Meinicken, who taught our lady the spinette, one day, in a passion,
seized the fingers of our lady and struck them against the
instrument; without remembering the presence of her governess, she
took his hand and retaliated so strongly that the strings broke. The
governess heard with delight the complaints of the old man. She
prepared two rods; she used them both, and, not satisfied with that,
she turned the thick end of one, and struck our lady on the thigh,
the mark of which she bears to the present day. More than two months
elapsed before she recovered from the blow; she could not dance, nor
could she walk comfortably for weeks after. This governess did her so
much injury that at last our lady was obliged to complain to her
betrothed, who had a quarrel with the governess at the wedding of M.
Sophia, and went straight to the King to accuse her; she was at once
dismissed, and the four children, the eldest of which was our lady,
went with the princess[14] to Nikoping, to pass the winter there,
until the king could get another governess. The King, who had a good
opinion of the conduct of our lady, who at this time was thirteen
years and four months old, wrote to her and ordered her to take care
of her sisters. Our lady considered herself half a governess, so she
took care not to set them a bad example. As to study, she gave no
thought to it at this time; she occupied herself in drawing and
arithmetic, of which she was very fond, and the princess, who was
seventeen years of age, delighted in her company. Thus this winter
passed very agreeably for her.
[14] Namely, Magdalena Sybilla of Saxony, then newly married
(October 5, 1634) to Prince Christian, the eldest son and elected
successor of Christian IV. M. Sophia's wedding to Chr. Pentz was
celebrated on the 10th of the same month.
At the approach of the Diet, which sat eight days after Pentecost,
the children came to Copenhagen, with the prince and princess, and
had as governess a lady of Mecklenburg of the Blixen family, the
mother of Philip Barstorp who is still alive. After the Diet, the
king made a journey to Glueckstad in two days and a half, and our lady
accompanied him; it pleased the King that she was not weary, and that
she could bear up against inconveniences and fatigues. She afterwards
made several little journeys with the King, and she had the good
fortune occasionally to obtain the pardon of some poor criminals, and
to be in favour with the king.
Our lady having attained the age of fifteen years and about four
months, her betrothed obtained permission for their marriage, which
was celebrated (with more pomp than the subsequent weddings of her
sisters), on October 9, 1636. The winter after her marriage she was
with her husband at Moen, and as she knew that her husband's father
had not left him any wealth, she asked him concerning his debts, and
conjured him to conceal nothing from her. He said to her, 'If I tell
you the truth it will perhaps frighten you.' She declared it would
not, and that she would supply what was needful from her ornaments,
provided he would assure her that he had told her everything. He did
so, and found that she was not afraid to deprive herself of her gold,
silver, and jewels, in order to pay a sum of thirty-six thousand
rix-dollars. On April 21, 1637, she went with her husband to
Copenhagen in obedience to the order of the king, who gave him the
post of V.R.[15] He was again obliged to incur debt in purchasing a
house and in setting up a larger establishment.
[15] V.R. probably stands for Viceroy, by which term Leonora no
doubt indicates the post of Governor of Copenhagen.
There would be no end were I to tell you all the mischances that
befell her during the happy period of her marriage, and of all the
small contrarieties which she endured; but since I am assured that
this history will not be seen by anyone, and that you will not keep
it after having read it, I will tell you a few points which are
worthy of attention. Those who were envious of the good fortune of
our lady could not bear that she should lead a tranquil life, nor
that she should be held in esteem by her father and King; I may call
him thus, for the King conferred on her more honours than were due to
her from him. Her husband loved and honoured her, enacting the lover
more than the husband.
She spent her time in shooting, riding, tennis, in learning drawing
in good earnest from Charles v. Mandern, in playing the viol, the
flute, the guitar, and she enjoyed a happy life. She knew well that
jealousy is a plague, and that it injures the mind which harbours it.
Her relations tried to infuse into her head that her husband loved
elsewhere, especially M. Elizabet, and subsequently Anna, sister of
her husband, who was then in her house. M. Elizabet began by
mentioning it as a secret, premising that no one could tell her and
warn her, except her who was her sister.
