The Emperor then quoted Mr. Carnegie: "You and Mr. Roosevelt would
make a nice tandem."
"That shows tact and discrimination," I remarked.
The Emperor laughed. "I asked him which he thought would be the
wheel-horse?"
"What did he answer to that?" said I.
"I am afraid Mr. Carnegie did not find anything to answer just then.
He has not your talent for repartee."
"In this case," I assured his Majesty, "I should not have answered at
all, for I have no idea what a wheel-horse is. If it is the horse
which makes all the wheels turn, then it must be your Majesty."
"You see!" said the Emperor, shaking his finger and laughing.
We had the great pleasure of welcoming Prince Hans (King Christian's
brother). Johan was with him in Greece many years ago and has never
ceased to love him. He is the most polite gentleman I ever saw; he
almost begs your pardon for being kind to you. He dined with us
yesterday. We invited to meet him Prince Albert Schleswig-Holstein
(his nephew) and Prince and Princess Wied[3]. This young couple are
delightfully charming. The Prince has the most catching smile. It is
impossible not to be in good spirits when you are with him. We sat out
on the balcony after dinner and took our coffee and looked out into
the brilliantly lighted square of Brandenburger Tor with its network
of trams. I think our apartment is the most beautifully situated in
all Berlin.
[3] Now King and Queen of Albania.
_March, 1908._
Dear L.,--The King of Spain is in Berlin now on a visit of a few days
to the Emperor. We only saw him at the gala performance at the Opera.
The Kaiser had chosen "The Huguenots." It was beautifully put on.
Madame Hempel sang the part of Marguerite de Valois, and Madame
Destinn sang Valentine. The house was decorated in the usual manner,
with carpets hanging from the balconies and flowers in great profusion
everywhere. The King of Spain sat between the Kaiser and the Kaiserin.
He looks very young and very manly. After the first act, when we all
met in the foyer, the Emperor stood by him, and sometimes would take
him by the arm and walk about in order to present people to him. I was
presented to him, but I did not get more than a smile and a shake of
the hand--I could not expect more. Johan was more favored, for the
King asked him how long he had been in Berlin. You must confess that
even that was not much.
I was compensated by having quite a long talk with the Kaiser--long
for him, as he has so many people to talk to, and he feels, I am sure,
every eye of the hoping-to-speak-to-him person in the room. He said:
"I have just been reading the memoirs of General von Moltke. Did you
ever know him?"
"No," I said, "I never saw him, but I have a letter from him, written
in 1856 to my father-in-law, dated from the Tuileries."
"He often speaks in his letters of your husband's grandparents' home
in Copenhagen--how he always felt at home and happy there, and was
always sure to find a charming circle of interesting and literary
people. You must read it; it would interest your husband, too."
"Did your Majesty ever hear about Moltke's visit to some grand-ducal
court? Moltke thought, of course, that as he had all the grand cordons
and decorations in creation, he had also that of this court. When he
was going to visit the Grand Duke he said to his servant, 'Don't
forget my decoration,' The servant looked high and low, but could not
find it, and, thinking that he had mislaid it, went and bought one.
Moltke put on his uniform, the decoration being in place on his
breast. When the Grand Duke entered he had in his hand an _étui_
containing the decoration, intending to hang it around Moltke's neck
himself. Imagine his surprise at seeing it there already!"
BERLIN, _November, 1908_.
Dear L.,--Our King and Queen visit Berlin.
When the Emperor learned of the date for the visit, and that their
Majesties were to be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(Frederick) he proposed that Nina should also come, and he invited
them to be his guests at the _Schloss_. This was joyful news for me.
Though Nina had just had a dreadful fall while riding and had broken
her arm and wrist, she had the courage to undertake the journey. They
traveled with their Majesties.
The _Lehrter Bahnhof_ is particularly well adapted to receive
royalties. It has a fine _façade_, and the open square in front is
large enough to contain the military bands and the hundreds of
carriages of all sorts. Today it was overflowing.
Inside the station a broad flight of steps lead down to the platform,
where was spread the traditional red carpet; the plants, bushes, and
flowers all made it look very gay and festive. The train was expected
at eleven o'clock. We hoped to get there very early, but found the
Emperor and his staff already on the platform, waiting. As our little
party arrived (we and the Secretaries) the Emperor came forward, took
my hand, and kissed it very graciously. We stood talking until the
Empress came, accompanied by all her ladies and suite. The train was
announced by many signals and many whistlings, but no train came in.
