and thus he bowed down once more to the all-powerful lady. 
 The Landhofmeisterin continued to pester the Duke to convey 
 her to Frankfort. Then, in the midst of this quarrel, news 
 came from Stetten that the Duchess-mother was sick unto 
 death, and Serenissimus abruptly left Ludwigsburg to receive 
 his mother's dying blessing. 
 
 He returned in a few days deeply saddened. He had 
 arrived at his mother's deathbed too late ; she had almost 
 passed away. True, her wan face had lit with love when 
 Eberhard Ludwig stood beside her; bending over her, he had 
 heard her murmur once more her favourite catchword, ' My 
 absurd boy,' then a faint whisper of 'Johanna Elizabetha,' and 
 the Duke knew that, with her last breath, the honest old lady 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 255 
 
 had called him back to duty. But lie returned to weep his 
 mother's loss upon the breast of Wilhelmine von Gravenitz; 
 In this softened mood, his Highness went near the granting 
 his beloved's prayer, but ZoUern stepped in and spoke privately 
 with the Landhofmeisterin. 
 
 Directly after the Duchess-mother's obsequies the Duke rode 
 northwards to Frankfort to attend the Emperor's coronation. 
 He journeyed with his chief officers and guards, and his proud 
 mistress was left behind in Wirtemberg. Yet she had gained 
 another triumph. If the Duke could not grant her request 
 concerning the coronation, what would he give her in com- 
 pensation ? 
 
 ' Anything in the world you ask,' he had replied. And she had 
 demanded Stetten, the Duchess-mother's dower-house ! Zollern 
 and Madame de Kuth were overwhelmed when they heard of 
 it. . Good heavens ! what would the Duchess-mother have 
 said ? But on the day when Eberhard Ludwig rode to the 
 coronation, the Landhofmeisterin's coach thundered through 
 the fields to Stetten. 
 
 When the news came from Paris that Forstner had been 
 released from the Bastille, the Landhofmeisterin flew into a 
 towering passion. The Geheimrathe were summoned, and 
 the affair put before them once more. The evidence against 
 Forstner was convincing, aud any Chamber would have con- 
 victed him ; but it is necessary to consider who composed this 
 Privy Council. 
 
 , Landhofmeister Count Wiirben — an invalid unfortunately, 
 and unable to appear — was Premier and Minister of War, and 
 in his regrettable absence his wife, her Excellency the Land- 
 hofmeisterin, presided at the sessions of the Council, and a 
 more energetic, autocratic President could not have been found 
 in Europe. Friedrich, Count von Gravenitz, was Minister of 
 the Interior ; Baron Schiitz, Minister for Foreign Affairs ; 
 Baron Sittmann, Minister of Finance ; and two brothers Pfau, 
 cousins of Schiitz, held office as Councillors. For appearance 
 sake (not that the Landhofmeisterin considered that often) 
 there were several minor councillors, men of no importance, 
 who obeyed implicitly the autocratic, vigilant, relentless 
 
256 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 President of Council. Thus the entire government lay in the 
 Gravenitz's capable hands. Small wonder that Forstner 
 trembled. 
 
 The Council decreed that the recalcitrant Baron was to be 
 summoned to attend his trial forthwith, and that a hope of 
 rehabilitation should be held out to him if he came immedi- 
 ately to his country's first tribunal. The death sentence was 
 rescinded, of course, pending this new trial. 
 
 Forstner replied to this official document that he had no 
 intention of putting his head between the wolfs teeth, and 
 that he intended to appeal in Vienna against the wrongful 
 detention of his monies and properties in Wirtemberg. He 
 reminded the honourable Council that he was by birth a 
 Bavarian, and that, though he had resided in Wirtemberg, and 
 owned lands in that dukedom, still the Wirtemberg tribunal 
 had no jurisdiction over him. 
 
 Upon receipt of this answer the Privy Council solemnly 
 recondemned Forstner to death, confiscated his Wirtemberg 
 properties, and further decreed that if he refused to be exe- 
 cuted in person, he should be burned in effigy in the market- 
 place of Stuttgart by the common hangman. 
 
 Forstner's response to this was a letter to the Landhof- 
 meisterin, wherein he suggested that he should summon a 
 Privy Council on his estates in Alsace, composed of his valet, 
 his gardener, his lackey, and the village fiddler. That he pro- 
 posed, as President of this Council, to condemn her to death ; 
 and should she not joyfully repair for her execution, he would 
 have her hanged in effigy, head downwards, over the pig-stye. 
 Probably that drastic Bavarian, the Duchesse d'Orl^ans, inspired 
 this letter, or else Forstner had developed a grim wit in his day 
 of trouble. 
 
 The Duke and the Landhofmeisterin raged, and the day of 
 the burning in effigy was fixed. 
 
 Then the officer of the Secret Service came to Ludwigsburg 
 carrying a bundle of placards torn from the house walls in 
 Stuttgart. Hundreds of these writings had been nailed to the 
 walls and the doors, and seemed to resprout there like magic 
 mushrooms, for as fast as the agent and his men removed one, 
 another appeared in its place. These handbills set forth the 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 257 
 
 gist of Forstner's letter to the Landhofmeisterin, but in even 
 more pregnant terms, and with additional remarks concerning 
 her person, habits, and transactions. 
 
 'Death to the person found affixing such a placard. Im- 
 prisonment to those who speak of these handbills. Fines to 
 each householder upon whose house or door such a paper is 
 found.' Thus Eberhard Ludwig decreed; and one miserable 
 wretch was actually hung for nailing up one of Forstner's 
 placards; while innumerable fines were imposed upon the 
 burghers whose houses had been thus decorated. 
 
 The burning in effigy of Baron Fotstner was fixed for the 
 15th of February. The arrangements for this strange function 
 were elaborate, and entirely supervised and in part designed 
 by the Landhofmeisterin. Her aim was to make this mock 
 execution not merely a symbol of. the criminal's degradation, 
 but a truly awe-inspiring ceremony, calculated to strike terror 
 into the minds of the onlookers. 
 
 She caused every town and village of Wirtemberg to send 
 their chief men accompanied by their wives (the Landhof- 
 meisterin knew the power of womanly gossip in a country, 
 or indeed in any community) to witness the sham holocaust. 
 The members of the court were commanded to be present, 
 and the Stuttgart burghers were informed that non- attendants 
 would be fined. 
 
 The 15th of February dawned clear and frosty, and in 
 spite of the burghers' hatred of the Landhofmeisterin and 
 all she did, there was a certain amused anticipation in 
 Stuttgart regarding the strange ceremony which was to take 
 place. 
 
 For days carpenters, joiners, and builders had been at work 
 in the market-place erecting a huge platform and a giant 
 gibbet. The well-to-do burghers hired rooms in the houses 
 looking on to the square. As they dared not refuse to attend, 
 they desired at least to make this mock execution an occasion 
 for popular entertainment. 
 
 At nine of the clock the bells of all churches in Stuttgart 
 began to toll for the dead, and the tramp of soldiers proceed- 
 ing to the market-place warned the compulsory sightseers 
 that it was time to repair thither an they would not be 
 
258 A GERMAN POMPADOCJE 
 
 crushed in tlie mob. Many set out in a jocular humour, but 
 quickly this gaiety changed ; there was something inexplicably 
 sinister in the atmosphere, a menace to freedom, an appalling 
 sense of relentless tyranny. 
 
 Eound the market-place the soldiery formed a double line, 
 and the people soon saw that this mock ceremony was a grim 
 threat; for the soldiers carried matchlocks, and the whisper 
 ran round the assemblage that these were primed and loaded, 
 and that the soldiers had orders to fire if any group of sight- 
 seers indulged in undue hilarity. 
 
 The newly erected platform was draped in black, and in 
 the middle of the market-place stood a circle of stakes round 
 a large centre pillar. This circle contained a huge pile of 
 tar-soaked wood. 
 
 A brooding stillness fell on the people. The market-place 
 was densely packed, each window of the surrounding houses 
 held its complement of men and women. The church bells 
 still tolled the solemn death tones, otherwise the silence was 
 unbroken. 
 
 At length a flourish of trumpets sounded. The court was 
 approaching. - First came the officers of State and the members 
 of the nobility, then a detachment of Silver Guards rode upj and 
 formed into line before the black-draped platform. Another 
 fanfare of trumpets and the Landhofmeisterin's gilded coach 
 thundered into the market-place, the mob crushing back to 
 avoid the flying hoofs of the escort's horses. Several coaches 
 followed, containing the red-robed privy councillors and richly 
 bedizened courtiers. Serenissimus sprang from the Landhof- 
 meisterin's coach and assisted her Excellency to alight. She 
 took her place beside his Highness in the centre of the plat- 
 form, and the privy council and the court gathered round. 
 
 Then appeared a file of soldiers and officers, and in their 
 midst was a rigid figure lashed between two condemned 
 criminals. One a murderer, particularly odious to the Stutt- 
 gart burghers, for he had stabbed his employer, a well-known 
 lady, the much-esteemed widow of a popular town councillor. 
 The other a notorious horse-stealer, whom the law-abiding 
 Stuttgarters had- stoned but a few months past. 
 
 The rigid figure was ridiculous enough : the great waxen 
 
THE BURNING IN EFFIGY 259 
 
 head sculptured to an unmistakable, though grotesque, likeness 
 of the well-known features of Baron Forstner ; then the long, 
 emaciated limbs and even the man's noticeably narrow, flat feet 
 had been reproduced, and they shuffled stiffly along the frost- 
 dried cobble stones. It was a masterpiece of ridicule, yet there 
 was something furiously cruel in the whole absurd travesty 
 of a human being, something terrible in this association in igno- 
 miny, between the stiff, swaying wax en thing and the condemned 
 criminals. Slowly this strange procession passed through the 
 crowd, and the three figures— the two living, and the grue- 
 some, inanimate parody of life — were pushed into the circle 
 of faggots in the centre of the market-place and bound all 
 three to the tall middle pillar. Then the common hangman, a 
 huge, heavy-featured Swabian — a butcher by usual occupation 
 — stepped forward and demanded in the accustomed formula : 
 ' If by the will of God and His representatives of law and order 
 on earth, these miserable men were to be sent to their eternal 
 punishment ? ' The chief officer of law made answer that 
 such was the ' will of Heaven and of the very noble Prince, 
 our Lord Eberhard Ludwig, Duke and Euler of Wirtemberg.* 
 Then a member of the privy council rose, and in solemn tones 
 read the indictment of Friedrich Haberle, the murderer, and 
 Johannes Schwan, the horse- stealer, condemned to be burned 
 at the stake, together with the effigy of the detestable traitor 
 and purloiner of State monies, Christoph Peter Forstner. 
 
 In spite of the threatened penalty, a murmur ran through 
 the onlookers. They had expected to see a lifeless thiog 
 burned, but could they indeed be forced to witness the burn- 
 ing of two living men ? The execution of a witch was 
 another thing — they enjoyed that ; but in cold blood to watch 
 two human beings, not horrible magicians but merely sinners — 
 to see these creatures burned along with that ghastly, lifeless, 
 waxen thing, — that was awesome ! A woman in one of the 
 windows screamed, a child in the crowd below "lifted a wail- 
 ing cry. Perhaps the whole thing was inconsistent 1 What 
 difference between the holocaust of a witch and that of two 
 vile criminals ? What matter to the dying men that an absurd 
 image should be burned with them ? yet there lay some inde- 
 scribable horror in it. 
 
260 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 The hangman advanced and applied a flanoing torch to the 
 tar-smeared faggots, which began to hiss and splutter in the 
 still, frosty, winter air. 
 
 * Hold ! ' cried the privy councillor, ' unbind those men ! 
 Friedrich Haberle and Johannes Schwan are reprieved from 
 death, their sentence is commuted to flogging and banishment. 
 Beside Christoph Peter Porstner's crimes these men have 
 hardly transgressed. It is the will of his Highness that 
 they should go free, in token of his wise mercy and to let 
 you see how sure is his justice ! And against so lenient a 
 Prince has this odious traitor Porstner conspired ! Hang- 
 man, do your work upon his image in symbol of his well- 
 deserved punishment, from which the unjust protection of a 
 foreign monarch shields the actual person of this criminal. 
 But let this symbol of death be ever present in the souls of 
 all beholders. Such will be the bodily fate of all those who 
 conspire against his Highness or his Highness's government.' 
 
 The flames sprang upwards, licking round the waxen figure 
 and scorching the arm of one of the criminals who was being 
 released from the cords that bound him. 
 
 Every eye was upon the beauty of the woman seated beside 
 the Duke Eberhard Ludwig. In abject submission and deadly 
 hatred they gazed on the face of her who thus threatened 
 them, for they read her threat against themselves in every 
 word of the privy councillor's discourse, her menace in each 
 flame which consumed the waxen figure of her enemy, Baron 
 Porstner, 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE sinner's palace 
 
 Foestner's fate worked marvels in the outward behaviour of 
 the Wirtembergers. The strange scene upon the market- 
 place lingered in their minds, and the actual loss which 
 Forstner sustained in confiscated properties, monies, and titles, 
 made the sober burghers careful even in the private expres- 
 sion • of their hatred of the Landhofmeisterin. They still 
 spoke of her as the Landverderberin (Land-despoiler), but they 
 greeted her with reverential demeanour when she thundered 
 through town or village in her coach. 
 
 Of her witchcraft there was no longer any doubt, in all 
 opinions. Forstner had suffered from a grievous disease, they 
 had heard, since the witch-woman had practised her horrid 
 magic upon his effigy. True, Prelate Osiander had spoken 
 openly of the natural and inevitable effects of such cruel mis- 
 fortunes upon a man, already weakly in health, but they 
 argued that the churchman was obliged to take this view, and 
 his Eeverence's opinions were rejected. 
 
 'Yet the fierce hatred only smouldered under this calm 
 and respectful demeanour, and the Landhofmeisterin knew 
 this right well, for his Highness's Secret Service reported 
 many things. The vigilance was unceasing; through the 
 whole country the spies wandered, and many were the fines 
 they levied for careless words which they called treason. 
 
 * Treason to whom, great God ! ' wailed the wretched people. 
 
 * Treason to his Highness's honour,' they were told, and knew 
 her Excellency, his Highness's mistress, was meant under 
 this respectable appellation. 
 
 There was no denying it: Wirtemberg belonged to the 
 Gravenitzin. Eberhard Ludwig was a mere shadow at her 
 
 261 
 
262 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 side, but a loyal shadow which approved, or affected to approve, 
 her every action. 
 
 The doings at Ludwigsburg were always brilliant, often 
 gay : masques, banquets, music, play-acting, dancing ; and even 
 foreign travellers repaired to the South German court to view 
 the brilliancies which equalled those of Versailles before the 
 pious, wanton Maintenon had turned the palace into a house 
 of prayer-meeting, strangely enough almost Calvinistic in its 
 gloom. 
 
 At Ludwigsburg the months flew by in a whirl of gaiety 
 and elegant revelry. The groans of an oppressed peasantry, 
 the curses of an overtaxed burgherdom, could not pierce 
 through the chorus of merriment. Smaller stars waxed 
 and waned, favourites of a day disappeared, but the Landhof- 
 meisterin's power grew greater, and her ambition became each 
 day more tremendous. She was treated with royal honours, 
 and the court customs were so arranged that her kin should 
 take precedency of all. 
 
 The news of Count Wiirben^s death caused fresh alarms at 
 Stuttgart, for it was expected that the Countess would again 
 endeavour to remove Johanna Elizabeth a and marry the Duke. 
 But she had learned her lesson, and now contented herself 
 with her towering position as ruler and mistress. To such a 
 personage the minor detail of legal marriage seemed unimpor- 
 tant, though Madame de Maintenon's example rankled in the 
 mind of every royal favourite. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin believed her position to be unassail- 
 able, and if a thought crossed her mind that all this power and 
 pleasure depended upon the will of a man and a Prince, 
 that will which is so often better spelled caprice, still she 
 could not doubt that this one man, one Prince, was constant 
 and stable. Prom the force of love, of trust, of habit, and 
 of fear he would remain hers till death. And after his 
 Highness's death ? Por that she was prepared also. ' Gold 
 is power,' she had said to Monsieur Gabriel long ago at 
 Giistrow, and she did not forget this precept. She 
 spent freely and magnificently, but she amassed an 
 enormous fund in reserve. No year passed without some 
 beautiful property becoming hers — broad acres of field and 
 
THE SINNER'S PALACE 263 
 
 forest, entire villages, old and lordly castles. To name but 
 a few of these : Gochsheim, Welzheim, Brenz, Stetten (the 
 Duchess-mother's dower-house), Freudenthal, the Castle of 
 Urach, and the Chateau Joyeux La Tavorite. Her treasury 
 was well filled, for she levied taxes in the Duke's name, 
 and they flowed into her privy purse: gold heavy with the 
 curses of a people. Her dream of an empire where she 
 should hold secret dominion over the wealth and enterprise 
 of a vast Jewish community had been realised in a modified 
 fashion. She had caused the stringent laws against the Jews 
 to be relaxed ; they were permitted to worship openly ; 
 a synagogue was erected in Stuttgart, and Jews could 
 acquire civil rights. At her village of Freudenthal she had 
 founded a Jewish settlement. Old Trau Hazzim died 
 there in peace, blessing the name of the friend of Israel. 
 The Jews, in return, served the Gravenitz well, and she had 
 great sums safely awaiting her out of Wirtemberg. All this in 
 preparation for the death of the man she loved ! Yet, after 
 all, the most loving and perfect wives make these arrange- 
 ments if they can : the dower-honse filled with linen and 
 silver, and the jointure; but it will ever be regarded as a 
 heinous offence for the mistress to provide for herself. 
 These condemnations of ours are a part of the spontaneous 
 human judgment, and it would not be entirely human were 
 it not gloriously inconsistent. 
 
 Freudenthal was the place she loved best of all her 
 possessions, and here she gathered together the most beautiful 
 objects : pictures, Italian inlaid cabinets, graceful French 
 furniture, wonderful silken hangings, carved ivories, many 
 rare books. The gardens were laid out by her own design. 
 Freudenthal lies sequestered from the world at the edge of 
 a little valley, and close behind the village rise long, low, 
 wooded hills — the Stromberg, dark with fir-trees, whose 
 sombre tone is relieved by groves of beeches. , Below 
 Freudenthal verdant fields sweep away in soft undulations, 
 broken here and there by beautiful orchards. The Gravenitz 
 knew that an elaborate garden would be a false note in this 
 rustic serenity, and her Freudenthal garden was designed in 
 a simple style. She had found there a peasant's orchard, 
 
264 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 with many aucient fruit-trees; these she left untouched, 
 merely sowing fine grass instead of the corn which waves 
 beneath the apple- and pear-trees in every Wirtemherg 
 orchard. The actual garden she planted with bowers of 
 roses and beautiful flowering borders along broad grass path- 
 ways. The only artificial embellishments were two flights 
 of stone steps leading to simple fountains with large stone 
 basins, where the water gurgled and splashed lazily. ' Frisoni, 
 build the house not in the new style, I pray you,' she had 
 said, ' some graceful Italian simplicity were better here ' ; 
 and he built a very pleasant mansion, unturreted, without 
 tortured elegancies — a long, low, broad-windowed country 
 retreat, each proportion perfect, each line harmonious. What 
 a wealth of flowers bloomed in the Freudenthal garden ! How 
 fragrant were the roses, the lilacs, the jasmine ! 
 
 Here the Landhofmeisterin was wont to linger if his 
 Highness were forced to leave her for a few days. Here 
 she would live a short span of peaceful hours, ambition 
 banished awhile, affairs of State forgotten. Here she would 
 sing again the songs she loved so well. 
 
 ' Let us go to Freudenthal, et chantons les romances d'autre- 
 fois,' she would say to Madame de Euth and Zollern. Then 
 his Highness would come riding down the long, straight, 
 narrow road from Ludwigsburg. He would dismount at the 
 orchard gate and call to her : ' Wilhelmine ! Philomele ! ' and 
 for an hour the glamour of youth and an echo of the early 
 days of a great passion would return to them. Sometimes he 
 would pray her to sing again the melody which she had 
 sung in the Eothenwald when they had first loved ; but alas ! 
 her voice was not the same. The beautiful notes were there, 
 the consummate art, but the world-hardness had laid its touch 
 upon her very music. True, Wilhelmine singing was always 
 a being much more tender, more pure than Wilhelmine 
 woman of the world, still her voice registered the harden- 
 ing of her soul. Zollern said that when she sang * she 
 expressed all she was not,' and it was a cruel truth. Some- 
 times there rang for an instant an infinite yearning, but it 
 vanished, and the cold, perfect, artificially passionate utterance 
 resumed sway. . 
 
THE SINNER'S PALACE 265 
 
 Now and then Eberliard Ludwig still wandered in the forest. 
 He would leave the company of hunters, and followed by- 
 faithful old Melac, the wolf-hound, he escaped to revel in the 
 silence and beauty of the beechwood.^ Often he was terribly 
 sad in those days. Wilhelmine perplexed him ; it was the 
 hardness in her heart which made him suffer. He winced 
 when he heard even her glorious voice fraught with this new 
 soul of harshness. Often he endeavoured to tell her of his 
 sadness, but she laughed at him. 
 
 What more could he crave from her, indeed ? She loved 
 him, she was true to him. Alas ! he could not explain that 
 it was the essence of her love which had changed. She had 
 no time to be sad, no time therefore to be tender. Poor 
 Eberhard Ludwig ! poor brilliant, successful Wilhelmine ! And 
 yet, who could blame her if she was greatly occupied ? She 
 was. chief minister de facto of a country ; she was finance 
 minister of a queen, she was herself queen ; she was Master 
 of the Ceremonies to a court ; she was purveyor of amuse- 
 ments to a great prince ; yet she had lost the faculty to 
 understand that this prince agonised because she was too 
 occupied to give him tenderness. Passion she gave him, and 
 brilliant gaiety ; she tyrannised, flattered, charmed, cajoled him, 
 what more could he desire? Only, he dreamed of the 
 impossible; he dreamed of the love and friendship which 
 remain, of the roses and kisses which do not fade and lose 
 their savour. Of course, it was impossible ; but from a 
 dream's non-fulfilment a tragedy was preparing. The tragedy 
 of satiety and inevitable disappointment. 
 
 All Wirtemberg was in the Landhofmeisterin's grasp, but 
 two things disturbed her entire enjoyment of power : the 
 continued residence of Johanna Elizabetha in Stuttgart, and 
 the unrelenting disapproval of the Evangelical Church towards 
 the unholy court of Ludwigsburg. 
 
 The Catholic Church, through Zollern, coquetted with the 
 Landhofmeisterin in the hope of winning Wirtemberg's 
 allegiance by her influence. But the Protestant community, 
 headed by Prelate Osiander, was openly hostile. The 
 Landhofmeisterin, piqued by this, made overtures offering 
 
266 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 to endow orpliauages, schools, and to repair churclies; but 
 though the Church,, after the manner of Churches, swallowed 
 the gold greedily, still it refused to swallow the Landhof- 
 meisterin so long as she remained in deadly and open sin. 
 
 To oust the Duchess was impossible ; therefore it was 
 deemed sufficient that she should be deserted and apparently 
 forgotten, and surely in time the Church would permit itself 
 to be mollified, and if cajolery failed, the Gravenitz dreamed 
 of using the well-worn threat of Roman conversion. Mean- 
 while she was ruler of the land, and she thought it pre- 
 posterous that in the State Church services her great name 
 went unmentioned in the prayers to God for the salvation of 
 Wirtemberg's ruler. The Duke was induced to intimate to 
 Osiander his wish that the Landhofmeisterin should be prayed 
 for when they interceded for himself. Osiander treated this 
 request with contempt, and returned no answer. Then the 
 matter rested for two years, and it seemed as though both the 
 Duke and his mistress had forgotten it. 
 
 One day Osiander was summoned to Ludwigsburg. He 
 could not refuse to obey the ruler of his country, and though 
 he suspected the summons to be in truth from the Landhof- 
 meisterin, it was signed and sealed by Eberhard Ludwig. So 
 the Prelate rode to Ludwigsburg. 
 
 It was as he had feared, and he was conducted to her 
 Excellency's reception room in the Corps de Logis. Bowing 
 deeply, the page ushered the Prelate into the large apartment 
 and retired, and Osiander found himself alone in the presence 
 of the great Landhofmeisterin. 
 
 She came forward graciously and greeted the churchman 
 with a profoundly reverential courtesy. He returned her 
 salutation coldly and turned away his eyes, for her beauty 
 was dazzling still, and he feared he might be influenced. 
 
 ' I think, your Excellency,' he said quietly, ' I think his 
 Highness the Duke wished to speak with me ? ' 
 
 ' Monseigneur Osiander, I have ventured to request your 
 presence concerning a matter which has been long in my 
 thoughts,' she said in her most sonorous tones, and with that 
 smile upon her lips which few could resist; but Osiander 
 observed her coldly and gravely. 
 
THE SINNER'S PALACE 267 
 
 *I pray you be seated/ she continued, and pointed to a 
 large red -cushioned chair, one which Zollern had brought 
 from Eome, the typical dignified, high-backed chair of the 
 Eoman Cardinal. To Osiander its very shape was Papistical. 
 
 She flung herself down upon a gilt tabouret which stood 
 near. It was much lower than the Prelate's seat, and he could 
 not fail to look down into the deep d^colletage of her bodice. 
 He moved away a little, while a faint flush rose to his 
 cheeks. 
 
 ' I am listening, Excellency,' he said ; ' but you will pardon 
 me if I urge you to be brief, for I have much business to 
 transact this afternoon.' 
 
 ' Ah ! Prelate, it is so difficult to be brief with those who do 
 not comprehend ! ' She leaned towards him. ' I have ever- 
 respected you, Monseigneur.' 
 
 - The Prelate drew back from her. In his mind he 
 repeated over and over again, as though the phrase were an 
 incantation against some evil spirit: 'The Jezebel flatters 
 me, the Jezebel flatters me,' but man, he could not remain 
 insensible to the woman who thus appealed to him, though 
 priest, he abhorred her. All her charm was in her eyes, her 
 smile ; there was a fragrance about her — an exhilaration. 
 
 ' Madame, it were better if you respected God's laws,' he said 
 sternly. His severity seemed to him as a barrier which he 
 raised between his human weakness and her evil fascination. 
 She sprang up ; actress that she was, she meant to convince 
 this man by a grand and tragical scene. She knew him to be 
 too simple, too unsubtle, to detect the art which lent power 
 and pathos to her words. Besides, she was well in her role, 
 it amused her. 
 
 ' Ah ! you priest of God ! I appeal to you, not concerning 
 the necessarily unjust laws of men, but concerning the law of 
 God and Nature. See, it is no law of God's that I have trans- 
 gressed. Remember, I am truly the wife of Serenissimus, 
 blessed by prayer. My second marriage is nothing — merely 
 a political arrangement. And my sin, what is it ? I found 
 a good man dragging out the days of his youth in sadness 
 beside a woman who could not understand him — a woman only 
 his wife in name. I gave my life to him, I am true to him. 
 
