"I do not think that will be very difficult. I will see what can be
done. But I hope that if I am successful you will accompany your
mother," I added courteously, as I lit a cigarette.
"It is really most kind of you," the girl declared, springing up with
delight, for the mere thought of going to Court seemed to give her
intense pleasure. Yet all women, young and old, are alike in that
respect. The struggle to set foot near the throne is, as you yourself
have seen, always an unseemly one, and, alas! the cause of many
heart-burnings.
When I looked in at Tresternitz's room in the Palace next morning, I
scribbled down the name of mother and daughter for cards.
"Who are they?" grunted the old marshal, removing a big cigar from his
puffy lips.
"People I know--they're all right, and the girl is very good-looking."
"Good. We can do with a little beauty here nowadays. We've had an
infernally ugly lot at the balls lately," declared the man, who was the
greatest gossip at Court, and who thereupon commenced to tell me a
scandalous story regarding one of the ladies-in-waiting to the Kaiserin
who had disappeared from the New Palace, and was believed to be living
in Scotland.
"The Emperor is furious," he added. "But he doesn't know the real truth,
and never will, I expect."
A week later the Crown-Prince and Princess gave a grand ball at the
Marmor Palace at Potsdam, and the Emperor himself attended.
Frau Breitenbach, gorgeously attired, made her bow before the
All-Highest, and her daughter did the same.
That night I saw that the Kaiser was in no good mood. He seldom was at
the Court functions. Indeed, half an hour before his arrival the
Crown-Prince had told me, in confidence, of his father's annoyance at
the failure of some diplomatic negotiations with Britain.
The Emperor, in his brilliant uniform, with the Order of the Black
Eagle, of which he was _chef-souverain_, and the diamond stars of many
foreign Orders, presented a truly Imperial figure, his shrewd,
unrelenting gaze everywhere, his upturned moustache accentuated, his
voice unusually sharp and commanding.
I spoke with Elise, and afterwards, when I danced with her I saw how
impressed she was by the glitter and glamour of the Potsdam Court
circle, and by the fact that she was in the presence of the All-Highest
One, without whose gracious nod nothing could hope to prosper in the
Fatherland, and without whose approval no public work could be
undertaken in Berlin. Those statesmen, admirals and generals present
might plan, but he alone willed. His approval or his frown was as a
decree of Providence, and his autocratic will greater than that of his
"brother," Nicholas of Russia.
I remember how, one day in the Militaer-Kabinett, an old buffer at Court
whom we called "Hans" Hohenlohe--he was one of the hundred and sixty odd
members of the aristocratic family of Hohenlohe which swarm the
Fatherland, mostly penurious, by-the-way, salary-grabbers, all elbowing
each other to secure the Kaiser's favour--made a very true remark which
has ever remained in my memory. It was very soon after Herr von Libenau,
the Imperial Master of Ceremony, had been arrested owing to a scandal at
Court, though perfectly innocent. My friend "Hans" Hohenlohe said in a
low, confidential whisper at a shooting party, after the French
Ambassador had wished us a merry _bon jour_ and passed out:
"My dear friend Heltzendorff, you, like myself, know that war is
inevitable. It must come soon! The reason is to be found in the madness
of the Emperor, which has spread among our military party and among the
people, till most of them are no more sane than himself. Hypnotized by
good fortune, we have become demented with an overweening vanity and a
philosophy which must end in our undoing. The Emperor's incessant
drum-beating, sabre-rattling, and blasphemous appeals to the Almighty
have brought our German nation to that state which, since the world
began, has ever gone before destruction."
No truer words were ever spoken of modern Germany.
They recurred to me as, while waltzing with the pretty daughter of the
Dortmund parvenu, I noticed the Emperor standing aside, chatting with
old Von Zeppelin, who every now and then patted his silvery hair, a
habit of his when in conversation. With the pair stood Ernst Auguste,
the young Duke of Brunswick, who in the following year married the
Emperor's daughter, the rather petulant and go-ahead Victoria Louise.
The Prince, who wore the uniform of the Prussian Guard, was laughing
heartily over some remark of old Zeppelin's as, with my partner, I
passed quite close to them.
The dainty Elise was, I found, quite an entertaining little person. Old
Tresternitz had already whispered his opinion of her.
"Undoubtedly the prettiest girl at Court," he had declared, with a
twinkle in his grey eyes.
From words the pretty Elise let drop that night as she hung upon my arm
I wondered whether she was really as ingenuous as she pretended. And yet
Frau Breitenbach was one of dozens of others who strove to enter the
Court circle, flapping their wings vainly to try and cross the wide gulf
which separated the "high life" in Berlin from "Court life."
The rooms were stifling, therefore I took my pretty dancing partner
along a corridor and through several deserted apartments into the east
wing of the Palace, showing her some of the Crown-Princess's private
rooms, until at length we stepped through a French window on to the long
terrace before the lake, the Heilige-See.
There we were alone. The white moon was reflected upon the waters, and
after the heat of the ball-room the balmy air was delightful.
Against the marble balustrade beside the water I stood chatting with
her. All was silent save for the tramp of soldiers passing near, for the
guard was at that hour changing. As became a courtier, I chaffed and
laughed with her, my intention being to learn more concerning her.
But she was, I found, an extremely discreet and clever little person, a
fact which further increased the mystery.
One night about two months later I had an appointment with Max Reinhardt
at the Deutsches Theater, in Berlin, to arrange a Royal visit there, and
after the performance I went back to the Palace, prior to retiring to my
rooms in the Krausenstrasse. The guards saluted as I crossed the dark
courtyard, and having passed through the corridors to the private
apartments I entered with my key the Crown-Prince's locked study.
To my surprise, I found "Willie" seated there with the Emperor in
earnest discussion.
With apology, I bowed instantly and withdrew, whereupon the Kaiser
exclaimed:
"Come in, Heltzendorff. I want you."
Then he cast a quick, mysterious glance at the young man, who had thrown
himself in lazy attitude into a long cane lounge chair. It was as though
His Majesty was hesitating to speak with me, or asking his son's
permission to do so.
"Tell me, Heltzendorff," exclaimed His Majesty suddenly, "do you know
this person?" and he placed before my astonished gaze a very artistic
cabinet photograph of the pretty Elise.
"Yes," I answered frankly, quite taken aback. "It is Fraeulein
Breitenbach."
"And what do you know of her?" inquired His Majesty sharply. "You
introduced her and her mother to Court, I believe."
I saw that the Emperor had discovered something which annoyed him. What
could it be?
At once I was compelled to admit that I had set down their names for
invitation, and, further, I explained all that I knew about them.
"You are certain you know nothing more?" asked the Emperor, his brows
contracted and his eyes fixed steadily upon mine. "Understand that no
blame attaches to you."