As our lady at first said nothing and only smiled, M. Elis... said:
'The world says that you know it well, but that you will not appear
to do so.' She replied with a question: 'Why did she tell her a
thing as a secret, which she herself did not believe to be a secret
to her? but she would tell her a secret that perhaps she did not
know, which was, that she had given her husband permission to spend
his time with others, and when she was satisfied the remainder would
be for others; that she believed there were no such jealous women as
those who were insatiable, but that a wisdom was imputed to her,
which she did not possess; she begged her, however, to be wise enough
not to interfere with matters which did not concern her, and if she
heard others mentioning it (as our lady had reason to believe that
this was her own invention) that she would give them a reprimand. M.
Elis... was indignant and went away angry, but Anna, Monsieur's
sister, who was in the house, adopted another course. She drew round
her the handsomest women in the town, and then played the procuress,
spoke to her brother of one particularly, who was a flirt, and who
was the handsomest, and offered him opportunities, &c. As she saw
that he was proof against it, she told him (to excite him) that his
wife was jealous, that she had had him watched where he went when he
had been drinking with the King, to know whether he visited this
woman; she said that his wife was angry, because the other woman was
so beautiful, said that she painted, &c.
The love borne to our lady by her husband made him tell her all, and,
moreover, he went but rarely afterwards to his sister's apartments,
from which she could easily understand that the conversation had not
been agreeable to him; but our lady betrayed nothing of the matter,
visited her more than before, caressed this lady more than any other,
and even made her considerable presents. (Anna remained in her house
as long as she lived.)
All this is of small consideration compared with the conduct of her
own brother. It is well known to you that the Biel... were very
intimate in our lady's house. It happened that her brother made a
journey to Muscovy, and that the youngest of the Biel... was in his
suite. As this was a very lawless youth, and, to say the truth, badly
brought up, he not only at times failed in respect to our lady's
brother, but freely expressed his sentiments to him upon matters
which did not concern him; among other things, he spoke ill of the
Holstein noblemen, naming especially one, who was then in waiting on
the King, who he said had deceived our lady's brother. The matter
rested there for more than a year after their return from this
journey. The brother of our lady and Biel... played cards together,
and disputed over them; upon this the brother of our lady told the
Holstein nobleman what Biel... had said of him more than a year
before, which B. did not remember, and swore that he had never said.
The Holstein nobleman said insulting things against Biel....
Our lady conversed with her brother upon the affair, and begged him
to quiet the storm he had raised, and to consider how it would cause
an ill-feeling with regard to him among the nobility, and that it
would seem that he could not keep to himself what had been told him
in secret; it would be very easy for him to mend the matter. Her
brother replied that he could never retract what he had said, and
that he should consider the Holstein nobleman as a villain if he did
not treat B. as a rogue.
At length the Holstein nobleman behaved in such a manner as to
constrain B. to send him a challenge. B. was killed by his adversary
with the sword of our lady's brother, which she did not know till
afterwards. At noon of the day on which B. had been killed in the
morning, our lady went to the castle to visit her little twin
sisters; her brother was there, and came forward, laughing loudly and
saying, 'Do you know that Ran... has killed B...?' She replied, 'No,
that I did not know, but I knew that you had killed him. Ran... could
do nothing less than defend himself, but you placed the sword in his
hand.' Her brother, without answering a word, mounted his horse and
went to seek his brother-in-law, who was speaking with our old
friend,[16] told him he was the cause of B.'s death, and that he had
done so because he had understood that his sister loved him, and that
he did not believe that his brother-in-law was so blind as not to
have perceived it. The husband of our lady did not receive this
speech in the way the other had imagined, and said, 'If you were not
her brother, I would stab you with this poniard,' showing it to him.
'What reason have you for speaking thus?' The good-for-nothing fellow
was rather taken aback at this, and knew not what to say, except that
B... was too free and had no respect in his demeanour; and that this
was a true sign of love. At length, after some discussion on both
sides, the brother of our lady requested that not a word might be
said to his sister.
[16] The old friend is Dr. Otto Sperling, sen., a physician in
extensive practice at Copenhagen, and intimate friend of Ulfeldt.
