The martyrdom of an empress;

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Chapter I

" Let them talk, let them slander, let them think what they please about me — I am used to it ; it does not hurt me as it did at first ; I do not care ! And you, my little girl, do not take it to heart ; do not try to fight my battles ; do not let bitterness come into your life through me, for that, indeed, would give me pain."

The Empress stopped her restless pacing up and down the room, and, putting her slender hands upon my shoulders, she looked deep into my eyes with those glorious dark-blue orbs of hers, and added, gently :

" You are so young — hardly older than I was when I married. Do not allow my clouds to obscure your sky ; you will have enough of your own !"

How well she understood the passionate wrath I felt when witnessing the continual prejudices displayed towards her was shown clearly to me by these few words. I was then very young — very inexperienced, truly — but she was all in all to me, and the depth of my love and admiration for her pure, noble, peerless nature bridged over the difference existing in our years, and I was happy in the thought that already at that time I had become wellnigh her only confidante and truest friend.

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Perhaps it was the singular similarity of our fates which at first drew us so closely together — a similarity which arose from the sweeping contempt with which the haughty Viennese aristocracy had enveloped us both at different periods and under different circumstances ; probably, also, because neither of us was of what is ^ called "royal birth," and because neither of us was V Austrian born. Moreover, we heartily disliked pomp and pageantry, the empty, vapid amusements of social life, with its hurry and fever, its fussing and fuming, its seething caldron of calumny kept boiling by malice and envy ; and both found no pleasure whatsoever in chatting and scandal-mongering with other women, preferring horses and dogs to the compan}^ of most human beings ! Last, but not least, alas ! we had alike failed to find in matrimony what we foolishly fancied we had a right to expect from it, and scorned the very thought of seeking consolation after the fashion common to so many women when thus disappointed.

Be all this as it may, we certainly breathed an atmosphere of our own, and held aloof from others as much as possible in these years of close intimacy that make it possible for me to-day, now that she has gone to a sphere worthier of her, to give to the world the only true portrayal of the so much maligned and cruelly treated woman, who was the one faultless figure, the one perfect being among the past and present sovereignty of Europe.

That very morning Elizabeth had been kindly informed, by one of the good souls who formed her entourage, that her refusal to be present at the Corpus- Christi procession along the magnificently decorated streets of Vienna had given much offence, and had caused a renewal of the rumors long since set afloat concerning her sanity. Of course this had only been hinted at in her presence, but she Avas far too shrewd and quick - witted not to have gathered instantly the true meaning of these veiled allusions, and she easily foresaw what persecutions would follow.

^'Cannot they leave me alone?" she continued, stamp- V ing her little foot impatiently. " All I ask of humanity is that it should not interfere with me; and yet all my actions are the subject of uncharitable comment and of cruel criticism. Can you tell me why I should thus be persecuted ?"

The face of the Empress w^as flushed with vexation, and her straight, exquisitely pencilled dark brows contracted ominously.

"I am going away," she continued. "Let us be off to Godollo, where at least I am not continually under a microscope, and where I can fancy that I am a woman like all others, and not some extraordinary insect created for the malicious investigations and observations of the public."

The rays of the setting sun, slanting through the tall windows of her bedroom, caught the bright, golden strains of her magnificent coronal of brown hair, and made a sort of halo about her head. She gazed for a moment at the vivid tints of the sky, and then, sighing wearily, she resumed her monotonous walk from one end of the great room to the other.

This scene is so present to my mind, in spite of the many years which have elapsed since it took place, that when I close my eyes I seem still to see the Empress as she looked on that day, with the pained expression which did not mar the beauty of her face, but only emphasized the angelic suavity of her features, and made her look, in the trailing white draperies of her dinner -gown, like some creature belonging to another world than ours, far removed from our pett}^, narrow-minded, shackled sphere.

The fair body of the Empress now lies at rest, but our minds are too gross to know whether her spirit is not still tormented by the oppressive sense of injustice which made her life a long martyrdom; and yet not a pen is grasped to vindicate her memory, not a voice raised to refute the inane calumnies which from start to finish have pursued her during the entire course of her career as a sovereign. I consider, therefore, that I am but discharging a debt of honor in placing before the public a true and authentic version of that career, so nobly accomplished, so bitterly criticised always.

