CHAPTER XII. TRAGICAL HISTORY OF PRINCESS OF X----
More than twenty years after the events described in the past chapters,I was walking with my Lady Lyndon in the Rotunda at Ranelagh. It was inthe year 1790; the emigration from France had already commenced, theold counts and marquises were thronging to our shores: not starving andmiserable, as one saw them a few years afterwards, but unmolested asyet, and bringing with them some token of their national splendour.I was walking with Lady Lyndon, who, proverbially jealous and alwaysanxious to annoy me, spied out a foreign lady who was evidentlyremarking me, and of course asked who was the hideous fat Dutchwoman whowas leering at me so? I knew her not in the least. I felt I had seen thelady's face somewhere (it was now, as my wife said, enormously fat andbloated); but I did not recognise in the bearer of that face one who hadbeen among the most beautiful women in Germany in her day.
It was no other than Madame de Liliengarten, the mistress, or as somesaid the morganatic wife, of the old Duke of X----, Duke Victor'sfather. She had left X----a few months after the elder Duke's demise,had gone to Paris, as I heard, where some unprincipled adventurerhad married her for her money; but, however, had always retained herquasi-royal title, and pretended, amidst the great laughter of theParisians who frequented her house, to the honours and ceremonial of asovereign's widow. She had a throne erected in her state-room, and wasstyled by her servants and those who wished to pay court to her,or borrow money from her, 'Altesse.' Report said she drank rathercopiously--certainly her face bore every mark of that habit, andhad lost the rosy, frank, good-humoured beauty which had charmed thesovereign who had ennobled her.
Although she did not address me in the circle at Ranelagh, I was at thisperiod as well known as the Prince of Wales, and she had no difficultyin finding my house in Berkeley Square; whither a note was next morningdespatched to me. 'An old friend of Monsieur de Balibari,' it stated(in extremely bad French), 'is anxious to see the Chevalier again andto talk over old happy times. Rosina de Liliengarten (can it be thatRedmond Balibari has forgotten her?) will be at her house in LeicesterFields all the morning, looking for one who would never have passed herby TWENTY YEARS ago.'
Rosina of Liliengarten it was indeed--such a full-blown Rosina I haveseldom seen. I found her in a decent first-floor in Leicester Fields(the poor soul fell much lower afterwards) drinking tea, which hadsomehow a very strong smell of brandy in it; and after salutations,which would be more tedious to recount than they were to perform, andafter further straggling conversation, she gave me briefly thefollowing narrative of the events in X----, which I may well entitle the'Princess's Tragedy.'
'You remember Monsieur de Geldern, the Police Minister. He was of Dutchextraction, and, what is more, of a family of Dutch Jews. Althougheverybody was aware of this blot in his scutcheon, he was mortally angryif ever his origin was suspected; and made up for his fathers' errorsby outrageous professions of religion, and the most austere practicesof devotion. He visited church every morning, confessed once a week, andhated Jews and Protestants as much as an inquisitor could do. He neverlost an opportunity of proving his sincerity, by persecuting one or theother whenever occasion fell in his way.
'He hated the Princess mortally; for her Highness in some whim hadinsulted him with his origin, caused pork to be removed from before himat table, or injured him in some such silly way; and he had a violentanimosity to the old Baron de Magny, both in his capacity of Protestant,and because the latter in some haughty mood had publicly turned his backupon him as a sharper and a spy. Perpetual quarrels were taking placebetween them in council; where it was only the presence of hisaugust masters that restrained the Baron from publicly and frequentlyexpressing the contempt which he felt for the officer of police.
'Thus Geldern had hatred as one reason for ruining the Princess, and itis my belief he had a stronger motive still--interest. You remember whomthe Duke married, after the death of his first wife?--a princess of thehouse of F----. Geldern built his fine palace two years after, and, as Ifeel convinced, with the money which was paid to him by the F----familyfor forwarding the match.
'To go to Prince Victor, and report to his Highness a case whicheverybody knew, was not by any means Geldern's desire. He knew the manwould be ruined for ever in the Prince's estimation who carried himintelligence so disastrous. His aim, therefore, was to leave the matterto explain itself to his Highness; and, when the time was ripe, he castabout for a means of carrying his point. He had spies in the houses ofthe elder and younger Magny; but this you know, of course, from yourexperience of Continental customs. We had all spies over each other.Your black (Zamor, I think, was his name) used to give me reports everymorning; and I used to entertain the dear old Duke with stories of youand your uncle practising picquet and dice in the morning, and with yourquarrels and intrigues. We levied similar contributions on everybodyin X----, to amuse the dear old man. Monsieur de Magny's valet used toreport both to me and Monsieur de Geldern.
'I knew of the fact of the emerald being in pawn; and it was out of myexchequer that the poor Princess drew the funds which were spent uponthe odious Lowe, and the still more worthless young Chevalier. How thePrincess could trust the latter as she persisted in doing, is beyond mycomprehension; but there is no infatuation like that of a woman inlove: and you will remark, my dear Monsieur de Balibari, that our sexgenerally fix upon a bad man.'
'Not always, madam,' I interposed; 'your humble servant has created manysuch attachments.'
'I do not see that that affects the truth of the proposition,' saidthe old lady drily, and continued her narrative. 'The Jew who held theemerald had had many dealings with the Princess, and at last was offereda bribe of such magnitude, that he determined to give up the pledge. Hecommitted the inconceivable imprudence of bringing the emerald with himto X----, and waited on Magny, who was provided by the Princess withmoney to redeem the pledge, and was actually ready to pay it.'
'Their interview took place in Magny's own apartments, when his valetoverheard every word of their conversation. The young man, who wasalways utterly careless of money when it was in his possession, wasso easy in offering it, that Lowe rose in his demands, and had theconscience to ask double the sum for which he had previously stipulated.
'At this the Chevalier lost all patience, fell on the wretch and was forkilling him; when the opportune valet rushed in and saved him. The manhad heard every word of the conversation between the disputants, andthe Jew ran flying with terror into his arms; and Magny, a quick andpassionate, but not a violent man, bade the servant lead the villaindownstairs, and thought no more of him.
'Perhaps he was not sorry to be rid of him, and to have in hispossession a large sum of money, four thousand ducats, with which hecould tempt fortune once more; as you know he did at your table thatnight.'
'Your ladyship went halves, madam,' said I; 'and you know how little Iwas the better for my winnings.'
'The man conducted the trembling Israelite out of the palace, and nosooner had seen him lodged at the house of one of his brethren, wherehe was accustomed to put up, than he went away to the office of hisExcellency the Minister of Police, and narrated every word of theconversation which had taken place between the Jew and his master.
'Geldern expressed the greatest satisfaction at his spy's prudence andfidelity. He gave him a purse of twenty ducats, and promised to providefor him handsomely: as great men do sometimes promise to reward theirinstruments; but you, Monsieur de Balibari, know how seldom thosepromises are kept. "Now, go and find out," said Monsieur de Geldern,"at what time the Israelite proposes to return home again, or whether hewill repent and take the money." The man went on this errand. Meanwhile,to make matters sure, Geldern arranged a play-party at my house,inviting you thither with your bank, as you may remember; and findingmeans, at the same time, to let Maxime de Magny know that there wasto be faro at Madame de Liliengarten's. It was an invitation the poorfellow never neglected.'
I remembered the facts, and listened on, amazed at the artifice of the
infernal Minister of Police.
'The spy came back from his message to Lowe, and stated that he had madeinquiries among the servants of the house where the Heidelberg bankerlodged, and that it was the latter's intention to leave X----thatafternoon. He travelled by himself, riding an old horse, exceedinglyhumbly attired, after the manner of his people.
'"Johann," said the Minister, clapping the pleased spy upon theshoulder, "I am more and more pleased with you. I have been thinking,since you left me, of your intelligence, and the faithful manner inwhich you have served me; and shall soon find an occasion to place youaccording to your merits. Which way does this Israelitish scoundreltake?"
'"He goes to R----to-night."
'"And must pass by the Kaiserwald. Are you a man of courage, JohannKerner?"
'"Will your Excellency try me?" said the man, his eyes glittering: "Iserved through the Seven Years' War, and was never known to fail there."
'"Now, listen. The emerald must be taken from that Jew: in the verykeeping it the scoundrel has committed high treason. To the man whobrings me that emerald I swear I will give five hundred louis. Youunderstand why it is necessary that it should be restored to herHighness. I need say no more."
'"You shall have it to-night, sir," said the man. "Of course yourExcellency will hold me harmless in case of accident."
'"Psha!" answered the Minister; "I will pay you half the moneybeforehand; such is my confidence in you. Accident's impossible if youtake your measures properly. There are four leagues of wood; the Jewrides slowly. It will be night before he can reach, let us say, theold Powder-Mill in the wood. What's to prevent you from putting arope across the road, and dealing with him there? Be back with methis evening at supper. If you meet any of the patrol, say 'foxes areloose,'--that's the word for to-night. They will let you pass themwithout questions."
'The man went off quite charmed with his commission; and when Magny waslosing his money at our faro-table, his servant waylaid the Jew at thespot named the Powder-Mill, in the Kaiserwald. The Jew's horse stumbledover a rope which had been placed across the road; and, as the riderfell groaning to the ground, Johann Kerner rushed out on him, masked,and pistol in hand, and demanded his money. He had no wish to kill theJew, I believe, unless his resistance should render extreme measuresnecessary.