Mr. Biel... signifies most probably a certain Christian Bielke,
whose portrait still exists at Rosenborg Castle, in Copenhagen,
with an inscription that he was killed in a duel by Bartram Rantzau
on Easter eve 1642. If this date is true, Bielke cannot have
accompanied Leonora's brother Count Valdemar on his journey to
Russia, as this journey only took place in 1643. Count Valdemar was
to marry a Russian princess, but it was broken off on his refusing
to join the Greek church.
As soon as she returned home, her husband told her everything in the
presence of our old friend, but ordered her to feign ignorance. This
was all the more easy for her, as her husband gave no credence to it,
but trusted in her innocence. She let nothing appear, but lived with
her brother as before. But some years after, her brother ill-treated
his own mother, and her side being taken by our lady, they were in
consequence not good friends.
In speaking to you of the occupations of our lady, after having
reached the age of twenty-one or thereabouts, I must tell you she had
a great desire to learn Latin. She had a very excellent master,[17]
whom you know, and who taught her for friendship as well as with good
will. But she had so many irons in the fire, and sometimes it was
necessary to take a journey, and a yearly accouchement (to the number
of ten) prevented her making much progress; she understood a little
easy Latin, but attempted nothing difficult; she then learnt a little
Italian, which she continued studying whenever an opportunity
presented itself.
[17] Dr. Otto Sperling, senior.
I will not speak of her short journeys to Holstein, Jutland, &c.; but
in the year 1646 she made a voyage with her husband by sea, in the
first place to Holland, where she gave birth to a son six weeks after
her arrival at the Hague. From thence she went with her husband to
France, first to Paris and afterwards to Amiens; there they took
leave of the King and of the Queen Mother, Regent, and as they were
returning by Dunkirk she had the curiosity to see England, and
begged her husband to permit her to cross over with a small suite, to
which he consented, since one of the royal vessels lay in the roads.
She took a nobleman with her who knew the language, our old friend, a
servant, and the valet of the aforesaid nobleman, and this was the
whole of her retinue. She embarked, and her husband planned to pass
through Flanders and Brabant, and to await her at Rotterdam. As she
was on the vessel a day and night, and the wind did not favour them,
she resolved to land and to follow her husband, fancying she could
reach him in time to see Flanders and Brabant; she had not visited
these countries before, having passed from Holland by sea to Calais.
She found her husband at Ostend, and travelled with him to Rotterdam;
from thence she pursued her former plan, embarked at Helvoot-Sluys,
and arrived at Duns, went to London, and returned by Dover, making
the whole voyage in ten days, and she was again enceinte. She was an
object of suspicion in London. The Prince Palatine, then Elector of
Heidelberg,[18] belonged to the party opposed to the beheaded King,
who was then a prisoner; and they watched her and surrounded her with
spies, so she did not make a long sojourn in London. Nothing else was
imagined, when it was known she had been there, but that she had
letters from the King of Dan... for the King of Engl.... She returned
with her husband to Dan....
[18] Prince Ruprecht, Duke of Cumberland, nephew of Charles I.
In the year 1648 fortune abandoned our lady, for on February 28 the
King was taken from her by death. She had the happiness, however, of
attending upon him until his last breath. Good God, when I think of
what this good King said to her the first day, when she found him
ill in bed at Rosenborg, and wept abundantly, my heart is touched. He
begged her not to weep, caressed her, and said: 'I have placed you so
securely that no one can move you.' Only too much has she felt the
contrary of the promise of the King who succeeded him, for when he
was Duke and visited her at her house, a few days after the death of
the King, finding her in tears, he embraced her, saying: 'I will be a
father to you, do not weep.' She kissed his hand without being able
to speak. I find that some fathers have been unnatural towards their
children.