268 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 The law of man refuses me justice, but God does not, cannot ; 
 and I appeal to you, as God's representative on earth, to give 
 me my spiritual right : to include me in your prayers/ She 
 sank back upon the tabouret. The Prelate was astounded. 
 The question of the Landhofmeisterin's being mentioned in 
 the public prayers for the head of the State came back to him, 
 but it was incredible, preposterous. 'No ; this woman surely 
 sought the grace of God. She was earnest, repentance had 
 come to her. She desired his prayers. Thus well had 
 Wilhelmine gauged the Prelate's character, his incapacity for 
 detecting the play-actress in the passionate, imploring woman. 
 The pastor of souls was softened immediately by the vision 
 of rescuing this strayed spirit. 
 
 * My daughter,' he said solemnly, * if you indeed desire my 
 prayers, I will intercede daily for you. I shall pray that your 
 heart shall be steadfast, pray for God's pardon for your evil life. 
 But I ask you to combat temptation with all your strength. 
 May Christ in His mercy help you.' 
 
 The emotion of his great earnestness rendered the good 
 man's voice tremulous. 
 
 * I thank you, you are generous to me.' She reached him 
 her hand, and he held it gently between both of his. * But, 
 Prelate,' she continued, ' is it not written in the Bible that 
 when two or three are gathered together God will grant their 
 requests? I would fain have prayer offered for me in church.' 
 
 The Prelate started ; yet the demand seemed too outrageous. 
 He could not credit that this sinner wished for a nation's 
 prayers as though she were, in truth, the Duke's legal 
 wife. ISTo, no ; she was a repentant sinner seeking the grace 
 of God. Far be it from him, a sinner, to refuse his help. 
 
 *You mean, your Excellency, that you wish me to pray 
 silently for you when the faithful are gathered together ? ' he 
 said tentatively. 
 
 ' ISTo, I do not mean that,' she answered quickly ; * I wish a 
 prayer to be said aloud for my salvation.' 
 
 The Prelate was overwhelmed. 
 
 ' Surely you do not wish to make public confession of 
 repentance before the congregation?' he questioned. The 
 woman seemed mad to desire thus to proclaim her shame. 
 
THE SINNER'S PALACE 269 
 
 and yet he was filled with reverence for the faith which could 
 prompt so proud a being to humble herself in the eyes of all 
 men. 
 
 *Monseigneur le Prelat Osiander/' she said after a pause, 
 
 * I am the Duke's wife before God, and it is my husband his 
 Highness's command and mine, that my name should be 
 included in the official prayer for the head of this Dukedom. 
 I am ruler I would have you know.' 
 
 The preposterous demand was made, Osiander could no 
 longer doubt. It was no repentant sinner with whom he 
 dealt, but the all-powerful mistress who had but stooped for a 
 moment to cajole him in the hope of gaining her aim, and 
 who, finding him uncompromising, had resumed her imperious 
 habit. The Prelate was aghast, indignant. He rose stiffly 
 from his chair. 
 
 * Your Excellency cannot have considered this command, or 
 even you, Madame, would not have dared to make it. The 
 only prayer that can be said for you in church is that of 
 intercession for the sinful.' 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin approached closely. 
 
 ' Will you accede to my request ? If not, you shall obey 
 my order or it will be the worse for you.' She was beside 
 herself with anger. She hated the word Sin ; she always said 
 it represented the bourgeois' criticism of the life of gentlemen. 
 
 * No, Excellency, I will not obey you. With my consent 
 the pure service of the worship of God shall never be sullied 
 with your name.' Osiander was the sterner, the more relent- 
 less, because of his momentary weakness and credulity. 
 
 ' You are obliged to pray for me,' she retorted mockingly ; 
 
 * each time you petition Heaven for the health and happiness 
 of the Duke, you pray for me ! I'or me, do you hear ? I 
 am his health and his happiness.' 
 
 To Osiander this was rank blasphemy, and, good man 
 though he was, he lost his temper. 
 
 'Indeed, Excellency, you say rightly. You are truly in- 
 cluded in the prayers of the congregation, for each time we say 
 " Lord, deliver us from evil," we pray for the end of your 
 infamous reign.' 
 
 The Gravenitz laughed harshly. All traces of her softer 
 
270 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 mood, of her fascination, had gone past ; she had become once 
 more the cold, proud woman, the tyrant whose statue-like 
 beauty seemed to the Wirtembergers to be some devil's mask 
 of false outward fairness, covering a mass of inner corruption. 
 
 * Is this the only answer you have, Osiander ? ' she asked 
 roughly. 
 
 ' Yes, your Excellency, and if it were to be my last word on 
 earth.' 
 
 The Gravenitz looked at him fixedly for a moment ; after 
 all, she rather admired his intrepidity. 
 
 ' Your audience is at an end,' she said haughtily, and bowed 
 slightly as though she were really some rightful sovereign 
 dismissing a froward courtier. 
 
 The Prelate returned her salute equally slightly, and turn- 
 ing away with a sigh, he left her presence. 
 
 In later years the estimable man was wont to aver he had 
 never been so near to insulting a woman, yet he would add : 
 
 * But she was great in her very wickedness ! Surely she 
 must have been one of the angels fallen from Heaven and 
 apprenticed in Hell! for of a truth she was in evil as compared 
 with ordinary sinners, what in holiness is a saint . compared 
 with ordinary good people. A wonderful woman, alas ! ' 
 
 Ah, Osiander, did she leave some clinging fragrance, some 
 spark of her subtle charm, to tingle for ever through your 
 pure, simple soul? 
 
 « • • « • • • 
 
 In 1716 the Erbprinz Eriedrich Ludwig had espoused 
 Henriette Marie of Brandenburg-Schwedt, a pretty and most 
 correct Princess who possessed, among other graceful talents, 
 a perfect genius for tasteful dressing. The marriage festivities 
 had not taken place at Stuttgart, in order to avoid the obvious 
 complications of the meeting of the bridegroom's parents. 
 The Erbprinz hardly knew his father, for Eberhard Ludwig 
 had permitted him to remain chiefly with the Duchess in 
 Stuttgart. At least the unfortunate Johanna Elizabetha was 
 granted the happiness of watching over her gentle, sickly son. 
 The boy had led a dull life enough in deserted Stuttgart, and 
 his natural aptitude for music and study had thus found free 
 scope. Immediately after his marriage, however, he was 
 
THE SINNER'S PALACE 271 
 
 commanded to reside at Ludwigsburg, where a fine suite of 
 apartments was prepared for him and his bride. 
 
 Friedrich Ludwig protested that he desired to remain in 
 Stuttgart, but the Landhofmeisterin willed it otherwise, and 
 Serenissimus enforced her will. 
 
 Henriette Marie played her part in this difficult position 
 with dignity and well-bred tact. She was perfectly correct 
 in her demeanour towards the Landhofmeisterin, yet she kept 
 her at a distance and gently rebutted the mistress's friendly 
 advances, and refused to notice her subsequent sneers. 
 Twice during each week the Erbprincessin drove to Stuttgart 
 to visit her unhappy mother-in-law, and she was careful to 
 inform Serenissimus of every intended visit. ' Have I your 
 Highness's permission to journey to Stuttgart ? ' and ' I thank 
 your Highness, I shall start this afternoon.' 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin raged, but she was powerless against 
 the Erbprincessin's quiet dignity and amiable, obstinate cold- 
 ness. Then, too, Henriette Marie's wardrobe was a source of 
 much annoyance to Wilhelmine ; she feared the younger woman 
 had finer gowns than she. In fine, it was the tragi-comedy 
 of that painful jealousy of the woman approaching forty years 
 for the youth of twenty summers. 
 
 The Erbprinz, however, could not resist the Landhofmeis- 
 terin's charm. She sang him to a very frenzy of delight ; she 
 assumed a tender, motherly anxiety over his delicate health — 
 an anxiety which she made charmingly friendly ; while she 
 avoided the tiresome questions, the constant open observation, 
 the galling reminders of his weakness in the presence of 
 others, all that which poor, really tender, desperately anxious 
 Johanna Elizabetha had done, wearying her son, shaming him 
 with his physical delicacy. 
 
 The Erbprincessin bore a son in August 1718 — a weakly 
 child, the picture of his feeble father. The little life's flame 
 flickered and shuddered through one bitter Wirtemberg 
 winter, and in February 1719 passed away into the best sleep 
 the baby had ever known. 
 
 Here again the Landhofmeisterin triumphed over Johanna 
 Elizabetha. She knew how to console the Erbprinz with 
 words of hope, how to turn his thoughts away from the empty 
 
272 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 gilded cradle where had lain that frail little being whom 
 poor Friedrich Ludwig had loved with all his gentle heart. 
 Alas ! Johanna Elizabetha was too sad herself to be able to 
 cheer sorrow, and she invariably met her stricken son with 
 floods of tears, doleful questionings, torrents of lamentations, 
 and he went back to Ludwigsburg — and the Landhofmeisterin 
 — for consolation. 
 
 Thus things were fairly smooth at Ludwigsburg, and to 
 Johanna Elizabetha it seemed like some wonderful, illicit 
 heaven where her husband revelled and whence she was shut 
 out. She sometimes dreamed of breaking into this Elysium, 
 of expelling the regnant devil and rescuing Eberhard Ludwig. 
 ' Perhaps, if your Highness spoke with Serenissimus things 
 might change,' counselled Madame de Stafforth, and the 
 Duchess prayed for strength to conquer the fortress of vice, 
 Ludwigsburg. For years she hesitated. Indeed, she felt it would 
 be almost immodest to enter the Sinner's Palace, but the day 
 came when she decided to risk herself in the endeavour to 
 turn his Highness's heart back to purity — purity and herself. 
 She dressed herself in her sombre best and ordered her coach. 
 Madame de Stafforth volunteered for service, but the Duchess 
 said she would go alone. She was very brave and terribly 
 afraid. 
 
 Through the waving, yellow corn-fields, bordered by fruit- 
 trees for the most part, or else lying like a narrow white 
 riband in the midst of the broad rich valley, the road wound 
 from Stuttgart to the Erlachhof forest and the palace of 
 Ludwigsburg. It was early August when the Duchess 
 journeyed thither, and the corn stood high and golden in the 
 hazy warmth of the sunshine. Ear away to the right the 
 hills rose blue and veiled, and to the left the grim fortress of 
 Hohenasperg dominated the smiling, fruitful plain with frown- 
 ing menace. Johanna Elizabetha's eyes sought the distant 
 mound where she knew lay the prison fort; perchance 
 Serenissimus would answer her pleadings by imprisonment in 
 that dark fastness. 
 
 Her coach lumbered slowly on. The Duchess's horses 
 were old and little used to work, and the journey seemed 
 endless. At length the avenue leading to the residence 
 
THE SINNER'S PALACE 273 
 
 gates was readied, and in the cool shade of the chestnut-trees 
 the Duchess's courage returned. After all, it was her right 
 to enter any Wirtemberg palace, she told herself ; yet a chill 
 foreboding gripped her. Should she turn back ? 
 
 The coach came to a jolting halt, and she heard her out- 
 rider explaining to the sentry at the gate that she was the 
 Duchess journeying to the palace. The man seemed doubtful, 
 but after several minutes' parley the little cortege of two out- 
 riders, an old shabby coach, two troopers of a Wirtemberg 
 regiment for escort (no Silver Guard here !), and a heart- 
 broken woman, was allowed to proceed. 
 
 The palace of Ludwigsburg lay in the August afternoon haze. 
 Her Highness's eyes wandered over the vast pile : the long, 
 low orangery to the south ; the numerous rounded roofs of the 
 palace which seemed like the amassment of a group of giant 
 red-hrown tortoises ; the thousand large windows glinting in 
 the sunshine, the stately gardens. The Duchess sighed 
 deeply as her coach rolled down the broad street which led 
 to the palace gates. She saw the fine houses which bordered 
 this street on one side only, like so many courtiers turning 
 their smiling faces towards the gardens, the palace, and — the 
 Landhofmeisterin. 
 
 All this, then, Eberhard Ludwig had raised to honour the 
 whim of a courtesan, of an unknown adventuress from 
 Mecklemburg, while she, the Duchess, legal wife, princess of 
 a noble house^she was shut out, banished to a grim haunted 
 castle in a deserted town ! She wrung her hands together. 
 She was helpless, hopeless. 
 
 Several courtiers, lingering in the street, stared curiously at 
 the shabby coach. One of the French dressmakers, hurrying 
 from the palace, stood stock still in surprise at seeing so 
 inelegant an equipage in the street of magnificent ' Louisbourg.' 
 The Duchess, with the morbid sensitiveness of a deeply 
 wounded, slighted woman, winced under the scornful inspec- 
 tion of the pert little dressmaker. 
 
 Now the coach entered the first gate of the palace, and 
 once more the outrider was obliged to proclaim and assure 
 the identity of the carriage's occupant. This time the sentry 
 flatly refused to believe him, and it was necessary to call the 
 
 s 
 
274 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Captain of tlie Guard. Here the Duchess's spirit asserted 
 itself. She summoned the Captain to the door of the coach 
 and haughtily bid him admit her immediately. But the 
 Captain, a youth appointed by the Gravenitz, feared her 
 Excellency's displeasure more than God or man, and though 
 he was gentleman enough to treat the Duchess courteously, 
 he begged her to wait while he repaired to the Landhof meis- 
 terin for instructions. No one was admitted to the palace 
 without permission from her Excellency, he said. 
 
 The Duchess inquired if Madame de Euth was in the 
 castle. At least, she hoped that for the sake of old memories 
 the grande Maitresse du Palais, ' Dame de Deshonneur,' as she 
 had once named her, would have sufficient humanity to help 
 her now. Madame de Ruth was in the castle, the Captain 
 replied, but she was very old and infirm, and he feared to 
 disturb her afternoon rest. Very old and infirm? The 
 Duchess sighed. Ah ! many years had passed since she had 
 seen the garrulous lady. Alas ! she was no longer young 
 herself. God in heaven! why did that sinful, triumphant 
 wanton alone retain her beauty ? She had been told that the 
 Landhofmeisterin, like some evil giant tree, seemed to grow 
 more beautiful, more resplendent each year. It was not 
 true ; for Time had set his cruel fingermarks upon Wilhelniine, 
 but her wonderful health and her complaisant knowledge of 
 success gave her a seeming youth. True, the pert little 
 Erench dressmaker could have told the Duchess of violent 
 scenes over gowns made to the measurements of former years, 
 which could not fit her Excellency ; but the courtesan pays a 
 homage to Yenus, offering up the tribute of powder, paint, and 
 gorgeous clothes, and Venus responds by a gift of seeming 
 youth ; while the virtuous woman is punished for her virtue 
 and her neglect of the Goddess of Appearance, by a shorter 
 span of beauty and youth. Yet there is an unerring justice 
 in the world. When Time has worked his inexorable will, 
 and powder, paint, and crafty clothing can no longer hide his 
 ravages, then the virtuous woman triumphs, probably for the 
 first time in her life. They are both old, she and the 
 courtesan, but she is sometimes beautiful — old, grey, and sere, 
 but venerable, charming — and little children love her, and 
 
THE SINNER'S PALACE 275 
 
 younger women bring their troubles — ay, and tlitir joys, 
 reverently to her, feeling a benediction in the touch of the 
 pure, withered hand. While the courtesan — alas ! a ridicu- 
 lous garish absurdity, a grim ghost ^ of past merriment, a 
 horrid relic of forgotten debauches, a painted harridan at 
 whom the boys jeer when she passes down the street. Here 
 is one of God's great judgments and one of Nature's object- 
 lessons. 
 
 But Johanna Elizabetha did not think of all this as she 
 sat waiting at the gates of Ludwigsburg Palace ; her mind was 
 centred upon the probability of Madame de Euth's kind 
 heart prompting her to assist her erstwhile mistress. The 
 minutes dragged on. Old and infirm, he had said ; perhaps 
 she came slowly down the stairs ? Ah ! at last ! the Duchess 
 heard the well-remembered voice in the distance talking 
 ceaselessly. Then she saw Madame de Euth, leaning 
 on the arm of the Captain of the Guard, coming slowly 
 towards her. 
 
 A deep courtesy, and Madame de Euth stood at the coach 
 door. In a tremulous voice the Duchess informed her that 
 she would speak with Serenissimus on urgent business, but 
 that the guard refused her admittance and she had therefore 
 begged her to come to her assistance, 
 
 ' Aha ! your Highness craves the assistance of a Dame de 
 Deshonneur ? Nay,' she added in a gentler tone, ' 1 fear I 
 have not the power to admit your Highness save to my own 
 apartments.' 
 
 ' The Duchess bent forward. ' Madame de Euth,' she said 
 solemnly, ' you are an old woman and so am I ; we have not 
 many years before God judges us at His Eternal Tribunal. I 
 pray you, by your hope of His mercy, to have mercy on me, 
 help me this once.' 
 
 Madame de Euth looked at her; indeed, the Duchess's 
 tragic face was enough to soften even a harder heart than 
 beat under the old courtesan's padded, beribboned corsage. 
 
 ' Well, your Highness, come with me ! I will endeavour 
 to summon Serenissimus to my apartments,' she said. ' It will 
 not be easy, and I hope your Highness is prepared to offer 
 me apartments in Stuttgart ? I may require them after 
 
276 A GEEMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 this ! My friend the Landhofmeisterin is averse to any one 
 being admitted to the palace without her permission.' 
 
 They passed through a maze of long, lofty, pink marble 
 walled corridors, and up several winding stone stairs, ere they 
 reached Madame de Euth's apartments. Here the old 
 courtesan left her Highness, while she withdrew to make 
 arrangements for the Duke to be summoned. In truth, she 
 hastily despatched a billet to the Landhofmeisterin informing 
 her of the extraordinary occurrence, and begging her for 
 instructions. Even Madame de Euth was under the 
 Gravenitz's iron rule and dared not offend her. The curt 
 answer came back written in her Excellency's energetic, 
 elegant writing : * How is her Highness's appearance ? ' 
 Madame de Euth replied equally curtly with the one word 
 
 * Hideous ! ' and a moment after the paper was returned to her : 
 
 * Let him see her. — Wilhelmine von Wurben und von 
 Gravenitz, Landhofmeisterin.' 
 
 It was a curious interview between Eberhard Ludwig and 
 his deserted wife ; strained, unnatural, terrible, this meeting 
 after long years, and insensibly they fell into their old 
 attitudes : he wearied, irritated, coldly courteous ; she tear- 
 ful, imploring, tiresome. He told her that she was nothing 
 to him, and that she had no further claims upon him; he 
 provided residence, appanage, everything to which she had a 
 right. She responded that she claimed his love, his company, 
 and in answer he bowed deeply and left her presence. 
 
 Madame de Euth returning to her rooms found a fainting 
 woman prone upon the floor, and to her credit be it written, 
 she tended the Duchess gently. When her Highness re- 
 covered from her swoon she requested Madame de Euth to 
 lead her to the palace chapel. 
 
 ' I would fain leave a prayer here ! A foolish fancy, you will 
 say, but the sorrowful are often foolish,' she said bitterly. 
 
 Madame de Euth guided the Duchess through another 
 maze of long corridors, and ushered her into the tapestried 
 room which is behind the palace gallery. Her Highness 
 gazed with displeasure at the luxurious furnishing of the 
 Ducal pew, its -gilded armchairs, red silk cushions, soft red silk 
 praying hassocks, and the gilt casement looking down into 
 
THE SINNEB'S PALACE 277 
 
 the diurch. The church itself, designed by the Italian 
 Papist, Frisoni, showed a wealth of delicate pink brocade and 
 of rich azure hangings, of golden angels, of smiling goddesses 
 whose voluptuous faces bore so unmistakable a likeness to the 
 Landhofmeisterin. With a sigh the Duchess fell on her 
 knees, ' God is everywhere,' she reminded herself, ' even in 
 this frivolous chapel.' She prayed earnestly for some time, 
 and, rising, would have turned to go, when her eye was caught 
 by a finely sculptured medallion, placed high up to the right 
 of the much gilded and ornamented pulpit. Its subject was 
 Truth, and this severe personage stood represented by a 
 charming shepherdess with rose-wreathed mirror, and flower- 
 bedecked, coquettish hat, bare breast, and a skirt which, for 
 no particular reason unless it were the showing of the 
 model's beautiful limbs, suddenly fell on one side from the 
 hip to the ankle of this remarkable figure of Truth. Here 
 again the face was unmistakable, and the sculptor had 
 taken immense pains to make this medallion a masterly 
 portrait of the Landhofmeisterin. 
 
 With a gesture of despair and disgust the Duchess turned 
 away and hurried through the corridors. Placing her hand 
 on Madame de Euth's arm she pressed her guide forward at 
 so rapid a pace that the older woman almost fell. 
 
 * Quick, Madame ! quick, Madame ! take me from this 
 terrible place ! ' the Duchess repeated. It seemed to her that 
 Wilhelmine's face, her triumphant beauty, pursued her at 
 every yard of the Sinner's Palace. Even in the church she 
 knew that each figure, feigning to beautify the House of God, 
 was in reality merely another homage to the great mistress, 
 another subtle compliment of the architect Prisoni's for the 
 Landhofmeisterin. 
 
 Madame de Euth accompanied her Highness to her coach, 
 and in broken words the Duchess thanked her. 'If Pate 
 turns against you here, Madame, you will find a welcome 
 at Stuttgart in memory of your kindness on this most 
 miserable day,' she said. But Madame de Euth shook 
 her head. She was of the Ludwigsburg w^orld, and when 
 Frivolity forgot her she knew that she would need no other 
 refuge than six foot of earth beside her dead child. 
 
278 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Wearily the Ducliess took her way homeward. There was 
 no spark of hope left in her heart now ; she only raged that 
 she had humbled herself, and to no avail. The magnificence 
 of Ludwigsburg smote her as an insult. She shuddered at 
 the remembrance of the endless reproductions of her enemy's 
 features : the whole palace was a marble homage to the 
 Gravenitz, a beautiful, enduring, kingly homage. 
 
 But the palace chapel ! Ah ! that was the worst of all, 
 a very blasphemy. And yet how wondrous beautiful it was, 
 this palace. 
 
 She closed her eyes, but in the darkness she saw again the 
 smiling face of the woman who had ruined her life ; she saw 
 the graceful figure in the chapel medallion, the voluptuous 
 parted lips of the carven angel who held the canopy over the 
 pulpit, the delicately chiselled features of the Aphrodites and 
 the nymphs which she had been forced to pass in the palace, 
 and each one of which bore a resemblance to the Duke's 
 mistress. 
 
 The sun was setting behind Hohenasperg, and a blood-red 
 glow lingered in the sky over the south-westerly hills of the 
 Rothwald. The peasants were going homeward, after their 
 day's work ; already their sickles had cut , great gaping 
 wounds in the waving, yellow beauty of the corn-fields. A 
 fresh north breeze sprang up and sent the white dust whirling 
 in clouds behind the Duchess's coach. And the north wind 
 brought Johanna Elizabetha another pang, for it wafted to 
 her a sound of music from Ludwigsburg. The musicians of 
 the Silver Guards were playing a merry strain in the palace 
 gardens. 
 
 To the forsaken, humiliated woman this moment was sym- 
 bolic of her whole life : she journeying alone down the dusty 
 road towards the gathering gloom over Stuttgart; Eberhard 
 Ludwig and the Landhofmeisterin at their beautiful palace 
 living in music and revelry. 
 
CHAPTEE XIX 
 
 THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 
 
 For years Germany had gossiped over the so-called ' Persian 
 Court ' of Leopold Eberhard of Wirtemberg, Duke of 
 Mompelgard. This prince had been so pampered by his 
 mother, Anne de Coligny, that he reached the age of twelve 
 years without having learned to read or write. When the 
 over-tender mother died, the boy's father, Duke George, took 
 his' dunce- son's education in hand ; but this gentleman was 
 peculiar in his notions of the training of young minds. 
 French and German he deemed unnecessary trivialities, and 
 the Christian religion a banality. Instead of these prosaic 
 lessons the boy was instructed in the Arabic, Hebrew, and 
 Persian tongues, and, in lieu of the Bible, the Koran was 
 placed in his hands. 
 
 A handsome, reckless, passionate youth, imbued with the 
 comfortable theories of polygamy, Leopold Eberhard was 
 destined to succeed his father in the family honours, and 
 achieve a course of Persian living which, while practised 
 frequently under other names at many courts, astounded 
 Germany by this legalised manner of illegality. 
 
 One lady was already the wife of Leopold Eberhard. She 
 was the daughter of a baker, and had held the post of 
 housemaid at the small court of Gels in Silesia. Having 
 succeeded in espousing a gentlendan of the name of Zedlitz, 
 she turned her attention to the eighteen-year-old Erbprinz 
 of Mompelgard; and her husband, Herr von Zedlitz, not 
 approving of this new relationship, she divorced him and 
 married Leopold. At first this undistinguished alliance dis- 
 pleased the old Duke of Mompelgard, and he endeavoured 
 to disinherit Leopold Eberhard ; but when the ex-housemaid 
 bore a fine son, the grandfather relented, and the couple 
 
 279 
 
280 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 took residence at Mompelgard, the lady being created by the 
 Emperor Countess of Sponeck. 
 
 Now, in Mompelgard resided an aged captain of the 
 Imperial army, one Richard Curie, a tailor by trade, who, 
 having enlisted in the army and risen to the rank of captain, 
 changed his uneuphonious name to Monsieur I'Esperance, 
 married a Mompelgard butcher's daughter, and settled in her 
 native town. Pour fine daughters were born of this marriage. 
 Leopold Eberhard cast his eyes upon these beautiful girls and 
 remembered his Mahometan principles. At this juncture, 
 Duke George conveniently died, and Leopold Eberhard 
 became Duke. Immediately all four damsels I'Esperance 
 were appointed ladies' companions to the Countess of Sponeck. 
 The eldest, Sebastiane, was the first object of Leopold's 
 affection, but the Countess Sponeck suspected the intrigue 
 and remonstrated with her spouse. To divert her jealousy 
 from Sebastiane the Duke paid sham court to the youngest 
 sister, Polyrene, but the playacting turned reality, and ended 
 in serious passion. However, this episode with the second of 
 the I'Esperances soon came to an end, for Polyrene fell dead 
 during a gavotte at court. Great mourning, and Leopold 
 sought consolation with another sister I'Esperance, Henriette 
 Hedwig, wife of a lieutenant in the Mompelgard guards, 
 Herr von Sandersleben. This gentleman objected, divorced 
 Henriette Hedwig, and left the Duke's service. 
 
 The Countess of Sponeck and the two sisters Esperance 
 resided under one roof "We are told that it was hell on 
 earth : they fought, they scratched, they yelled, they bit, till 
 the Duke arrived on the scene, parted the combatants, and 
 usually thrashed — the Countess of Sponeck ! All Germany 
 knew, watched, and laughed. 
 
 At length it could be borne no longer, and the Countess of 
 Sponeck, with her children, retired to a distant castle. Then 
 Henriette Hedwig died, and the Mompelgard court seemed 
 tidied up a little, although Henriette left five children in the 
 castle, two of whom called Leopold father. 
 
 But there still remained a fourth sister Espdrance, 
 Elizabeth Charlotte. This lady's ambition soared higher 
 than that of the other three sisters. She made Leopold 
 
THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 281 
 
 divorce the Countess of Sponeck. The other sisters had been 
 called the legal wives of the Duke, according to his Mahometan 
 principles, but Elizabeth Charlotte insisted upon a greater 
 surety, and Leopold acquiesced, as usual, when his affections 
 were engaged. The Countess of Sponeck being divorced, he 
 married the fourth and last sister Esperance. He spoke of 
 poor Sponeck as ' The Widowed Lady,' and Elizabeth 
 Charlotte as * The Reigning Lady.' 
 
 Now came the complications concerning the offspring of 
 the Duke's various wives. To annoy poor Sponeck, Leopold 
 in 1715 had entered into a contract with Wirtemberg, 
 whereby he declared his distant cousin, Eberhard Ludwig, heir 
 to Mompelgard ; but he soon repented of this admission, and 
 besought the Emperor to legitimatise his children : those 
 morganatically born by the Countess of Sponeck, and the rest 
 of the brood from the Esperance sisters. The Emperor refused. 
 
 Then Leopold appealed to Louis xrv., who also proved 
 obdurate. Finally during the Regency, Leopold repaired to 
 Paris in person and prayed the Regent, Due d'Orl^ans, to 
 legitimatise his progeny. ' A Lutheran prince was legally per- 
 mitted to marry whom, when, and as often as he wished,' he 
 averred. This precept being received with mockery, he 
 expatiated on Persian customs, and declared himself a 
 believer in the Koran alone. But Paris laughed at him, and 
 after making himself ridiculous at the court of Prance during 
 eight months, Leopold returned to Mompelgard. Then he 
 married his son, George Leopold, Count of Sponeck, to his 
 daughter Eleonore Charlotte of Sandersleben ; and his son, 
 Karl Leopold of Sandersleben, to his daughter Leopoldine 
 Eberhardine of Sponeck. This double marriage was a magni- 
 ficent ceremony at Mompelgard, and Duke Leopold was wild 
 with delight at the revival of ' the beautiful old Persian 
 custom.' But Germany, and even France, stood aghast at the 
 horrible affair. To celebrate his four children's nuptials, 
 Leopold gave a grand ball. In the midst of this festivity he 
 was struck down with apoplexy. The sisters Esperance, 
 S^bastiane and Elizabeth Charlotte, fled before the approach 
 of death, but honest Sponeck hastened back from her distant 
 castle, and Leopold died in her arms. 
 
282 A GEEMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig of Wirtemberg laid claim to Mompelgard, 
 but he was obliged to send troops to seize his inheritance. 
 Then the bastards in a body commenced legal proceedings 
 against the rightful heir, and against each other. Europe 
 looked on, scandalised and amused. 
 
 The eldest Sponeck and his sister-bride hurried to Paris — 
 'Prince et Princesse de Montbeliard,' they styled themselves 
 — and as they were young, handsome, and seemingly wealthy, 
 many persons of note espoused their sorry cause. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig, who now added to his titles that of Duke 
 of Mompelgard, waited patiently for some time ere he took 
 possession in person of his new domain. His troops were 
 there, and Eriedrich Gravenitz had been despatched to take 
 direction of affairs. 
 
 Meanwhile, some of the bastards were raising doleful cries 
 in Vienna and in Paris, but a few remained obstinately at 
 Mompelgard, and to Eriedrich Gravenitz was assigned the 
 task of removing them before Serenissimus made his state 
 entry. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin had intimated her intention of accom- 
 panying his Highness on this official journey, and there had 
 ensued a sharp quarrel, by letter, between the lady and her 
 brother in Mompelgard. She won the day, of course, as usual, 
 yet her heart was heavy in this hour of her greatest triumph, 
 for the Duke grew colder to her each day. Madame de Euth, 
 her wily counsellor, had died a few months after the Duchess 
 Johanna Elizabetha's visit to Ludwigsburg, and the courtiers 
 had marvelled at the Landhofmeisterin's passionate grief. She 
 had followed the old courtesan's coffin to Neuhaus, and had 
 seen her laid to rest beside the little mound of the child's 
 grave. And the Gravenitz had refused to be comforted. 
 
 Zollern almost deserted Ludwigsburg after his old mistress's 
 death. He withdrew to his castle, and only at rare intervals 
 could he be persuaded to visit the Duke and the Landhof- 
 meisterin. 
 
 Yet the Gravenitz's power was unabated ; in point of fact, 
 it seemed to grow more absolute; but the courtiers noticed 
 her melancholy, atid while some put it down to her grief at 
 Madame de Euth's death, others observed the Duke's colder 
 
THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 283 
 
 manner, and predicted the Landhofmeisterin's downfall. It 
 was a blow to these prophets when the news was confirmed- 
 that the Gravenitz was to accompany Serenissimus on his 
 state entry to Mompelgard. There \Yere various intrigues to 
 prevent her Excellency from carrying out the XDroject. Chief 
 among these was a riot at Mompelgard, which was entirely 
 organised and stirred up by discontented Wirtembergers. It 
 required little to enflame the Mompelgarders, for they hated 
 the very name of Duke's mistress from past Esperance experi- 
 ences, and the Landhofmeisterin's doings in Wirtemberg were 
 well known. 
 
 Eriedrich Gravenitz wrote at great length to his sister 
 (he always wrote lengthily, and the most trivial letter he 
 alluded to as 'my business,' saying pompously, 'I have been 
 working '). So he wrote at enormous length to Wilhelmine, 
 advising her to refrain from journeying to Mompelgard, but 
 the Landhofmeisterin only laughed, and hurried on the pre- 
 parations for the ofi&cial entry. 
 
 Shortly before this time a new body-guard had been 
 enrolled at Ludwigsburg. It did not oust the famous Silver 
 Guard from favour, and the Cadets k Cheval also retained their 
 proud position, but the new body-guard was a most resplen- 
 dent corps, composed entirely of gentlemen of noble birth. 
 One of Madame de Ruth's last witticisms had been to compare 
 this ' Chevaliergarde ' to the French and Austrian Chanoinesses. 
 
 * Really, Monseigneur,' she had told Serenissimus, 'you 
 should make it compulsory for the gentlemen of the Chevalier- 
 garde to have sixty-four quarterings and pure morals ! ' 
 
 Of course there was jealousy between the Silver Guard and 
 the Chevalier troop, and the young Cadets k Cheval looked 
 with displeasure at the new guard. But the Landhofmeisterin 
 settled that as she did all things ;' she decreed that when the 
 Cadets reached the age of twenty-one years it should be open 
 to them to serve in the permanent Chevaliergarde, or to apply 
 for officers' commissions in the Silver Guard, and the latter 
 appointments being perforce limited in number, it soon became 
 the recognised thing for the Cadets who wished to remain in 
 the military service to enter the Chevaliergarde. The Land- 
 hofmeisterin ruled even the army. 
 
284 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 Her Excellency had instituted an Order. His Highness 
 had his St. Hubertus to give, and she desired to have an 
 Order of her own to distribute. Everybody laughed covertly, 
 but the insignia of the Order of the White Trefoil were 
 much coveted nevertheless, and the white riband and 
 beautifully designed three-leaved badge of the Gravenitz's 
 Order were proudly worn by the highest dignitaries, and 
 at Ludwigsburg the courtiers who were fortunate enough 
 to possess the decoration were careful never to appear 
 without it. 
 
 On a glowing July morning a splendid cavalcade started 
 from Ludwigsburg : the Silver Guard, the Cadets k Cheval, 
 the Chevaliergarde, the dignitaries of the Wirtemberg court, 
 and his Highness Eberhard Ludwig riding at the door of the 
 golden coach, wherein throned the Landhofmeisterin and her 
 sour-visaged sister Sittmann. 
 
 In each town and village the procession was greeted with 
 commanded cheers and with triumphant arches decorated by 
 her Excellency's instructions. The peasants' faces were sombre 
 while they cheered, sometimes a suppressed snarl of hatred 
 mingled with -the acclamations. As the travellers proceeded 
 on their journey, however, this hostility abated, giving place 
 to peering curiosity, and at every halt the villagers crowded 
 round asking which of the ladies was the Landhofmeisterin, 
 and commenting on her appearance. 
 
 At Kehl on the Rhine there was an official reception by the 
 burgomaster and chief citizens. From Kehl to Strassburg, 
 a distance of several miles, peasants and townsfolk bordered 
 the road, watching the entry of the magnificent Duke of 
 Wirtemberg. The town of Strassburg, in those days only 
 French by a recent treaty, received the German prince with 
 vociferous delight. The Regent d'Orleans, wishful to show 
 courtesy to the new Duke of Montbeliard, had commanded the 
 garrison to render military honours to the travelling prince, 
 and Serenissimus was greeted in Strassburg by some of the 
 finest of France's troops, and by thundering cannon salutes. 
 Then there were white-robed maidens strewing flowers before 
 his horse's hoofs; and from the town-gate to the stately old 
 
THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 285 
 
 Cathedral Square the concourse of men and women was so vast 
 as to make the progress slow and difficult ; bands played and 
 flags flew, and the Gravenitz was delighted. Eberhard Ludwig 
 was feasted and honoured, and ever beside him was the tall 
 figure of the Landhofmeisterin. In the evening the Duke 
 received the chief burghers at a state banquet, and the 
 Gravenitz sat to his Highness's right. 
 
 In Schlettstadt and Belfort, where he entered the Mompel- 
 gard territory, the reception was enthusiastic ; and, contrary to 
 all expectations, the citizens of Mompelgard itself received 
 their new ruler with expressions of ecstatic loyalty, and even 
 the Landhofmeisterin was loudly cheered. Here again the 
 cannon roared a welcome, children and maidens strewed roses, 
 choirs of youths chanted paeans of homage and rejoicing, and 
 the Mompelgard regiments, which but a few months before 
 had. been employed by the bastards to oppose the rightful 
 heir, now greeted their Duke with respect. Banners waved 
 from every house, arches of fresh flowers adorned the streets, 
 the windows were spread with silken hangings, and the church 
 bells rang peal upon peal. It was a scene of rejoicing, of 
 enthusiasm, of pomp and magnificence, and it was the cul- 
 minating point of the triumph of Wilhelmine von Gravenitz ^ 
 but her heart was heavy with foreboding. 
 
 Serenissimus also, though he played his part in the fine 
 pageant with seeming pleasure, was filled with profound sad- 
 ness. The Erbprincessin had been brought to bed of a daughter 
 only since the loss of her first child. The Erbprinz was more 
 ailing than ever ; true, he fought gallantly against his weak- 
 ness, seeking to fortify himself and please his father by outdoor 
 exercises ; but, though he rode magnificently, with skill and 
 intrepidity, he had fallen fainting from his horse several times 
 of late. The doctors shook their heads, and the cognizance 
 forced itself upon Eberhard Ludwig that he himself would be 
 the last Duke of the direct line. . 
 
 After spending three weeks of feasting at Mompelgard, his 
 Highness set out for Stuttgart. The Mompelgarders bade him 
 adieu with many expressions of loyal devotion. They found 
 their new Duke and his handsome, decorous mistress, who 
 played so finely the role of legal Duchess, an agreeable change 
 
286 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 after Leopold Eberhard's * Persian Court ' and its absurdities, 
 and they would fain have induced Serenissimus to tarry in 
 Mompelgard; but the King of Prussia had intimated his 
 intention of visiting Ludwigsburg in September, and Eberhard 
 Ludwig hurried back to receive his royal guest. But on 
 arriving in Ludwigsburg his Highness fell ill, and Friedrich 
 Wilhelm's visit was postponed till the following spring. 
 
 The winter passed with little incident at Ludwigsburg. 
 His Highness recovered rapidly from his actual illness, yet he 
 did not regain his accustomed health and spirits, and thus the 
 court festivities were both fewer and less brilliant than here- 
 tofore. The Landhofmeisterin's forebodings seemed to be 
 infectious ; a cloud hung over Ludwigsburg, and the people 
 murmured ominously : * His Highness wearies of her, and she 
 has ill- wished him ; he will die, and she will disappear with 
 all the jewels and gold.' 
 
 Doubtless, the Landhofmeisterin's actions lent colour to 
 these wild reports. She had studied various theories of 
 medicine — quaint, old, forgotten herb lore, absurd medieeval 
 magic. At first it had diverted her, then she grew credulous, 
 and in the despair of knowing Eberhard Lud wig's love to be 
 waning and his health broken, she resorted to the pitiful 
 puerilities of love potions, life essences, and elixirs. Of 
 course, for the brewing of these concoctions she required some 
 extraordinary ingredients, and it was in the procuring of 
 these that the gossip concerning her witch practices was 
 revived and flourished. This prescription required the blood 
 of a still-born male child ; one old black-letter book recom- 
 mended the heart of a yellow hen ; another ordered the life- 
 warm entrails of a black fighting- cock ; a fourth prescription 
 commanded the admixture of hairs from a dead man's beard ! 
 These ingredients mixed with herbs plucked in churchyards 
 at midnight, or spices brought directly from the East, and with 
 seven times distilled water, and suchlike, made a life elixir, 
 or an infallible love potion, or again a cure for this or that 
 disease. Among the many absurdities of ignorance some of 
 the accumulated wisdom of experience may have crept into 
 the old recipes : a real cure for a fever, or the application of 
 a gold ring to an "inflamed eyelid. Superstition said that the 
 
THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 287 
 
 ring was the marvel- worker; possibly it was some quality in the 
 gold, some even-as-yet-undiscovered power of certain metals 
 upon the human body, and which experience may have taught 
 the old village woman and the wandering quack. But for the 
 most part the Gravenitz's potions were harmless absurdities, 
 yet she believed, and so did others, in their efficacy. 
 
 During the winter the Erbprinz's fainting fits were more 
 frequent than ever, and the Erbprincessin sank into a deep 
 and brooding melancholy, which was varied by attacks of 
 painful excitement and sudden bursts of causeless anger. It 
 was whispered at Ludwigsburg that she was surely going mad. 
 
 It was as though some fearful blight had fallen upon Eber- 
 hard Ludwig and his family, and the Pietists preached that 
 the avenging hand of God was hovering over the sinner's 
 court. The Secret Service reported these sermons to the 
 Landhofmeisteriu, and the preachers were fined or imprisoned, 
 but the stream of denunciation continued nevertheless. 
 
 The Graven itz was very lonely now. His Highness had 
 changed to her, she could no longer blind herself to the fact. 
 Madame de Ruth was dead ; Zollern, old and sad, was rarely at 
 Ludwigsburg. Friedrich Gravenitz was covertly hostile to her. 
 In the autumn a serious quarrel had taken place ; the brother 
 demanding as free gift the property of Welzheim, which the 
 Landhofmeisteriu had lent him. This Wilhelmine refused ; she 
 did not relish her brother's way of asking, and she bitterly 
 resented the pompous, self-righteous, disapproving manner 
 which he had adopted towards her of late. After all, he owed 
 her everything, she told herself. Her sister, Sittmann, was a 
 useless parasite. The Landhofmeisteriu accounted her as one 
 who would desert her immediately did misfortune come. The 
 Sittmann sons, young men who owed their high position 
 entirely to their aunt's power, not to their own merit or 
 capability, were colourless, insipid youths. Sittmann himself, 
 Schtitz and the rest, she knew to be f air-v/eather friends ; 
 evidently they descried the clouds gathering over their 
 patroness's head, and they were quietly drawing back from 
 her. Only Maria, the maid, remained faithful and admiring, 
 and tended her adored mistress with unfailing patience and 
 devotion. In the early spring the preparations began for the 
 
288 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 King of Prussia's visit, but Serenissimus himself took the lead 
 in settling the arrangements, and the Landhofmeisterin was 
 constantly met with the answer : ' His Highness has ordered 
 that otherwise, your Excellency,' or, ' that point has been 
 settled by the Duke.' Eor twenty years she had directed 
 and ruled, and now all things seemed to crumble at her 
 touch. 
 
 King Friedrich Wilhelm i. arrived in Wirtemberg towards 
 the middle of April. He was met at the frontier by Eberhard 
 Ludwig and the whole Silver Guard. * The cavalcade was very 
 brilliant, the horses magnificent, and the bluff Prussian King 
 greeted the Duke with rough cordiality. They had been com- 
 panions-in-arms during the Spanish Succession campaigns, and 
 as they rode together through the beautiful spring land of 
 Wirtemberg they recalled old memories, fighting over again 
 the battles of Blenheim, or of Malplaquet, and talking of 
 military matters. It was like a breath of the camp life of 
 long ago, of those young, gay, adventurous days when the 
 Euture promised so much ! 
 
 An official reception had been prepared for Friedrich Wil- 
 helm at Ludwigsburg, and leaving the King at Heilbronn, 
 Eberhard Ludwig hastened home. On the morrow, at the 
 head of his troops, he would receive Prussia's martial ruler 
 at a grand parade, after which the Corporal King was to be 
 feasted at the palace. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig reached Ludwigsburg late in the evening, 
 and retired immediately, commanding a light supper to be 
 served in his apartments. He was told that the Landhof- 
 meisterin and the court awaited him, and that supper was 
 already served, as usual, in her Excellency's dining-rdom. 
 But Serenissimus sent word that he desired to be undisturbed, 
 and prayed her Excellency to excuse him. 
 
 The supper at the Landhofmeisterin's table was partaken 
 of in a constrained atmosphere. Her Excellency spoke with 
 Baron Schiitz of political affairs, but though her lips smiled, 
 there was that in her eyes which banished easy talk in her 
 presence. The Erbprinz was pale and silent ; he had ridden 
 much during the . afternoon, and had swooned away in the 
 palace courtyard- when he dismounted. The Erbprincessin sat 
 
THE GKEAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 289 
 
 crumbling her bread with her long, delicate fingers, a heavy 
 cloud of aimless melancholy on her face. She had been 
 feverishly excited during the day at the prospect of meeting 
 her cousin King Friedrich Wilhelm, but, as usual, her passing 
 brighter mood left her the more depressed. At the repast's 
 conclusion the Landhofmeisterin rose and repaired, according 
 to her custom, to the card-room. She played her hand at 
 I'hombre, winning each game. 
 
 'Those who are fortunate at cards are unfortunate in all 
 else, they say,' she remarked, as she noted her winnings in her 
 neat scholarly handwriting. The courtiers murmured some 
 banal phrases, and Schiitz watched the Landhofmeisterin 
 narrowly. Was it time for this Master- Eat to conduct his 
 brood away from the threatened vessel ? he wondered. 
 
 Earlier than usual her Excellency gave the signal to retire. 
 'We start to-morrow at nine of the clock for his Majesty's 
 reception. Your Highness will occupy my coach. I trust it 
 will not rain,' she said indifferently as she bade the Erbprin- 
 cessin good-night. Now, it had been clearly understood that 
 no ladies were to attend the reception. In fact, the Erbprin- 
 cessin had consented to greet her cousin in private, only in 
 order to prevent the Landhofmeisterin from meeting the 
 mistress-hating monarch. There ensued an awkward pause 
 after her Excellency's speech. 
 
 ' I do not purpose to be present at the ofiicial reception, 
 Madame,' said the Erbprincessin, ' and I had understood that 
 your Excellency also would remain away.' 
 
 -' Your Highness has been misinformed,' returned the Land- 
 hofmeisterin icily. * We start, as I have had the honour to 
 tell you, at nine of the clock to-morrow morning. I wish you 
 would accompany me in my coach, Prince Eriedrich, it would 
 be a happiness to me to have your protection. May I count 
 on you?' She turned to him with her wonderful smile. Fried- 
 rich Ludwig had a place in her affection, and though he never 
 visited her at Favorite or Freudenthal, which wounded her 
 deeply, she bore him no malice. 
 
 ' In truth, Madame, I shall be proud to escort you in your 
 coach to-morrow. At nine of the clock ? ' And he bade her 
 good rest. He was grateful to her for thus making it seem a 
 
290 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 courtesy to lier that he should consent to drive Instead of 
 riding to the review, for the doctor had told him that evening 
 that he could not ride, and he felt so weak and giddy after 
 his swoon that he knew he dared not mount a horse. The 
 Erbprincessin shot a veiled look of hatred at the Landhof- 
 meisterin. How well the evil woman knew how to cajole 
 men to her will ! 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin repaired to her pavilion, and Maria 
 assisted her to bed. Such a ceremony it was, this retiring to 
 rest of the Landhofmeisterin ! Such a profusion of delicious 
 essences ; all the perfumes of Araby were used, and she donned 
 the fairest raiment of fine linen. According to custom,. Maria 
 left her fastidious mistress ready for sleep and reading a heavy 
 tome of old-world magic by the light of two tall waxen tapers. 
 
 Hardly had the maid's footsteps ceased to echo on the stone 
 steps of the pavilion, when the Gravenitz flung aside the 
 book and, rising from her chair, listened attentively. Only 
 the monotonous tramp of the sentries in the courtyard, and, 
 more faintly, the same sound from the guards on the north 
 terrace. Still her Excellency listened. Alas ! for how many 
 nights of late had she hearkened in vain for the click of the 
 little key in the door from the statue gallery ? Eberhard 
 Ludwig never came to her, and as she stood listening her 
 heart bled in anguish for the love that was no more. Could 
 such love really die ? she asked herself. If it could, then the 
 vows Eberhard Ludwig had spoken were mockery. Had she 
 built her life on so insecure a foundation? The whole 
 fabric of her being was shattered. Her anguish was almost 
 physical pain, and she knew why people said ' my heart 
 bleeds,' for, of a truth, it seemed to her as though the strength 
 ebbed away from her heart, leaving an aching, yearning void. 
 Courage ! she would try again. She lifted the waxen taper 
 and held it between her face and the mirror. Yes, there 
 were lines beneath the eyes ; her cheeks were less full and 
 her chin heavier than of yore, but her lips were soft and red, 
 her eyes as blue, as vivid as they had ever been. She knew 
 her hair was streaked with white beneath the powder, but it 
 was still luxuriaht. She was beautiful, desirable — but would 
 he desire her ? * She replaced the taper, glided into the statue 
 
THE GEEAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 291 
 
 gallery, and opened the door leading to his Highness's room. 
 She listened ; Eberhard Liidwig was asleep ; she could hear the - 
 long, even breaths. Noiselessly she pushed aside the arras and 
 entered. The moon shone into the roqm, and again she could 
 have vowed that a white-shrouded woman's figure stood in 
 the wan light, but, as before, the faint vision vanished when 
 she looked more searchingly. 
 
 ' Eberhard, beloved,' she called gently, ' are you ill ? * The 
 old witchery was in her voice, and the sleeping man answered 
 to it. 
 
 'I come, sweet love ; I come, Philomele!' Serenissimus 
 appeared on the threshold of the writing-room. He had flung 
 himself down to sleep without undressing, and was still in his 
 riding- clothes. He looked ghastly in the pale moonlight, and 
 she hurried to him with outstretched arms. 
 
 * You are ill and you do not come to me ? Beloved, have 
 I not tended you that you should thus flaunt me?' She 
 drew him to her. ' What have I done, my heart, how have I 
 sinned, that you have taken your love from me ? See, I come 
 to you to pray you to forgive me ! ' The old trick of speech, 
 her catchword, ' See,' the low voice — the soft, strong arms. 
 
 He had doubted her, and why ? She had given him all ; it 
 was not her fault if he wearied of her tyranny. No ; he alone 
 was to blame, his inconstancy, his weakness. He poured 
 forth a torrent of self-reproach, and words of love, and she 
 responded passionately. Once more they were lovers, thrilling 
 to each other's touch. And the wan moon looked on at their 
 transports, and perchance the pale wraith of the Countess of 
 Orlamiinde, the White Lady, watched the lovers and smiled, 
 knowing that love's death, satiety, had them in his chill grip 
 for all their passionate vows. 
 
 ' I start at nine to-morrow morning for the reception, 
 beloved. The Erbprincessin and Friedrich accompany me in 
 my coach,' the Landhofmeisterin said as she prepared to return 
 to her apartments. His Highness started. 
 
 'I pray you, do not go, Wilhelmine. The King is a bear, 
 and if you meet him he will fail in courtesy to you,' he said. 
 
 ' It is my right to go, and I start at nine,' she repeated. 
 
 ' You shall not go ; it is my right to forbid you, — you shall 
 
292 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 not go ! ' lie cried. Then ensued a quarrel, bitter, terrible, 
 between two beings who so short a while before had loved so 
 madly. The quarrel ended by the man giving in, as usual, but 
 the wrangle pierced one more nail in his love's coffin for all that. 
 
 True to her word, the next morning at nine of the clock 
 the Landhofmeisterin entered her coach accompanied by a 
 very angry-faced Erbprincessin, and the Erbprinz. They 
 drove past Hohenasperg to the plain where the review was 
 to be held, and the Landhofmeisterin's coach took up a 
 commanding position near to Eberhard Ludwig and the 
 officers of his staff. The Prussian King appeared riding- with 
 a numerous retinue. 
 
 The field artillery spluttered volleys, and the cannon of 
 Hohenasperg thundered a royal salute ; the Silver Guard and 
 the Chevaliergarde deployed and went through the series of 
 antics customary at that period of military history. It was a 
 small quantity of men with which to aspire to give a military 
 display to the Soldier King, but under Eberhard Ludwig's 
 zealous care the men were perfectly drilled, wonderfully 
 accoutred, and the cavalry horses were unequalled in Germany. 
 The light field-guns were of the latest invention, the artillery 
 and fort gunnery were carefully distinguished according to the 
 new military rule : in fact, it was all rigidly correct and perfect 
 to the most approved and newest methods of that date ; and 
 Pried rich Wilhelm \^ho, if he knew little else, was a past 
 master of the martial art, was delighted at the display. But 
 his face changed when he rode up to the coach to greet his 
 cousin, and became aware of the Landhofmeisterin's presence. 
 
 * Why are you here ? ' he grumbled to the Erbprincessin. 
 'Women are best at home, looking after the children or 
 cooking the dinner.' 
 
 *May I present her Excellency the Landhofmeisterin to 
 your Majesty ? ' said Eberhard Ludwig ; but the King turned a 
 deaf ear. 
 
 'Go home, cousin, go home !* he bawled at the Erbprincessin; 
 and putting spur^ to his horse galloped away to inspect 
 some new pattern of field-gun which his sharp eyes had espied 
 with the artillery. 
 
THE GEEAT TEIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 293 
 
 Eberhard Lndwig looked at the Landhofmeisterin in genuine 
 distress. He had warned her of the Prussian King's rough 
 manners, but this was more than he had expected. Her 
 Excellency's face was inscrutable. 
 
 ' I should advise your Highness to follow that most kingly 
 personage. Keep him in view, Serenissimus, or he may steal a 
 tall man or so for his grenadiers from among your favourite 
 guards. It is one of his graceful habits, I am told,' she said 
 coldly. 
 
 The Erbprinz had flushed deeply when the martial king 
 ignored the Landhofmeisterin. The Erbprincessin's face, on 
 the contrary, had lightened considerably. It was delightful 
 to see the Gravenitz put down for once ! They drove home 
 through the meadows, past the blossoming orchards, and never 
 had the Landhofmeisterin been more charming; even the 
 Erbprincessin could not forbear a smile at her witty sayings, 
 and the Erbprinz laughed gaily. The Prussian King rode 
 past the coach, glaring at its occupants with his protuberant 
 eyes, and the Landhofmeisterin adroitly launched a witticism 
 just as his Majesty was passing, in order that he should suffer 
 the mortification of hearing and seeing their merriment half 
 an hour after his unmannerly slight. Her ruse succeeded 
 admirably, and she had the pleasure of observing the King's 
 brick-coloured face flush to purple with anger. 
 
