"The one thing in which the present Grand Duke is past-master is the art of compromising others without compromising himself. He made ample use of it at Berlin in 1909. Intimate with the Bülows, and a bosom friend of Eitel and Joachim, he alone could tell you the scenes in which he figured at that time. But he will never tell you, ami, just as he has never told me, as neither you nor I will ever be able to pay the price of his confidences. Why, it was his silence alone that gained him the grand-ducal crown, and may one day bring him the throne of Würtemberg. When the Empress, with quivering voice, was preaching the virtue of submission to my destiny, the honest dame was only defending the honour of two of her sons.
"The brain fever that followed the receipt of my father's telegram lasted a month, during which I hung between life and death, while Melusine and Hagen, with a devotion I shall never forget, took turns in nursing me night and day.
"At length I was convalescent. My hair had been cut off. I was thin but still pretty. One day, while I was studying in my mirror the pathetic figure I looked with the little fair curls clustering on my head, Hagen, who was on orderly duty, came in and announced Duke Frederick-Augustus.
"I was still really too ill to receive him, but I was longing for the encounter. I must confess, to my shame, that I didn't come out on top that day.
"He came in and bowed ceremoniously. His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns.
"'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.'
"His perfect ease of manner froze me. He went on:
"'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit. Tomorrow it will be nine months since the death of my regretted brother, the Grand Duke Rudolph. As the legal period of your widowhood then expires their Majesties the Emperor and Empress would be glad if you could see your way to fix a convenient date for the celebration of our marriage. They have expressed their intention of being present.'
"'Tell their Majesties, my dear brother,' I replied, 'that I will fix any date that suits their pleasure, and kindly add that I hope it will be the last time I shall give them this trouble.'
"He bowed gravely.