"It then came to pass accidentally, that a week after, his Serene Highness Friedrich, Lord Margrave of Baden, our dearly loved brother-in-law and brother, together with his loving lady and wife, our especially beloved cousin and sister, came from Durlach to Heidelberg to visit us. Now once when we were sitting at table, his Princely Highness the Lord Margrave, thus spoke to us: 'Wherefore, my lady sister, wherefore so sorrowful?' To which we answered thus: 'My dear lord and brother, perhaps there is truly reason for our sorrow.' Whereupon our lord and husband turning quite red said, 'There is nothing new in my lady and wife being angry without any cause.' We could not then, for our honour's sake, leave such a speech unanswered, but replied, 'It is those that prefer waiting women to wives who make me angry,' &c. Thereupon our lord and husband was quite taken aback, turned pale with anger, and gave us, in the presence of the said princely personages, such a severe box on the ear, that on account of the vexatious nose-bleeding, brought on by this, we were obliged to leave the table. But his Princely Highness the Lord Margrave was mightily indignant thereat, and said to our lord and master: 'Signore Electore, troppo è questo!' Whereto our lord and husband answered: 'Mio fratello, Signore Marchese, ma cosi ha voluto.' But his Princely Highness the Lord Margrave spoke strongly to our lord and husband, and said that if he could have supposed his inconsiderate speech would have occasioned such discord, he would a thousand times rather have been silent; and if our lord and husband did not become reconciled to us before sunset, his Princely Highness was firmly determined to leave Heidelberg at an early hour on the morrow, without bidding him farewell. This worked so with my lord and husband that he promised his Princely Highness to pay us a visit, in company with him and his wife. This took place after the lapse of two hours, when our husband thus addressed us in our chamber: 'Is my treasure still angry with me?' We answered: 'I assure you, my treasure, that what happened at table gave me sufficient reason to be angry; but on account of the presence of my beloved lord and brother, and my lady and sister, to whom our discord is displeasing, I will forgive it with all my heart.' Thereupon our lord and master gave us his hand, and said, with a loving kiss, 'This shall wipe out my past delinquency,' after which they departed from our chamber. That night, however, we did not appear at supper, but sent our bedchamber woman and lord steward to make our excuses, as by reason of the necessary preparation of certain writings we could not appear. But as our husband feared we might disclose to our lord and brother what had before passed betwixt us, he came at ten o'clock in the evening, accompanied by two pages, to my chamber, and did there knock at the door. Now when we came to the door and found his Princely Highness, we were not a little amazed at this unhoped-for visit, and said: 'Why does my treasure visit us so late?' Thereupon his Princely Highness answered kindly, and sent back both the pages. But as at that moment those unseemly letters recurred to our memory, and as the consideration that we were of such high princely parentage, made it impossible to bear silently with such impropriety, we said: 'My lord and husband, I am quite resolved to abide alone till your Princely Highness resolves to deliver up a certain person into my hands, with full powers to punish the same for her past wickedness.' Our lord and husband answered: 'I should be glad at last to know who this person is; but I imagine the offence is not so great as your Princely Highness interprets it.' But we answered further: 'The offence is so great that the person can only atone for it with their blood.' 'Nay, my treasure,' said our husband, 'that verdict is too severe.' But we were minded to reveal fully to his Princely Highness the cause of our long affliction; we therefore took out of our pocket the letter which our servant had brought, and began to read it in an audible voice. Hereupon our lord and husband laughed and said: 'All a mere jest; my treasure knows right well that the Fräulein von Degenfeld has from her youth been assiduous in studying the Latin tongue, therefore I wished to try whether she was sufficiently versed in it, to answer in the aforesaid language a note prepared by me for the purpose. This she executed in the like jesting way; and we are determined to support her on account of her innocence.' We did not choose to wrangle with his Princely Highness, but said: 'We have long known how to distinguish between jest and earnest. If it please my treasure to furnish me with full proof that it was a jest I will gladly be content.' Hereupon our lord and husband answered: 'Why is so much proof required? Your Princely Highness is a woman, and has better means of examining the innocence of Degenfeld than I, in whom it would not be quite seemly. But I see well that innocent lady has lost all grace and favour with you. As, however, it is already very late, I wish my treasure to inform me whether it please her to be reconciled with me here?' We answered to this: 'I feel myself bound by virtue of my once given troth not to gainsay you in this.' But our lord and husband, with a hearty embrace, protested by all that was noble and holy, that, with the exception of this note, he had not trespassed against us, and promised yet once more, never henceforth to misbehave towards us, if we, on the other hand, would again render due obedience to his Princely Highness. All this we promised, hoping henceforth to live in peaceful wedlock, which perhaps might have come to pass if the devil had not sown his tares.
"For, three days after, when his Serene Highness the Lord Margrave of Baden had departed, a patent came to Heidelberg from your Imperial Majesty's illustrious Lord Father, Ferdinand of ever-blessed memory, whereby our lord and husband was summoned to the Imperial Diet at Ratisbon, whereto we with our lord and husband betook ourselves at the appointed time.
"We deem it unnecessary to relate what great contumely we there suffered from our lord and husband, as your Imperial Majesty beheld it for the most part with your own eyes. This caused us to tarry yet a long time at Ratisbon after the departure of his Princely Highness. But when, after the lapse of a few weeks, we returned again to Heidelberg, we signified in a friendly way through one of the nobles to our lord and husband, that we were minded to greet his Princely Highness. But our lord and husband said with great displeasure to the said nobleman: 'Tell the bold Landgravine,' thus it pleased his Princely Highness to call us, 'I will have nothing to do with any one so pernicious to the country.'
"Now when this was notified to us we did not venture to accost his Princely Highness, but straightway went through the adjoining saloon to our chamber. But scarcely had we entered therein, when forty of the Swiss guard had already established themselves in our antechamber, who were commanded to keep guard over us, and not let us go out till they received farther orders from his Princely Highness.
"Then did we learn with great anguish of heart that we, a freeborn princess, had been made a prisoner. We knew not what to do, for we could not write to our lord brother the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, because we had no confidential person left to us whom we could despatch. We had thus no opportunity of effecting anything, for whenever our servants came to or went from us, they were always searched by the guard. On this account we resolved to write ourselves to our lord and husband, and to entreat his Princely Highness to release us from this most intolerable durance. We drew up therefore the following petition to his Princely Highness, and sent the same by a noble youth to his Princely Highness while at table.
"'Most Serene Highness, and dear Lord.
"'How great annoyance I have suffered during the time which it has pleased your Princely Highness to place a prodigious garrison before my chamber, is not to be described. It moves me to remind your Princely Highness, that if you so behave to me, a poor princess, you will have to answer for it before God and the whole world. It would be well moreover to bethink you, whether it is praiseworthy to keep guard over one single weak woman, with forty well-armed halberdiers, which might be sufficiently accomplished by two or three. I cannot imagine what offence I have committed to deserve such harsh procedure. I therefore entreat your Princely Highness, for God's sake to set me at liberty. For during this time I have not been able to sleep three hours by reason of the noisy blustering and clatter of these indiscreet Swiss.
"'Your Princely Highness's faithful unto death,
"'Charlotta Palatine of the Rhine.'
"After our husband had read this writing, he commanded that all the Swiss saving four should be withdrawn, which was done forthwith, to our great content. But his Princely Highness sent us a letter, to the following tenour.