_Stories of Intimate Talks with the Hohenzollerns_
_Told by an English-American Governess_
These true stories reveal for the first time the "inside workings"
of the German Court. They are told by a woman who overheard
conversations between the members of the House of Hohenzollern and
the military and diplomatic castes. She was governess in a German
princely house at the outbreak of the war, having secured her
position through Prince Henry of Prussia, whom she met in Washington,
during his visit to the United States. Her grandfather was an admiral
in the United States Navy. She tells frankly of her conversations
with the Kaiser, the Crown Prince, General von Bernhardi, the Krupps,
Count Zeppelin, General von Kluck, Herr Dernburg, and important
secret service people, who took her into their confidences. These
revelations (which have been published by _Frederick A. Stokes Co._,
of New York) are most absorbing reading. Here we are necessarily
limited to a selection of but six anecdotes from the hundreds of
entrancing stories in her book. The book is a valuable record of
her experiences as governess of two young princes at their game,
"destroying London before supper," to her final escape in disguise
after the war began.
By a coincidence, it was five years ago, on the day of my internment in
a German castle last August (1914), that I undertook to teach English
and other things to the children of that castle's owner. During four of
those years I did my duty to my three little charges as well as I knew
how. For the rest of the time, up to two days before the declaration of
war between France and Germany, my conduct may have been questionable:
but that was because I put duty to my country ahead of duty to the
family of a German prince. They were my employers; they trusted me,
and I am not sure whether I decided rightly or wrongly. All I know
is that I would do the same if I had to live through the experience
again....
As for the most important men who visited them, it is different. I
owe those persons nothing, and see no reason for disguising their
names. Most of them have now, of their own accord, thrown off their
peace-masks, and revealed themselves as enemies of England, if not of
humanity, outside German "kultur." What I have to tell will but show
how long they have held their present sentiments....
[1]I--A CONVERSATION WITH THE KAISER
My two Princes and their cousin were having an English lesson with me
in a summer-house close to their earthworks. It had been raining.
I was reading aloud a boys' book by George Henty which I had brought
among others from England for that purpose, and stopping at exciting
parts to get the children to criticize it in English. We were having
an animated discussion, and all three were clamoring for me to "go
on--go on!" when I heard footsteps crunching on the gravel path which
led to the summer-house. I did not look up, because I thought it might
be Lieutenant von X---- who was coming, and my charges were too much
excited to pay attention. But presently I realized that the crunching
had ceased, close to us. My back was half turned to the doorway, and
before beginning to read again, I looked round rather impatiently.
Two gentlemen in uniform were standing in the path, one a step or
two in advance of the other. Nobody who had seen any of the later
photographs could have failed to recognize the foremost officer as the
Kaiser, though the portraits were idealized. The face of the original
was older, the nose heavier, and the figure shorter, stockier than I
had expected. Nor had I been told about the scar high up on the left
cheek. I was so taken by surprise that I lost my presence of mind.
Jumping up, I dropped my book, and knocked over the light wicker chair
which was supposed to be of British manufacture. I was so ashamed of
my awkwardness--such a bad example to the children!--that I could
have cried. To make matters worse the Emperor burst out laughing, a
good-natured laugh, but embarrassing to me, as I was the object of his
merriment.
"I have upset the United Kingdom and the United States of America!"
his Imperial Majesty haw-hawed in good English, though in rather a
harsh voice, making a gesture of the right hand toward the chair of
alleged British make, and the fallen book with George Henty's name
on its back, at the same time giving me one of the most direct looks
I have ever had, full in the face. It seemed to challenge me, and I
remembered having heard that a short cut to the Kaiser's favor was a
smart repartee. The worst of it was that like a flash I thought of one
which would be pat, if impertinent, but I dared not risk it.
Luckily my two Princes rushed past me to throw themselves upon their
sovereign, and their cousin followed suit, more timidly. Perhaps she
had discovered that his Imperial Majesty does not much care for little
girls unless they are pretty.
The Kaiser was kind but short in his greeting of the children, and
did not seem to notice that they expected to be kissed. Probably he
was not satisfied as to their state of health, as they had been sent
out of an infected town, and he has never conquered his horror of
contagious diseases. With his right hand (he seldom uses the left)
on the dark head of the elder boy, he pivoted him round with rough
playfulness. "Don't you see that Miss ----'s chair and book are on the
floor?" inquired the "All Highest." "What is a gentleman's duty--I mean
pleasure--when a lady drops anything?"
"To pick it up," replied the child, his face red as he hurried back
into the summer-house and suited the action to the word.
"Very good, though late," said the Kaiser. Then, no doubt thinking
that I had had time to recover myself, he turned to me, more
quizzical than ever. "Perhaps according to present ideas in England
I am old-fashioned? But I hope you are not English enough to be a
suffragette, Miss ----?"
