Lindenhof
Can anyone adequately realize the sufferings of a woman who sees herself
erased from the world and taken to a madhouse--the conscious prisoner of
an odious abuse of power?
At Doebling, and afterwards at Purkesdorf, my tortures would have been
beyond human endurance if I alone had been obliged to suffer. But with
the hope of Divine justice, the knowledge that another was submitting to
a worse punishment solely on my account gave me strength to endure. The
loss of honour is as terrible as the loss of reason. I could not
abandon myself to utter despair whilst the count heroically resisted
his persecutors with a dignity which was afterwards admitted when the
debates in the Reichsrath threw a new light on my affairs.
But what terrible hours I have passed! What nights of agony! What
horrible nightmares! What tears, what sobs! I tried in vain to control
myself. Fortunately my attendants pitied me. That was some consolation.
I even felt that the doctors, embarrassed by the responsibility of my
case, looked at me kindly. With the exception of two or three miserable
creatures, bought over by my enemies through greed or stupidity, I have
hardly found any physicians who were not disgusted at the injustice
meted out to me, and who asked nothing better than to shift the
responsibility of keeping me in a madhouse on to someone else's
shoulders.
Public opinion in Austria being extremely hostile, my executioner
and his accomplices found it advisable to transfer me to a quiet and
charming asylum in Saxony. I was therefore taken to Lindenhof, near the
little town of Koswig in the midst of the forests, less than an hour's
journey by rail from Dresden.
Lindenhof! The actual meaning signifies "The Lime Trees of the Court."
Calming lime trees! Charming lime trees! The name recalled to me "Unter
den Linden" (Under the Lime Trees) at Berlin, and the obligations which
I owed to my son-in-law and his family, who were now reassured by the
knowledge of my captivity in Saxony. The inheritance of the King would
not fall into my wasteful hands!
No member of my entourage dear to me was allowed to remain with me. My
good Countess Fugger was forced to leave me from morning till night to
the care of my jailers. By way of compensation those at Lindenhof were
supposed to treat me with all the deference due to my rank. Fear of
public opinion is the beginning of wisdom where princes are concerned.
It was impossible for anyone now to say, as in the case of my former
experiences, that I was not treated as a princess and a king's daughter.
I had a separate house, a carriage, maids, and a companion! I was
allowed to go out when Dr. Pierson, the medical superintendent, thought
it advisable. But my house was surrounded by the walls of a madhouse;
the coachman and footman were policemen; the companion only occupied
that position in order to keep me a prisoner and make voluminous reports
about all that I said or did.
My cage was certainly gilded, and it possessed various outlets on the
country and the adjacent town. But, all the same, it was a tomb, and I
realized that I was dead to all those who had once known me, beginning
with the members of my own family.
I have said that, ashamed of the crime to which they had tacitly
consented, my relations allowed years to pass before they came to see
the "invalid." It was only when public opinion censured their heartless
behaviour that they decided to visit me.
The indignation against the wickedness of the punishment meted out to
Count Mattachich had become stronger than the power that desired to
crush him. In mentioning him, the Press remembered my existence. It was
then that my daughter and my aunt, the Comtesse de Flandre, came to see
me, and my sister Stéphanie gave some sign of life.
I had lost my beloved mother without seeing her again. Her
letters--although at the same time good and cruel--were my most
cherished relics. But whenever I read them my heart was torn, as I felt
that my mother had been convinced that I was really insane.
As for the King--alas!--he sent me no word. Doubtless his mind, like
that of the Queen, had been poisoned--was he, too, not certain of the
count's guilt? What guile had not been employed in his case! In order to
play my husband's and my son-in-law's game it was necessary to make my
father believe absolutely in our "crimes."
What could I do, alone in my madhouse, deprived of help and liberty?
But I guessed the plots which were hatched at Brussels, and what support
my enemies had obtained in order to triumph over a poor tortured woman.
I saw my only chance of salvation by the side of the unfortunate man who
was enduring martyrdom in the penitentiary of Moellersdorf, for having
endeavoured to save me from an earthly hell and its dishonouring
abysses.
Perhaps our mutual fidelity may astonish some people. Few really
understand that, for certain natures, suffering constitutes a common
bond. Our joys had been ephemeral, our sorrows had been prolonged. We
had been misunderstood, misjudged, defamed and tortured. But we had
reposed our trust and our hope elsewhere than in men. Often the best
have neither the time nor the possibility of knowing and understanding,
and thus they condemn the innocent on the strength of appearances, which
hatred and duplicity know so well how to exploit to their own advantage.