 The Duke and his guest remained together all the morning. 
 His Highness showing the King each detail of the palace. In 
 the orangery they came across two remarkably tall garden 
 boys, and Eriedrich Wilhelm immediately offered Eberhard 
 Ludwig three hundred thalers apiece for them. Now, they 
 happened to be her Excellency's own gardeners, and to be 
 proficient in the art of cultivating roses, sO Serenissimus 
 prayed the King to let him find other giants for him ; these, he 
 said, were not his to offer. 
 
 ' Whose then ? Whose then ? What the devil ! Why, the 
 houndsdirts must belong to you ! Whose can they be ? If 
 they are my little cousin's I will soon make her see I will 
 have them,' the Prussian monarch shouted. 
 
 'They belong to her Excellency the Landhofmeisterin, 
 sire.' 
 
294 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' What, that woman ? Ha ! you took her to Mompelgard, I 
 hear ! Ridiculous things, women — want the lash, the whip. 
 Do you hear, old comrade ? — every woman wants the lash, 
 Look at my daughter now — absurd hussy 1 will not marry. 1 
 ought to lash her, but she hides behind her mother's petti- 
 coats. Ridiculous things, women.' 
 
 Serenissimus endeavoured to lead the shouting monarch 
 from the orangery, but he was not to be outdone. 
 
 ' Come to Berlin, boy; fine uniforms, good beer, and tobacco. 
 Come, you will love me like your father ! ' he yelled at the 
 tallest gardener, bestowing a heavy blow on the youth's 
 shoulders with the stout cudgel which he always carried. .The 
 end of it was that Eberhard Ludwig made him. a present of 
 the Landhofmeisterin's gardeners, and the King in high good 
 humour retired to take an hour's nap before starting to enjoy 
 some wild-boar sticking in the forest. 
 
 All that day the Landhofmeisterin did not see Serenissi- 
 mus, only in the afternoon she received a billet from him in 
 which he forbade her to attend the supper in the state 
 banqueting-hall. * The Erbprincessin will be the only lady ; 
 she, being the King's cousin, must attend, but I command you 
 to remain away. You will understand my reasons when you 
 consider the events of this morning.— E. L.' 
 
 The letter was short, formal, cold in tone, and the Landhof- 
 meisterin was deeply wounded. She had known that Eriedrich 
 Wilhelm would be unfriendly to her ; his rough virtue, and 
 hatred of illicit relationships, were famous throughout 
 Germany, and she was aware that he would view with dis- 
 pleasure the magnificence and the Erench manners of Lud- 
 wigsburg. Had he not stamped, beaten, and roared out of 
 existence every trace of the elegance and pomp of the Berlin 
 court as it had been under his father, Eriedrich i. ? — that 
 monarch who, by the way, had granted the Gravenitz that 
 Letter of Royal Protection twenty years ago. 
 
 Still, though Eriedrich Wilhelm had refused to ratify or 
 acknowledge this document when begged to do so by the 
 Duke of Zollern, the Landhofmeisterin had counted him as 
 more or less bound by it, and the idea that he could utterly 
 ignore her had never entered her head. Moreover, she 
 
THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 295 
 
 thought she would not need the protection of Prussia. She 
 had prepared a vast fortune out of Wirtemberg, and if death- 
 claimed Eberhard Ludwig before her own demise, she intended 
 to retire to Schaffhausen and finish her days in magnificent 
 seclusion. Yet it was infinitely galling to be hidden away in 
 this manner. She raged at the thought of the courtiers' 
 sneers. Not attend the supper ? She, the ruler of Ludwigs- 
 burg and Wirtemberg, to be hidden like a common mistress ! 
 And then how coldly Eberhard Ludwig wrote to her. * Alas ! 
 all things pass,' she said, and wept bitterly. The day wore 
 on. She tried to read, to occupy herself, but she could not fix 
 her mind on anything ; her thoughts reverted to her humilia- 
 tion. At last she heard the noise of the sportsmen's return, 
 and Eriedrich Wilhelm's loud voice shouting and laughing. 
 Would Eberhard Ludwig come to her now ? But no ; she 
 waited, and no one disturbed her solitude. 
 
 At length Maria brought her a tray covered with dishes of 
 delicious viands. 
 
 ' If her Excellency refuses to be served properly in the 
 dining-room, as usual, she must at least have a mouthful to 
 eat,' the honest soul declared, and she hovered round the 
 Gravenitz, imploring her to taste this or that, to drink a little 
 wine ; but the Landhofmeisterin pushed away her plate, saying 
 that the food choked her, and Maria, grumbling, carried away 
 the untasted supper. 
 
 Once more, Wilhelmine fell to listening. She heard the 
 noise of a crowd gathering in the courtyard. She rang her 
 handbell, and when Maria appeared she questioned her on 
 the reason of a crowd being admitted to the palace precincts. 
 His Highness had commanded the gates to be thrown open, 
 she w^as told ; it was the Prussian King's custom to permit the 
 populace to see him eat. 
 
 ' Disgusting ! ' quoth the Landhofmeisterin haughtily. ' I 
 can smell the varlets from here. Sprinkle rose-water about 
 the room, Maria.' 
 
 The hours dragged on monotonously. The noise of the 
 crowd in the courtyard was drowned by the loud strains of the 
 massed bands of the regiments in Ludwigsburg, who had been 
 commanded to play before the windows of the banqueting- 
 
296 A GERMAN POMPADOUR, 
 
 hall. The Landhofmeisterin's musicians with their harps, 
 violins, and flutes were banished during the Prussian King's 
 visit, for he hated all music save that of trumpet and drum. 
 At length the Landhofmeisterin could bear her solitude and 
 suspense no longer. She slipped into the statue gallery, and 
 through a secret door to the Duke's private stairs. The top- 
 most flight led to a small gallery which looked into the 
 banqueting-hall. She had often watched from here the 
 hunting dinners which his Highness gave, and from 
 which ladies were naturally excluded. It was many years 
 since one of these entertainments had taken place, and 
 the staircase had fallen into disrepair ; it was dirty and dusty, 
 and creaked under her Excellency's tread. 'Disgraceful 
 neglect ! the housekeeper-in-charge shall be fined,' murmured 
 the tyrant as she mounted. The door leading to the gallery 
 was ajar. The Landhofmeisterin's face darkened with anger. 
 Had some serving-maids dared to creep up to watch the doings 
 in the banqueting-hall ? But there was no one in the gallery, 
 and she bent down, peering through the stucco balustrade into 
 the hall below. Her attention was arrested by a cackling 
 snigger behind her— a horrid, mocking, wheezy titter in the 
 shadow of the- overhanging ornamentation of the banqueting- 
 hall roof, which came low down over the little gallery. She 
 turned quickly and saw the grotesque, ape-like figure of one 
 of the court dwarfs. Her Excellency had introduced these 
 hideous abortions into Ludwigsburg, having read that they 
 were a feature of the Spanish court in its grandest days. 
 Eberhard Ludwig, disgusted at the sight of the puny mon- 
 strosities, had refused to permit them to go about the palace, 
 and they had been relegated, poor displeasing toys, to the 
 servants' regions. Here they were kicked and cuffed and 
 made cruel sport of. During the foregoing winter one dwarf had 
 died, and the other roamed around like some miserable outcast 
 cur, lurking in dark corners, hiding from all living things, 
 which he accounted rightly as his tormentors. He cowered 
 before the Landhofmeisterin, laughing his horrible, cackling 
 snigger, which was half mockery, half terror. He expected 
 the Landhofmeisterin to push him brutally aside, but her 
 sorrow had made "her suddenly gentle ; she felt dimly that this 
 
THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 297 
 
 wretched creature was an outcast, and so was she. ' Poor 
 dwarf,' she said gently, ' I had thought you were dead ! So- 
 you still wander in this vale of tears ? ' She spoke almost 
 mockingly, and yet there was that in her tone which gave 
 hope to the wretched being. 
 
 ' Madame, I am so miserable ! They beat me, cuff me, 
 the serving-maids pinch me, scratch me with their bodkins ! 
 They say you are hard and cold and cruel, but oh, have 
 mercy on me ! * 
 
 * I hard and cold and cruel ? ' she replied incredulously. 
 * Do they say that ? ' She had no idea that success and 
 prosperity had thus changed her; the world-hardened never 
 know it themselves. 
 
 ' Ah, yes, they say that ; but, I pray you, have mercy on me.' 
 The poor, distorted figure threw itself down, grovelling at the 
 Landhofmeisterin's feet. 
 
 *Go to my apartments in the pavilion and await me, I 
 will attend to you in an hour's time. Stay, here is my ring ; 
 show that to the sentry and he will admit you,' she said. 
 She would send him back to his Swiss mountain valley with 
 gold enough to last him for his lifetime. Perhaps, if she did 
 good to this outcast, God would relent, would give her back 
 Eberhard Ludwig's love ? The dwarf went, and the Landhof- 
 meisterin turned her attention to the scene in the banqueting- 
 hall. 
 
 The banquet was finished, but the guests still sat round the 
 table with wine-reddened faces. The Prussian King loved to 
 drink deep ; he said he abhorred the milksop who could not 
 follow him to the dregs of a tankard, and that was indeed no 
 paltry measure. The Erbprincessin sat to the King's right, 
 his Highness himself was on his Majesty's left. The Erbprinz, 
 white and weary, sat opposite. The holders of important 
 court charges were grouped around according to their respec- 
 tive ranks. Eriedrich Gravenitz, as Count of the Empire and 
 Prime Minister of Wirtemberg, sat to the left of Serenissimus ; 
 Prelate Osiander came next, then Schtitz and Sittmann, and 
 the brothers Pfau. Eeischach, the Master of the Hunt ; Baron 
 Eoeder, Master of the Horse ; the Oberhofmarshall, the otlier 
 Geheimrathe; the generals and officers of his Highness's staff; 
 
298 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the colonels of the Silver Guard, of the Chevaliergarde ; the 
 young captain of the Cadets k Cheval. Among the Wirtem- 
 berg courtiers were seated various members of the Prussian 
 suite: Grumbkow, the powerful favourite; General Donhoff; 
 and the Austrian Ambassador at Berlin, Count Seckendorff, 
 who always followed Friedrich Wilhelm L, a spy and intriguer 
 in friendship's guise. 
 
 It was a brilliant assemblage, but it was well to be seen 
 that deep drinking had been indulged in. Besides the 
 Erbprincessin, only Osiander and the Erbprinz had calm and 
 unflushed faces. The Landhofmeisterin's eyes wandered from 
 Eriedrich Wilhelm to Eberhard Ludwig; his face was flushed, 
 and he swayed a little in his chair. His Highness was 
 usually a moderate drinker, and, though during his various 
 campaigns he had drunk and revelled like the rest, the 
 Landhofmeisterin had never seen him with that vacant, sottish 
 look, and her soul sickened at the sight. The Erbprincessin 
 rose and took her leave, Friedrich Wilhelm shouting rough, 
 good-natured pleasantries to her. Then his Majesty's friend, 
 Grumbkow, craving the Duke's permission, called the lackey 
 in charge, who produced the King's huge pipe, and in a few 
 minutes the Landhofmeisterin saw the stately banqueting-hall 
 take the aspect and smell of a tabagie. Dense clouds of 
 smoke rose up, and she saw that the Prussian King was again 
 served with an enormous jug of beer. The banqueting-hall 
 was transformed, no trace of elegance or courtly grace seemed 
 to remain ; it had become a pothouse, of which Eberhard 
 Ludwig was the jovial host. The Landhofmeisterin quivered 
 with disgust, his Highness appeared sunken to a different level. 
 She watched and listened ; the music in the courtyard had 
 ceased, and she could hear what they said in the banqueting- 
 hall. 
 
 ' What ! Sapperment ! you compose fiddling tunes, young 
 man?' Friedrich Wilhelm was roaring at the shrinking 
 Erbprinz. ' Just like my fool of a son. He blows squeaks 
 on a tube which he calls my beloved flute ' (the King gave a 
 rough imitation of his son's refined speech). ' !N"o good at 
 all, this younger generation — eh ! what, old comrade ? A good 
 fight, a good glass of beer, a good pipe, a good wife — that 's 
 
THE GREAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 299 
 
 what a man needs ; no French jiggery and music nonsense. 
 Fool's play — eh, what ? what ? ' He spoke in German ; such 
 German as it was, too, vitiated by French words which 
 he could not avoid, as he knew no others, adorned with 
 unquotable oaths, short-clipped, rough phrases — the language 
 of the man-at-arms in the guard-room. Yet he possessed a 
 certain breezy charm, and Eberhard Ludwig seemed to 
 respond to it. In truth, the King, when he was not in one 
 of his furious rages, was a boon companion, and appealed to 
 the brutish swagger which lies dormant in every man's 
 being. 
 
 At length the company rose from table and gathered in 
 groups of three or four, while the King and his host retired 
 into the embrasure of one of the windows. The Landhof- 
 meisterin saw that Friedrich Wilhelm spoke earnestly to 
 Serenissimus ; she noted the embarrassment on the Duke's 
 face, he seemed like a chidden schoolboy, and with dismay 
 the Landhofmeisterin observed that he was evidently im- 
 pressed by the King's words. Could this rude monarch 
 persuade so polished and refined a being as Eberhard 
 Ludwig ? Did he endeavour to separate her lover from 
 her ? A presentiment came to her ; she knew instinctively 
 that this was what the King essayed. After nearly an hour, 
 the two men came forth from the window's embrasure, and 
 she saw how the King held out his hand to Eberhard Ludwig, 
 and how his Highness gripped and held it, saying something 
 in a low, earnest tone. 
 
 ' She strained her ears, yet she could not catch the words ; 
 but she saw Friedrich Wilhelm's satisfied face. He clapped 
 his Highness between the shoulders with a heavy hand. 
 Evidently Serenissimus met with his Majesty's entire approval. 
 The company broke up for the night, and the Landhofmeisterin 
 rose from her cramped, kneeling position and took her way 
 back to her apartments. A cruel foreknowledge of disaster 
 overshadowed her ; something unusual, elusively sinister, 
 haunted her. 
 
 As she passed his Highness's door she hesitated. Should 
 she go in bravely and speak her fear to him ? Pride forbade, 
 and a certain sense of hopelessness. She drew herself, up 
 
300 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 proudly. No, he loved her ; how could he change after twenty 
 years ? He could not escape her, for she was his life ; all his 
 memories were hers, his past, his present ; therefore she 
 argued, as a woman always argues, his future too must be 
 hers. 
 
 She passed into her apartments and, opening her window, 
 leaned far out. How silent it was in the garden ! The moon- 
 light played gently over the terraces, only the splash of the 
 fountains broke the stillness. The air was delicious, scented 
 with freshness, and after the noisome fumes of wine, beer, 
 victuals, and tobacco in the banqueting-hall, she thought 
 the night air was laden with rose fragrance. So it had been 
 on that far-off night in the Stuttgart palace gardens after the 
 theatricals. Time had not played havoc then, with Nature. 
 How weary she was ! Suddenly a moan in the room behind 
 her attracted her attention. She started nervously, and, as 
 usual, the thought of the White Lady worked in her mind. 
 They said the poor ghost moaned when death drew near to 
 any of her descendants, and she was Eberhard Ludwig's 
 ancestress. The Landhofmeisterin dared not turn her head 
 for fear she should see a tall, white, shrouded figure with 
 bloodstained hands. Again the moan. 
 
 ' Who is there ? ' the Landhofmeisterin said tremulously. 
 
 ' Pardon, Madame, you said I was to await you.' It was 
 only the dwarf, then. Her Excellency almost laughed in her 
 relief. 
 
 ' Ah ! I had forgotten you. Well, tell me your story 
 now. I am listening,* she said. It would serve to pass the 
 time till his Highness came, for he would come, she told 
 herself. 
 
 The dwarf stood trembling before her, ridiculous, grotesque 
 infinitely pathetic. He poured forth the tale of his miserable 
 life, of the taunts, the jeers, the kicks, the cuffs, the lack of 
 food which he had often suffered in the midst of the lavish 
 splendour of Ludwigsburg. Incidentally he let her see how 
 the very servants of the palace spoke of her, and how they 
 mocked her authority when they dared. 
 
 His was a pitiful life-history, and the Landhofmeisterin was 
 moved to compassion; her own heart was sore, and already 
 
THE GKEAT TRIUMPH AND THE SHADOW 801 
 
 the crust of world-liardness had begun to melt under the 
 tears which were welling up ready to be shed. 
 
 She told the dwarf that he was free to return to that 
 humble cottage in the Swiss valley -which he called home. 
 There and then she wrote out a passport for him and an 
 order for a seat in the Duke's diligence as far as the frontier ; 
 she gave him a purse of gold, and, more precious still, an 
 official command to all to treat the deformed traveller with 
 consideration ; also, as postscriptum, an intimation that if 
 the dwarf did not reach his home safe and unrobbed, she 
 would cause the whole Secret Service to track the offender, 
 who would suffer the utmost penalty of the law. With this 
 document the dwarf could have travelled from one end of 
 Wirtemberg to the other in safety; nay, more, he was sure 
 of even servile acceptance from high and low, for never was 
 monarch so feared in his domains as the Gtistrow adventuress 
 in the Dukedom of Wirtemberg. 
 
 ' God reward you for this great good,' the dwarf said as he 
 turned to leave her presence, and she answered sadly : 
 
 ' It is too late ; God's hand is heavy upon me.' But she 
 did not believe it. 
 
 The hours passed, and still the Landhofmeisterin waited for 
 Eberhard Ludwig. She watched the grey dawn slip into the 
 sky, then the glow of the awaking sun came, and she knew 
 that she waited in vain. 
 
CHAPTEE XX 
 
 SATIETY 
 
 ' A Cloud of sorrow hanging as if Gloom 
 Had passed out of men's minds into the air.' 
 
 Shelley. 
 
 Friedrich Wilhelm and his Highness of Wirtemberg started 
 early on the morning after the state banquet. A number of 
 wild boars had been tracked in the Kernen forest and good sport 
 was antijBipated. The Landhofmeisterin from her couch heard 
 the stir of the sportsmen's departure. In happier days she 
 had waved farewell to her lover from her window, now she 
 turned her face to the wall and moaned in anguish. But 
 the day's routine should be carried out as usual, that she 
 vowed ; no one should pity her, no one notice that she feared 
 her sun had set. She dressed according to her wont in a 
 magnificent gown, sat patiently for an hour in her powdering 
 closet while the obsequious Frenchman dressed her hair 
 elaborately and powdered the curls afresh. 
 
 She reflected grimly on the blessings of powder to age- 
 silvering locks; none would see that her black hair was 
 streaked with white. 
 
 Her step had never been prouder than when she walked 
 through her empty antehall which, but a few days earlier? 
 had been filled with a bowing crowd of courtiers. She was 
 almost surprised to find Baron Schiitz awaiting her as usual 
 in the ' Landhofmeisterin's business-room,' that small room on 
 the ground floor of the west pavilion whence for twenty 
 years had issued the ruling orders of Wirtemberg. She 
 worked as she had done each morning for many years. 
 Sitting at the large middle table she transacted the business 
 of the Dukedom. Beside her was a pile of unwritten papers 
 signed at the bottom of each page by Eberhard Ludwig. It 
 was only needful to write any decree above his Highness's 
 
 302 
 
SATIETY 803 
 
 signature, to affix his seal beneath, and to add her own official 
 name 'W. von Gravenitz-Wiirben, pro Landhofmeister Wir- 
 tembergs,' to make the writing an unassailable, all-powerful, 
 official document. Gradually things, had come to. this pass. 
 The Duke preferred hunting, shooting, riding, to affairs of 
 State, and in the course of years the Gravenitz had succeeded in 
 grasping complete, autocratic power. There was no one to 
 hinder her ; her brother was Prime Minister in name, but he 
 was forced to bring each important matter to her, for she 
 represented his Highness. 
 
 The Geheimrathe were one and all her creatures ; the Duke 
 refused to meddle, and if he expressed a wish, it was so 
 promptly and ostentatiously carried out that he never realised 
 how entirely he had ceded the reins of government to his 
 mistress. To the Landhofmeisterin's working-room came the 
 officers of the Secret Service, bringing their reports on the 
 doings of all Wirtembergers of high or low estate, each 
 report of value being carefully noted and locked away in the 
 wire-protected shelves which furnished the walls. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin laboured, according to habit, on the 
 morning after the banquet, and if she detected a freer tone in 
 the heretofore obsequious Schtitz's voice, a shade of insolence 
 in his manner, she gave no sign thereof. If anything, she 
 was more haughty, more dictatorial than ever. 
 
 * I am retiring to La Favorite for a few days' rest, Baron 
 Schlitz,' she said, when the affairs of the day were accom- 
 plished ; ' you will bring me any business which it is necessary 
 for me to consider. I shall have these with me' — she tapped 
 the signed pages — ' the seal I shall also have with me. As I 
 am fatigued, I shall not work longer this morning. Au revoir, 
 Baron.' He was dismissed. 
 
 ' Your Excellency would do well to leave me the signatures. 
 I may have need of them,' he said hurriedly, stretching out 
 his hand towards the pile of signed warrant papers. 
 
 'Since when can Baron Schiitz dispose of his Highness's 
 signature ? I have already told you that if urgent business 
 arises, in spite of my fatigue, I shall be prepared to attend to 
 it at La Favorite. Au revoir, Baron.' 
 
 She spoke resolutely, yet in a perfectly unconcerned voice, 
 
304 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 and ScMtz, fearing lest his observations had failed him, and 
 the ' great one ' was after all not nearing her downfall, bowed 
 himself out with his accustomed obsequiousness. He would 
 have changed his mind could he have seen the cloud of 
 misery and anxiety which settled on her face directly she was 
 alone. She arranged various papers, extracting several from 
 the neatly docketed packets. These she regarded as instru- 
 ments in her hands ; this document was a sword of Damocles 
 which she could suspend over the head of that enemy ; this 
 other a pistol which, an she willed it, she could level at the 
 credit and honour of another; here a short report spelling 
 ruin to a noble family's pride; there a note to convict an 
 honoured courtier of fraud or of traitorous intrigue. If she 
 was indeed to fall, she would not alone be flung from her 
 eminence ; those who had hated her should also be dragged 
 down with her. She smiled bitterly. After all, even though 
 she wreaked vengeance as she fell, what would it avail her ? 
 
 This triumph of her spite would be a satisfaction, but 
 
 She sighed, and would have replaced the damning papers in 
 their hiding-place. No ! she would take them with her. If 
 the crushing misfortune came, at least she would have the 
 consolation of retaining some power over others. 
 
 Sadly she mounted the stairs to her own apartments, and 
 calling the waiting-maid, she bade Maria gather together all 
 the jewels and gold; a few of her best-loved books; some of 
 her most gorgeous clothes. Grumbling, Maria packed them 
 in a huge nail-studded chest. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin stood watching till the last chosen 
 object was safely packed away, then she bade Maria summon 
 lackeys from La Favorite. They came quickly, and her 
 Excellency ordered them to carry the chest to her little 
 Chateau Joyeux. Her voice was perfectly steady as she gave 
 these orders, her face stern and calm. Her whole action was 
 unhurried, deliberate ; she might have been making arrange- 
 ments for a gay hunting expedition. There was no trace of 
 anxiety in her manner. 
 
 Maria hovered about, after the lackeys had departed with 
 the chest. Did her Excellency wish for this or that ? Should 
 she accompany- her Ladyship's Grace to La Eavorite? 
 
SATIETY 805 
 
 Calmly the Landhofmeisterin bade her precede her, she would 
 follow in a few moments. She heard Maria locking the 
 wardrobes in the chamber below, listened to her giving orders 
 for the redding up of the apartments, exactly as she had 
 heard the maid finish her preparations for departure a 
 hundred times before starting for Urach or Ereudenthal. 
 
 ' Beloved, the coaches await us ; shall we begin our journey ? ' 
 The Landhofmeisterin started. Yes ; that was how Eberhard 
 Ludwig had summoned her in the old, happy days. Her 
 nerves had tricked her, it was only an echo of long ago. 
 Could everything, indeed, be ended ? Was she leaving Lud- 
 wigsburg for ever ? Ah, no, no ! how absurd ! Of course 
 Serenissimus would recall her directly this blustering King 
 had gone back to his drill at Berlin ! And yet 
 
 She moved slowly round her rooms. Fifteen years since 
 Frisoni had conducted her to her pavilion ! She recalled how 
 she and Eberhard Ludwig had laughed at the little Italian's 
 ruse, when he led them up and down corridors and stairs in 
 order to reach her apartments from his Highness's rooms. 
 The memory of their mirth was torture to her. Once more 
 she took the key from her bosom and, passing through the 
 statue gallery, she gained the hiding-place behind the arras. 
 She listened, but there was no sound ; she pressed the secret 
 spring of the tapestry door and entered the writing-closet. 
 Slowly she walked round the room ; she had not come to rob 
 the bureau this time, nor to upbraid her lover, nor to tempt 
 him once again. No ; she had come to bid farewell, to look 
 her last upon the familiar scene. One of the Duke's 
 gauntleted hunting-gloves lay on the floor; she stooped and 
 lifted it and put it to her lips. Then the full sense of her 
 loneliness came to her, and she sobbed aloud. She hurried 
 away, and her last vision of that well-known room was 
 blurred by her tears. 
 
 One parting look round her own apartments, and she 
 passed out on to the roofed terrace which led from the Corps 
 de Logis to the West Pavilion. Here her own face met her 
 on sculptured vaulting and ornamented wall. Her face, young, 
 smiling, voluptuous, surrounded by the emblems of music held 
 by Cupids. Love, music, and herself. What a mockery it 
 
 U 
 
806 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 seemed to her, this open homage, this enduring monument 
 of a dead passion ! 
 
 With steady tread she paced down the flight of stone steps 
 to the second terrace. Again a statue with her features met 
 her eye. Frisoni had designed the pedestal. She remembered 
 how she had laughed at the Italian for drawing a figure of 
 Time with huge wings and holding giant sickle-blades in his 
 oversized hands. She had called it awkward and ill-conceived, 
 and the Italian had told her that Time was an awkward giant ; 
 that he crushed strength and glory sometimes, and left weak- 
 ness and shame to live. She had hardly noted the answer 
 then, but it came back to her now. She looked at the sickle- 
 blades and shuddered, knowing that Time had mown her 
 down at last. 
 
 All day the Landhofmeisterin busied herself with her books, 
 with playing upon the spinet, and singing her favourite songs. 
 She was a prey to fearful unrest. Night fell, the hunters had 
 returned, and yet his Highness sent no word to her he had 
 called ' Life of my Life.' Perchance he was much occupied. 
 The Prussian King was an exacting guest, she told herself ; 
 framing excuses, reasons, all the pitiful resources of a woman's 
 heart, to explain away her beloved's coldness. The fact that 
 the courtiers held aloof from her caused her no pain, only 
 bitter anger, yet even for these she elaborated reasons of 
 absence. How ' often had she wearied of these people's im- 
 portunities, how often longed to be left in peace, and yet now 
 she would have given vast sums could she have seen her 
 antechamber full again. She knew that Friedrich Wilhelm's 
 visit would terminate on the morning following the wild- 
 boar sticking in the Kernen forest. Would he go, this rough, 
 virtue-loving despot ? She remembered how he had tarried 
 four whole weeks at Dresden when he had paid a visit to 
 Augustus the Strong some years before. And this in spite 
 of his disapproval of the reigning favourite, the Countess 
 Orzelska, and the many lesser stars of that licentious court. 
 Good Heavens ! would he stay four weeks at Ludwigsburg ? 
 She smiled ; even in her despair there was something humorous 
 in her being which no sadness could dull, and she found her 
 
SATIETY 807 
 
 own dismay at the honoured guest's possible procrastination 
 a trifle comic. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig must come back to her — he must ; she re- 
 peated it over and over again. The night brought her no rest ; 
 always the same hammering thought, the torturing, nagging 
 possibilities, the tangle of recollections. Sometimes she slipped 
 away for a few moments into a restless sleep, but her dreams 
 were as terrible as her waking thoughts. She was journeying in 
 her coach to Stetten, the horses galloped fast — ever faster ! — 
 Eberhard Ludwig was at her side, then, with a gesture of 
 anger, he flung himself out of the carriage. She was alone, 
 and the horses were rushing onwards. A giant figure, of pitiless 
 face, stood in their way — a being with huge, gnarled hands 
 which held enormous sickle-blades. The horses were mown 
 down, now the blades were descending over her. ' Great God •' 
 Mercy ! he is cutting out my heart ! ' she awoke screaming. 
 
 Then the strain of agonised thought began once more to 
 whirl in her mind. Eberhard Ludwig must come back — he 
 must. She fell asleep, and again the Dream Demon took hold 
 of her. Now she was in Duke Christopher's Grotto in Stutt- 
 gart. The mob was nearing her, and her feet always slipped 
 back on the slimy steps — she would never gain the first 
 gallery. A shadowy figure with bleeding hands barred her 
 way — the White Lady — the murderess. ' Back to the world 
 to take your punishment ! ' the ghost whispered, and oh, horror ! 
 she pushed her back with those terrible, bleeding hands — hack, 
 down the slippery, slimy steps towards the crowd. 
 . Eberhard Ludwig led the mob, and the Prussian King was 
 with him. ' Beloved of my life, heart of my soul ! ' the Duke 
 said, and clasped her to him; but his arms had become sickle- 
 blades and they cut her to the heart, while Eriedrich Wilhelm 
 laughed and waved a cudgel. It hit her on the brow, blow 
 after blow. 'Wanton, wanton, witch and wanton!' the King 
 bawled at each stroke. She was dreaming ; she knew it, she 
 must awake ; but the Dream Demon had not done with her. 
 Now she was with Wtirben, now with Madame de Euth, now 
 at Gustrow, now at Urach in the Golden Hall, but always the 
 glistening sickle-blades followed her. Wurben cut at her 
 with them ; Madame de Euth, Monsieur Gabriel, every one 
 
308 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 had got these searing blades, and always Eberhard Ludwig 
 stood watching, watching, and he did not save her ! 
 
 In the grey dawn she awoke. It was all a dream, then. 
 What was wrong, though ? There was something — ah, yes 1 
 Eberhard Ludwig had ceased to love her. Absurd ! It was 
 a phantasy of her weary brain! She was ill, feverish. — 
 Eberhard was occupied with an exacting guest, that was all. 
 He would come back to her — he must. At last she slept 
 dreamlessly. Fatigue conquered agony, and she slept. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin awoke to a smiling world. Such a 
 glory of Spring, of blossom and lilac. Maria threw open the 
 windows, and the sound of the gardeners raking the paths of 
 La Favorite gardens came in with the lilac scent. It was a 
 good world, a very young world ! Alas ! the Gravenitz felt old 
 and broken, ill from her night of agony. Maria told her that the 
 Prussian King had left Ludwigsburg. Very early the cavalcade 
 had started, and Serenissimus had ridden away with his guest. 
 
 'At what hour does his Highness return?' her Excellency 
 queried. 
 
 'JSTot for several days; they say his Highness stays at 
 Heilbronn tO-night, and rides to the frontier with the 
 King to-morrow, then goes boar-sticking in the Maulbronn 
 forest, and will not return for four or five days,' the maid 
 answered. The Landhofmeisterin sighed ; in happier days the 
 Duke had bidden her adieu tenderly, if he were forced to leave 
 
 her for an hour, and now But it was absurd ; of course he 
 
 could not always worship her like a young lover, but he would 
 never desert her. 
 
 ' Who is in the antehall this morning, Maria ? ' she asked. 
 
 ' ISTo one, your Excellency.' 
 
 So the parasites were dropping away from the threatened tree. 
 
 All that day and the next, no one disturbed the solitude of 
 La Favorite, even Baron SchiLtz held aloof. On the third morn- 
 ing the Landhofmeisterin sent for him, but the answer came 
 back that the Finance Minister had left Ludwigsburg for a 
 few days' rest. The Landhofmeisterin reflected grimly that 
 Baron Schutz had never needed repose before. 
 
SATIETY 809 
 
 Eight days passed ere Eberhard Ludwig returned. The 
 Landhofmeisterin's fears had grown dim, habit had resumed, 
 sway. She worked at the affairs of State each morning, and 
 save that the business was transacted at La Favorite instead 
 of at the palace, and that Baron Schlitz was replaced by an 
 underling clerk, everything seemed to have lost that touch 
 of the unusual which is part of the menace of coming dis- 
 aster. True, the courtiers were scarcely assiduous in the 
 visiting of the Landhofmeisterin, but they dared not 
 absent themselves entirely, for they were uncertain as to her 
 fate, and they feared both her revenge and her reputed witch- 
 craft. So they repaired perfunctorily to La Favorite, and 
 though her Excellency refused to receive visitors, still she was 
 informed of the courtiers' visits. Thus the old life seemed to 
 be unaltered, and the Landhofmeisterin forgot her anxiety in 
 a measure, yet a deep melancholy remained over her. 
 
 At length Maria reported that Serenissimus had returned, 
 and once more a feverish unrest seized the Gravenitz. "Would 
 he come to her ? Would he summon her ? The night drew 
 near, and no word came from the palace. The Landhof- 
 meisterin's fears reawoke. She paced restlessly up and down 
 the Favorite terrace whence she could see his Highness's 
 windows. The lights were lit. She watched ; gradually the 
 palace grew dark. It was as though the light of her youth 
 was extinguished when his Highness's windows grew black. 
 She waited ; perchance he would come yet ? A terrible weari- 
 ness fell on her. The night was very beautiful, moonlit 
 and enchanted ; the scent of the lilac smote heavy on the air 
 
 — the lilac and the red thorn blossom How beautiful it 
 
 was, how still, how divinely young it all seemed ; and she was 
 old, old and weary, and forsaken and unutterably sad ! 
 
 ' Your Excellency must rest ; come, dear Madame ! ' It was 
 Maria, the faithful friend, the only one who had not profited 
 by her mistress's vast power ; she alone who had never 
 sought gain. 
 
 ' Maria, I am too weary to slelp, and I dream so cruelly/ 
 the Gravenitz said sadly. 
 
 ' Come and rest, and I will sit beside you all night,' the good 
 soul replied ; and indeed, it seemed as though her honesty had 
 
310 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 driven away the Dream Demon, for the great Landhofmeisterin 
 slept like a tired child watched over by this faithful peasant 
 woman. 
 
 The next day the G-ravenitz was utterly deserted. No word 
 came from the palace, no Secret Service officers came to report 
 to her, no courtiers thronged the antehall. It was Sunday, 
 and the bells of the palace chapel rang. Maria had heard 
 that Serenissimus had intimated his intention of attending 
 church twice that Sunday. The Landhofmeisterin s thoughts 
 followed him wistfully. Would he sit in his accustomed chair 
 in the gilded pew ? Would his eyes wander to the sculptured 
 figures in the chapel, the figures which bore her features ? 
 Would he remember how often she had sung to that organ ? 
 Alas ! Change is Death, and more cruel than Death. 
 
 The day passed, and still came no sign from Serenissimus. 
 Then the Landhofmeisterin sent Maria to the town to gather 
 news, and the maid returned and told her that it was rumoured 
 his Highness would start on the following morning to attend 
 the grand military review at Berlin. She had met one of the 
 palace grooms, and he had said that the horses were to be 
 in readiness soon after dawn. Good God ! was Eberhard 
 Ludwig taking this way in order to rid himself of her ? It 
 was entirely contrary to etiquette to hurry on a visiting 
 monarch's heels in this manner. 
 
 Her pride was swallowed up in gnawing anxiety. She 
 wrote to Eberhard Ludwig. 
 
 ' Love has its rights, you cannot leave me without a word. 
 What have I done ? how have I offended you ? you, for whom 
 I would give my life ! I ask nothing. If you have ceased to 
 love me, then banish me, imprison me, all you will, but come 
 to me once — once only. beloved ! remember the past; come 
 to me and tell me the truth. Tell me to go, and you need 
 never see my face again,' she wrote. 
 
 No letter came in answer ; only a verbal message, delivered 
 by a sullen court lackey, that his Highness would visit her 
 Excellency ere he rode to Berlin. Her Excellency was to 
 expect him in the early morning, as he commenced his journey 
 betimes, owing to, the long distance. 
 
 Another night of fierce unrest. Early she rose and made 
 
SATIETY 311 
 
 an elaborate toilet. She dressed in yellow, the colour he loved ; 
 her hair was freshly powdered, her face carefully painted. 
 
 The dew glistened on the close-cropped grass of the gardens, 
 the lilacs were more radiant than ever, the birds in the chestnut- 
 trees sang their spring melody — the chant of nest-building, the 
 mating song. 
 
 Eberhard Ludwig rode up the avenue of La Favorite, and 
 dismounted before the terrace steps. His attendant took his 
 horse, and walked the beautiful animal up and down in the 
 shade of the chestnut-trees. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin received Serenissimus in her yellow- 
 hung sitting-room. He was cold and distant, and she was 
 formal and restrained. 
 
 ' I hope your Highness is in good health ? ' and ' your Excel- 
 lency appears to be mighty well ! ' Then the ice broke, and 
 she. held out her arms to him. 
 
 ' My beloved ! my beloved ! Ah ! to see you again ' But 
 
 he drew back. 
 
 * Madame, life is hard. We must part, you and I.' 
 
 ' Oh no, no, not that ! Tell me what has changed you ? I 
 have been true always,' and she clung to him. 
 
 ' I must alter everything — sinon je suis perdu ! ' Always 
 that phrase of his, he had called himself so often ' perdu ! ' 
 
 ' Alter everything ? Yes, yes ; all you will. See, I am ready 
 to change, to obey in all things, dismiss any person who dis- 
 pleases you ; make some one else Landhofmeisterin, only keep 
 me, do not banish me ; you are my life, only you — you ' 
 
 ' I must leave you ; you have brought a curse upon the 
 'land ' 
 
 ' I have brought a curse to you ? If you leave me there 
 will be a curse — the eternal condemnation, brought by a 
 broken heart. Eberhard, my beloved! See — I implore 
 you ! ' 
 
 ' I must go — I must leave you^sinon je suis perdu — sinon 
 je suis perdu,' — and so they wrangled, and exclaimed, and 
 implored for an hour. 
 
 ' Your last word then is : Go, woman who has loved me for 
 twenty years ! ' she said bitterly at last. ' Yes ? Well, then, hear 
 me : I will not go ! — never, do you hear ? We belong together, 
 
312 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 you and I. All this is some madness of yours, wliicli will 
 pass. Come back to me to-morrow and tell me so, then all 
 will be well. It is well, do you hear ? You are maddened, 
 distraught ' 
 
 'This is my last word: Retire to one of your castles. I 
 leave you your properties and your title, but Ludwigsburg 
 must see you no more.* 
 
 She laughed in defiance. * I will not go till you drive me 
 forth at the point of the bayonet, Your friend, the King of 
 Prussia, can teach you bayonet drill, and you can practise it 
 on my heart.' 
 
 Then he rode away from La Favorite, his horse's hoofs 
 outraging the peaceful dew. 
 
 Directly Serenissimus had ridden away, as if in defiance of 
 impending fate, the Landhofmeisterin sent to summon the 
 ofiicers of the Secret Service. She would work, give com- 
 mands, according to her wont. The officers tarried, and her 
 Excellency waited in her yellow-hung salon. Would they 
 dare, the creeping spies — dare to disobey her ? she wondered. 
 She passed out on to the terrace and glanced down the 
 chestnut avenue. With a feeling of relief she recognised one 
 of the Secret Service officers. He was hurrying to La 
 Favorite as fast as, in other days, they and all the world had 
 hastened to do her bidding. 
 
 She re-entered her sitting-room and, seating herself at her 
 bureau, began to draft a ducal manifesto. The door opened, 
 and, to her surprise, not the Secret Service officer whom she 
 had thought to recognise, but a very inferior official, a mere 
 spy, entered. He walked in without removing his hat, and 
 came close up to the Gravenitz. 
 
 ' What will you give me for my information ? ' he said 
 roughly. 
 
 ' What do you mean ? You have come to report, I suppose ; 
 though why my chief officer, Jacoble, sends you, I do not 
 know,' she returned haughtily. He leaned his hand on the 
 bureau beside her. 
 
 'I have information which may save your life, but you 
 must pay me for. it." She rang her handbell. 
 
SATIETY 813 
 
 *My lackeys will show you how I pay the insolent/ she 
 said. 
 
 ' Your lackeys ! There will not be one left in your house in 
 an hour's time/ he sneered. 
 
 Her face had grown ashen grey ; even through her paint the 
 death-like colour showed. 
 
 'What are you saying?' she cried hoarsely. 'Here, take 
 my purse, all you will — but tell me quickly— quick, man, 
 tell me!' 
 
 At the sight of the heavy golden purse the spy's face and 
 manner changed. ' Serenissimus fell fainting from his horse 
 in the village of Marbach. They cannot rouse him ; the doctors 
 say he will never awaken. They carry him to Ludwigsburg 
 to die. No one has remembered you yet, but when they 
 do ! ' he flung out his arm in a crushing gesture. 
 
 'When they do, they will imprison me till orders come 
 from the new Duke, you mean ? Do you think I care ? My 
 place is beside Serenissimus, and I go to the palace immedi- 
 ately. Go, take the gulden and go.' 
 
 She swept from the room, and the spy saw her descending 
 the steps from the terrace to the garden. Her calm dignity 
 had disconcerted him, and, after all, he feared the Gravenitzin. 
 
 He turned to the bureau ; at least, he would look through 
 her papers. But even in her distress the Landhofmeisterin 
 had remembered to shut and lock her bureau ; and though the 
 spy tried to wrench it open, her Excellency's secrets were 
 guarded by intricate springs, and the man's efforts were 
 unavailing. 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin walked swiftly down the shady 
 avenue, and into the palace gardens. She had not passed 
 that way since her departure from Ludwigsburg, ten days 
 earlier. Her sharp eyes took in various neglected details. 
 ' If he dies, and I go, the whole place will fall to ruin/ she 
 murmured. 
 
 Great commotion reigned in the castle. She could see that 
 even the sentries were discussing the Duke's health with a 
 crowd of Ludwigsburg burghers. They started when they saw 
 the Landhofmeisterin pass through the courtyard. Involuntarily 
 they fell back into their correct attitudes, and left the crowd's 
 
314 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 questions unanswered. The Gravenitz hurried to the Corps 
 de Logis, but the doors were closed, as had been those on the 
 north terrace facing La Favorite. 
 
 'The doors are locked from inside, Excellency,' said the 
 soldier on guard. * Count Gravenitz commanded it/ 
 
 ' So, is my brother within ? ' she asked. 
 
 *Yes, Madame; and Baron Schiitz, Baron Eoeder, and the 
 court physicians.' 
 
 They had locked her out, then. Ah ! but she had her key of 
 the west pavilion, and the key of the doors leading to his High- 
 ness's writing-room. She went to her former dwelling-place ; 
 there stood no sentry now before her Excellency's pavilion. 
 The windows were closed and shuttered, and when she entered 
 a chill air met her. She shivered ; the gay, bright pavilion 
 was like a tomb, the grave of happy hours, she thought. Her 
 upstair rooms were dark and desolate. Once more she realised 
 that she, her power, her glory, were dead things, and she 
 bowed before the inexorable law, Change. 
 
 She passed through the statue gallery and into the arras 
 passage. A deathlike silence reigned in his Highness's apart- 
 ments. God ! would she find a still, white figure — a rigid, 
 sheet-covered shape? She pushed open the tapestry door ; the 
 writing-closet was empty, but beyond, in the sleeping-room, 
 she heard whispering voices. 
 
 The Duke lay on his bed fully dressed in his riding-clothes. 
 His left arm was held by the second physician, while the 
 chief surgeon bent over it, lancet in hand. A third doctor 
 kneeled, holding a bowl under his Highness's arm, from which 
 large drops of blood welled slowly, and fell with a sickening 
 soft thud into the china bowl. 
 
 Friedrich Gravenitz, Schutz, and Eoeder stood near the 
 window, talking together in low tones. They started forward 
 when the Landhofmeisterin appeared on the threshold, and 
 Gravenitz approached her with outstretched hand. 
 
 ' Wilhelmine, you must not come here now,' he said in an 
 ungentle voice. 
 
 ' It is my place ! let me pass,' she returned ; and, waving 
 her brother away, she moved swiftly round to the other side 
 of the bed. She knelt down close to the Duke, and taking his 
 
SATIETY 315 
 
 right hand she raised it gently to her lips. The sufferer 
 moved slightly for the first time since he had fallen fainting 
 from his horse. 
 
 ' Stem the blood, he is returning to consciousness/ whispered 
 the chief surgeon ; and the first physician twisted a linen band 
 above the open vein, while the second doctor stanched the 
 blood with a cloth, and then bound up the wound. 
 
 ' His Highness must have entire quiet, Madame,' the court 
 doctor said, bowing respectfully to the Landhofmeisterin. * It 
 were well if all retired and left him to my care alone, if you 
 will permit me.' 
 
 ' As Prime Minister, I consider it my duty to remain ' 
 
 began Triedrich Gravenitz in a louder tone. 
 
 'As chief physician, I consider it my duty to order you to 
 retire ! Madame, will you assist me in this matter ? ' he said 
 quietly to the Gravenitz. 
 
 ' I will assist you, Herr Medicinalrath, by retiring myself. 
 I am sure the gentlemen will do likewise. Count Gravenitz, 
 I hold the first court charge, and I command you to depart.' 
 It was true ; at Ludwigsburg the Landhofmeisterin was entitled 
 to command even the ministers, by reason of her high ofi&cial 
 capacity. She rose from her knees and looked yearningly at 
 the lover of her youth. 
 
 ' Will Serenissimus recover ? ' she whispered. 
 
 * Without a doubt now, your Excellency,' returned the 
 physician. 
 
 She was passing out when her eye caught sight of the red- 
 stained cloth with which they had stanched the blood from 
 Eberhard Lud wig's arm. Tenderly she lifted it ; it seemed to 
 her that it was heavy with her beloved's lifeblood — a precious 
 relic. She carried it away through the quiet, sunlit gardens. 
 It was partly a despairing woman's whim, an absurdity, and 
 partly she was prompted by her magic practices to take the 
 cloth. There was an infallible life elixir and a powerful love 
 potion, one of whose ingredients was the blood of the loved 
 one. She would brew this mixture, Eberhard Ludwig should 
 drink it, then the old happiness would return. He would be 
 strong and well again, and with health would come love and 
 happiness. 
 
316 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 The Gravenitz's witch practices had long been an eye- 
 sore to his Highness. In the first place, he feared magic 
 exceedingly, and knowing the Landhofmeisterin's extra- 
 ordinary magnetic power, he believed entirely in her witch- 
 craft. Friedrich Wilhelm had thoroughly alarmed his High- 
 ness; doubtless a curse rested on him for his sin. Surely, 
 thus to harbour an avowed witch would inevitably draw 
 down the wrath of God, and ' we princes must make personal 
 sacrifices for State reasons.' Then too Eberhard Ludwig, 
 having ceased to love the Gravenitz, was in a propitious 
 mood for returning to duty. 
 
 When the Duke regained consciousness he found him- 
 self with the kindly court physician, who told him of the 
 Landhofmeisterin's visit, and of how it had been her touch 
 on his hand which had first roused him from his swoon. 
 The good man prated amiably to his Highness, thinking to 
 please him, but the Duke's face grew dark. The physician 
 had seen her Excellency's care of his Highness during his 
 illness in the preceding autumn, and had been deeply 
 impressed by her charm which she had chosen to exercise 
 upon him. 
 
 At this moment the Duke's valets entered to remove the 
 blood-filled bowl and the cloth used to stanch the blood, 
 these having been left by the physician's orders, as it was 
 imperative for Serenissimus to be undisturbed till he regained 
 entire consciousness. The lackeys searched for the cloth, 
 and not finding it, inquired if the physician had removed it. 
 Baron Roeder, who was waiting in his Highness's writing- 
 closet, heard the question through the open door. He tip- 
 toed to the threshold and informed the physician that her 
 Excellency the Landhofmeisterin had carried away the cloth. 
 His Highness heard, and, starting up, commanded Roeder to 
 bring it back forthwith. 
 
 ' But, your Highness, her Excellency has carried it to La 
 Favorite,' said the astonished courtier. 
 
 ' You are to fetch it and bring it here ! I tell you to go. 
 If her Excellency will not give it, take it by force — by 
 force, do you hear ? Here is my signet-ring, show her that. 
 
SATIETY 317 
 
 Take a company of guards with you — but bring me back that 
 cloth ! ' 
 
 The Duke was beside himself; he was weak from loss of 
 blood, and he had worked himself jnto a frenzy of fear. 
 Suddenly the woman he had loved for twenty years had 
 become, to his thinking, a dangerous, threatening witch ; she 
 who had lain on his breast, his mistress, the woman who 
 had tended him in illness, the hallowed being he had well- 
 nigh worshipped — offering up his country, his wife, his son, 
 all things at her shrine — now appeared before him as the 
 incarnation of evil to be compelled by a company of guards. 
 
 In vain the physician essayed to calm his Highness ; he was 
 as one distraught, raving frantically of the missing cloth, of 
 spells and incantations. 
 
 Eoeder, arriving at La Favorite, stationed his guards care- 
 fully. As a fact, the gentleman was terribly alarmed. It 
 was no pleasantry to affront the wrath of the Gravenitz. 
 Was she not a tyrant ? and tyrants had strange ways of 
 hanging on to power after actual favour was gone past. And 
 was she not a witch ? it was not reassuring to incur a 
 witch's curse. Nay, but she was a fallen favourite, the vile 
 am.putated canker of a terrible epoch, harmless now the 
 blister of her evil glor)^ wSs pricked, and yet 
 
 Politely he requested the Landhofmeisterin to deliver up 
 the missing cloth, but she denied possessing it; he insisted, 
 threatened to call the guard, and the whole house should be 
 searched; he had his Highness's warrant. He showed 
 her the Duke's signet-ring. She raged at him, dared him 
 to oppose her, menaced him. Then, changing her tone, she 
 cajoled him: if she indeed had the cloth, it would be easy 
 for him to retract his statement concerning having seen her 
 purloin it. Then she would be a friend to him ; did he forget 
 her power ? He questioned her on the uses she would make 
 of a blood-stained linen rag. She told him" she had her 
 purposes, and he remembered her witch practices, the stories 
 of the ghastly ingredients of her magic potions. He alluded to 
 witchcraft, and she defied him again, then he called the guard ; 
 but when the soldiers' tread echoed in the corridor, she drew 
 
318 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the cloth from a hidden panel in her bureau and flung it 
 at him, with bitter words cursing him. And he departed 
 trembling, the fear of the Gravenitz upon him. 
 
 Of course this was repeated in high colours to Serenissimus, 
 and his superstitious terror deepened. Then the valets 
 blabbed as to how Maria had often begged for locks of his 
 Highness's hair, for parings of his nails. More absurdities 
 for the magic love potions, very unappetising too. In a 
 violence of revolt against his once beloved, Eberhard Ludwig 
 signed an edict banishing the Landhofmeisterin from Ludwigs- 
 burg and from Stuttgart. She could remain in Wirtemberg, 
 residing at any of her various castles ; she should retain her 
 monies, and effects, and her rank ; but all power, all part in 
 the country's government, was taken from her, and he would 
 see her face no more. 
 
 In a mighty virtuous frame of mind Serenissimus rode 
 away to Berlin, leaving this document to be enforced in his 
 absence. 
 
 Meanwhile the Gravenitz waited in a fever of anxiety at 
 La Favorite. On the day following his Highness's departure, 
 the document was presented to her by Schtitz and several 
 officers of the law. She tore it across and across, and laughed 
 in their faces. And the solemn officials retired to com- 
 municate with their Duke at Berlin concerning the further 
 treatment of this extraordinary woman. Wirtemberg was 
 much excited, for the news of her condemnation and of her 
 defiance spread through the country. For days she was 
 utterly alone with Maria and her personal domestics. 
 
 The Sittmann tribe found it necessary for its health to 
 retire to Teinach, a watering-place in the Black Forest ; and 
 Friedrich Gravenitz remained secluded at Welzheim, the 
 manor his sister lent him, and which he chose to regard as 
 his own property. Ludwigsburg was like a city of the 
 dead; the Erbprincessin seldom left her apartments now; 
 day after day she sat brooding in deep melancholy. The 
 Erbprinz sometimes rode out from the palace, but he avoided 
 the direction of La Favorite. The Landhofmeisterin, deprived 
 of the company of the man she had loved during so many 
 years, deprived. of her accustomed occupation of governing 
 
SATIETY 819 
 
 a country, used to the homage of courtiers and the blandish- 
 ments of parasites, sank into profound dejection. 
 
 After some two weeks the Landhofmeisterin heard the 
 thud of a cantering horse's hoofs nearing La Favorite. A 
 wild hope sprang up in her heart : it was Eberhard Ludwig, 
 of course ; he had repented of his harshness, and was coming 
 to lead her back in loving triumph to Ludwigsburg. 
 
 The lackey announced that his Highness the Erbprinz 
 awaited her Excellency in the ballroom. Ah ! not Serenis- 
 simus then; but he had sent his son to tell her the good 
 news. 
 
 ' Quick, Maria, a dash of rouge, a little powder. Is my hair 
 becomingly dressed ? Give me my fan — yes ! a rose at my 
 bosom. How do I look ? ' And the Gravenitz sallied down 
 to meet her beloved's son. 
 
 This was indeed a triumph. The Erbprinz had never visited 
 her at Favorite or Freudenthal. Everything was coming 
 right, of course — she had known it would ! 
 
 ' Good morning, Prince Friedrich, it is a great joy to me to 
 see you. Are you well ? you look in good health.' It was 
 a very smiling, beautiful woman who spoke. Magnificent — 
 a trifle over-mature perchance ; but a full-blown rose is a fine 
 thing, though some prefer the rosebud. 
 
 *I thank your Excellency; I am well, but I come on an 
 unpleasant mission— I regret ' 
 
 * Serenissimus is not ill, Monseigneur ? ' she cried. 
 
 * No, Madame ; my father is in the enjoyment of health, 
 but — -but — Madame ! believe me, I am loth to be the 
 bearer of such evil tidings to you, for you have always been 
 my friend.' 
 
 'Prince Friedrich, if I have been your friend, spare me 
 now ; tell me without hesitation what your mission is. Alas ! 
 I am indeed a stricken woman.' 
 
 In truth, her face was tragic. All the more terrible was this 
 menace to one who had dared to build such a structure of 
 hopefulness upon so slender a basis. 
 