That this work is also one of love may serve to heap coals of fire upon the heads of those who knew her well, too, but who took a fiendish delight in lending color, by their words and attitude, to the ever-recurring and increasing society and press reports which strove to give the masses an entirely false idea of the Empress's personality, and which mercilessly placed her in the pillory of an unfair and ignorant judgment.

Amono- many other things, as I have just mentioned, y she was accused of having an unbalanced mind. This was a cruel mistake, for there was no more accomplished, level-headed, and sagacious woman in the length and breadth of Europe than she. But her horror of the shams and the narrow conventionalities of modern existence made her avoid, as much as she could, the requirements of a bauble-loving, vulgar social system — truly an unpardonable crime in the eyes of both classes and masses, and one which has led society to punish it by screaming over the very house-tops that the Empress's mind was " unbalanced." Would to Heaven that there were in this sad planet of ours more such " unbalanced" minds and less of those who, from a worldly point of view, are so admirably constructed that they find their greatest joy in tearing to shreds whatever they are unable to understand — namely, that which soars so immensely above them !

The void left by her death is one which can never be filled. She was too perfect, too different from other w^omen, not to arouse the bitterest criticisms on their part. There were times when the temptation to cast off all trammels and ceremonies became too strong for her to withstand ; it was then that she went away on her long, restless travels, freeing herself thus from the horrible incubus of perpetual show and parade.

Since an incurable sorrow befell her, ten years ago, she was almost perpetually on the wing ; the iron was in her soul, the knotted cords about her waist, but she always bore a brave countenance, for she could not endure that the world should pity her. She was never heard to say an unkind thing or known to do one. Generous to a fault, she had not a trace of selfishness in her grand nature, and always spared those about her as much as possible. But she did not understand the art of forgetting, of laughing and dancing when her heart was full of sorrow ; she did not take kindly to fools and their follies, and refused to make a perpetual show-figure of herself for the benefit of a pageant-loving public. Those were her crimes. How unpardonable they were every sensible worldling will readily understand. Her lovely face and her luminous eyes were accused of being too sad. Alas ! it was the sadness of a noble nature that has borne the burden of other people's sins, faults, and lack of comprehension.

She expected death at any moment, and looked upon it more in the light of a deliverance than in that of a dreaded foe. This, and this alone, brings a shade of comfort to the hearts of those whom she loved and who loved her, for now they know that at least she has in a measure found repose, and that the throbbing and aching despair which tortured the latter portion of her life has been lulled by the mighty hand of the Great Consoler.

Cold and impassive and mute as she was believed to be, the Empress possessed so warm a heart, so enthusiastic a soul, that when one had once succeeded in reaching her inner nature through its frigid envelope, one could easily imagine what the sufferings must have been which brought about this stifling of all outward sign of tenderness and emotion. To me she talked without restraint, during our long rides on the Hungarian Puszta, our endless tramps in the mountains and forests of Upper Austria and Carinthia, and also at night, when she was supposed to have retired, and when we sat alone in the library, which invariably formed a portion of her private apartments wherever she went. Thus I heard wellnigh every detail of her existence, from the moment when, a girl of sixteen, she united herself to the handsome and dashing young sovereign who had fallen in love at first sight with her matchless beauty.

This marriage between the ruler of a great country and the little daughter of the impoverished Duke Maximilian, in Bavaria, is one of the most poetical and romantic pages of modern history. It has been often told, but has thereby lost none of its charm, for it is too sweetly quaint and unique ever to become vulgarized by repetition.

Little Princess Elizabeth was literally idolized in Bavaria, and to this day the peasants who hang her picture as that of a saint in all their cottages still call her " Unsere Kaiserin," forgetful of the fact that this title now belongs to the Empress of Germany. I may add that Emperor William and his consort are by no means beloved or admired in the dominions of their ally, the King of Bavaria. In those far-off days Elizabeth enjoyed an almost unlimited amount of liberty, and was called by everybody " The Rose of Possenhoffen," Pos- v senhoffen being the name of Duke Maximilian's castle and estate. She ran about like a young fawn, untrammelled and unwatched, for the Duke was by no means a wealthy man, and all his disposable means were lavished upon the education of his older daughters and of his sons, who he expected would all make brilliant marriages. And thus did lovely Princess " Cinderella " stay at home and roam about at her own sweet will under the grand old trees of the great forests, sometimes on the pony which was her great pride and joy and which rejoiced in the name of "Punch," often on foot, indulging her passion for wild flowers and fruit, and coming home with her arms full of mountain treasures, her lips stained by the juice of berries, which she gathered amid the undergrowth of the Osmunda- bushes and the trailing ivy, and her luxuriant hair tossed upon her shoulders, surrounding her entire form with a wavy cloud of brightness. She hunted and shot with her brothers, / especially with Prince Karl -Theodore, who was her ^ favorite. At that time the young fellow was already a budding philanthropist, and, with the assistance of his dear little sister, would attend to the ills and aches of the peasants, giving decided signs of the genius which was to make him later one of the cleverest doctors and oculists of our day.