I recognized the great compliment of his knowing my name, as I am sure
he expected. I had heard already that suffragettes were to the Emperor
as red rags to a bull, and that he always brought up the subject with
Englishwomen when he met them for the first time. I ventured to remark
that to be English was not necessarily to be a suffragette.
He shook his finger at me like a schoolmaster, though he smiled.
"Ah, but you are not an Englishwoman, or you would not say that! All
these modern Englishwomen are suffragettes. Well, we should show them
what we think of them if they sent a deputation here. But while they
confine themselves to their own soil we can bless them. They are
sowing good seed for us to reap."
I had no idea what his Majesty meant by the last sentences, though
I could see that an innuendo was intended. His certainty that he
was right about all modern Englishwomen was only what I had seen in
visitors to Schloss ----, every one of whom, especially the Prussians,
knew far more about English ideas and customs than the English knew
about themselves. I had sometimes disputed their statements, though
without effect, but I could not contradict the Emperor. All I could do
was to wonder what he had meant by "sowing the good seed," and a glance
he had thrown to his aide-de-camp (or "adjutant," as the officer might
more Germanly be called), but it is only after these five years that I
have perhaps guessed the riddle. The Kaiser must even then have begun
to count on the weakening of England by its threatened "war of the
sexes."
* * * * *
The Emperor proceeded to introduce his officer attendant, who was a
Count von H----. He informed me that he and his suite had travelled all
night in the royal train, to inspect the nearby garrison and breakfast
with the officers. Having a short time to spare, he had arranged to
motor up to Schloss ---- and have a look at the children, in order that
he might report on the Princes' health to their mother and father the
next time they saw each other.
"No sign of the malady coming out in them?" he inquired. "And the
youngest? He, too, is all right?"
On hearing that the baby was not as well as could be wished, he looked
anxious, but cheered up when he heard that the feverishness was caused
by cutting teeth.
"That is not contagious!" said he. "Though some of us might be glad to
'catch' a wisdom tooth."
When he made a "witticism," he laughed out aloud, opening his mouth,
throwing back his head slightly with a little jerk, and looking one
straight in the eyes to see if one had appreciated the fun of the
saying. The more one laughed the better he seemed pleased, and the more
lively he became, almost like a merry child. But when the subject was
dismissed, and he began to think of something else, I noticed--not only
on that day, but on others, later--that occasionally an odd, wandering,
strained expression came into his eyes. For a moment he would appear
older than his age; though when his mind was fixed upon himself, and
he was "braced" by self-consciousness, he looked almost young and very
vital, if fatter than his favorite photographs represented him.
That day at Schloss ---- the Emperor did not stay with us longer than
twenty minutes at most, but he managed to chat about many things
in that time, the latter part of which was spent in talking with
Lieutenant von X----, to find whom he sent the younger of my Princes.
* * * * *
I have heard that the Kaiser is always anxious as to the first
impression he makes, even upon the most insignificant middle-class
person; and having delivered himself of this harangue, he set to
work to smooth me down before departing. He asked questions about
myself, and the family (his friends) with whom I had lived in England.
With his head thrust forward and wagging slightly, he mentioned
several advantages which an English governess had over a German one;
and then he blurted out, sharply and suddenly, that, if my little
Princes' parents had listened to his advice, they would have had an
Englishwoman for their children two years sooner. "But the Princess
---- is the most self-willed woman I know," he said. "You may think I
am indiscreet! I am forever accused by newspapers of being indiscreet,
because I speak what I think. But this is no secret. You will learn
it for yourself if you are as intelligent as I suppose. She never
was intended by nature to be a wife and mother, though she would be
a charming person if she were neither. As it is she will do what
she likes in spite of everything and everyone. There! I have said
enough--or too much. Where is von X----?"
The Lieutenant was hovering in the background, ready for an auspicious
moment: and the Emperor turned his attention to the governor of my
elder Prince. It was not till he was ready to go that he had another
word for me, and then it was only "Auf wiedersehen." He graciously
put out his hand, palm down, for me to shake. I noticed how large
it was in contrast with the left, which he kept out of the way. It
was beautifully cared for, and there were more rings on it than an
Englishman or American would wear, but it was not an attractive shape,
and looked somehow unhealthy. As if in punishment to me for such a
thought, the big hand gave mine a fearful grip. It was like the closing
of a vise, and I could almost hear my bones crack. I wondered if the
Emperor had cultivated this trick to show how strong he was; but I
should have been glad to take his strength on faith.
I could not help wincing, though I tried not to let my face change. If
it did, he appeared to take no notice. He had finished with me, after a
military salute; and letting the children run by his side, he and his
attendant, with Lieutenant von X----, walked down the path....