'Nor did he commit any such murder; for, as the yelling Jew roared formercy, and his assailant menaced him with a pistol, a squad of patrolcame up, and laid hold of the robber and the wounded man.
'Kerner swore an oath. "You have come too soon," said he to the sergeantof the police. "FOXES ARE LOOSE." "Some are caught," said the sergeant,quite unconcerned; and bound the fellow's hands with the rope which hehad stretched across the road to entrap the Jew. He was placed behinda policeman on a horse; Lowe was similarly accommodated, and theparty thus came back into the town as the night fell. 'They were takenforthwith to the police quarter; and, as the chief happened to be there,they were examined by his Excellency in person. Both were rigorouslysearched; the Jew's papers and cases taken from him: the jewel wasfound in a private pocket. As for the spy, the Minister, looking at himangrily, said, "Why, this is the servant of the Chevalier de Magny, oneof her Highness's equerries!" and without hearing a word in exculpationfrom the poor frightened wretch, ordered him into close confinement.
'Calling for his horse, he then rode to the Prince's apartments at thepalace, and asked for an instant audience. When admitted, he producedthe emerald. "This jewel," said he, "has been found on the person of aHeidelberg Jew, who has been here repeatedly of late, and has had manydealings with her Highness's equerry, the Chevalier de Magny. Thisafternoon the Chevalier's servant came from his master's lodgings,accompanied by the Hebrew; was heard to make inquiries as to the routethe man intended to take on his way homewards; followed him, or precededhim rather, and was found in the act of rifling his victim by my policein the Kaiserwald. The man will confess nothing; but, on being searched,a large sum in gold was found on his person; and though it is with theutmost pain that I can bring myself to entertain such an opinion, and toimplicate a gentleman of the character and name of Monsieur de Magny,I do submit that our duty is to have the Chevalier examined relative tothe affair. As Monsieur de Magny is in her Highness's private service,and in her confidence I have heard, I would not venture to apprehend himwithout your Highness's permission."
'The Prince's Master of the Horse, a friend of the old Baron deMagny, who was present at the interview, no sooner heard the strangeintelligence than he hastened away to the old general with the dreadfulnews of his grandson's supposed crime. Perhaps his Highness himselfwas not unwilling that his old friend and tutor in arms should have thechance of saving his family from disgrace; at all events, Monsieur deHengst, the Master of the Horse, was permitted to go off to the Baronundisturbed, and break to him the intelligence of the accusation pendingover the unfortunate Chevalier.
'It is possible that he expected some such dreadful catastrophe, for,after hearing Hengst's narrative (as the latter afterwards told me), heonly said, "Heaven's will be done!" for some time refused to stir astep in the matter, and then only by the solicitation of his friendwas induced to write the letter which Maxime de Magny received at ourplay-table.
'Whilst he was there, squandering the Princess's money, a police visitwas paid to his apartments, and a hundred proofs, not of his guilt withrespect to the robbery, but of his guilty connection with the Princess,were discovered there,--tokens of her giving, passionate lettersfrom her, copies of his own correspondence to his young friends atParis,--all of which the Police Minister perused, and carefully puttogether under seal for his Highness, Prince Victor. I have no doubt heperused them, for, on delivering them to the Hereditary Prince, Geldernsaid that, IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS HIGHNESS'S ORDERS, he had collectedthe Chevalier's papers; but he need not say that, on his honour, he(Geldern) himself had never examined the documents. His difference withMessieurs de Magny was known; he begged his Highness to employ any otherofficial person in the judgment of the accusation brought against theyoung Chevalier.
'All these things were going on while the Chevalier was at play. A runof luck--you had great luck in those days, Monsieur de Balibari--wasagainst him. He stayed and lost his 4000 ducats. He received his uncle'snote, and such was the infatuation of the wretched gambler, that, onreceipt of it, he went down to the courtyard, where the horse was inwaiting, absolutely took the money which the poor old gentleman hadplaced in the saddle-holsters, brought it upstairs, played it, and lostit; and when he issued from the room to fly, it was too late: hewas placed in arrest at the bottom of my staircase, as you were uponentering your own home.
'Even when he came in under the charge of the soldiery sent to arresthim, the old General, who was waiting, was overjoyed to see him, andflung himself into the lad's arms, and embraced him: it was said,for the first time in many years. "He is here, gentlemen," he sobbedout,--"thank God he is not guilty of the robbery!" and then sank back ina chair in a burst of emotion; painful, it was said by those present,to witness on the part of a man so brave, and known to be so cold andstern.