The locomotive had given out and the train had stopped a good way out
of the station. The carpet not reaching so far, their Majesties were
obliged to walk quite a distance on the wet platform. By means of
shunting and jerking the royal train was brought in under the station
roof, but nowhere near the carpet. The small steps were put up to the
carriage door, and the King and Queen descended. The Emperor kissed
the King on both cheeks. The Empress received the Queen affectionately
and gave her a bouquet, which she carried in her hand. I saw Nina's
pale face, pinched with pain, in the distance, and longed to fly to
her, but etiquette compelled me to stay to make my obeisance to their
Majesties. The band which was in the station struck up the Royal
Danish March, and we could hardly hear ourselves speak on account of
the tremendous resonance. The procession of resplendent uniforms and
the bright colors of the ladies' dresses made a brilliant sight as
they walked through the station. The Empress led the way, and we all
followed to the waiting-room, where presentations to the Queen took
place. The Empress presented every one of the ladies to the Queen,
_even me_. All the royal carriages seemed to be out--two open
barouches with four horses were for the four royalties. I drove to the
castle to see Nina, who was already installed in her regal apartment.
I went up the _Wendeltreppe_, through two antechambers and a small
_salon_, before reaching her magnificent drawing-room. It had superb
tapestries on the walls and was filled with fine old Dutch inlaid
furniture. It is called the Braunschweig suite, nine rooms in all.
Frederick had a separate staircase and entrance. Nina and I went to
the window to look out onto the _Platz_ in front of the castle, and
saw the parade pass before the Emperor and the King, who stood in the
rain while the troops marched by.
Nina had a court carriage and lackey at her disposal all the time she
was in Berlin. In the evening there was a state dinner in the superb
_Weissesaal_. Johan and I and the members of the Legation were the
only diplomats present. We all met in the Grand Gallery; the Emperor
took in the Queen of Denmark, placing her on his right, and the King
gave his arm to the Empress and sat facing the Emperor. The table was
in the shape of a horseshoe, and there were about eighty people
present. Prince Schleswig-Holstein (familiarly called Prince Abby)
took me in, and the Emperor's son, Prince Adalbert, sat on my left.
The _ménu_ was in German. Some of the French dishes seemed to have
puzzled the translator. The Empress wore a dress of blue brocade and
many beautiful jewels. Our Queen wore a light-gray satin trimmed with
lace, and her famous diamond-and-pearl necklace. The Emperor wore the
Danish uniform, and the King was in the uniform of his Prussian
regiment. A military band played throughout dinner.
I was amused when the fruit and bonbons were passed. Both the princes
next to me piled their plates high with them and passed them over
their shoulders to the young gentlemen pages who stood behind each
royal person, thus depriving many ladies of the longed-for bonbons,
which were adorned with the portraits of their Majesties.
The Emperor made a very charming and touching speech in German, when
we all stood up and emptied our glasses. The King replied in German,
and we again got up and drank. After dinner every one went into the
long gallery, and their four Majesties talked very informally with us
while taking their coffee. At eleven o'clock their Majesties retired.
I was glad, for Nina's sake, that she could rest after her fatiguing
day. I knew that she was suffering agonies from her tightly bandaged
wrist. Her arm was in a plaster cast, and she carried it in a sling
cleverly hidden under her laces. The next day the Empress took the
Queen with her to visit some charitable institutions. The King and the
Queen had graciously promised to lunch at our house, which was
surrounded by a cordon of police, on foot and on horseback, in front
and in the courtyard belonging to the Legation.
At two o'clock quite a procession of court carriages entered our
_porte-cochère_, where I met the Queen, presenting her with a bouquet
tied with ribbons of the Danish colors--red and white. Our lunch was
for forty people, and was served in two rooms. The King gave me his
arm. The Emperor had sent in the morning a life-sized crayon portrait
of himself by Lenbach as a present. The whole staircase was lined with
palms and bushes, and of course there were plenty of flowers in the
rooms.
After luncheon a deputation of the Danish colony met in the large
_salons_ and were presented to their Majesties. It was after five
o'clock before every one had departed. The policemen had filed off,
and the crowds which had collected in the street disappeared.
The gala opera in the evening was like all the other gala operas I
have described. At eight o'clock every one had assembled and was in
his place. The opera was called "_Der Lange Kerl_," written at the
Emperor's command by some German composer. It was a beautiful
production, and represented Frederick the Great at Sans-Souci. In the
first act the interior of Sans-Souci was copied after the famous
picture of Mezzler where Frederick the Great is playing on the flute.