 ' Madame, my father bids me give you this letter. If you 
 do not obey immediately, I am to enforce these commands. I 
 pray yom spare me that, dear, dear Madame ! ' He took her 
 
320 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 hand in his and kissed it ; he was a very tender-hearted, an 
 easily subjugated little grand seigneur. 
 
 ' Madame la Comtesse de Wiirben, Comtesse de Gravenitz, 
 Landhofmeisterin de Wirtemberg. — In view of a great change 
 impending in my dukedom, I command you to depart in- 
 stantly from my court of Ludwigsburg. You are at liberty 
 to reside at any of the castles you have obtained from me, 
 but I forbid you to venture into my presence or to importune 
 the members either of my government or of my court. You 
 have refused obedience to my commands, delivered by my 
 Finance Minister, Baron Schutz,and by various high law officials. 
 I now make known to you that such future defiance will be 
 punished as traitorous to me. Here is my warrant and signed 
 decree given at Berlin this 29th of May 1730, signed Eber- 
 hard Ludwig, Dux Wirtembergis/ 
 
 The Landhofmeisterin read this letter once, then mechanic- 
 ally she read it again. It was written by his Highness ; no 
 secretary had been intrusted with this precious document. 
 It seemed to her an added cruelty that the well-known hand- 
 writing should form these stern words — the graceful, elegant 
 writing which she had seen blazoning her lover's passionate, 
 poetic homage to her in words of love and promises of fidelity. 
 The Erbprinz stood silent with bowed head. What would 
 she say, what would she do, this forceful woman ? At length, 
 he raised his head and looked at her. She was still poring 
 over the Duke's letter as though its contents puzzled her. 
 The silence grew intolerable. 
 
 ' Madame, believe me, I am truly grieved,' he began. 
 
 ' Grieved ? grieved ? Ah ! who would not be ? This is an 
 outrage, a madness. What! can you believe that I can be 
 banished ? I ? Why, this whole world is of my making, this 
 Ludwigsburg. Go hack and send a messenger to Berlin to 
 say that I will not go.' She spoke quietly, almost indif- 
 ferently. 
 
 ' Alas ! Madame, if you have not left before sunset, I am 
 bound to have you removed by force,' he answered. 
 
 ' You ? My poor boy ! You ? — you remove me ? ' She 
 began to laugh. , 
 
 * It may be ridiculous, Madame,' he said humbly, ' but such 
 
SATIETY 321 
 
 are my father's orders.' She laughed again. * Come, Madame, 
 give me your answer. Believe me, I would spare you pain 
 but if you will not go, I am commanded to have you arrested 
 and conveyed to Hohenasperg.' Then the horror of it came 
 to the Landhofmeisterin. 
 
 ' I to Hohenasperg ? God ! God ! that it should come 
 to this ! Ah ! the cruelty ! But still I will fight to the last — 
 I will never go.' Her voice had risen to shrillness, her face 
 was contorted by anger ; she looked incarnate rage, a Megsera. 
 Suddenly her features resumed their usual expression — nay, 
 more, it was the face of the grande charmeuse. 
 
 * Prince Friedrich, help me ; this is only a passing mood of 
 your father's ! Let me stay here till he returns from Berlin. 
 Use your power for my good ; you are heir to all this splendour ; 
 you will reap the harvest of beauty I have sown at Ludwigs- 
 burg. Help me, and you will never regret it.' She had come 
 close to him, smiling into his eyes. The frail, sensitive youth 
 flushed scarlet. 
 
 ' Prince, you are the image of your father as I knew him 
 twenty years ago. You bring my youth back to me.* She 
 laid her hand upon his shoulder and drew him towards her. 
 She was very beautiful for all her forty-five years, her 
 presence was intoxication. 
 
 ' Friedrich, Friedrich, you could revenge so much— so much 
 neglect, if you were my friend.' Her lips were very near to 
 his, her breath was on his cheek. Like most super-sensitive 
 
 I beings, he was vividly passionate ; and she knew it, and this 
 
 I was her last card : to make him love her, aid her to stay at 
 Favorite, then, when Eberhard Ludwig returned, surely jealousy 
 would recall love. It was a dangerous game enough, but it 
 
 I was her last resource. 
 
 'Little Friedrich, who makes me feel young again,' she 
 
 \ murmured. E'ow her lips are on his^and the room swings 
 round him — while the scent of the fading lilacs in the garden 
 is wafted in with delicious, heavy, unwholesome sweetness. 
 And she herself, caught by an eddy of her feigned passion, 
 is swept into a wave of sensual recollection. She is in the 
 Eothenwald again on a spring morning — overhead a bird sings 
 
 j a rhapsody — and she 
 
 X 
 
322 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 With a cry tlie Prince sprang away from her. 
 
 ' Madame ! Madame ! you tempt me from my duty ; you 
 must go from here. Indeed, I cannot help you, hut I will 
 not let the guards disturb you, till to-morrow. I pray you, 
 Madame, go this day.' 
 
 ' Never ; you do not know me ! I will never go. Use force 
 if you will — hut I stay at Ludwigshurg.' 
 
 The Erhprinz turned away sorrowfully. 
 
 ' Then I cannot help you.' He took her hand and raised it 
 to his lips. ' Earewell, Madame,' he whispered. Did his lips 
 linger on her hand a little longer than custom dictated ? She 
 thought so, and smiled to herself as Prince Friedrich left her. 
 
 Hardly had the Erhprinz departed when she heard the sound 
 of approaching wheels in the avenue. ' I am receiving many 
 visitors to-day,' she thought bitterly. To her surprise Mon- 
 seigneur de ZoUern was announced. He greeted the Landhof- 
 meisterin warmly, though gravely, and immediately commenced 
 questioning her on her position. She told him the details of 
 the foregoing weeks. Zollern listened attentively, with his 
 hands crossed as usual over the porcelain handle of his stick. 
 He had grown terribly old in spite of his straight and dapper 
 figure, and his face was like ancient parchment; only the 
 bright, restless eyes seemed eagerly alive. 
 
 He told the Landhofmeisterin that the news of her mis- 
 fortune had reached him, and that he had come to counsel her 
 immediate retreat. He argued with her gently, but she was 
 obdurate ; go she would not. Then the old man begged her 
 to depart ; he prayed her, by Madame de Eath's memory, to 
 be reasonable. 
 
 ' Consider, Madame,' he said, ' I am a very old man — yes, yes, 
 old and broken — and I have travelled far to save you from 
 your own obstinacy, for you are dear to me ; you are my one 
 remaining link with the past, with my past youth. You were 
 Madame de Ruth's friend, and I cherish you as that. Yes ; 
 she was the love of my life — I may say it now, for it is ancient 
 history — and she loved you. Would she not have counselled 
 prudence ? Fly now, that you may return later.' 
 
 At this moment a lackey brought a folded paper to the 
 Gravenitz. 
 
SATIETY 323 
 
 * Unknown to me, General Pruckdorff had received orders 
 from my father to expel you by force from Favorite and 
 Ludwigsburg if you have not left by six of the clock this 
 evening. I pray you, Madame, fly ! I shall never forget you. — 
 rEiEDRiCH LuDWiG, Erbprinz.' 
 
 Without a word the Landhofmeisterin handed the paper to 
 Zollern. 
 
 'Ah! a charming invitation!' he said loudly, so that the 
 lackey who stood waiting could not fail to hear. ' I should 
 advise you to accept. A most entertaining fete. Order your 
 carosse, dear Madame.* 
 
 Calmly the Landhofmeisterin gave the necessary commands 
 for her coach and outriders, and summoning Maria she bade 
 her collect some few objects of value and various papers. 
 Then she took leave of Zollern. 
 
 * Au revoir, Monseigneur,' she said. 
 
 * Adieu, Madame ; this is the last act of the comedy called 
 the Great Intrigue,' he answered. 
 
 Yet she tarried till the last moment at La Favorite. It 
 was a terrible leave-taking. She wandered round her pretty 
 rooms, looking her last at the graceful devices, the slender 
 traceries on wall and ceiling, at the things she had loved — the 
 beautiful porcelains, the delicate, brocaded hangings. Then 
 she passed out on to the terrace. What a wondrous summer 
 evening it was ! The sun was sinking low in the west — when 
 the last ray had vanished the soldiers would come to drag 
 her away. It was time, she must hasten — and yet she 
 lingered. She leaned on the balustrade and contemplated 
 the palace. Her thoughts travelled back to the days when 
 Ludwigsburg was still a-building, and she and Eberhard 
 Ludwig had planned the gardens together. 
 
 * Here should be a parterre of roses,' she had said. 
 
 ' I^ay, jasmine and heliotrope here; the roses must be beneath 
 your window to sigh out their souls before your shrine,' he 
 had answered. 
 
 Could it be ended ? The habit of years was too strong, she 
 could not realise. She listened to the summer sounds in the 
 garden : the rustle of the gentle breeze in the chestnut-trees, 
 
324 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the chirping of the grasshoppers, the bees droning over the 
 flowers. Spring was past, it was summer. ' Ah ! winter for 
 me ; winter and sadness for ever now,' she moaned. The sun 
 was sinking — she must fly. ' Farewell happiness 1 ' she mur- 
 mured, and with bent head she passed down the terrace steps 
 and entered her coach. 
 
 As she drove down the avenue she heard a bugle ring out 
 from the Ludwigsburg casern. 
 
 'Ride faster, hasten to Freudenthal ! ' she called to her 
 postillions, and at a gallop the Landhofmeisterin's coach 
 thundered away westwards to the distant line of hills where 
 lay Freudenthal. Once she turned as she passed through the 
 Ludwigsburg gates. She turned and saw the great roofs of the 
 palace which had been reared for her, and whence she was 
 henceforward banished for ever. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE DOWNFALL 
 
 • Life is but a vision — what I see 
 Of all which lives alone is life to me, 
 And being so — the absent are the dead, 
 Who haunt us from tranquillity, and spread 
 A dreary shroud around us, and invest 
 With sad remembrances our hours of rest. 
 The absent are the dead — for they are cold.' 
 
 Byron. 
 
 Freudenthal was full of ghosts for the Gravenitz: Madame 
 de Euth, her dead friend ; Zollern, who had bade her farewell 
 for ever; and Eberhard Ludwig, the unfaithful lover of her 
 vanished youth. She walked in the gardens, listening in- 
 voluntarily for the voice which had so often called ' Philomele 
 beloved ' from the orchard gate. There was no consolation on 
 earth for her, she knew that; all she had loved, all she had 
 achieved, her power, her great honours, were dead things. 
 The forced inaction of her future tortured her. How would 
 she pass the long dreary hours of the rest of her life ? True, 
 the Jewish community of Freudenthal had greeted her with 
 enthusiasm ; they were faithful, these despised Israelites. For 
 a moment it had warmed her heart back to a little interest in 
 living. She busied herself with the affairs of the village, but 
 she was used to a press of work, of governing, of vital interests ; 
 how could these minor matters occupy her for long ? 
 
 She tried to read, but though her eyes followed the lines 
 her thoughts flashed away to Ludwigsburg. She struck a few 
 chords on the spinet ; unconsciously her fingers .glided into a 
 melody Eberhard Ludwig had loved, and only a sob broke 
 from her lips when she would have sung. Ghosts at Freu- 
 denthal? She was the ghost herself; she was the shadow of 
 bygone days — the poor, yearning, broken-hearted ghost. 
 
 They came and told her that Serenissimus had returned 
 
 326 
 
326 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 from Berlin, and that he had been greeted by the news of the 
 Erbprinz's serious illness. Prince Friedrich had fallen ill of 
 a nervous fever, they said. Ah, yes! she told herself she 
 had caused it ; in her morbid sadness she took the blame of 
 every untoward occurrence upon her shoulders. She had 
 caused Eriedrich Ludwig to fall ill, for great emotions must 
 perforce shatter so frail a being as he was, and she had 
 tortured him, tempted him. 
 
 One day two travelling coaches rolled into Ereudenthal — 
 the Sittmann tribe arrived. It was but ill received by the 
 Gravenitz. Why had they come ? she asked. Her sister 
 informed her that Serenissimus had broken up the court of 
 Ludwigsburg ; he was to reside henceforth at Stuttgart. Had 
 she not heard ? Oh, yes ! His Highness was reconciled with 
 the Duchess, and it was disagreeable for former members of 
 the Ludwigsburg court nowadays. This latter was said in a 
 whiny tone of reproach. 
 
 ' Get you gone to your own apartments, my sister and my 
 sister's brats ! If stay you must at Ereudenthal, then stay, 
 but leave me now,' the Gravenitz said ; and though she was no 
 longer the all-powerful Landhofmeisterin, still there was that 
 about her which made the parasites shrink back. But they had 
 done enough^ had they not ? in telling her thus roughly that 
 the woman she had loathed and despised with all jealousy's 
 venom during twenty years, had triumphed over her at last. 
 
 The Gravenitz stood before one of the most galling of life's 
 lessons, she had to bow to the inexorable commonplace. Her 
 whole being was agonised ; she was breasting the dark waters 
 of despair, she was living a tragedy, but everyday life had to 
 go on as usual : the necessary routine of it, the dressing, the 
 eating, the lying down to rest at night. She heard the village 
 children singing on their way home from school, and the 
 harvesters driving merrily to the fields. Sometimes she would 
 cry out in protest against Nature, against the unalterable, 
 indifferent working of the universe: the smiling sun, the 
 peace of summer evenings. All things went their way heed- 
 less of her tragedy. 
 
 Summer blosson;ied gloriously; then the long, weary days 
 grew shorter, and autumn brought endless nights to the 
 
THE DOWNFALL 327 
 
 stricken woman. Once, twice she had written to Serenissimus, 
 but no answer came to her. 
 
 The Erbprinz still battled with death. Eberhard Lndwig 
 and Johanna Elizabetha watched together at his bedside, and 
 the Erbprincessin sat stonily silent in the darkened room 
 whose gloom seemed deepened by the poor girl's overshadowed 
 mind. 
 
 Then in October came the news that Death had conquered ; 
 the Erbprinz had passed away, and the Erbprincessin, half- 
 mad already, had fallen into such despair that her clouded 
 soul grew utterly black, and she raved in hopeless insanity. 
 Truly God's hand was heavy upon Wirtemberg. 
 
 A few days after this terrible news the Gravenitz, wander- 
 ing moodily in the Ereudenthal garden, heard the rattle of 
 an approaching troop of horse. He was coming to fetch her, 
 of course — her lover, her trusted one. She had known he must 
 come ! And she hurried away to her tiring-room to don her 
 finest raiment. She would meet him like a bride. Was it 
 not fitting that she should be gorgeously attired on this great 
 day of triumph — this renascence of joy in her life ? 
 
 The gown of golden cloth lay spread out for her ; she always 
 kept it ready, for she knew he would come. 
 
 ' Quick, Maria,' she called, as with trembling hands she 
 began her toilet ; ' quick ! His Highness comes ! ' She seemed 
 young again, with flushed cheeks and shining eyes. Then her 
 sister Sittmann burst into the room. 
 
 ' Wilhelmine, I hardly know how to tell you — it is ' she 
 
 said, but the Gravenitz interrupted her. 
 
 'You need not — for I know — I always knew.' She stood 
 before the mirror fastening a diamond ornament into her 
 hair, and her glowing eyes met her sister's reflected in the 
 glass. 
 
 'Good lack, sister! what ails you?' she cried, for the 
 Sittmann's face was ashen, and she gazed at the Gravenitz 
 in terrified bewilderment. 
 
 ' Who do you think has come, then ? Wilhelmine, you are 
 mad ! It is a troop of horse, headed by Eoeder, with a warrant 
 for your arrest.' 
 
 The diamonds slipped from the Gravenitz's fingers, and fell 
 
328 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 unheeded on the floor, while all the glow and youth faded 
 from her face. 
 
 ' What are you saying ? It is you who are mad — I know — 
 it is his Highness/ she stammered hoarsely, seemingly in- 
 capable of comprehending the meaning of her sister's words. 
 Suddenly her vigour returned, her courage, and that perfect 
 grip of startling events which had stood her in good stead for 
 many years. 
 
 * Where are they ? Maria, bolt all the doors — quick, girl ! 
 In the court, you say ? Tell them I am in the garden, send 
 them round, then shut and bar each window.' She gave her 
 orders clearly and calmly, like some general, the practised 
 commander in a hundred sieges. By this time all the inmates 
 of Treudenthal had gathered at the door of her apartment: 
 Baron Sittmann and his sons, the brothers Pfau, a horde of 
 serving men and women. Once more the Gravenitz seemed 
 to be the great Landhofmeisterin whose lightest word was law, 
 and they did her bidding without question or comment. 
 
 'Back, all of you, I will speak with Baron Boeder.' She 
 moved to her bedchamber window which looked upon the 
 garden. Below, on the terrace, stood Eoeder and another 
 officer consulting together in low tones, while through the 
 garden tramped the soldiers, seeking her whom they had 
 treated with royal honours for twenty years. She flung open 
 the window and stood before the two officers. 
 
 * Monsieur le Baron Eoeder,' she said slowly, ' to what do I 
 owe the pleasure of your visit? I am rejoiced to see you; 
 but kindly desire your men to spare my garden — they are 
 ruining my flowers.' 
 
 Eoeder looked dumbfounded. 
 
 * Certainly, your Excellency,' he stammered, ' but I must 
 crave a word with you immediately.' 
 
 *I regret. Monsieur, that illness confines me to my room. 
 I cannot receive you. Tell me your business from where 
 you are.' She spoke mockingly, looking down at the man 
 below. 
 
 'Impossible ! Madame, I must speak with you face to face,' 
 he said angrily ; and indeed it was an absurd situation. 
 
 * We are face to face, Monsieur de Eoeder, and I pray you 
 
THE DOWNFALL 829 
 
 tell me your mission without delay. I am fatigued with 
 standing so long. Come, I am not in the habit of waiting,- 
 Monsieur.' 
 
 ' Then, Madame, I arrest you in the.Duke's name. You are 
 my prisoner, and if you will not come quietly, I shall be 
 obliged to use force,' — this with a gesture towards the soldiers, 
 who had formed into line behind him. 
 
 ' I am Countess of the Empire, Landhofmeisterin of Wirtem- 
 berg, and none but my superior can arrest me. Monsieur. 
 Also, this house of mine is on free territory, subject only to the 
 authority of the Emperor. I refuse to be arrested, I refuse to 
 give you admittance, and I command you to withdraw.' She 
 spoke perfectly calmly, with the tone given by the habit of 
 command, which she had wielded for nigh upon a quarter of 
 a century. 
 
 Boeder hesitated; what she said might be true, and he 
 greatly feared her, but he had his orders from the Duke. He 
 recalled his Highness's words when he had intrusted him 
 with the Gravenitz^s arrest : ' I have not done enough. God's 
 vengeance is not fulfilled. The witch- woman,theLand-despoiler 
 is still at large in my country, and God has taken my only 
 son from me. I must purge my land of this sinner — punish 
 her — break her in atonement,' his Highness had said. The 
 Duke was firmly persuaded that so long as the Gravenitz 
 remained free, God's wrath would be on Wirtemberg, and the 
 notion was fostered by her enemies. No one spoke of her now 
 save as the ' Land-despoiler,' that name which the peasantry 
 had called her in secret for many years. 
 
 ' Madame, give yourself up peaceably, or I shall force my 
 way in,' Boeder called to her; but she had gone from the 
 window, and the house was shuttered, and with closed doors. 
 
 Then began the work of breaking into the manor of Freu- 
 denthal. Twenty soldiers hacked in the doors with axes, 
 while the rest stood sentry keeping the Jews at bay, for the 
 members of the Jewish settlement gathered round, eager to 
 protect their friend ; but they were unarmed, and the inherited 
 submission of their oppressed race made them poor protectors. 
 The soldiers poured into the house. Boeder was received 
 before the Gravenitz's door by Madame de Sittmann. She 
 
330 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 implored him to spare her sister, who, she assured him, was 
 really ill. The door leading from the Gravenitz's apartment 
 was bolted from within. He knocked loudly, but there being 
 no response, he summoned the soldiers to break it in. 
 
 With a crash the door yielded, falling inwards. And then 
 he saw his quarry. She stood in the middle of the room, 
 erect, vigorous, a very flame of hatred burning in her eyes. 
 She was clad in the golden gown which she had donned in 
 honour of joy's return; on her breast was the order of St. 
 Hubertus, and the jewels of Wirtemberg gleamed on her neck 
 and in her hair. ISTever had she looked more beautiful, more 
 magnificent than in this hour of her defeat, and even Eqeder 
 stood silent and abashed before her. 
 
 'Well, Monsieur le Baron de Eoeder,' she said, *so you 
 have defied me again ? See here, I curse you ; you have 
 called me a witch, and you are cursed by rne. It will not 
 bring you happiness.' 
 
 *It is my duty, Madame,' he replied steadily. Her face 
 changed. 
 
 ' You are right, man ; I grow petty in my old age. See, I 
 forgive you. Alas ! my hour has struck.' She held out her 
 hands towards him. 'Do not bind my wrists, I will come. 
 It is useless to fight Fate. Ah, Eoeder! Eoeder! whither 
 are you dragging me ? ' Her potent charm was alive in every 
 word. After all, it was a greater weapon than curses; she knew 
 that, and used it now. 
 
 'I thank your Excellency for aiding me in my terrible 
 task,' said Eoeder huskily. 'Is there anything in which I 
 may serve you before we start ? ' 
 
 ' No, Monsieur, I am ready ; only permit my maid Maria to 
 accompany me, and to bring such things as are necessary for 
 my comfort,' she said quietly. 
 
 ' It is against his Highness's orders. Excellency,' he began ; 
 but she smiled at him, la grande charmeuse, and as usual 
 she conquered. 
 
 Sadly the cortege left Freudenthal. Only once did the 
 Gravenitz break down. As she passed the orchard gate where 
 Eberhard Ludwig had so often stood on summer evenings 
 
THE DOWNFALL 331 
 
 calling ' Philomele beloved/ she bent her head, and, sobbing 
 bitterly, murmured : * Change is Death/ 
 
 The fortress of Hohenasperg stands about half a league from 
 Ludwigsburg. In the midst of rich orchards this gaunt rock 
 rises abruptly from the plain like some huge fist of a heathen 
 god, threatening the peace of the fruitful land with sombre 
 menace. From heathen days it was named Asperg, after the 
 Aasen or Germanic gods, whose sacred mountain it was. 
 Kound this stronghold men fought for centuries: naked 
 barbarians against Eoman legions ; rebellious knights of old 
 against Imperial troops; Protestant generals against the 
 armies of the Holy Eoman Empire; later, Wirtembergers 
 against the invading Frenchmen. Asperg, impregnable in war 
 time, was a prison in times of peace ; from its dark walls 
 and- giant ramparts escape was impossible for the prisoner. 
 The very name of Asperg was a terror, its shape was 
 awe-inspiring. And hither they brought Wilhelmine von 
 Gravenitz on that smiling October afternoon. Slowly her 
 coach rumbled up to the grim gate over which a sinister 
 lion's head frowns down at those who enter this stern prison. 
 The arms of Wirtemberg are emblazoned on each side of the 
 lion's head, surmounted by that ducal crown for which the 
 Gravenitz had made so audacious a struggle. 
 
 Her coach drew up before this gate and Eoeder bade her 
 descend. Here his charge ended, he had conveyed the Land- 
 despoiler to durance vile. The governor of the prison met 
 his prisoner at the gate. A bluff-mannered Wirtemberger, 
 short of stature, red of visage, and with fiery little twinkling 
 eyes beneath heavy, bristling eyebrows. A fierce bull-dog 
 man he looked, but his appearance belied him ; for he was a 
 tender-hearted gentleman, and received his prisoner with a 
 courteous consideration which many a polished courtier would 
 not have offered to the fallen tyrant. Up the steep, dark, 
 well-like road to the inner courtyard he led the Gravenitz, 
 followed by Maria, who wept bitterly. 
 
 ' I have orders to lodge you safely. Excellency. Safe you 
 will be here, and I do not purpose to restrict your liberty 
 greatly/ he said as he ushered her into a small chamber with 
 
332 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 a door leading on to the ramparts. Two sentries stood on either 
 side of the entrance to her apartment, but for the rest the room 
 was clean and pleasant, and commanded a fair view of the 
 plain beneath. 
 
 *I thank you, Monsieur, for your kindness,' she said, 
 approaching the barred window. Then she gave a little cry, 
 like to the moan of one wounded when a fresh agony is 
 inflicted. 
 
 * Give me a cell, Monsieur — a dungeon ; only not that — not 
 that — if you have mercy in your heart ! ' she pointed tragically 
 through the window. In the dying sunlight lay the great 
 palace of Ludwigsburg, the rounded roofs, the terraces,- and 
 the Chateau Joyeux of La Favorite in the midst of flowering 
 parterres. 
 
 ' I regret, Madame, believe me, I regret infinitely, but I 
 have not another apartment to offer you. Do not look from 
 the window overmuch, Madame/ The old man's voice broke 
 and he put out his strong rough hand to draw her away from 
 the beautiful, peaceful view. But how inconsistent is the 
 human heart ! She waved him away, and stood as though 
 rooted to the spot, her eyes fixed upon the scene of her passed 
 happiness. 
 
 At first the tumult in her heart shut out the peace which 
 was silently waiting for admittance ; the peace of seclusion 
 bringing those calm thoughts which wait upon the fevered 
 soul of man in Nature's vast aloofness. Gradually the beauty 
 of the fruitful plain with its cornfields and rich orchards, the 
 mystery of the far-off hills on the horizon, the poetry of the 
 distant, dark-blue line of the forests, the song of the wind 
 murmuring through those few trees which had sprung up on 
 the fortress terraces and ramparts unabashed by warfare ; 
 gradually this peace came to the Gravenitz, and she grew 
 calm. True, she agonised when her eyes fell upon Ludwigs- 
 burg, and she raged when the prison governor told her of the 
 march of events in Stuttgart; but still she knew a greater 
 peace, a more equable inner life than had been hers in the 
 day of her power. , 
 
 A commission waited upon her, demanding the restitution 
 
THE DOWNFALL 833 
 
 of tlie jewels of Wirtemberg. Some she had carried with her 
 to Hohenasperg, some had been already found at Freudenthal. - 
 It cost her a pang to part with the jewels. Had not Eberhard 
 Ludwig given each one to her with a lover's vow, a passionate 
 word ? 
 
 They demanded also that she should give up certain locks 
 of his Highness's hair which she had unlawfully retained for 
 purposes of detestable magic. She made answer that she had 
 but one strand of his hair in a diamond locket. She said that 
 she had worn this on her heart for twenty years. ' Is that 
 magic, Messieurs ? ' she asked. Had they known it, they had 
 indeed touched upon one of her sorceress secrets — the charm of a 
 woman who can love a man with undying poetry and romance. 
 They told her that she must give up this pathetic lock of hair, 
 that she retained it to brew love potions and such abomina- 
 tions. They took it from her, leaving her the empty crystal 
 locket with its encircling diamonds. 
 
 ' How you fear me, Messieurs ! ' she said with a flash of her 
 old defiance. Then they left her with her empty locket and 
 her empty life. 
 
 Yet her atonement was only beginning ; * the wages of sin 
 is death,' and worse than death a long-drawn agony of 
 humiliation and loneliness. Abasement, shame, defeat, fear, 
 inaction, loneliness, yearning — all these she had drunk in 
 her cup of suffering, but in the dregs there remained one more 
 drop of gall — ^jealousy. 
 
