A German Pompadour

e Hofkabale

sants say. Two hundred years ago this eerie mansion was occupied by living men and women, perchance the ghosts of to-day. Who can tell? But I, who have grown to

ose at hand, yet Neuhaus, shut off by peaceful fields, was hidden from the passer-by, and here began the great intrigue, as it was called then. Of a truth the plot, as it was conceived, wa

try mansion of Madame de Ruth, an important personage at Stuttgart's court, and of Monsieur de Ruth, an undistingui

showing quaintly outside against the white plastered walls; it was no impos

across the sky, hastening the darkness of approaching night. It seemed strange that on so desolate a gloaming the inmates of the Neuhaus had not drawn the curtains to shut out the sadness of the storm-ravaged garden. The windows remained like despairing, unblinking eyes gazing at the desolate scene without. The room wherein was assembled the small company was unlit, save from the glow from the embers in the stove. The upper grating had been opened, and in the furnace a handful of half-dry wood sputtered and crackled, rising sometimes to a momentary flame, in whose glow four persons threw strangely contorted shadows on the ceiling. But for this, and a faint, uncertain light which crept through the windows, the room was entirely dark. When the wood flared, a lady seated to the left of the stove cast a caricature-like shadow slantwise on the ceiling, her head seeming gigantic in its piled-up masses of elaborately dressed hair. In the middle of the room was a huddled figure bending over the centre table. It seemed to be a mere heap of dark garments. The firelight caught and illumined a w

spite of the real distress of the voice. 'How can we? on five hundred gulden a year and debts to pay-alas! No! I must return to the army,

ness behind the stove, and another fan

live quite finely on what we have got. Your duties as Kammerjunker need not keep you for ever in Stut

ull of scorn, vibrating with derisio

yself before that wicked woman, Madame de Geyling, and beg her to influence

ow moved forward, 'there are other ways of gaining gold at

peaker, 'you address my wife! I am poor, but the ho

sities, not ideals, and surely I proposed a great honour

ave seen on the ceiling, rose

se terms to a young husband in so unpolished a fashion, that even a peasant would be obliged to retort with the old affectation of a wife's honour and purity. Now hear me; I know the court better than you do--' The darkness hid the meaning smiles which played over the lips of the others, for Frau von Ruth (Madame de Ruth as she was named at court, German being considered as a language only fitting for peasants' use) was well known to have a knowledge of court life no

aring, with the heavy dull-wittedness of the Swabian peasant. Madame de Ruth eyed him for a moment, with that half-humorous, half-pitying glance which she was wont to bestow on those she found stupid. She was an odd-tempered, free-mannered woman, deeply crafty, absolutely unmoral, and yet with a true kin

y years later, for his son Eberhard Ludwig. The Duke of Zollern, several Hohenlohes, and many Gemmingens had been her slaves; not to mention other less illustrious cavaliers to whom she had been rather more than kind. She was now a useful friend to princes, and new arri

' This somewhat drastic speech seemed to please the lad and to stir up his slow wits, but the company looked surprised at the familiarity of the 'thou,' it being the general custom in those days for superiors to address their inferiors in the third person singular. Directly to address a serving-man or maid was deemed incorrect, for it would have betokened an

s evening. I must announce to you that I await the visit to-night of the Duke of Zollern

f Zollern does not brave the elements, in order to v

nt of her youth-a poor, faded flower of sentiment for this old man. A huge lumbering coach drew up at the door, and therefrom descended a small and shrunken figure, with a wrinkled, dried-up face. A voluminous peruke fell over the padded shoulders, rich lace ruffles adorned the sleeves of the brown satin longcoat, a waistcoat of heavily embroidered brocade reached far down, nearly to the shrunken knees, below which were a pair of calves thin as pipe-stems and adorned with brown silken hose; the shoes were of brown leather with high,

torch to light the entry of his Grace. She curtseyed deeply, and Monsieur de Zollern, having successfully hobbled from

dy, 'but now you are here, the pleasure is all the greater'; and as he bowed on

mes are past, alas! Enfin! w

elf threw open the door of the salon, crying as she did so: 'The Du

saw the inquiring look on the faces around him, he added: 'Autrefois j'étais polichon, a

Open compliments on any subject are like sausages, to be appreciated by peasants and our greasy friends the burghers, but for us-we cannot digest them!' So he looked away from Stafforth, giving his attention to the Gr?venitz couple. 'Madame de Gr?venitz,' he said, 'I observed you at Mass in the Cathedral of Rottenburg a few days since. God forgives the inattention at Mass of an old man when he sleeps; of a young man

news from Mecklemburg? Does not your heart smite you

se of life when it is so fierce a struggle not to die of hunger?' he said, and drained his glass of punch. 'I have such simple tas

e of a commentary than many a spoken word. Gr?venitz observ

I mean, of course, his fortune; we always say future when we mean fortune! He vows that if more gulden cannot be lured i

at this moment, I believe, Monsieur de Stafforth will bear me out when I say all the court charges are engaged; and Monsieur de Gr?veni

eeded the punch-bowl to give me an idea! We want three things, nay, four: to help Gr?venitz with funds; to dethrone that Geyling, whose airs and graces have become intolerable; Monsieur de S

ter that the people were strict and bigoted Protestants, or that the adoption of Roman Catholicism would mean the revolt of half the population; he considered the religious beliefs of burghers to be but pawns in that vast political game which was being played at that time in Europe, and in Germany in particular, under the name of religion. Wirtemberg was governed by a Protestant ruler, the people regarded the Roman Faith as the religion of Antichrist, but the nobles were nearly all Catholics; and as long as Wirtemberg remained Protestant, they, naturally, played but small r?les in the government. The peasants of Wirtemberg had more freedom than any other people of the Empire. A heavy, stubborn race, these Wirtembergers, hating their French-speaking rulers and jealously safeguarding those ancient rights and liberties accorded to them by

over, had succeeded in becoming an important person, and even push

g. He had served in one of the Mecklemburg regiments attached to Marlborough's troops when that gr

rought with him, on a visit to Stuttgart, several gentlemen, his comrades in arms, among whom was Gr?venitz. This young soldier having little to gain by returning to Mecklemburg, and finding Stuttgart a pleasant abode, remained at Eberhard Ludwi

be ready to assist herself by the means you mention. But, in this case, we are not sure if the "means" be willin

in her power to do so, and if it were clearly to her advantage. We are talking openly,' he added with a slight flush, for he was

e can; and, believe me, it is not a lazy life I propose for your sister-in-law. God does not forgive the lazy-it is one of the deadly sins-especially at court. Allons! Let us consider: Monsieur de Stafforth remind us of the dates of the

ark rich voice that mad old dreamer, the schoolmaster at Güstrow,

rill of the new, the unaccustomed? We are all sick to death of the Geyli

le, but first let us get the lady here, see her, hear her, and then we shall know what to do. Meanwhile I must go homewards. Monsieur de Berga, my old fr

etween the leaves of his Bible! He shall marry Mademoiselle de Gr?venitz in a few years' time; it will be a pious act for him, and a small reward to us for having borne his lectures with such good grace this twenty years.' Zollern smiled. He

le better French than does her sister-in-law. I verily believe Madame Friedrich de Gr?venitz prefers

heavy coach and drove out into the stormy darkness. Madame de Ruth watched the lights of the carriage disappearing, and with a sigh

TNO

ectly spelt Wirtemberg. This ancient spell