We did not stay long after the dinner, as evidently their Majesties
were fatigued after their journey. The King coughed incessantly, and
the Queen looked very tired. I think that she is beginning to look
very like her mother, the dear old Queen.
The next day hundreds of court carriages were flying about Berlin; I
wish you could see the packages of cards that were sent to us. In the
evening was the gala opera. The Opera House is always decorated in the
same way, and there is always the same audience.
"Sardanapal" was the play chosen by the Emperor for this performance.
I thought it very interesting to look at, but impossible to
understand. It was a combination of orchestral music, choruses, and
pantomime. A dreadful-looking Nubian came out before the curtain
between acts and told us in German poetry what was going to happen.
The Emperor had taken a great interest in the play, and had indicated
all the costumes himself. Every dress was a study and entirely
correct, you may be sure, if the Kaiser had anything to do with it.
The ornaments which the actors wore were copied from specimens in the
museums. The scenery was very fine, and when Sardanapal was burned up,
with his wives and collection of gold and silver things, the whole
stage seemed to be on fire. This almost created a panic, and would
have done so if the audience had not seen that their Majesties sat
calmly in their seats. It was very realistic. The Emperor told me
afterward in the foyer that the flames were nothing but chiffon,
lighted with electric lights, and blown up with a fan from beneath.
When the fire had done its work there was nothing left upon the stage
but red-hot coals and smoldering _débris_. It was all very well, if we
only had been spared the lugubrious man with the beard made of tight
black curls, who did the talking.
The next day the luncheon in honor of their English Majesties at the
English Ambassador's, Sir Edward Goschen, was full of emotion. King
Edward wore the uniform belonging to his German regiment, which,
besides being buttoned tightly and apparently much padded, has a high
and tight collar. He had received a deputation of most of the English
colony and already looked wearied before we went in to luncheon. This
was served in the ballroom, and was a long and elaborate affair. The
King sat opposite the Queen, and Sir Edward and Lady Goschen sat at
either end of the table. All the princes, the German nobility, and
ministers of state were present.
The King apparently had a good appetite, and talked with his neighbors
right and left and opposite, and seemed to enjoy himself. When we
re-entered the drawing-room the King lit an enormous cigar and,
seating himself on a low sofa, talked and smoked, when suddenly he
threw his head back against the sofa, as if gasping for breath. The
Queen, who was on the other side of the room, rushed instantly to the
King and quickly unbuttoned his collar and opened his coat. The two
English physicians who had come with the King were finishing luncheon
in another room. They were instantly called in, and they begged the
guests to leave the _salon_ in order that the King might have more
air. The King had not fainted, but on account of the tight collar, the
heat of the room, the big cigar, and the violent fit of coughing, it
was almost impossible for him to get his breath. The physicians helped
him up from the low sofa into a high chair, and took away the cigar;
but the King, as soon as he could speak, said, "Give me another
cigar." The physicians protested, but the King insisted upon the
cigar, which they were obliged to give him. The guests returned, and
the conversation rallied for a while, but the emotion of the few
moments before could not be easily calmed.
The King left the room quietly, hardly any one seeing him, reached the
automobile, and drove to the castle. The Queen followed him a few
moments later.
We were prepared to receive notice at any moment that the ball fixed
for that evening would be countermanded. But it was not, and at eight
o'clock--the hour one goes to court balls here--found every one
assembled. As usual, we took our places on the platform reserved for
the ladies of the _Corps Diplomatique_, and then, with the ceremonial
which I have so often described, their Majesties, preceded by the
pages and court notables, entered. The Emperor gave his arm to Queen
Alexandra, and the Empress entered with King Edward. It is customary
for the Emperor and the Empress to make a tour of the invited guests,
but this evening the royal persons stayed on the throne and did not
move during the dances.
King Edward and the Queen supped at the table of the Emperor, and
immediately afterward retired to their rooms and were seen no more.
During the whole evening they had not spoken to a single person.
The next morning their Majesties took their departure from the Lehrter
station. We went to bid them good-by. The Emperor, in speaking to me,
said, "You know, my uncle had such a fright the other night when he
saw the fire, he wanted to leave the theater; it was only when I told
him that the flames were chiffon that I could quiet him."
When King Edward bade me good-by he said, "Please remember me to
Countess Raben," and added, laughingly, "I mean the daughter."
Saint-Saëns and Massenet came to Berlin to assist at a sort of
_Congrès de musique_. Massenet was invited to lead the orchestra in
"Manon," and Saint-Saëns that of "Samson and Delilah." They accepted
an invitation to lunch at our house, and I was delighted to see them
again. They had come, they said, with prejudices on fire. They were
sure that they would dislike everything German; but, having been
begged to visit the Kaiser in his _loge_ after the performance, they
came away from the interview burning with enthusiasm. How charming the
Emperor was! How full of interest! So natural! etc., etc. They could
not find words for their admiration. That is the way with the Emperor.
He charms every one.
The first of my articles about Compiègne appeared in _Harper's
Magazine_ in the summer. At the ball at court in the following January
the Kaiser came to speak to me, his face beaming with the kindest of
smiles.
"I can't tell you how I have enjoyed your articles, I read them to
myself and read them out loud to the Empress."
"How," said I "did your Majesty discover them?"
"I have always taken _Harper's Magazine_, ever since I was a little
boy. You may imagine how astonished I was when I saw something from
your pen. Your description of Napoleon the Third is quite historical.
You gave me a new idea of him. In many ways I always regret that I
never saw him. I could have once, when I was quite small. I was with
my parents at Nice, and the Emperor came there, but I did not see
him."
BERLIN, _May 1912_.
Dear L.,--On the 14th we had just returned from a long motor trip,
arriving late in the evening. How fortunate that we did not arrive a
day later! The next morning Johan was called on the telephone. The
message was from Hamburg, to say that our King (Frederick VIII) had
died there, suddenly in the night. Johan, of course, took the first
train for Hamburg.
This was dreadful news.
The King was traveling with the Queen, Princess Thyra, Prince Gustave,
and the usual suite. His Majesty had bade them good-night and
retired--alas! not to his room, for he wished to take a stroll through
the streets of the town. It was only at two o'clock that the valet
noticed that the King had not been in his room. Then he alarmed the
_Hof-Marshale_, who, with the other gentlemen, commenced a search. At
five o'clock they found his Majesty in the _Krankenhaus_. He had
fainted in the street and had been put into a cab, in which he died.
Johan stayed all the next day in Hamburg, accompanying the Queen on
board the _Daneborg_ (the royal yacht), which had been sent to take
the King's body back to Denmark.
[Illustration:
THE EMPEROR IN 1905
From an autographed photograph given to Madame de Hegermann-Lindencrone.]
The Queen was overwhelmed with grief, but showed the greatest
self-control.
It has been a distressing time indeed for the Duchess of Cumberland.
She has lost her eldest son (killed in an automobile accident on the
way to Schwerin to see his sister, the Grand Duchess) and now it is
her brother who is taken so tragically. The young duke was very unwise
to take that particular road. We had passed over the same route, or
tried to, on our way to pay a visit to the grand-ducal pair not more
than two weeks before. Our chauffeur was appalled at the dreadful
condition of the road and advised turning back. We made a great
_détour_ and avoided an accident. The Duke was driving himself, and
the ruts in the road made the car jump so that the wheel struck him
under the chin, he lost control, and the machine struck a tree,
killing the Duke instantly. The chauffeur was saved.