 Now, in the spring before she left Ludwigsburg, she had 
 been annoyed by a rumour which had caused much commo- 
 tion among the Wirtemberg peasants, and even the courtiers 
 had been infected with a wave of superstitious interest. In 
 the house of Wirtemberg there is a legend which tells how 
 Count Eberhard the Bearded, in humility and repentance 
 of his youthful sins, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem accom- 
 panied by twenty-four noble youths bound by sacred vows to 
 purity and godly life. When Count Eberhard "was praying 
 before the Holy Sepulchre, of a sudden a withered whitethorn- 
 tree quickened and blossomed in token of God's grace, and 
 a priest in Eberhard's following prophesied that so long as 
 the world lasted, this thorn-tree should flower whenever the 
 
334 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 noble race of Wirtemberg should bloom anew. Piously the 
 pilgrims bore the thorn-tree back to their native land, and set 
 it in a fair and sheltered spot near to the abode of a venerable 
 hermit. Here Count Eberhard instituted an order of prayer- 
 ful monks, garbed in fair blue habits, and for many generations 
 these holy men tended the- thorn-tree, building giant supports 
 beneath its spreading roots and vigorous branches. In 
 Protestant days the poor thorn-tree was forgotten, save by the 
 peasants who clung to their old legends and vowed that, when- 
 ever an heir was born to the house of Wirtemberg, the aged 
 thorn put forth a flowering branch. 
 
 It happened that, shortly before the Gravenitz was banished 
 from Ludwigsburg, Eberhard Ludwig, in the course of his 
 wood wanderings, came to Einsiedel where stood the ruined 
 monastery and the fateful thorn - tree. An old peasant 
 woman, who was gathering sticks for her fire in the de- 
 serted monastery garden, told him of the legend, and, pointing 
 to the whitethorn, exclaimed : * You who are a traveller, go to 
 the palace and tell the Duke that the thorn has blossomed. 
 Tell him to leave the wanton Land-despoiler, and go back to his 
 true wife. God has caused the thorn to bloom anew in token 
 of pardon, and there will be an heir born to Wirtemberg to 
 take the place of the dying Erbprinz.' Now the Erbprinz 
 was not dying when the old crone spoke these words, but 
 Eberhard Ludwig, always feverishly anxious for his son's wel- 
 fare, hurried back to Ludwigsburg in an agony of fear and 
 related the peasant woman's prophecy, and the strange fact 
 of that ancient thorn-tree putting forth a spray of white 
 blossom. Her Excellency the Landhofmeisterin had been 
 much offended by the story, and had mocked Serenissimus 
 for his credulity. 
 
 Of course when, shortly after this event, Eberhard Ludwig 
 repudiated his mistress and returned to his neglected Duchess, 
 popular report immediately had it that the whitethorn had 
 prophesied the happy occurrence, and that her Highness 
 Johanna Elizabetha was to become a mother. This the Gra- 
 venitz had heard during her sojourn at Ereudenthal, but it 
 was in November at Asperg that she heard the Duchess was 
 indeed with child. At first she vowed she did not believe it; 
 
THE DOWNFALL 335 
 
 it was an absurd story started by the believers in that ridiculous 
 thorn-tree; but when the fact of her Highness's pregnancy, 
 could be doubted no longer, the Gravenitz fell into an agony 
 of jealousy. She paced her small room like some tortured 
 tigress ; she cursed all men ; she sobbed in a passion of anger. 
 Waking or sleeping the thought never left her. Her dreams 
 were for ever of Eberhard Ludwig and the woman she hated. 
 God, how she despised her ! How she shuddered at the thought 
 of her motherhood. She told herself that it was disgust, and 
 even as she formulated the thought she knew that it was envy 
 — cruel, aching envy which tortured her. She was jealous, 
 then ? She ? The very supposition was an abasement. Could 
 she be jealous of that dull, heavy woman, with her reddened 
 eyes ? But she would be the mother of his child. . . . 
 
 They told her that prayers for her Highness's safe delivery 
 were offered up in all the churches in Wirtemberg, and that 
 there was immense rejoicing in the land. There was no 
 doubt then, and the Gravenitz's dreams were unending of the 
 Duchess holding out a beautiful man-child to Eberhard 
 Ludwig, who smiled in happiness and peace. 
 
 At length one day in December Maria told her that there 
 were exciting rumours in the village which nestles at the base 
 of the fortress rock of Hohenasperg. The Duchess was sick 
 unto death, they said, and the doctors were entirely puzzled. 
 Into the Gravenitz's heart there crept a ray of hope. God 
 forgive her ! she prayed for death to visit Stuttgart's castle. 
 
 Daily she sent Maria to the village to learn the news. One 
 day the governor came to her and told her he had a terrible 
 thing to communicate. Good, honest man, he often spent an 
 hour with his prisoner telling her news of the outer world. 
 
 'The Duchess has suffered a cruel disappointment, Madame/ 
 he said ; ' all Wirtemberg will condole with her. Her hopes 
 are ended, the doctors have been mistaken, there will be no 
 heir to the Dukedom. Her Highness suffers from dropsy. 
 Great heavens ! what ails you ? ' he cried, for the Gravenitz 
 had flung herself back into her chair, convulsed in a horrible 
 paroxysm of mirthless laughter. 
 
 The plain below Hohenasperg was white with snow — a 
 
336 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 light fall, which lay thinly on the even ground but had failed 
 to v/hiten the fortress rock, where only patches clung, empha- 
 sising the sombre colour of the stone hill. The sky was leaden, 
 lowering, sinister, pregnant with unborn snow. A company 
 of horsemen took its way up the steep road leading from the 
 village of Asperg to the fortress. Following this cavalcade 
 was a coach drawn by four horses. The Gravenitz, standing 
 on the west terrace, watched the horsemen approach. She 
 wondered idly if another State prisoner was being conveyed 
 to Hohenasperg. She saw the leader of the troop parleying 
 with the sentry. He showed a document to the man; then 
 the outer gate swung back and the cavalcade was hidden from 
 her sight between the gloomy walls of the steep, dark lane 
 leading up to the second or inner gate. She turned away ; 
 after all, these things were of no account to her. That was 
 one of her agonies ; she to whom all things had mattered, the 
 much occupied, the ruler, the indefatigable administrator — -she 
 was forced into lethargic quiescence. Every hour was empty 
 for her. She turned away listlessly. The afternoon was draw- 
 ing to a close. It would be a white world to-morrow, she re- 
 flected, for those swollen clouds could not hold the snow longer. 
 
 The prison governor was coming along the terrace towards 
 her. She greeted him in friendly fashion ; but at first he 
 spoke no word, only took both her hands in his. 
 
 ' I have bad news, Madame,' he said, after a pause. 
 
 'Ah ! tell me ; I am used to sadness now. What is it ? O 
 God ! but it is not some accident to Serenissimus ? ' she said. 
 The old man shook his head. 
 
 'No, Madame, but you are to be removed from my care. 
 And I fear ' he began. 
 
 'Death? Would he dare? After all, perhaps, it were 
 better,' she said calmly. 
 
 ' No, not that ; you are to be moved to Hohen-Urach. . . . 
 Madame, they will try you for your life. Alas ! his Highness 
 believes you have cast a spell upon the Duchess and caused 
 her misfortune. Asperg is too close to Stuttgart.' 
 
 She smiled at him. ' It does not signify, dear friend. One 
 prison is like another, I suppose ; but I shall miss my jailor ! 
 Let me thank you,' Monsieur, for your great courtesy to the 
 
THE DOWNFALL 337 
 
 fallen Land-despoiler/ She spoke almost gaily, and the 
 governor turned away his head. 
 
 ' I would help you, Excellency ; pray God I may be able to 
 serve you one day,' he said huskily. 
 
 'Tell them I shall start to-morrow, when the snowstorm 
 is over. I shall be prepared.' 
 
 * I regret — Excellency— In truth, I scarce know how to 
 tell you — It is ordered that you shall travel to-day — immedi- 
 ately,' he said. 
 
 * A prisoner has no choice, Monsieur,' she answered bitterly. 
 
 As the cortege passed out of the Hohenasperg gate, the 
 first snowflakes fell, and when they reached the village at the 
 foot of the hill there was a whirling storm. 
 
 The journey to Urach through the snow was terrible. Eor 
 hours the cavalcade wandered in the snowdrifts between 
 Ntirtingen and Urach, and when at length the unhappy woman 
 was housed for a few hours' rest in a village inn, her slumber 
 was broken by the sounds of rude merriment in the hall below 
 her sleeping-room, where the peasants were dancing. She was 
 wont to say afterwards that this trivial episode had been one 
 of her most painful experiences. Her nerves were on the 
 rack, for she expected that some cruel trial awaited her at 
 Urach. She was terribly weary from the long hours of 
 wandering, and from cold and exposure ; her pride had been 
 galled by the gaping, laughing, jeering, mocking crowd of 
 peasants which had stood round her while the captain of the 
 guard made arrangements for her night's lodging. Then her 
 sensitive ear was tortured by the peasants' music, which beat 
 on and on in monotonous, inharmonious measure all through 
 the night. 
 
 If suffering is atonement for sin, certain it is that the 
 Gravenitz agonised at Urach. Her imprisonment was in- 
 finitely more rigorous than it had been at Hohenasperg. The 
 governor treated her with scant consideration, and answered 
 her questions shortly. He forbade the faithful Maria either 
 to go to the town or to speak with the other inhabitants of 
 the fortress prison. Thus the Gravenitz had no knowledge 
 of the doings in the world. She tasted real imprisonment, 
 
 Y 
 
338 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the torture of being entirely cut off from human interests. 
 Also she was left in ignorance of her future. Death, 
 banishment, perpetual imprisonment? She knew nothing. 
 She penned passionate appeals to his Highness, but the 
 governor informed her that he could forward no writings 
 from a prisoner awaiting trial. 
 
 'When shall I be tried, and for what offences?' she de- 
 manded. 
 
 * I am not at liberty to say,' he returned, and left her. 
 
 She fell ill, or feigned to do so, and when the apothecary 
 tended her she offered him vast sums if he would tell her 
 what had occurred in Stuttgart. The man reported this to 
 the prison governor, who further restricted the Gravenitz's 
 liberty in punishment. She was no longer permitted to walk 
 on the ramparts. She grew really ill after this. For many 
 days she lay upon the rude pallet, which was called bed at 
 Urach, and, turning her face to the wall, refused to take 
 nourishment. Maria, in an agony of fear, sought the governor 
 and told him her Excellency lay dying. 
 
 ' A very curious coincidence/ said the governor musingly. 
 
 ' How, sir ? I do not understand/ inquired Maria. 
 
 * It is said that his Highness lies dying also ; there can be 
 no harm in telling you that/ replied the cautious official. Maria, 
 burdened with her sorrowful secret, returned to watch over 
 her beloved mistress. Eor weeks the Gravenitz pined in 
 hopeless sadness and physical illness, then her old spirit 
 returned, and she faced life again. Maria had not told her 
 that Serenissimus was sick unto death, dead perhaps by this 
 time ; she knew not, for none at Hohen-Urach would answer 
 the witch's serving-maid. 
 
 Spring came, and the Gravenitz petitioned the prison 
 governor to permit her to walk on the ramparts as before. 
 Unwillingly the man acceded to her request, and once more 
 she was at liberty to breathe the air of heaven, and to feast 
 her eyes upon the majestic view of the hill-country. But 
 there was pain for her, even in this her one enjoyment, for 
 from the rampart she looked down upon that little hill-town 
 of Urach which hs^d seen her in the heyday of her youth and 
 love. She could even see the windows of the Golden Hall 
 
THE DOWNFALL 839 
 
 where she had held high revel on that summer night so long 
 ago, and whence she had fled before the Emperor's stern 
 decree. Eemembrance was pain, and yet her thoughts 
 lingering in the past brought her echoes of joy and laughter. 
 What matter if the echo was softened by a sigh ? 
 
 At length, in August, an attorney waited upon her in her 
 prison. He was charged to defend her in her trial, he said. 
 A semblance of justice was to be meted out to her ; she should 
 benefit by the pleadings of a man of law. This personage was 
 a village notary, and all unfitted by knowledge or experience 
 to battle against the skilled prosecutors. And yet she was 
 grateful ; for, at least, she would thus learn of what she was 
 accused. The list of her crimes was appalling. Firstly : 
 treason. Secondly : purloinicg of lands and monies. Thirdly : 
 witchcraft and black magic. Fourthly: bigamous intent. 
 Fifthly: attempted murder. It is characteristic of the age 
 that the fifth indictment should not have been the first. 
 
 Her treason consisted in having grasped the reins of 
 government from the hand of their rightful wielder, his 
 Highness Eberhard Ludwig of Wirtemberg; in having kept 
 back from his knowledge many facts in the administration of 
 the country, and destroying documents addressed to him. 
 Also in having been untrue to him in word and deed. Almost 
 comic this last— a sort of topsy-turvy adultery charge ! 
 
 'Purloining of lands and monies.' She replied that if his 
 Highness's presents were accounted to her as peculation, she 
 had been guilty. For the rest she, having governed the 
 country in his name and with his sanction, had made free use 
 of the revenues for legitimate and public official purposes, 
 exactly as do other rulers, be they kings, dukes, or ministers 
 of state. 
 
 To the charge of witchcraft and black magic she refused to 
 make answer, save that she denied harming man, woman, 
 child, or beast. She was still hoist with her own petard : the 
 pitiful belief in the potency of her absurdities. 
 
 Bigamous intent she repudiated proudly. She had been 
 married in all legal form, and according to the ancient 
 privileges of ruling princes to take to wife whom they chose, 
 provided they, by open and public decree, declared any prior 
 
340 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 union null and void. It had pleased the Emperor as over -lord 
 to decide otherwise, and she had bowed to this decision, thus 
 forfeiting her just rights. Eor this she could not be punished, 
 she averred. 
 
 The attempted murder she denied absolutely. It was an 
 absurd story founded on the indiscretion of an insane servant, 
 whom she had dismissed from her service. 
 
 Eor the rest, she referred her accusers and her judges to the 
 first, and only competent witness on her side, viz. his Highness 
 Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Wirtemberg. 
 
 Such in few words are the contents of the massive dossier of 
 her trial, and her dignified answers. 
 
 The details these gentlemen of the law permitted themselves 
 to prepare are numerous, and unfit for publication to-day. 
 Her alleged misconduct (she being mistress, not wife — 
 the term seems strangely applied !) is accompanied with a 
 dozen disgusting stories, which it must be said were entirely 
 fabricated for the trial; and, as she herself pointed out, the 
 chief and only competent witness on her side, was the man 
 she had loved and lived with for over twenty years, — who, 
 however, was the very person to permit the commencement of 
 this trial, and" must have read and approved the accusations 
 in all their revolting details ! He also, and he alone, could 
 prove that the woman had governed, purloined, etcetera, with 
 his sanction. He alone could say whether he had made free 
 gifts to his beloved mistress of lands, jewels, and monies; or 
 whether she had appropriated them without his consent. 
 
 Concerning the witchcraft charge it is difficult to exculpate 
 the Gravenitz, seeing she herself refused to deny her magic 
 practices, and there is little doubt that she possessed that 
 magnetic or hypnotic power, the use whereof our ancestors 
 called witchcraft. It is curious to speculate how much of this 
 power, in wonderfully subtle and varied forms, exists in every 
 human being of whom we say : ' They have great personal 
 charm.' 
 
 The village notary carried the Gravenitz's answers to Stutt- 
 gart, and for many weeks the unhappy woman heard no more 
 of her trial. She .waited in a fever of impatience, but she 
 dared notJ make" any endeavour to obtain news for fear the 
 
THE DOWNFALL 341 
 
 governor should see fit once more to restrict her little 
 liberty. 
 
 Her pride was not broken ; it was terribly sentient, quivering 
 with painful defeat and humiliation. Worse than all was the 
 silence she was forced to maintain. She spoke with Maria, 
 but the good, tender-hearted peasant, though she sympathised 
 passionately and with that noble loyalty of which such women 
 are capable, yet she could not comprehend or respond to the 
 workings of her mistress's brain, could not offer consolation 
 to the cultured mind. 
 
 In truth, it was a terrible downfall, a disaster ; this gorgeous 
 life, this towering success, which of a sudden had been broken, 
 flung down into the very depths of mortal abasement. 
 
 The summer days passed. Autumn came, and still no news 
 arrived from Stuttgart, nor did the notary return to give her 
 information. Suspense deepened to melancholy, and, as the 
 days dragged by, melancholy was supplanted by despair. ' I 
 shall die in Hohen-Urach,' she said to Maria. 
 
 At length towards the beginning of November the notary 
 arrived. 
 
 'Your trial will take place sood. Excellency,' he said. 'It 
 has been retarded by his Highness's illness ; that being over, 
 the matter will proceed.' 
 
 The man rubbed his hands in self-satisfaction. He was 
 persuaded that the authorities in Stuttgart had chosen him 
 for his qualities of mind and knowledge of law, and he had 
 become a very important personage in his own estimation and 
 in that of his cronies in the village. 
 
 ' His Highness's illness, Herr Markle ? I pray you tell me 
 what has ailed the Duke ? ' Her voice shook a little, but the 
 man had spoken so airily that she could not believe the Duke's 
 illness had been serious. 
 
 ' Ah, Excellency ! you were unaware of the sad circum- 
 stances ? Yes, truly, a long and painful malady ; lung trouble 
 it was.' 
 
 ' It is over then ? quite passed ? I rejoice,' she returned. 
 
 ' Yes, Excellency ; it ended a week ago. His Highness died 
 in his sleep.' 
 
 She looked at him for a full moment as one deaf, who, 
 
342 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 knowing some one has spoken some word, hears nofe and 
 wonders pitifully. The notary had turned away and busied 
 himself with writings and documents on the table. Already 
 his thoughts were rehearsing a wonderful oration he would 
 speak, a masterpiece of pleading. What a great man he was, 
 to be sure ! Of course, he would move to Stuttgart. Hia 
 ambition soared — surely a very great lawyer. 
 
 A rustle of silken garments in the room behind him, and 
 two hands fell on his shoulders : hands of iron they seemed. 
 
 ' Say that again ; you do not know what you have said.' It 
 was a strange voice which spoke : a voice so hoarse, so toneless, 
 that the fat little man trembled, recalling in a flash the stories 
 of witches' transformation into ravening wolves or terrible 
 demons. He wriggled round. The Gravenitz stood over him, 
 her hands upon his shoulders, her eyes like two flames 
 scanning his face. 
 
 ' Say what, Excellency ? I do not know ' The trivial 
 
 fact of the Duke's death and of this woman's agony had been 
 lost for him in his dream of his own judicial splendour. 
 
 ' What did you say of his Highness ? Tell me, or I will kill 
 you,' she returned in the same fearful voice, 
 
 * I said what all the world knows : that the Duke Eberhard 
 Ludwig died from lung trouble, on the 31st of October — a 
 week ago/ — he answered angrily, struggling to remove those 
 gripping hands from his shoulders. 
 
 * It is a lie ! Another lie to torture me. Go, you lying, 
 cruel devil — the Duke shall punish you.' 
 
 She was mad for the moment ; sense, dignity, all was swept 
 away in her terrified fury. She pushed the man from the 
 room, her murderous hands gripping and bruising his shoulders 
 with demoniacal force. 
 
 * Go, liar ! ' she cried, as she thrust the little man through 
 the door. 
 
 She stood silent and motionless. ' He said that all the world 
 knew,' she whispered hoarsely. 
 
 She flung herself face downwards on the stone floor of the 
 prison-room, moaning and biting her hands like one possessed 
 of a devil. 
 
THE DOWNFALL 343 
 
 Duke Karl Alexander, successor to Eberhard Ludwig, was 
 a gallant gentleman, hero of a hundred battles. He was 
 received in Wirtemberg with popular enthusiasm, in spite of 
 the damning fact that he was a Eoman Catholic. He re- 
 assured his people by swearing to uphold the Evangelical 
 Church. This being so, he began his reign with the entire 
 approbation of the Wirtembergers, and in the press of business 
 and rejoicings the trial of the Gravenitz seemed forgotten. 
 Still, the mass of carefully prepared accusations remained, and 
 the gentlemen of the law but bided their time. 
 
 Meanwhile the chorus of approval in Stuttgart wavered ; 
 for if Eberhard Ludwig had countenanced the Land-despoiler, 
 Karl Alexander was also ruled by a favourite, into whose 
 hands he confided the administration of the Dukedom. This 
 favourite was Joseph Suss Oppenheimer, a Erankfort Jew. 
 To the horror of officialdom. Suss was made Minister of 
 Einance, and, in point of fact, chief adviser to the new 
 Duke. 
 
 Unheard of that a Jew should be admitted into the govern- 
 ment ! That one of the despised race should appear at court ; 
 not only appear,- but rule, direct all things, be the familiar 
 friend of a noble Duke ! 
 
 If money had been levied by the Gravenitz, far heavier 
 taxes were imposed by Suss Oppenheimer. If the court at 
 Ludwigsburg had been brilliant and lavish in the Land- 
 despoiler's day, it was the scene of an unending series of 
 costly festivities under the new regime. And if the late 
 Duke's mistress had been ruinous to the country's finance, 
 the new Duke maintained half a dozen such ladies in the 
 greatest splendour. Siiss was accused of arranging the Duke's 
 relations with these ladies, and of sharing their favours with 
 his unsuspecting patron. It is certain that the Jew led a 
 dissolute life, and that his amours' were numerous. 
 
 The Wirtembergers were in despair, and murmured more 
 ominously than ever ; but they were powerless. Sliss was 
 master of the situation, exactly as the Gravenitz had been 
 before. 
 
 Of all this the prisoner at Hohen-Urach knew nothing. 
 She succeeded in persuading the governor to forward a letter 
 
344 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 from her to her brother, Eriedrich Gravenitz, in which she 
 implored him to visit her ; but she received no answer from 
 that estimable personage. In point of fact, he was in an 
 awkward predicament himself. True, he had sided against 
 his sister openly, but the Duke, not relishing a too glaring 
 reminder of the past, had commanded him to retire to 
 Welzheim. At Eberhard Ludwig's death Gravenitz waited 
 upon Karl Alexander, who, honest gentleman, disapproved 
 of a brother showing open hostility and ingratitude to a 
 sister, and begged the petitioner to return to his country- 
 seat. 
 
 Now Gravenitz, to his horror, found that he was implicated 
 in his sister's misdemeanours. Had he not shared in the 
 benefits of her peculations ? In vain he protested, denounc- 
 ing his sister and benefactress in pompous self-righteous 
 words and writings. But the legal authorities paid no heed, 
 and intimated briefly that Welzheim did not belong to him, 
 although he held it in his possession ; nine points of the law 
 certainly, but not conferring ownership. He was directed to 
 relinquish Welzheim to the new Duke's representatives. 
 This he declined with many high-flown expressions, which, 
 however, the legal gentlemen considered beside the point at 
 issue ; and Count Eriedrich Gravenitz was lodged in his own 
 palace in Stuttgart, under arrest and well guarded. He was 
 tried for peculation, but the prosecution ceased when Friedrich 
 Gravenitz consented to deliver up Welzheim to his Highness 
 the Duke, and to pay a fine of fifty-six thousand gulden. 
 He was liberated and permitted to leave the country, which 
 he did, repairing to Vienna where he appealed to the imperial 
 tribunal for justice. 
 
 When he received his sister's letter he was under arrest, 
 and later his own affairs absorbed him. So the Gravenitz's 
 appeal remained unanswered. The appointed day came for 
 her trial, and the village notary spoke his dreamed-of oration. 
 The tribunal listened, or appeared to listen, but the sentence 
 was a foregone conclusion. Wilhelmine von Gravenitz, 
 Countess of Wiirben, late Landhofmeisterin of Wirtemberg, 
 was condemned to death. 
 
THE DOWNFALL 345 
 
 Yet it was written in her book of Destiny, that Vienna 
 should interfere in all the important events of her life. The 
 Emperor intimated that, as Countess of the Empire, she could 
 not be put to death without his consent, and this he withheld. 
 Siiss Oppenheimer,^ Wirtemberg's Minister of Finance, had 
 
 ^ Joseph Siiss Oppenheimer was the son of Michaele, a famous Jewish 
 beauty, daughter of Rabbi Salomon of Frankfort, a musician of talent. 
 Michaele was not only possessed of wonderful beauty, but God had blessed 
 her with a glorious voice. She married Rabbi Isaschar Slisskind Oppen- 
 heimer, also a singer and musician, and together the couple wandered from 
 city to city, and from palace to castle, discoursing sweet melodies. The 
 lady's morals suffered from this vagrant life, and the Jewish community of 
 Frankfort stood aghast at her amours. Jewish women are usually remark- 
 ably virtuous, and Michaele's evil reputation was easily achieved. 
 
 There was an ugly story concerning the birth of Joseph Siiss. In brief, 
 he was reported to be a love-child ; but the dates do not tally, and it is 
 certain that Rabbi Isaschar accepted the infant as his own. From his 
 mother Joseph Siiss inherited marvellous personal beauty, and from both his 
 parents his musical gift. From the mother too, if we are to believe all the 
 tales, he received a nature of abnormal, passionate sensuality. 
 
 At an early age Siiss was sent to his relatives in Vienna, the famous bank- 
 ers Oppenheimer. Here the boy was reared in splendour and refinement, 
 and instructed in the intricacies of banking, usury — in short, in finance. 
 He repaired occasionally to his family in Frankfort, halting on the road to 
 visit an aged relation in Stuttgart, Frau Widow Hazzim, at whose house in 
 the Judengasse he made the acquaintance of Wilhelmine von Gravenitz. 
 
 Siiss matured early, and became, not a musician as he had boasted in his 
 childhood, but a very capable financier. He fell in with Duke Karl Alex- 
 ander of Wirtemberg during a sojourn at Wildbad. His Highness sought 
 a secretary and treasurer, and he was immediately captivated by the young 
 Jew's personal beauty, his fascination, his vivid intelligence, and knowledge 
 of business. The Duchess was interested, attracted, and delighted in Siiss's 
 music and the haunting charm of those ancient Hebrew melodies which his 
 'father. Rabbi Isaschar, had taught him. Siiss was taken into his High- 
 ness's service, and when Karl Alexander succeeded his cousin Eberhard 
 Ludwig in the Dukedom of Wirtemberg, the Jew accompanied his patron to 
 Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart. He was made Minister of Finance and became, 
 in reality, ruler of the court, for the Duke gave over everything to his trusted 
 favourite. The treasury was exhausted 'by the Gravenitz's magnificence, 
 and Siiss set to work to replenish the empty chests. 
 
 It would be too long to recount here the endless money-raising schemes 
 which were put in motion by Siiss ; suffice it to say, that never had 
 Wirtemberg been so squeezed even in the time of Eberhard Ludwig. But 
 if Siiss procured vast sums, he spent them as readily. The festivities at 
 Ludwigsburg were more opulently splendid and more numerous than ever, 
 and the Duke had six mistresses and a favourite to enrich instead of one 
 
346 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 appealed on her behalf. The sentence was commuted to 
 perpetual imprisonment and forfeiture of all lands, monies, 
 
 Land-despoiler ! Stiss lived like a prince— and a very lavish prince at that — 
 and the money, of course, came from the Duke's treasury. Now Michaele's 
 heritage became noticeable ; if the Duke had six mistresses Siiss had sixty. 
 No woman could resist him ; they said he was so gloriously handsome, so 
 witty, so ' differing from the rest of mankind,' — not an original statement 
 from amorous dames ! 
 