The "Long Fellow" was a giant, who, it seems, was a common soldier in
the King's regiment. Madame Destinn took the part of a peasant woman,
and washed up the pavement and prepared her vegetables for sale in the
most realistic manner. The second scene, when Potsdam wakes up in the
morning, reminded me of the opening of the second act of "Lohengrin."
The last act was very sad, and rather lugubrious, representing
Frederick the Great seated in the garden in front of Sans-Souci. There
was no singing in this act at all, only pantomime. The respectful
manner and the sad faces of the lackeys as they helped the poor old
King to his chair and covered his knees with rugs, leaving him alone,
was very pathetic.
We went into the foyer after the performance. The Empress presented
all the notable people to the Queen, and I stood near her in order to
present others if necessary.
BERLIN, _May, 1910_.
Dear L.,--Do not be surprised that you have not heard from me. We have
been motoring. A most delightful tour. One does not know the bliss of
traveling until one motors through Germany as we have just done. I
would send you my diary, but it reads too much like a ship's log. We
started from Berlin on the 1st of May and went as far as Eisenach. In
trying to climb the steep hill which leads to the halls where
Tannhauser sang his naughty description of Venusberg our motor broke
down, as if to commemorate the spot. We had to spend the night at
Eisenach for repairs. The next day we passed Gotha, where we lunched,
and passed the night at Fulda. The next day we went on to Weimar,
where Liszt's memory is as green as the trees in the grand-ducal park.
Everything is beautiful in this time of the year, and the days are
long. What could be more enchanting I leave to your imagination.
In Munich we galleried from morning to night, and were utterly
exhausted and hardly had the courage to dress for the opera; but,
having tickets, economy got the better of prudence, and we sat through
the long performance of "Don Giovanni" with _Geduld_.
Andrada, the Portuguese barytone, was very good and looked the part to
perfection. In real life I am told he is a Don Juan himself. If the
list of his victims has not yet reached _mille et un_ the fault cannot
be laid at his door. His stage victims were all fat German _Frauen_.
Zerlina wore a blond wig, showed very black eyebrows and red lips. Her
golden molars showed from afar. Our visit to the artist Lenbach and
his wife was followed by an invitation to tea the next day. Lenbach is
divorced from his first wife, married to a Countess Arnim (also
divorced). They have a dear little girl whom Lenbach has painted
several times. The studio is in a charming garden, arranged in the
most artistic manner, full of broken columns and antique relics
resembling the gardens on the Venice canals. Lenbach seen in the bosom
of his family is a different Lenbach from the one we knew in Rome and
Paris--half society man, half artist. Here he is simply _all papa_.
We motored over the mountain to Oberammergau. I do not dare to say
that I was disappointed in the performance. I suppose years ago, when
people began to go to Oberammergau, it was more interesting, but now
it is simply an enterprise, speculation kept alive by travelers and
sight-seers. As a representation it is impressive in a way, but your
illusions are dimmed by the prosaic manner in which everything is
done. I felt a little queer when I met Jesus Christ smoking and wiping
his muddy sandals with a dirty handkerchief, and saw Mary Magdalene
flirting with the chauffeurs. When we sat at a _café_, enjoying a mug
of beer and a sausage, we were surrounded by St. Joseph and a brood of
angels, all drinking beer. People may rave about the _Stimmung_, the
poetry, and the romance of it, but I saw beauty neither in the acting
nor in the play. I do not speak of the music, there was so little of
it. Physical comfort goes a long way with yours lovingly. To sleep in
a narrow bed having a piece of flannel buttoned between two coarse
pieces of linen, to eat bad food, to sit on hard benches for hours
under an open heaven which lets down occasionally a mild shower--this
is what the Germans call _Stimmung_ and others call "local color" and
what I call discomfort. Still, it is one of the things one must do
once in ten years. For a European to say, "I have not been to
Oberammergau," is like an American saying, "I have never been to
Niagara."
Whoever has been to see the crazy King Ludwig's _châteaux_ knows more
about them than I do, for I hated to go inside them. I gazed at the
magnificent view and wondered how any but a crazy person could have
furnished the interiors.
What a life the King led his faithful subjects! They are still taxing
all they can tax in order to pay his debts. Poor things! They won't
finish for a long time yet!