The magnificent medical establishment now managed by Duke Charles-Theodore is situated at Kreuth, on the slopes of Hohenstein, one of the Bavarian Alps, overlooking the lovely Tegernsee. Early in the eighth century the Benedictine monks, who had their headquarters at Tegernsee, obtained possession of all the land in that neighborhood. The good fathers, skilful doctors in their way, were not long in discovering the curative qualities of the little sulphur springs on the Hohenstein plateau. They built by the side of it a hospital, to which the delicate members of the Order used to retire from time to time to recruit their strength. As years passed this hospital was replaced by a much larger one, and even up to 1803, when the Order was dissolved, Kreuth remained the regular health resort of the Benedictine monks. The hospital was then turned into a farm-house. In 1813, however, it was rebuilt by King Max of Bavaria, who restored the old badhaus and erected yet another one. So long as he lived the place was used as a convalescent home, and when at his death it passed into the hands of his widow, it was with the condition attached to it that a certain number of poor people should every year be hospitably entertained there. It was his wish that Kreuth should remain a charitable institution.

At Meran the Duke has established also a large hospital and sanitarium, with the assistance of his sister-in-law. Archduchess Maria -Theresa of Austria. Indeed, there is no end to the good which he has done in every direction, and his medical and charitable labors are boundless. He is especially famous for the many cures which he has effected upon people threatened with blindness.

Elizabeth was forever coming into the peasants' hom-es and doing them some kind turn or other. When the rain and storms of November set in she would run right among them for shelter, and would sit down beside the hearth and drink a glass of milk, chatting away just as if she were one of themselves. Her greatest sorrow was that she had not much pocket-money to make her humble friends presents Avith, and so during the long winter evenings she was in the habit of making up with her own deft fingers some warm clothing for the many little children who were her dearest proteges, and all sorts of pretty little gifts, which are preserved as relics, and in some instances under glass cases, in the chalets which nestle around Possenhoffen. Her skill as a rider is proverbial in Bavaria, and the peasants still relate, with considerable relish, how she jumped over some perilous obstacles which had never been attempted by anybody before and have never been cleared since.

The young girl had even then this intense love of nature and fine scenery which distinguished her throughout her life. Buchensteiner, who was her favorite guide in later years during her long mountaineering expeditions in the Tyrol, said, when speaking about her : " Often, when I take people over the mountains, I wonder what they came there for. They do not seem to give the beautiful spectacle before them a thought, and the blue sky above their heads, as well as the green-clad slopes of the high hills, or the awe-inspiring abysses which yawn before their feet, seem to make no impression upon them. But when her Majesty came to some point from which there was a more than usually fine view to admire, my heart felt like bursting with joy as I watched her gazing into the far distance, with a look upon her face just as if she were inwardly praying. Once, I remember, I took her to a very romantically situated and lonely farm, away up in the mountains. This farm, though belonging to the

Crown, was in the hands of a family composed of seven brothers and seven sisters — this sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it? but still it is so — and the mistress and manager of them all was the elder sister, a masterful kind of a wench, who had a will of her own and who ordered everybody about just as a general does his troops. It was on a warm summer afternoon that we reached this particular corner of the Tyrolese Alps, and her Majesty, who was tired and thirsty, sat down on a fallen treetrunk to rest. The mistress of the farm, who was standing at the door of the cow-stables, inquired if she would not like her to fetch out a chair; but the Empress declined this offer, and asked if she could have a glass of milk to drink.

