A Glimpse of Three Crowned Heads [pp. 446-452]

I87I.] A GLIMPSE OF THREE CROWNED HEADS.
his best-beloved had struck him, still
fresh in his heart.
But he has forgiven her now-forgiven
and forgotten the treacherous blow she
dealt him; for they are both dead-long
dead. " Und jetzt machen's Frieden Tief unter der Erd."
The stories Madame told me were not
all tragic. There was a bit of gossip
about one of the sons of the King of
Prussia, then present at Wilhelmsbad,
that I quite relished, though of newer
date than the other things:
The present King of Prussia had a
brother, who was married to a Princess
from the Netherlands, sometime during
the reign of the elder brother, Frederick
William IV. Very likely the match had
been any thing but a love-match; and
the Prince took no pains to hide his indifference or aversion to the Princess.
She, however, was not of the uncomplaining, long-suffering kind, but went to
the King, bewailed her hard lot, and the
coldness and inconstancy of her husband.
Not even for his children, she went on to
say, had he the least affection; he never
came into the nursery-never st6pped at
the cradle of the youngest. The King
reproached his brother for the lack of
family affection he exhibited, and the
Prince promised to make some striking
display of his love at an early day. A
short time after, it was told the Princess
that her husband was in the nursery,
rocking the cradle of the youngest, with
all his might. Overwhelmed with joy,
the Princess made her way to the nursery, where the Prince was rocking the
baby's cradle vigorously. After saying
all sorts of loving and forgiving things
to him, what was her horror to discover
that he had his favorite hunting-dog in
the cradle, which he kept on rocking
long after the Princess had fled from the
room in dismay!
Again he was summoned before the
King, and again he promised reform.
Sure enough, he soon visited the nursery,
morning, noon, and night. Unfortunately the Princess, too, came into the nursery one morning, just as the Prince was
conversing very earnestly with a nursemaid, who was comfortably seated on his
knee. This time the Princess fled not
only from the room, but continued her
flight to the Netherlands. When the
King was informed of the scandal, he
sent word to his brother that he must
not expect to see his face again, till he
had brought back his wife from the Netherlands. The Prince really succeeded
in coaxing his wife back to Prussia, but
her stay was short; the Prince procuring
a divorce on the very substantial ground
of "unconquerable aversion."
One "confidential communication" had
come to my friend directly through the
Baron Von Hinckeldey, President of the
Police in Berlin, during the latter part of
the reign of Frederick William I I I. This
monarch, dearly as he had loved his " unvergessliche Luise," had nevertheless
formed a morganatic marriage with the
Countess Harrach, sometime in I824,
and had raised her to the rank and state
of Princess of Liegnitz. That she was a
most excellent woman, a woman of noble
soul and amiable disposition, was proven
by the affectionate reverence with which
she was always treated by the sons of the
" unvergessliche Luise "-the late King
of Prussia, as well as the present one.
And again, the affection which he entertained for this very worthy woman did
not prevent Frederick William I I I. from
harboring very tender sentiments in his
bosom toward Fanny Elssler, the danse~se.
Once upon a time, the story runs, the
King was very ill, and the Princess of
Liegnitz, who resided in the palace with
him, watched over and nursed him with
self-sacrificing care. When he had recovered, the King wished her to ask
some favor of him, which he would grant
-"'even to the half of his kingdom"
45I