I had been certified "insane" for four years, when the Court of Vienna,
terrified by public outcry, was obliged to abandon one of its victims.
The count was pardoned. No sooner did he regain his freedom than,
fearless of consequences, he began to plan my deliverance! It was indeed
a perilous enterprise, as the Austrian and German police, in default
of a justice which fear of the Press and Parliaments kept somewhat in
restraint, were nevertheless at the orders of my enemies.
I have said, and I again repeat, that it seems incredible that we still
live.
To begin with, my chivalrous defender found himself entangled in the
meshes of the police net, and could not take a single step without being
followed by spies of all descriptions. As for myself, I beheld Koswig
in a state of siege. Lindenhof was surrounded by gendarmes; even the fir
trees afforded them a screen!
Fortified by prayer and hope, I had now become if not accustomed to my
chains at least able to support their weight. Always a lover of Nature,
I revelled in the sylvan solitudes where I was allowed to walk with my
sorrow, of course under the observation of my suite of jailers of both
sexes.
I had only one friend--my dog! Shall I ever see that loyal fine face
again, and those clear eyes, in which alone in a world of corruption I
have seen the disinterested light of welcome?
However, I did not despair. What would happen to innocent prisoners if
they were deprived of the pleasures of Hope?
Ah, I well remember that autumn day when I first saw the sun of liberty
appear on my horizon, and with its advent those chances of truth,
reparation and happiness which my imagination pictured all too quickly!
It was delightful weather. The splendour of the sun illumined the Saxon
countryside. It touched with gold the sombre forests that covered the
hill near which I loved to walk. This sandy desert planted with fir
trees was enlivened by a little hotel called "The Mill on the Crest of
the Hill," and it was one of my favourite drives. On this particular day
I was driving myself, accompanied by my companion and a groom. Suddenly
a cyclist appeared coming in the opposite direction, and who actually
grazed the wheels of my carriage as he passed. He looked at me. I knew
who he was--it was the count!... I had the presence of mind not to
betray myself. He was, then, free! I believed that I, too, should regain
my liberty on the morrow.
Three years were destined to pass before I escaped.
The alarm had been raised in the enemy camp! It was known that the count
had left Vienna. A search for him was at once instituted at Koswig.
My companion, who, influenced by some kindly feelings or by some hope of
gain, had allowed the count and myself to have two brief interviews in
her presence, securely hidden in the forest, was not long in changing
her mind and repenting her leniency.
The count was obliged to desist from any further attempts to see me. The
countryside swarmed with police. I was not allowed to leave Lindenhof.
My saviour went some distance away in order not to prevent my taking
those drives which allowed me a few hours' freedom and comparative
happiness away from the horrors of the madhouse.
There now remained only one way to free me. This was first to proclaim,
and then to establish my sanity, and to appeal to public sympathy and
public meetings in order to achieve my liberation.
A book appeared in which the count demonstrated his own innocence
and described the cruelty of which I was the victim. The entire Press
re-echoed his indignant outcry.
And the hoped-for help came at last from that generous land of France
where my misfortunes were so keenly felt. A French journalist, a writer
equally well known and respected (whose name I should like to mention
with gratitude, but whose reserve and dislike of publicity I am forced
to respect), had gone to Germany in order to prepare some political
work. At Dresden he was told about my sufferings. He went at once to see
the head of the police, who, greatly embarrassed, acknowledged that I
was the victim of Court intrigue. In order to see me personally, this
gentleman visited Lindenhof in the character of a neurasthenic. But
either from mistrust, or the impossibility of tampering with the
diagnosis, he was not accepted as a patient. He returned to Paris,
and through his influence _Le Journal_, the powerful daily paper whose
independence is so well known, took up my cause. From this moment the
count found the support which this paper has extended to so many other
deserving cases.
He was still unable to return to Lindenhof. The French journalist,
however, came there, and the first news which rekindled my hope came in
a letter from my then unknown friend, which--together with one from the
count--was thrown into my carriage by a little boy.
This letter was stolen from me by my companion. The other missive
remained in my possession, and in vain did my police-woman attempt to
dispossess me of it.
When I read it with a throbbing heart I only found one word, written
in a language which I never heard in my captivity--the language of my
native land. My eyes filled with tears, I read and re-read this word:
"HOPE."