" ' Milk is not good for you, you are too warm,' replied the ' Sennerin,' and running into the house she soon came back with a stone bottle and a glass, into which she poured some 'Kirschwasser!' This made the Empress laugh, and giving me the glass to drink, she again asked for some milk, and followed the girl into the stable to watch her milk a fine black cow, for, according to the ' Sennerin,' ' Cold milk would not do at all, but newly drawn would not hurt !' She stood looking at her visitor while the latter drank the large bowlful provided for her; and when, after thanking her before proceeding upon her walk, the Empress handed her a gold piece, the ' Sennerin,' amazed at the amount paid for such a homely luxury, turned to me and whispered, ' "Who is she, to give so much for a mouthful of milk?' 'The Empress,' I chuckled. 'The blessing of the saints be on us !' exclaimed the startled girl. ' What, the Empress! and I let her pay for the milk, although the farm and the cows and everything around here belong to her?'

" Then glancing after the slender, black-robed figure which was beginning to disappear under the drooping boughs of the pine-trees, she continued : ' That's a piece of money I'll never spend. I'll bore a hole through it and wear it round my neck, for I know it will bring me good luck.' "

For many years the Empress revisited her old home at Possenhoffen every summer, and, when there, resumed her wanderings in forest and on mountain and her visits to the peasants, just as if she had not changed her position as a poor little princess for the rank and status of a great and powerful empress. She used to say that she was never so happy as when in Bavaria, and the good people there declare to this day that had she come to take up her abode in their midst after the tragedy of Mayerling, which so completely broke her heart, she would have found consolation, and would not have become, as she did, a wanderer on the face of the earth in search of change from the monotony of her everlasting sufferings.

Nevertheless, after the catastrophe which brought about the death of her cousin, Kmg Louis of Bavaria, who had alwaj^s been, in spite of his mad and erratic ways, a great favorite of hers, she feared to go back to Bavaria, lest it should recall to her mind the shocking scene of which she was almost a witness ; for at the time when it occurred she was staying at a castle on the opposite shore of Lake Starhemberg, practically within view of the spot where the drowning took place, and just about where the King would have landed had he succeeded, as was evidently his intention, in swimming across. The death of the handsome King of Bavaria, in the Starhemberg " See," has been often told, and yet, like this ill-fated monarch's life, it is so romantic and extraordinary that it is still a frequent topic of conversation at Munich.

The King had been for some time becoming more and more difficult to manage, and had accordingly to be continually watched for fear of his doing himself or others some injury. His one idea was to escape from his attendants and to try to get over the frontier, for he was convinced that he would then be safe from any

y further danger of incarceration. Accordingly, one evening he persuaded the doctor under whose immediate care he was to permit him to take his post-prandial stroll along the edge of the water. The moon was shining brightly, and the glitter of its rays on the lake, which had always possessed a powerful attraction for Louis, seemed to fill him with extreme delight. He broke out into exclamations of enthusiasm as he watched the fleeting shadows of the tall reeds which swayed above the rippling surface at his feet, and affectionately linking his arm into that of his physician, he entreated him to send away the two servants who were following them at a short distance, " in order," as he said, " that these menials might not mar his perfect enjoyment of

V^ this lovely night -stroll." Confident that his turbulent patient was in an unusually manageable mood, the doctor granted this request, and chatting pleasantly with his royal charge, he continued his promenade. Suddenly, without the slightest warning, the King made a bound and precipitated the unfortunate physician un-

^ der the water, and jumping in after him held him beneath the surface until his struggles ceased. He thereupon started to swim across the lake, imagining that on the opposite shore he would find plenty of assistance, as he was aware that the peasantry were so fond of him that they had been on the point of rising en masse throughout the kingdom when they heard of his being placed under restraint. After he had swum a few strokes, however, congestion, due to his immersion in water of a very low temperature immediately after a heavy meal, supervened. This serves to explain how it was that when his corpse was found his lungs were free from water, whereas the contrary was the case with those of the doctor.

Notwithstanding her proximity, the news of this awful incident did not reach the Empress until the next afternoon. Strangely enough, during the previous night she had alarmed her attendants by an agonized scream soon after retiring to her bed. On hurrying to her chamber, her women found her terror-stricken, she having just awakened from a dream in which she had seen King Louis standing by her bedside, his clothes dripping with water, which ran in such quantities from his hair and garments that she fancied that she was going to be drowned thereby. When she received the news, she caused herself to be rowed across the lake to her cousin's castle, and demanded to see his body. She had not seen him for some time, for his mental and physical condition had been such that visitors, even when belonging to his family, were not allowed by his medical attendants to be brought into his presence, and she was much shocked by the change which his long mental trouble and awful death had worked. She laid a bunch of white blossoms between his folded hands, and knelt down in prayer by his side, requesting all those present to leave the room. For nearly an hour they awaited her return, and at length, alarmed beyond measure, the Grand-Mistress of her household ventured to enter the apartment, where she found the Empress stretched upon the floor and apparently lifeless. It was only with the greatest difficulty that she was restored to consciousness, and when at length she opened her eyes, she stared wildly about her for some moments, and then cried, in a shaking voice :

