On a siding in the Glotzbourg station stood a private car, which had been placed at the service of the Grand Duchess, waiting to be connected with the Paris express from Berlin.
Inside, the Duchess, dressed in a quiet traveling costume, sat talking to Prince Gudulfin. The young man was pale and anxious:
"Your orders have been carried out, Madame, are you satisfied?"
The pseudo Grand Duchess thanked the Prince with a softened look, and the latter continued in a low voice:
"Madame, you know that my followers are prepared to try a coup d'état—for pity's sake accept the homage of my love, give me a word of hope, and I will overthrow the present dynasty and mount the throne myself with you as my Queen."
"That is nothing but a mad dream, Prince ... something impossible to happen ... we have not the right even to think of it."
"You are more than unkind to me, Madame ... you are enigmatic ... mysterious."
At this moment a newsboy was heard crying an extra edition of the Hesse-Weimar Gazette. The Duchess rose quickly and bought a copy.
In large headlines she read the following: