On the 18th of March the King of Prussia, who had meanwhile become Emperor of Germany, made his entry into Frankfort-on-the-Main, together with his son and his whole staff. The Grand Duke of Hesse and the members of his family received him there.
Prince Louis at last obtained ten days’ leave of absence, and arrived at Darmstadt on the 21st of March. The parents of the Prince had gone to meet him and his brother William a few stations beyond Darmstadt, whilst the Princess Alice awaited her husband at the Darmstadt railway station. The joy and thankfulness of that meeting can well be imagined. Darmstadt was gaily decorated in honor of the Prince’s return; and he met with an enthusiastic reception.
Prince and Princess Louis were present at Berlin on the 16th of June at the triumphal entry of the German troops on the conclusion of the peace. On the 21st of June the Prince entered Darmstadt at the head of his Hessian division. In spite of pouring rain, the town presented a most festive appearance. Later on the Prince and Princess and their children went to Seeheim (near Darmstadt), where her brother, Prince Alfred, visited them on his return from his three years’ voyage round the world. The Prince and Princess of Wales also paid their sister a visit; and Prince and Princess Louis saw much of their Russian relations, who were then staying at Jugenheim.
In August, the family went to the seaside at Blankenberghe, where they spent three weeks, and afterward went to London. They arrived at Balmoral on the 13th of September, on a visit to the Queen, whom they found suffering severely. They stayed with her till the 1st of November, but the children, who had caught the whooping cough, were sent to London sooner. Whilst at Sandringham, to which the Prince and Princess went on their way back from Balmoral, in the middle of November, the Prince of Wales was taken ill. Prince Louis had to return to Darmstadt, but the Princess remained in England, and shared the anxieties of the very dangerous and protracted illness of her brother, whom she helped to nurse. It was the same terrible fever (typhoid) which, ten years before, had ended the life of the beloved Prince Consort, and it was so severe that the worst was feared. Prince Louis returned to England on the very day when the danger was greatest, but he also was able to share in the joy and thankfulness when improvement set in upon the 14th of December. He remained over Christmas, and returned to Darmstadt before the year was at an end.
Darmstadt, January 7th.
* * * In England people are, I fear, becoming unjust toward the German troops. Such a long and bloody war must demoralize the best army; and I only say, in such a position how would the French have behaved? Many French officers say the same, and how greatly they respect the German soldier. Hundreds of French officers and two generals have broken their word of honor, and run away. I doubt, whether one in the German army would do such a thing. The French peasants, often women, murder our soldiers in their beds, and the wounded they have used too horribly many a time. Is it a wonder, then, when the men let a feeling of revenge lay hold of them? A guerilla war is always horrid, and no words can say how all Germans feel and deplore the present phase of the war! I hope and trust that the end may not be far distant.
One of the poor wounded soldiers whom I gave your cape to is dying, and the poor boy won’t part from it for an instant, and holds it tight round himself.
Louis continues at Orleans, where they have entrenched themselves, and await with impatience news from Paris which must be of great influence for the continuation or ending of the war.
My days fly past. The children take much of my time—so, too, the house, my two wounded in the house, and the hospitals, to one of which I go daily.
Darmstadt, January 14th.