'"Robbery!" said the young man. "I swear before Heaven I am guilty ofnone!" and a scene of almost touching reconciliation passed betweenthem, before the unhappy young man was led from the guard-house into theprison which he was destined never to quit.
'That night the Duke looked over the papers which Geldern had brought tohim. It was at a very early stage of the perusal, no doubt, that he gaveorders for your arrest; for you were taken at midnight, Magny at teno'clock; after which time the old Baron de Magny had seen his Highness,protesting of his grandson's innocence, and the Prince had received himmost graciously and kindly. His Highness said he had no doubt theyoung man was innocent; his birth and his blood rendered such a crimeimpossible; but suspicion was too strong against him: he was known tohave been that day closeted with the Jew; to have received a very largesum of money which he squandered at play, and of which the Hebrew had,doubtless, been the lender,--to have despatched
his servant after him,who inquired the hour of the Jew's departure, lay in wait for him, andrifled him. Suspicion was so strong against the Chevalier, that commonjustice required his arrest; and, meanwhile, until he cleared himself,he should be kept in not dishonourable durance, and every regard hadfor his name, and the services of his honourable grandfather. Withthis assurance, and with a warm grasp of the hand, the Prince left oldGeneral de Magny that night; and the veteran retired to rest almostconsoled, and confident in Maxime's eventual and immediate release.
'But in the morning, before daybreak, the Prince, who had been readingpapers all night, wildly called to the page, who slept in the nextroom across the door, bade him get horses, which were always kept inreadiness in the stables, and, flinging a parcel of letters into abox, told the page to follow him on horseback with these. The young man(Monsieur de Weissenborn) told this to a young lady who was then of myhousehold, and who is now Madame de Weissenborn, and a mother of a scoreof children.
'The page described that never was such a change seen as in his augustmaster in the course of that single night. His eyes were bloodshot, hisface livid, his clothes were hanging loose about him, and he whohad always made his appearance on parade as precisely dressed as anysergeant of his troops, might have been seen galloping through thelonely streets at early dawn without a hat, his unpowdered hairstreaming behind him like a madman.
'The page, with the box of papers, clattered after his master,--it wasno easy task to follow him; and they rode from the palace to the town,and through it to the General's quarter. The sentinels at the door werescared at the strange figure that rushed up to the General's gate, and,not knowing him, crossed bayonets, and refused him admission. "Fools,"said Weissenborn, "it is the Prince!" And, jangling at the bell as iffor an alarm of fire, the door was at length opened by the porter, andhis Highness ran up to the Generals bedchamber, followed by the pagewith the box.
'"Magny--Magny," roared the Prince, thundering at the closed door, "getup!" And to the queries of the old man from within, answered, "It isI--Victor--the Prince!--get up!" And presently the door was opened bythe General in his ROBE-DE-CHAMBRE, and the Prince entered. The pagebrought in the box, and was bidden to wait without, which he did; butthere led from Monsieur de Magny's bedroom into his antechamber twodoors, the great one which formed the entrance into his room, and asmaller one which led, as the fashion is with our houses abroad, intothe closet which communicates with the alcove where the bed is. The doorof this was found by M. de Weissenborn to be open, and the young manwas thus enabled to hear and see everything which occurred within theapartment.
'The General, somewhat nervously, asked what was the reason of so earlya visit from his Highness; to which the Prince did not for a whilereply, farther than by staring at him rather wildly, and pacing up anddown the room.
'At last he said, "Here is the cause!" dashing his fist on the box; and,as he had forgotten to bring the key with him, he went to the door for amoment, saying, "Weissenborn perhaps has it;" but seeing over the stoveone of the General's couteaux de chasse, he took it down, and said,"That will do," and fell to work to burst the red trunk open with theblade of the forest knife. The point broke, and he gave an oath, butcontinued haggling on with the broken blade, which was better suitedto his purpose than the long pointed knife, and finally succeeded inwrenching open the lid of the chest.
'"What is the matter?" said he, laughing. "Here's the matter;--readthat!--here's more matter, read that!--here's more--no, not that; that'ssomebody else's picture--but here's hers! Do you know that, Magny? Mywife's--the Princess's! Why did you and your cursed race ever come outof France, to plant your infernal wickedness wherever your feet fell,and to ruin honest German homes? What have you and yours ever had frommy family but confidence and kindness? We gave you a home when youhad none, and here's our reward!" and he flung a parcel of papers downbefore the old General; who saw the truth at once;--he had known it longbefore, probably, and sank down on his chair, covering his face.
'The Prince went on gesticulating, and shrieking almost. "If a maninjured you so, Magny, before you begot the father of that gamblinglying villain yonder, you would have known how to revenge yourself. Youwould have killed him! Yes, would have killed him. But who's to helpme to my revenge? I've no equal. I can't meet that dog of aFrenchman,--that pimp from Versailles,--and kill him, as if he hadplayed the traitor to one of his own degree."
'"The blood of Maxime de Magny," said the old gentleman proudly, "is asgood as that of any prince in Christendom."
'"Can I take it?" cried the Prince; "you know I can't. I can't have theprivilege of any other gentleman in Europe. What am I to do? Look here,Magny: I was wild when I came here; I didn't know what to do. You'veserved me for thirty years; you've saved my life twice: they are allknaves and harlots about my poor old father here--no honest men orwomen--you are the only one--you saved my life; tell me what am I todo?" Thus from insulting Monsieur de Magny, the poor distracted Princefell to supplicating him; and, at last, fairly flung himself down, andburst out in an agony of tears.
'Old Magny, one of the most rigid and cold of men on common occasions,when he saw this outbreak of passion on the Prince's part, became, as myinformant has described to me, as much affected as his master. Theold man from being cold and high, suddenly fell, as it were, intothe whimpering querulousness of extreme old age. He lost all sense ofdignity; he went down on his knees, and broke out into all sorts of wildincoherent attempts at consolation; so much so, that Weissenborn said hecould not bear to look at the scene, and actually turned away from thecontemplation of it.
'But, from what followed in a few days, we may guess the results of thelong interview. The Prince, when he came away from the conversation withhis old servant, forgot his fatal box of papers and sent the page backfor them. The General was on his knees praying in the room when theyoung man entered, and only stirred and looked wildly round as the otherremoved the packet. The Prince rode away to his hunting-lodge at threeleagues from X----, and three days after that Maxime de Magny died inprison; having made a confession that he was engaged in an attempt torob the Jew, and that he had made away with himself, ashamed of hisdishonour.
'But it is not known that it was the General himself who took hisgrandson poison: it was said even that he shot him in the prison. This,however, was not the case. General de Magny carried his grandson thedraught which was to carry him out of the world; represented to thewretched youth that his fate was inevitable; that it would be public anddisgraceful unless he chose to anticipate the punishment, and so lefthim. But IT WAS NOT OF HIS OWN ACCORD, and not until he had used EVERYmeans of escape, as you shall hear, that the unfortunate being's lifewas brought to an end.
'As for General de Magny, he quite fell into imbecility a short timeafter his grandson's death, and my honoured Duke's demise. After hisHighness the Prince married the Princess Mary of F----, as they werewalking in the English park together they once met old Magny riding inthe sun in the easy chair, in which he was carried commonly abroadafter his paralytic fits. "This is my wife, Magny," said the Princeaffectionately, taking the veteran's hand; and he added, turning to hisPrincess, "General de Magny saved my life during the Seven Years' War."
'"What, you've taken her back again?" said the old man. "I wish you'dsend me back my poor Maxime." He had quite forgotten the death of thepoor Princess Olivia, and the Prince, looking very dark indeed, passedaway.
'And now,' said Madame de Liliengarten, 'I have only one more gloomystory to relate to you--the death of the Princess Olivia. It is evenmore horrible than the tale I have just told you.' With which prefacethe old lady resumed her narrative.
'The kind weak Princess's fate was hastened, if not occasioned, by thecowardice of Magny. He found means to communicate with her from hisprison, and her Highness, who was not in open disgrace yet (for theDuke, out of regard to the family, persisted in charging Magny with onlyrobbery), made the most desperate efforts to relieve him, and to bribethe gaolers to effect his escape. She was so
wild that she lost allpatience and prudence in the conduct of any schemes she may have hadfor Magny's liberation; for her husband was inexorable, and caused theChevalier's prison to be too strictly guarded for escape to be possible.She offered the State jewels in pawn to the Court banker; who of coursewas obliged to decline the transaction. She fell down on her knees, itis said, to Geldern, the Police Minister, and offered him Heaven knowswhat as a bribe. Finally, she came screaming to my poor dear Duke, who,with his age, diseases, and easy habits, was quite unfit for scenes ofso violent a nature; and who, in consequence of the excitement createdin his august bosom by her frantic violence and grief, had a fitin which I very nigh lost him. That his dear life was brought to anuntimely end by these transactions I have not the slightest doubt; forthe Strasbourg pie, of which they said he died, never, I am sure,could have injured him, but for the injury which his dear gentle heartreceived from the unusual occurrences in which he was forced to take ashare.
'All her Highness's movements were carefully, though not ostensibly,watched by her husband, Prince Victor; who, waiting upon his augustfather, sternly signified to him that if his Highness (MY Duke) shoulddare to aid the Princess in her efforts to release Magny, he, PrinceVictor, would publicly accuse the Princess and her paramour of hightreason, and take measures with the Diet for removing his father fromthe throne, as incapacitated to reign. Hence interposition on our partwas vain, and Magny was left to his fate.
'It came, as you are aware, very suddenly. Geldern, Police Minister,Hengst, Master of the Horse, and the colonel of the Prince's guard,waited upon the young man in his prison two days after his grandfatherhad visited him there and left behind him the phial of poison which thecriminal had not the courage to use. And Geldern signified to the youngman that unless he took of his own accord the laurelwater provided bythe elder Magny, more violent means of death would be instantly employedupon him, and that a file of grenadiers was in waiting in thecourtyard to despatch him. Seeing this, Magny, with the most dreadfulself-abasement, after dragging himself round the room on his kneesfrom one officer to another, weeping and screaming with terror, at lastdesperately drank off the potion, and was a corpse in a few minutes.Thus ended this wretched young man.
'His death was made public in the COURT GAZETTE two days after, theparagraph stating that Monsieur de M----, struck with remorse for havingattempted the murder of the Jew, had put himself to death by poison inprison; and a warning was added to all young noblemen of the duchy toavoid the dreadful sin of gambling, which had been the cause of theyoung man's ruin, and had brought upon the grey hairs of one of thenoblest and most honourable of the servants of the Duke irretrievablesorrow.
'The funeral was conducted with decent privacy, the General de Magnyattending it. The carriages of the two Dukes and all the first peopleof the Court made their calls upon the General afterwards. He attendedparade as usual the next day on the Arsenal-Place, and Duke Victor, whohad been inspecting the building, came out of it leaning on the braveold warrior's arm. He was particularly gracious to the old man, andtold his officers the oft-repeated story how at Rosbach, when theX----contingent served with the troops of the unlucky Soubise, theGeneral had thrown himself in the way of a French dragoon, who waspressing hard upon his Highness in the rout, had received the blowintended for his master, and killed the assailant. And he alluded tothe family motto of "Magny sans tache," and said, "It had been alwaysso with his gallant friend and tutor in arms." This speech affected allpresent very much; with the exception of the old General, who only bowedand did not speak: but when he went home he was heard muttering "Magnysans tache, Magny sans tache!" and was attacked with paralysis thatnight, from which he never more than partially recovered.
'The news of Maxime's death had somehow been kept from the Princessuntil now: a GAZETTE even being printed without the paragraph containingthe account of his suicide; but it was at length, I know not how, madeknown to her. And when she heard it, her ladies tell me, she screamedand fell, as if struck dead; then sat up wildly and raved like amadwoman, and was then carried to her bed, where her physician attendedher, and where she lay of a brain-fever. All this while the Prince usedto send to make inquiries concerning her; and from his giving ordersthat his Castle of Schlangenfels should be prepared and furnished, Imake no doubt it was his intention to send her into confinement thither:as had been done with the unhappy sister of His Britannic Majesty atZell.
'She sent repeatedly to demand an interview with his Highness; which thelatter declined, saying that he would communicate with her Highness whenher health was sufficiently recovered. To one of her passionate lettershe sent back for reply a packet, which, when opened, was found tocontain the emerald that had been the cause round which all this darkintrigue moved.
'Her Highness at this time became quite frantic; vowed in the presenceof all her ladies that one lock of her darling Maxime's hair was moreprecious to her than all the jewels in the world: rang for her carriage,and said she would go and kiss his tomb; proclaimed the murderedmartyr's innocence, and called down the punishment of Heaven, the wrathof her family, upon his assassin. The Prince, on hearing these speeches(they were all, of course, regularly brought to him), is said to havegiven one of his dreadful looks (which I remember now), and to havesaid, "This cannot last much longer."
'All that day and the next the Princess Olivia passed in dictatingthe most passionate letters to the Prince her father, to the Kings ofFrance, Naples, and Spain, her kinsmen, and to all other branches of herfamily, calling upon them in the most incoherent terms to protect heragainst the butcher and assassin her husband, assailing his person inthe maddest terms of reproach, and at the same time confessing herlove for the murdered Magny. It was in vain that those ladies who werefaithful to her pointed out to her the inutility of these letters, thedangerous folly of the confessions which they made; she insistedupon writing them, and used to give them to her second robe-woman, aFrenchwoman (her Highness always affectioned persons of that nation),who had the key of her cassette, and carried every one of these epistlesto Geldern.
'With the exception that no public receptions were held, the ceremony ofthe Princess's establishment went on as before. Her ladies were allowedto wait upon her and perform their usual duties about her person.The only men admitted were, however, her servants, her physician andchaplain; and one day when she wished to go into the garden, a heyduc,who kept the door, intimated to her Highness that the Prince's orderswere that she should keep her apartments.
'They abut, as you remember, upon the landing of the marble staircaseof Schloss X----; the entrance to Prince Victor's suite of rooms beingopposite the Princess's on the same landing. This space is large, filledwith sofas and benches, and the gentlemen and officers who waited uponthe Duke used to make a sort of antechamber of the landing-place, andpay their court to his Highness there, as he passed out, at eleveno'clock, to parade. At such a time, the heyducs within the Princess'ssuite of rooms used to turn out with their halberts and present toPrince Victor--the same ceremony being performed on his own side, whenpages came out and announced the approach of his Highness. The pagesused to come out and say, "The Prince, gentlemen!" and the drums beat inthe hall, and the gentlemen rose, who were waiting on the benches thatran along the balustrade.
'As if fate impelled her to her death, one day the Princess, as herguards turned out, and she was aware that the Prince was standing, aswas his wont, on the landing, conversing with his gentlemen (in theold days he used to cross to the Princess's apartment and kiss herhand)--the Princess, who had been anxious all the morning, complainingof heat, insisting that all the doors of the apartments should be leftopen; and giving tokens of an insanity which I think was now evident,rushed wildly at the doors when the guards passed out, flung them open,and before a word could be said, or her ladies could follow her, wasin presence of Duke Victor, who was talking as usual on the landing:placing herself between him and the stair, she began apostrophising himwith frantic vehemence:--
'"Take notice, gentlemen!" she
screamed out, "that this man is amurderer and a liar; that he lays plots for honourable gentlemen, andkills them in prison! Take notice, that I too am in prison, and fear thesame fate: the same butcher who killed Maxime de Magny, may, any night,put the knife to my throat. I appeal to you, and to all the kings ofEurope, my Royal kinsmen. I demand to be set free from this tyrantand villain, this liar and traitor! I adjure you all, as gentlemen ofhonour, to carry these letters to my relatives, and say from whom youhad them!" and with this the unhappy lady began scattering letters aboutamong the astonished crowd.
'"LET NO MAN STOOP!" cried the Prince, in a voice of thunder. "Madame deGleim, you should have watched your patient better. Call the Princess'sphysicians: her Highness's brain is affected. Gentlemen, have thegoodness to retire." And the Prince stood on the landing as thegentlemen went down the stairs, saying fiercely to the guard, "Soldier,if she moves, strike with your halbert!" on which the man brought thepoint of his weapon to the Princess's breast; and the lady, frightened,shrank back and re-entered her apartments. "Now, Monsieur deWeissenborn," said the Prince, "pick up all those papers;" and thePrince went into his own apartments, preceded by his pages, and neverquitted them until he had seen every one of the papers burnt.
'The next day the COURT GAZETTE contained a bulletin signed by the threephysicians, stating that "her Highness the Hereditary Princess labouredunder inflammation of the brain, and had passed a restless and disturbednight." Similar notices were issued day after day. The services of allher ladies, except two, were dispensed with. Guards were placed withinand without her doors; her windows were secured, so that escape fromthem was impossible: and you know what took place ten days after. Thechurch-bells were ringing all night, and the prayers of the faithfulasked for a person IN EXTREMIS. A GAZETTE appeared in the morning, edgedwith black, and stating that the high and mighty Princess OliviaMaria Ferdinanda, consort of His Serene Highness Victor Louis Emanuel,Hereditary Prince of X----, had died in the evening of the 24th ofJanuary 1769.
'But do you know HOW she died, sir? That, too, is a mystery.Weissenborn, the page, was concerned in this dark tragedy; and thesecret was so dreadful, that never, believe me, till Prince Victor'sdeath, did I reveal it.
'After the fatal ESCLANDRE which the Princess had made, the Princesent for Weissenborn, and binding him by the most solemn adjuration tosecrecy (he only broke it to his wife many years after: indeed, there isno secret in the world that women cannot know if they will), despatchedhim on the following mysterious commission.
'"There lives," said his Highness, "on the Kehl side of the river,opposite to Strasbourg, a man whose residence you will easily findout from his name, which is MONSIEUR DE STRASBOURG. You will make yourinquiries concerning him quietly, and without occasioning any remark;perhaps you had better go into Strasbourg for the purpose, where theperson is quite well known. You will take with you any comrade on whomyou can perfectly rely: the lives of both, remember, depend on yoursecrecy. You will find out some period when MONSIEUR DE STRASBOURG isalone, or only in company of the domestic who lives with him (I myselfvisited the man by accident on my return from Paris five years since,and hence am induced to send for him now, in my present emergency). Youwill have your carriage waiting at his door at night; and you and yourcomrade will enter his house masked; and present him with a purse ofa hundred louis; promising him double that sum on his return from hisexpedition. If he refuse, you must use force and bring him; menacing himwith instant death should he decline to follow you. You will place himin the carriage with the blinds drawn, one or other of you neverlosing sight of him the whole way, and threatening him with death if hediscover himself or cry out. You will lodge him in the old Tower here,where a room shall be prepared for him; and his work being done, youwill restore him to his home with the same speed and secrecy with whichyou brought him from it."