In the year 1649 she made another voyage with her husband to Holland,
and at the Hague gave birth to a daughter. When her husband returned
from this journey, he for the first time perceived the designs of
Hannibal, of Gerstorp, and Wibe, but too late. He absented himself
from business, and would not listen to what his wife told him. Our
old friend shared the opinion of our lady, adducing very strong
reason for it, but all in vain; he said, that he would not be a
perpetual slave for the convenience of his friends. His wife spoke as
a prophet to him, told him that he would be treated as a slave when
he had ceased to have authority, that they would suspect him, and
envy his wealth; all of which took place, though I shall make no
recital of it, since these events are sufficiently known to you.
We will now speak a little of the events which occurred afterwards.
When they had gained their cause,[19] our lady feared that the strong
party which they had then overcome would not rest without ruining
them utterly at any cost; so she advised her husband to leave the
country, since he had the King's permission to do so,[20] and to save
his life, otherwise his enemies would contrive some other invention
which would succeed better. He consented to this at length, and they
took their two eldest children with them, and went by sea to
Amsterdam. At Utrecht they left the children with the servants and a
female attendant, and our lady disguised herself in male attire and
followed her husband, who took the route to Lubeck, and from thence
by sea to Sweden, to ask the protection of Queen Christina, which he
received; and as the Queen knew that his wife was with him in
disguise, she requested to see her, which she did.
[19] Namely, the process against Dina. _See_ Introduction.
[20] Ulfeldt had not really the permission of the King to leave the
country in the way he did. These words must therefore be understood
to mean that the favourable termination of the trial concerning
Dina's accusations had liberated Ulfeldt from the special
obligation to remain in Copenhagen, which his position in reference
to that case imposed upon him.
The husband of our lady purposed to remain some time in Pomerania,
and the Queen lent him a vessel to convey him thither. Having been
three days at sea, the wind carried them towards Dantzig, and not
being able to enter the town, for it was too late, they remained
outside the gates at a low inn. An adventure fit for a novel here
happened to our lady. A girl of sixteen, or a little more, believing
that our lady was a young man, threw herself on her neck with
caresses, to which our lady responded, and played with the girl, but,
as our lady perceived what the girl meant, and that she could not
satisfy her, she turned her over to Charles, a man of their suite,
thinking he would answer her purpose; he offered the girl his
attentions, but she repelled him rudely, saying, she was not for him,
and went again to our lady, accosting her in the same way. Our lady
got rid of her, but with difficulty however, for she was somewhat
impudent, and our lady did not dare to leave her apartment. For the
sake of amusing you, I must tell you, what now occurs to me, that in
the fort before Stade, the name of which has escaped me, our lady
played with two soldiers for drink, and her husband, who passed for
her uncle, paid the expenses; the soldiers, willing to lose for the
sake of gaining the beer, and astonished that she never lost, were,
however, civil enough to present her with drink.
We must return to Dantzig. The husband of our lady, finding himself
near Thoren, desired to make an excursion there, but his design was
interrupted by two men, one who had formerly served in Norway as
Lieutenant-Colonel, and a charlatan who called himself Dr. Saar, and
who had been expelled from Copenhagen. They asked the Mayor of the
town to arrest these two persons, believing that our lady was Ebbe
Wl....[21] They were warned by their host that these persons said
they were so-and-so, and that these gentlemen were at the door to
prevent their going out. Towards evening they grew tired of keeping
guard, and went away. Before dawn the husband of our lady went out of
the house first, and waited at the gate, and our lady with the two
servants went in a coach to wait at the other gate until it was
opened; thus they escaped this time.
[21] That is, Ebbe Ulfeldt,--a relative of Corfitz who left Denmark
in 1651 and afterwards lived in Sweden.
They went by land to Stralsund, where our lady resumed her own
attire, after having been in disguise twelve weeks and four days, and
having endured many inconveniences, not having gone to bed all the
time, except at Stockholm, Dantzig, and Stettin. She even washed the
clothes, which inconvenienced her much. The winter that they passed
at Stralsund, her husband taught her, or rather began to teach her,
Spanish. In the spring they again made a voyage to Stockholm, at the
desire of Queen Chr.... This good Queen, who liked intrigue, tried to
excite jealousy and to make people jealous, but she did not succeed.