 Thus Siiss inherited his mother's nature, and together with his unbridled 
 passion for love came the illimited desire for, and need of, gold. 
 
 By the first, he incurred the hatred of those men — husbands, brothers, 
 fathers of the women he took for his pleasure ; by the second, the undying 
 animosity of the oppressed taxpayers. The end came swiftly. Four years 
 of debauch and lavish expenditure, and death fell suddenly upon Karl 
 Alexander of Wirtemberg. He died at nine of the clock one evening, and 
 the next dawn saw Joseph Siiss a hunted fugitive. He was caught between 
 Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart, and immediately thrown into prison. Here he 
 languished, a prey to terrible anxiety and remorse ; his only visitants were 
 pastors of the Christian religion who tortured him with argument. ' You 
 are a Jew, but you do not even adhere to the damnable tenets of your vile 
 cult,' they said. 
 
 'I am a man and no coward, and I will not abjure the faith of my 
 fathers,' he responded. They held out spurious hopes of pardon would 
 he swear to the pure faith of the Crucified, but Siiss remained nobly 
 obdurate. Then the Church — she to whom Christ bequeathed His sweet 
 message of pardon, of tenderness, and of leniency — deserted the faithful 
 Jew, and the law of human cruelty and punishment took hold of him. He 
 was accorded no trial. His sins were as scarlet indeed; besides, he of 
 the despised race had dared to rule. The name Jew was a stigma in itself, 
 and this word the people howled round the tumbril which bore the erst- 
 while gorgeous favourite to a death of ignominy. A few women in the 
 crowd sighed and shed a tear when they saw the godlike beauty of the 
 man, broken to pathetic ruin by adversity, white-haired, vilified, aged by 
 his degradation ; but chiefly the crowd howled and reviled, and the men 
 spat in the Jew's face and covered him with a load of horse-dung and foul 
 ordure. They hung him finally after unspeakable tortures. Then his body 
 was left to rot in Stuttgart's market-place in the sight of all. A hideous 
 carrion dangling in a silver cage, which his judges had caused to be con- 
 structed as a terrible warning to those who would profit by the favour 
 of princes. 
 
 Tragic enough in itself, this story of the downfall of a superb ruler 
 and courtier, the more appalling, when we consider that it was chiefly a 
 cruel triumph of race hatred. No unbaptized Jew in German history has 
 risen to such official eminence as Joseph Siiss Oppenheimer, and there is 
 little doubt that, had he not been of the race of Israel, even though he had 
 committed the same crimes, he would not have suffered this fearsome 
 death. 
 
THE DOWNFALL 347 
 
 and jewels. This information was imparted to her by the 
 prison governor. She received it calmly, merely remarking,: 
 ' Death would have been much shorter.' She had sunk into 
 an apathy since the news of his Highness's decease. 
 
 The winter passed without event. Spring found the 
 Gravenitz grown white-haired, and she had fallen into the 
 habit of patient, indifferent acquiescence in all things. Maria 
 wished her to walk upon the ramparts for an hour's fresh air ? 
 Very well, she would go. 
 
 * Your Excellency must eat, must sleep, must rest' 
 
 'Certainly; it does not matter. I will do as you say, 
 Maria.' 
 
 It was as though she gave her body into the peasant 
 woman's command ; her soul was elsewhere, in that mysterious 
 land into which her eyes seemed to be for ever gazing with 
 painful, straining effort, seeking^seeking and imploring. 
 
 Towards the end of May, an official document was brought 
 to the governor of Hohen-Urach. It contained the pardon of 
 Wilhelmine von Gravenitz, provided she undertook to leave 
 Wirtemberg for ever, and to abandon any future claims upon 
 land or property of all sorts in the Dukedom. The governor 
 was directed to accompany the lady to the frontier, with an 
 escort of two hundred horse. Further, he was to place in 
 her hand, at the moment of her passing out of Wirtemberg 
 territory, a sum of a hundred thousand gulden, *in fair 
 compensation for any loss incurred,' it was set forth in the 
 pardon. With this surprising document was a sealed letter 
 addressed to the Gravenitz, which was to be delivered 
 immediately. 
 
 The governor repaired to the prisoner's apartment, but found 
 it deserted. The Gravenitz was taking the air upon the 
 ramparts. He found her leaning over the stone parapet, 
 gazing, as usual, into the distance with those terrible, haunted, 
 unseeing eyes. In vain the valley was radiant with Spring's 
 tender treasury ; she gazed unseeing at the wealth of blossom, 
 the feathery green of the beech-trees, and at the rounded hills 
 so rich in sombre firs enhancing the wondrous youth of the 
 beech leaves ; at the little hill-town, red-roofed and sheltered, 
 
348 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 clustering round tlie old castle. All this peaceful beauty of 
 Nature's renascence was nothing to her. As she had said, 
 death would have been much shorter ; this long-drawn agony, 
 this numb pain, was death in life. 
 
 ' I have the happiness to announce to your Excellency that 
 his Highness the Duke has granted you pardon. When it 
 suits you to travel, I am to accompany you to the frontier 
 under escort,' the governor said coldly. 
 
 She turned her eyes upon him, but she gave no sign of 
 comprehension ; once only she started and winced, when he 
 said his Highness the Duke, otherwise she remained unmoved 
 and unresponding as one deaf. He waited a moment for her 
 to speak, then slowly repeated his announcement. 
 
 ' Where am I to go to ? ' she said at last in a low, uncertain 
 voice. ~ 
 
 'Where it pleases your Excellency. Anywhere out of 
 Wirtemberg.' 
 
 She turned to Maria who stood behind her. ' Have I a house 
 anywhere ? I have forgotten,' she said. 
 
 'Surely, surely, Excellency; your castle at Schaffhausen, 
 replied the peasant woman. 
 
 'Very well; we will start to-morrow for Schaffhausen,' the 
 Gravenitz answered in her new, broken, docile voice. 
 
 ' There is a letter for you, Madame,' the governor told her. 
 
 'A letter? Who should write to me? The dead do not 
 write.' 
 
 ' Madame ! Madame ! read it ; there may be good news/ 
 cried Maria. 
 
 ' Good news ? Good news for me ? There can be none. Do 
 you not know that there can be none ? ' she said tonelessly. 
 
 Even the governor's eyes were wet as he handed her the 
 letter. She broke the seal listlessly. 
 
 ' I send you the best terms I can make for you, in re- 
 membrance of the Judengasse of Stuttgart, and in gratitude 
 for your kindness to my race. — Joseph Suss Oppenheimee.' 
 
 Fastened in one corner of this short missive glittered a 
 little jewel. The ^ Gravenitz looked long at it, not compre- 
 hending. Then a scene of her past came back to her — she was 
 
THE DOWNFALL 849 
 
 in a darkened room, whicli smelt of strange, sweet essences, 
 and a Jewish boy sang a Hebrew love-song. 
 
 Joseph Siiss Oppenheimer, the Jew, had proved himself, 
 in this instance, to be truly what Eberhard Ludwig had called 
 him in pleasantry many years ago — 'un preux chevalier.' 
 One who could render homage and service to a fallen 
 favourite. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 EEST 
 
 * Memories that make the heart a tomb.* 
 
 There is solace to the mourner in the sound of rushing waters ; 
 most of all can the stricken soul find a short ohlivion in the 
 ceaseless chant of the ocean's mighty surging ; and by the 
 tumult of a great river human unrest is soothed ineffably. 
 
 At Schaffhausen the Ehine falls in giant cascades, roaring 
 and dashing against those rocks which, legend says, Wotan 
 flung into the river in his mighty rage against a poor husband- 
 man who had drowned himself and his lowly wife because her 
 mortal beauty had excited the desire of the amorous wanderer. 
 
 White, whirling foam, and above a thin, glistening, veil-like 
 mist made of the myriad drops flung up from the water's 
 impact ; but here too the eternal poet, Legend, has wrought 
 a delicate phantasy : this mist he calls the breath from the lips 
 of the Rhine-maidens who sing for ever beneath the foam. 
 
 An enchanted place this Schaffhausen, guarded by the great 
 white Alps whose pure crests rise in awful majesty to high 
 Heaven. And here it was that the Gravenitz dwelt after she left 
 Wirtemberg, and here Time the consoler healed her bruised 
 heart and her crushed pride. She dwelt in the small castle 
 which Zollern had given her and where her marriage with 
 Wiirben had been solemnised. Her soul rested from pain, 
 but there were torturing ghosts of the past around her: 
 Eberhard Ludwig, Madame de Ruth, Zollern, her unkind 
 brother, even the fraudulent attorney Schiitz, and the ridiculous 
 figure of her name-husband, Nepomuk Wurben. Yes, all her 
 life's denizens had vanished. Death or absence had swallowed 
 them ; only she, the central figure, remained. 
 
 She was memory rhaunted, who herself was but a memory. 
 
 Her great healthf ulness endured, but sometimes she suffered 
 
 350 
 
REST 351 
 
 from strange swoons. *It is from the heart/ said the 
 apothecary whom Maria called in. 
 
 'God knows — heart affliction!' said the Gravenitz bitterly, 
 when they told her of this verdict. 
 
 Years passed, and still she lingered at Schaffhan sen, though 
 she often promised herself to journey to Berlin armed with 
 that ' Letter of Royal Protection ' which Zollern had procured 
 for her from Prussia's first King Friedrich l. But she shrank 
 from bringing her cause before Friedrich Wilhelm i., the 
 blustering monarch who had played so unexpected a role in 
 her life. She accounted him as the destroyer of her happiness, 
 for she believed that it was he alone who had influenced 
 Eberhard Ludwig against her, and had induced him to banish 
 her. Woman-like, she threw the blame of her lover's action 
 entirely upon the adviser. 
 
 She hankered after her beautiful Freudenthal, and she 
 dreamed of returning thither. Deeming herself forgotten, she 
 believed she would be safe in Wirtemberg. Also the fierce 
 torrent of the people's rage had been diverted to another 
 channel, their hatred sated with their vengeance on another 
 favourite. Siiss Oppenheimer, who had saved her from im- 
 prisonment, had paid the penalty of his own crimes ; in his 
 expiation he had borne the brunt, and, for the time, appeased 
 the people's wrath against favouritism. 
 
 Karl Alexander of Wirtemberg was dead, and his son, a child 
 of some twelve years, was Duke of Wirtemberg. He resided 
 in Stuttgart with his mother, a princess of the House of Thurn 
 and Taxis. 
 
 Ludwigsburg was deserted, the palace closed ; the busy crowd 
 of merchants, clothiers, perruquiers, dressmakers, which had 
 flocked to the new centre of gaiety, had vanished. The 
 Gravenitz had heard that Ludwigsburg was like a city of the 
 dead, with grass-grown streets and deserted houses. Surely she, 
 who belonged to that forgotten past, was forgotten also ? She 
 longed to return and once more to view the scenes of her dead 
 glory. But the years passed, and she lingered in Switzerland. 
 
 In 1740 she heard of the death of Friedrich Wilhelm i. of 
 Prussia, and of the accession of his much-tried son — that 
 Friedrich whom the world was justly to call Great. 
 
352 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 A fresli hope sprang up in tlie Gravenitz's heart. This young 
 man, so noble, so just, so cultured, would he not give her 
 justice ? She would journey to Berlin and present the Letter 
 of Royal Protection ; he would recognise her claims, and induce 
 the Wirtemberg government to give her back her Freudenthal. 
 
 The headman of the canton of Schaffhausen supplied her 
 with the necessary travelling papers. * A lady of quality and 
 her serving-maid journeying to Berlin on court business,' it 
 was certified therein ; no mention of the names of Gravenitz or 
 "Wtirben, which might have awakened dangerous memories. 
 
 Once more her way lay through the spring-radiant land. 
 Fate had caused her to wait for the blossom, it was her destiny 
 always to see Wirtemberg clothed in the fairest raiment. She 
 journeyed through the smiling valleys, she passed beside the 
 peaceful ISTeckar river. Her way led her near to Rottenburg, 
 and she turned from her road to visit the Neuhaus. Here 
 she found ruin. Madame de Ruth had bequeathed her property 
 to Zollern, and while he lived the place had been tended with 
 pious care ; but he too was dead, and the Neuhaus had passed 
 to an heir-at-law who knew not, and if he had known, would 
 not have comprehended, the loving memory which caused the 
 dilapidated mansion to be treasured. It is always so ; there is 
 no sadder thing than the melancholy of a placie, once sacred 
 and beloved, which has fallen into the chill hands of the 
 indifference of another generation. 
 
 The Neuhaus was turned farm : the upper rooms were used 
 as hay-lofts, and in that long, panelled living-room, which 
 had seen Y^^ilhelmine von Gravenitz's strange marriage, a 
 peasant woman cooked, scolding her brood of children. She 
 stared at the Gravenitz. 
 
 ' Oh yes ! this is my husband's farm. What do you want 
 with me ? See the house ? There is not much to see/ she said 
 suspiciously. A gulden changed her tone. 
 
 ' Certainly ; look if you like,' she said, and followed the sad 
 visitant from room to room, hands on hips, and shrill voice 
 explaining how the rats were so bad in the house that she 
 and her husband would have to leave next month. 
 
 ' Is there a graye here ? a grave surrounded by a stone 
 wall ? No ? But it was consecrated ground, it cannot have 
 
REST 353 
 
 been destroyed ? ' The Gravenitz spoke quietly, but she could 
 have wept aloud. 
 
 Yes, the woman said, there was a bit of walled-off land, 
 but it did not belong to them. There was a gate, and they had 
 not the key. Perhaps there was a grave there ; the grass grew 
 so high you could not tell. She led her visitor through the 
 neglected garden which Spring, the glorious gardener, had 
 yet made fair with blossom and the budding lilac. The 
 Gravenitz peered through the bars of the graveyard gate. 
 Ah, thank God ! who sends Spring to garnish the graves of 
 the forgotten dead ! The tombs were hidden by a fair coronal 
 of waving grasses, and the redthorns above made a baldaquin 
 more beautiful than the work of man's hand. 
 
 * Forgotten, yet so peaceful,' she murmured as she turned 
 away. 
 
 * Did you speak, lady ? ' said the peasant woman ; but the 
 Gravenitz shook her head. 
 
 ' Only to myself ; only to myself always now,' she answered. 
 
 At Tubingen no one paid heed to the traveller, but she did 
 not venture up to the castle. She might have dared it, for 
 none would have remembered her, or recognised in the tall, 
 white-haired woman the beautiful young courtesan who had 
 held mock court in the ancient university castle. She learned 
 that no Duke had resided there for many years, it was entirely 
 given up to the students and their grave professors. 
 
 ' But the state-rooms ? I heard that there were fine apart- 
 ments in the castle, where princes and their courts held high 
 revel ? ' she queried of the innkeeper. 
 
 * Eh ! all those are dismantled now, Madame,' returned the 
 man. Dismantled — the word rang in her ears. Yes ; the 
 very scenes of her glorious past were changed. 
 
 Through the shadowy Tubingen forest she journeyed on- 
 wards. She commanded her driver to turn aside before Stutt- 
 gart, and thus she passed along by-roads to Ludwigsburg. 
 
 The sun was still high in the heavens when she entered the 
 well-remembered avenue of shady chestnut-trees. Here too 
 Spring had been busy, crowning the trees with bloom. A 
 regal decoration for her home-coming, she thought. 
 
 At the stately town-gate her coach halted, and for the first 
 
 z 
 
354 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 time in her life she paid toll upon entering Ludwigsburg. 
 Her eyes sought the monogram sculptured on the stone gate- 
 pillars : 'E. L.' entwined in graceful curves on a rounded 
 shield upheld by playful amorini. How well she remembered 
 when Frisoni had brought her the drawingjs for this device. 
 Would her Excellency wish her chiffre to appear in the 
 design ? the Italian had asked, and she had rejected the 
 proposal, she hardly knew why. 
 
 Her coach lumbered down the Ludwigsburg street. It was 
 in a deplorable condition, and the heavy carriage jolted and 
 swung from side to side. The houses which bordered one 
 side of the street were closed and shuttered, and their blank 
 windows seemed like sightless yet imploring eyes gazing 
 towards the deserted palace gardens. 
 
 The driver halted. She heard him shouting to one of the 
 rare passers-by in this dead city, ' Where is the inn ? ' She 
 made a movement forward and would have called through 
 the window, ' The inn is further down the street,' but she 
 checked herself, remembering that she must betray no know- 
 ledge of the town she had created. 
 
 It was a daring thing, this visit to Wirtemberg. Who 
 could tell if some one might not recognise her and set a howl- 
 ing mob upon her ? The law would not interfere with her ; 
 she had been pardoned, and was merely passing through the 
 country on her journey to Berlin, but some remnant of hatred 
 might linger in the peasants' memory. 
 
 When she reached the inn the innkeeper looked hard at his 
 guest. Did he recognise her ? she wondered. 
 
 ' Is this Ludwigsburg ? ' she asked, feigning ignorance. 
 
 ' Yes, lady. Whom have I the honour of serving ? ' 
 
 She gave some name at random, adding : ' I am travelling 
 from Austria and Switzerland home to Berlin.' Then she 
 inquired concerning the palace. Could a stranger visit the 
 gardens ? Did the reigning prince reside in that beautiful 
 palace ? and so on, questioning like an inquisitive traveller. 
 
 If she wished she could see the whole place, she was told. 
 The new'' gatekeeper was a very friendly fellow; he would let 
 her into the gardens if she gave him a trifle to purchase a 
 drink of wine. -She ordered a meal and pretended to eat. 
 
BEST S55 
 
 though the food choked her, but she dared not show undue 
 eagerness to visit the palace. At length the dreary subteir 
 fuges were over ; she had intimated her intention of passing 
 the night at the inn ; she had been shown the guest-chamber ; 
 she had pretended to rest, and now she was free to repair to 
 her sorry sight-seeing without incurring suspicion. 
 
 Evening fell over Ludwigsburg, yet the rounded roofs of the 
 palace were still kissed by the departing sunshine, when she 
 walked up to the gateway through which she had so often 
 driven in ceremonious state surrounded by the splendid Silver 
 Guard. A squat-figured, broad-faced Wirtemberger stood in 
 the gateway, smoking a huge carved wood pipe of rank 
 tobacco. The blue smoke rose in spirals from the pipe bowl, 
 and the man blew clouds of a browner hue, the delicate blue- 
 grey of the smoke spoiled from the admixture of human breath. 
 
 The man watched the Gravenitz's approach without offer- 
 ing greeting or comment. 
 
 ' Are you the gatekeeper ? ' she asked. 
 
 'Yes, that I am,' he grunted ungraciously. Good Heavens 1 
 how she would have had him flogged if he had spoken to her 
 thus twelve years ago ! She looked at him steadily. 
 
 ' I am a stranger, and would fain visit this famous palace/ 
 she said. 
 
 ' Have you an order from the court ? I cannot let strangers 
 enter without one,' he returned gruffly. 
 
 * No, I have no order. Will you let me see the gardens, at 
 least ? ' He shook his head and continued smoking. 
 
 ' See, I will give you something for your trouble, but I must 
 see the gardens.' She held out two golden pieces. 'Take 
 these, and let me enter,' she said imploringly. 
 
 The man's manner changed. This must be some great lady 
 if she could pay him in gold when he would have let her in for 
 a few groschen. Well, these travellers often had strange fancies ; 
 and if it pleased her to pay so much for so small a thing ! — 
 He took the money and moved aside. 
 
 ' Go in, go in, lady ! Shall I come round with you ? I have 
 heard tell all about the old days here : I can show you where 
 Duke Eberhard Ludwig lived, and where the Duke Karl died. 
 I will go fetch the castle keys.' She shuddered. 
 
856 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 ' No ! no ! I do not wish to see ; I will only walk in the 
 garden. Do not disturb yourself/ she said hastily, and passed 
 on. The gatekeeper followed her a few steps : ' You can see 
 the gardens of La Favorite, if you wish ; you need only walk 
 straight from the north terraces and you will come to La 
 Favorite,' he called after her. How strange it was to be thus 
 directed by a newcomer, told the way, shown what she had 
 planned and devised yard by yard. She nodded to the man. 
 ' I thank you, I shall find my way,' she answered. 
 
 And now she was free to wander in the past, free to suffer 
 the exquisite pain of memory. She walked slowly on. How 
 the trees had grown ! And the little lilacs she had planted — 
 they were tall bushes now. The paths were grass-grown, 
 the water in the basin of the fountain on the south side was 
 covered with weeds and thick green slime, the large stone 
 vases which stood round the basin were moss-covered. The 
 lichen hid the medallions on the vases, the medallions 
 which bore her sculptured portrait. There were the clumps 
 of rose peonies she had planted — in bud too — she would never 
 see them flower again. On, through the gardens to the 
 courtyard where grass grew between the paving-stones. The 
 palace windows were closed and shuttered. No sound broke 
 the stillness of this deserted dwelling-place. The thought 
 came to her that only herself, a ghost of past glories, and 
 perhaps the sinister spectre of the White Lady, moved about 
 the dead palace. She passed on. The door of the main 
 entrance on the ground floor of the Corps de Logis stood ajar. 
 Strange that it should be so in this shut house. She entered ; 
 no, it could not matter even if the doors had stood wide open, 
 for the hall was entirely empty — not a chair or table for a thief 
 to drag away ! And the well-remembered staircase, leading 
 to Eberhard Ludwig's apartments, was boarded up with rough 
 deal planks. 
 
 The air struck chill and tomblike in the entrance-hall, yet 
 the Gravenitz lingered. Yes ; there from the ceiling her own 
 face looked down at her in two bas-reliefs. In one the face 
 was smiling with half -open, voluptuous lips, and the eyes, a 
 little drooping, told of some delicious thrill of passion. 
 Opposite this was the figure of Time, winged and frowning, 
 
REST 357 
 
 with huge scythe-blades in his mighty hands. She shuddered ; 
 those relentless blades had indeed mown down the little day, 
 of her love's triumph. What devil had prompted the Italian 
 Frisoni to illustrate this terrible truth upon the very palace 
 built to honour her ? 
 
 Across the entrance-hall she saw another bas-relief, again 
 her face, but serious this time, looking fixedly, gravely up- 
 wards — the expression of one who aspires, of one who would 
 compel Destiny. Facing this was a medallion bearing a ducal 
 crown in the centre, the scroll-work round this medallion was 
 made of giant thorns, and a peering, mocking satyr's face 
 peeped out from the thorn wreath. 
 
 Had the Italian dared to mock her thus ? And in the old 
 days she had not noted the insolent meaning underlying the 
 beautiful designs ! How she would have revenged herself upon 
 the artist ! 
 
 She turned away. After all, the man had spoken truly in 
 his sculptured allegory : Time, and Change, and Death are 
 more mighty than Love, than Joy, than Power. She mused 
 on, and unconsciously her wanderings, led by old custom's 
 memory, brought her to the vaulted arcade beside the door of 
 the east pavilion where she had dwelt. Here, too, her own 
 face met her in the bas-reliefs. Graceful designs of musical 
 instrumetits, emblems of her taste, and everywhere laughing 
 Cupids held wreathed flowers, viole d'amore, harps and lutes 
 around the mistress-musician's voluptuous face. 
 
 The carven stone held for ever the memory of Eberhard 
 Ludwig's homage in the beauteous picturing of Love, Laughter, 
 Music — all that she had wielded with such potency to charm ; 
 and she knew that the sneering artist-architect had hidden 
 everywhere the figure of Time the Avenger ; sometimes she 
 had called him the Consoler, but she knew him better now as 
 the Eternally Pitiless, waiting to reap his harvest — the flowers 
 reaped with the wheat. 
 
 Suddenly the full message came to her : ' All- things wither, 
 but the remembrance of the sinful light of love is bitter pain, 
 whereas the memory of the pure woman is sweet with children's 
 tears.' She had read the words in some book, they smote her 
 now. In an agony of weeping she leaned her head against 
 
358 A GERMAN POMPADOUR 
 
 the stone picture of Music, Love, and Laughter, and her own 
 young face. 'OGod! God! have I not atoned by pain?* 
 she moaned. 
 
 A soft evening breeze came stealing round her. Nature 
 could give no answer to her fearful questioning, but the gentle 
 Spring wind kissed her on lips and brow. She rose and took 
 her way to the terrace. Here, too, was ruinous neglect — grass- 
 grown paths, moss-covered sculptures, un tended plants. She 
 looked up at the windows of the rooms which had been 
 Eberhard Ludwig's ; they were closed and shuttered. — Dead, 
 everything was dead ! 
 
 She hurried on towards La Favorite, her Chateau Joyeux. 
 Here again was ruin, and here also her own face met her 
 sculptured everywhere — smiling, young, and indifferent to the 
 ruin. The flowering parterre was untended, but the lilacs and 
 tlie redthorn- trees made the garden fair. The long Spring 
 twilight faded, night drew near — and the Gravenitz turned 
 away. ' Farewell,' she said aloud, * the night comes ! Fare- 
 well, Spring ! ' 
 
 That night Maria could not induce her beloved mistress to 
 taste food, 'I am so weary, Maria, let me rest. I think God 
 will give me sleep,' she said, and the faithful peasant woman 
 left her. 
 
 In the morning Maria found her resting still. God had 
 given her the Great Sleep. 
 
 / A Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty 
 
 at the Edinburgh University Press 
 
 i?D- 8 9. 
 

 
 V 
 
 
 .0 '^ r^yiii^* »- 
 
 
 \^° 
 
 
 ^<> ^-^- .^ 
 
 «.^' 
 
 ^o. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^o>^ 
 
 < • 
 
 
 
 ^r ^ 
 
 iV ^^ *"•"» ^^ ^ *'^ <^^ ^ *«""» A^ 
 
 
 
 " • "^ <^ * tC^V^Rwj^o "^ V^ * Deacidified using the Bookkeept 
 
 ' - '^ ^ *^^K^^^* '<**^ *^ Neutralizing agent: Magnesium ( 
 
 ?:;^5^^^^^^$^ • \V*^^- -^^EiiiS^^o ^^^ft oY Treatment Date: -^CD 
 
 ** ^/^^ * A^*r$*" *• *^iiM^ ® c,*^ ^ ''% Treatment Date: 3£p 
 
 '•,/ ^;^* /^ ^ . •-^^^^ -({.^ ^^ "• PreservationTechni 
 
 ^ ^ O-O^^ft /nV .I.»«^ ^ A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRE! 
 
 ^ 1"^ •*_^J^(V «^ -^ C^ ^ JT^tZ* x: 111 Thomson ParH Drive 
 
 aS t '=^S^'%k* 'K^ ^ i^JI^Ul^^^ * Cranberry Township, PA 
 
 ^ i:"* «^J^^^* T^r^ .SSM^^k:!^* (724)779-2111 
 
%•'?»'>* V'».'-<^* %/-?»\G** 
 
 
 
 
 • I ^ 
 
 %6 -.\^ _ I. I » 
 
 • *■*• 
 
 
 
 • /I * 
 
 
 
 
 O N 
 
 
 
 
 
 '^bv^ 
 
 
 
 3T. AUGUSTINE P^**^^ ^^^^ •.^18'. <!? ^^ .WM^ ^ ^^ 
 
 M 
 
 s" •'IL 
 
 ^ 
 
 .. ^° ffdk^