'Such were the mysterious orders Prince Victor gave his page; andWeissenborn, selecting for his comrade in the expedition LieutenantBartenstein, set out on his strange journey.
'All this while the palace was hushed, as if in mourning, the bulletinsin the COURT GAZETTE appeared, announcing the continuance of thePrincess's malady; and though she had but few attendants, strangeand circumstantial stories were told regarding the progress of hercomplaint. She was quite wild. She had tried to kill herself. Shehad fancied herself to be I don't know how many different characters.Expresses were sent to her family informing them of her state, andcouriers despatched PUBLICLY to Vienna and Paris to procure theattendance of physicians skilled in treating diseases of the brain.That pretended anxiety was all a feint: it was never intended that thePrincess should recover.
'The day on which Weissenborn and Bartenstein returned from theirexpedition, it was announced that her Highness the Princess was muchworse; that night the report through the town was that she was at theagony: and that night the unfortunate creature was endeavouring to makeher escape.
'She had unlimited confidence in the French chamber-woman who attendedher, and between her and this woman the plan of escape was arranged. ThePrincess took her jewels in a casket; a private door, opening fromone of her rooms and leading into the outer gate, it was said, ofthe palace, was discovered for her: and a letter was brought to her,purporting to be from the Duke, her father-in-law, and stating that acarriage and horses had been provided, and would take her to B----: theterritory where she might communicate with her family and be safe.
'The unhappy lady, confiding in her guardian, set out on the expedition.The passages wound through the walls of the modern part of the palaceand abutted in effect at the old Owl Tower, as it was called, on theouter wall: the tower was pulled down afterwards, and for good reason.
'At a certain place the candle, which the chamberwoman was carrying,went out; and the Princess would have screamed with terror, but her handwas seized, and a voice cried "Hush!" The next minute a man in amask (it was the Duke himself) rushed forward, gagged her with ahandkerchief, her hands and legs were bound, and she was carriedswooning with terror into a vaulted room, where she was placed by aperson there waiting, and tied in an arm-chair. The same mask who hadgagged her, came and bared her neck and said, "It had best be done nowshe has fainted."
'Perhaps it would have been as well; for though she recovered from herswoon, and her confessor, who was present, came forward and endeavouredto prepare her for the awful deed which was about to be done upon her,and for the state into which she was about to enter, when she came toherself it was only to scream like a maniac, to curse the Duke as abutcher and tyrant, and to call upon Magny, her dear Magny.
'At this the Duke said, quite calmly, "May God have mercy on her sinfulsoul!" He, the confessor, and Geldern, who were present, went down ontheir knees; and, as his Highness dropped his handkerchief, Weissenbornfell down in a fainting fit; while MONSIEUR DE STRASBOURG, taking theback hair in his hand, separated the shrieking head of Olivia from themiserable sinful body. May Heaven have mercy upon her soul!'
*****
This was the story told by Madame de Liliengarten, and the reader willhave no difficulty in drawing from it that part which affected myselfand my uncle; who, after six weeks of arrest, were set at liberty, butwith orders to quit the duchy immediately: indeed, with an escort ofdragoons to conduct us to the frontier. What property we had, we wereallowed to sell and realise in money; but none of our play debts werepaid to us: and all my hopes of the Countess Ida were thus at an end.
When Duke Victor came to the throne, which he did when, six monthsafter, apoplexy carried off the old sovereign his father, all the goodold usages of X----were given up,--play forbidden; the opera and balletsent to the right-about; and the regiments which the old Duke hadsold recalled from their foreign service: with them came my Countess'sbeggarly cousin the ensign, and he married her. I don't know whetherthey were happy or not. It is certain that a woman of such a poor spiritdid not merit any very high degree of pleasure.
The now reigning Duke of X----himself married four years after his firstwife's demi
se, and Geldern, though no longer Police Minister, built thegrand house of which Madame de Liliengarten spoke. What became ofthe minor actors in the great tragedy, who knows? Only MONSIEUR DESTRASBOURG was restored to his duties. Of the rest--the Jew, thechamber-woman, the spy on Magny--I know nothing. Those sharp tools withwhich great people cut out their enterprises are generally broken in theusing: nor did I ever hear that their employers had much regard for themin their ruin.