They were in Sweden until after the abdication of the Queen, and the
wedding and coronation of King Charles and Queen Hedevig, which was
in the year 1654. They returned to Pomerania for a visit to Barth,
which they possessed as a mortgage. There, our lady passed her time
in study, sometimes occupied with a Latin book, sometimes with a
Spanish one. She translated a small Spanish work, entitled _Matthias
de los Reyos_; but this book since fell into the hands of others, as
well as the first part of _Cleopatre_, which she had translated from
the French, with matters of greater value.
In the year 1657,[22] her husband persuaded her to make a voyage to
Dannem... to try and gain an audience with the King, and see if she
could not obtain some payment from persons who owed them money. Our
lady found various pleas for not undertaking this voyage, seeing a
hundred difficulties against its successful issue; but her husband
besought her to attempt it, and our old friend shared her husband's
opinion that nothing could be done to her, that she was under the
protection of the King of Sweden, and not banished from Dan... with
similar arguments. At length she yielded, and made the journey in the
winter, travelling in a coach with six horses, a secretary, a man on
horseback, a female attendant, a page and a lacquey--that was all.
She went first to see her mother in Jutland, and remained there three
days; this was immediately known at the Court.
[22] This date is erroneous; the journey took place in November and
December 1656.
When she had passed the Belt, and was within cannon-shot of Corsor,
she was met by Uldrich Chr. Guldenl...,[23] who was on the point of
going to Jutland to fetch her. He returned with his galley and
landed; she remained in her vessel, waiting for her carriage to be
put on shore. Guld... impatient, could not wait so long, and sent the
burgomaster Brant to tell her to come ashore, as he had something to
say to her. She replied that if he had anything to say to her, he
ought to show her the attention of coming to her. Brant went with
this answer; awaiting its issue, our lady looked at her attendants
and perceived a change in them all. Her female attendant was seized
with an attack from which she suffers still, a trembling of the head,
while her eyes remained fixed. The secretary trembled so that his
teeth chattered. Charles was quite pale, as were all the others. Our
lady spoke to them, and asked them why they were afraid; for her they
had nothing to fear, and less for themselves. The secretary answered,
'They will soon let us know that.' Brant returned with the same
message, with the addition that Gul... was bearer of the King's
order, and that our lady ought to come to him at the Castle to hear
the King's order. She replied that she respected the King's order
there as well as at the castle; that she wished that Gul... would
please to let her know there the order of His Majesty; and when
Brant tried to persuade her, saying continually, 'Oh! do give in, do
give in!' she used the same expression, and said also, 'Beg Gul... to
give in,' &c. At length she said, 'Give me sufficient time to have
two horses harnessed, for I cannot imagine he would wish me to go on
foot.'
[23] U.C. Gyldenlove, illegitimate son of Christian IV. and
half-brother of Leonora.
When she reached the castle she had the coach pulled up. Brant came
forward to beg her to enter the castle; she refused, and said she
would not enter; that if he wished to speak to her he must come to
her, that she had come more than half-way. Brant went, and returned
once again, but she said the same, adding that he might do all that
seemed good to him, she should not stir from the spot. At length the
good-for-nothing fellow came down, and when he was ready to speak to
her, she opened the coach and got out. He said a few polite words to
her, and then presented her with an order from the King, written in
the chancery, the contents of which were, that she must hasten to
depart from the King's territory, or she would have to thank herself
for any ill that might befall her. Having read the order she bowed,
and returned him the order, which was intended to warn her, saying,
'That she hoped to have been permitted to kiss the King's hand, but
as her enemies had hindered this happiness by such an order, there
was nothing left for her but to obey in all humility, and thanking
His Majesty most humbly for the warning, she would hasten as quickly
as possible to obey His Majesty's commands. She asked if she were
permitted to take a little refreshment, for that they had had
contrary winds and had been at sea all day. Gul... answered in the
negative, that he did not dare to give her the permission; and since
she had obeyed with such great submission, he would not show her the
other order that he had, asking her at the same moment if she wished
to see this other order? She said, no; that she would abide by the
order that she had seen, and that she would immediately embark on
board her ferry-boat to return. Gul... gave her his hand, and begged
her to make use of his galley.