" For God's sake, release the King from the mortuar}^ chapel. He is not really dead; he is only pretending to be so, in order to be left in peace and quietness, and not to be tormented any longer."

Her nerves were so shattered by this dismal affair that it was feared that she might be stricken down by some serious illness, and the impression produced upon her by this last and terrible proof of the madness of her cousin preyed upon her mind for a very long time. This is more than sufficiently proved by the fact that when the physicians who went to Mayerling to perform the autopsy upon Crown Prince Rudolph returned to V the Hofburg, and declared that he had given himself death in a moment of temporary mental aberration, she sought out the Emperor, and entering his study, in her long black sweeping garments, she held out towards him her little quivering hands and said, with a sob :

" Franz, pardon me ; I had no right to marry. Madness is in my family, and I have brought it into yours."

Poor, tender-hearted woman, always ready to take all blame upon herself, she yet knew well that it is not in the younger but in the elder branch of the House of Wittelsbach that there has been, and still is, lunacy, and it was with a great deal of trouble that the Emperor comforted her by gently and tenderly saying :

" You brought nothing but what is good and sweet with you when you married me, and I, my dear, have never been worthy of you in any way."

Possenhoffen was a truly befitting place for the imperial idyl which preceded the marriage of Franz-

Joseph and Elizabeth. Eveiy one knows how the Emperor, soon after his arrival at his future father-inlaw's castle to celebrate his betrothal with Duke Maximilian's eldest daughter, met under the dense shadows of the parklike woods a child, clothed in a short white frock, with a wonderful mass of wavy, silken, chestnut hair falling about her slim girlish figure, down to her tiny feet, and with a brace of large white deer-hounds leaping about her. With a child's impulsiveness she threw her arms about the neck of this imperial cousin of w^hom she had heard so often, as of a new brother that was to be, but whom she had never met, and merely recognized from the portraits she had seen of him. The sorcery of her luminous sapphire-hued eyes^ the witchery of a smile which later oh^ became celebrated throughout Europe for its radiant charm, combined to rob the young monarch of his heart.

He linked her arm within his and tried to draw her towards the castle, but the joang Princess would not allow this.

" They would be awfully angry with me if I mixed with the grown-up ones," she said, laughing. " They have all to be married SiWSiy before I am allowed to appear."

'' That's what we are going to see," replied the deeply smitten Emperor. " Go and dress for dinner and meet me in the hall before I go down, my sweet ! I'll manage the rest."

Completely subjugated, the young girl flew towards the great old building, while the Emperor marched off to his rooms, vowing to himself that he would win that little fairy princess in spite of all objections that might be put forward. Just as, after terminating his elaborate toilet, he was about to step into the hall, he heard two voices proceeding from behind a door, which was not quite closed. The louder and angrier of the two was saying :

"Please don't, Princess; you know that you have been forbidden to let yourself be seen."

" I shall do so, just the same, Countess," murmured the other voice, which Franz-Joseph recognized as belonging to Elizabeth. The door opened wide, and the charming girl, followed by a lady-in-waiting, whose flashing eyes and ruffled gray locks denoted the greatest agitation, appeared in the hall.

" Let us go down together, my cousin," said the Emperor, offering Elizabeth his arm ; and in spite of the frowns and entreaties of the old Countess, he drew the radiant creature, who had grown as white as a moonbeam, towards the broad flight of steps leading down to the terrace, where Duke Maximilian and Duchess Ludovica of Bavaria were waiting, surrounded by all their other children, the appearance of their august guest. At the sight of the handsome young couple a look of surprise, chagrin, and thorough disapproval started from the eyes of all present; but it was too late to interfere, for the mischief was done, and that same evening, closeted with the Duke, the Emperor declared to him that his plans had altered and formally asked from the infuriated old gentleman the favor of his youngest daughter's hand.

A scene of much violence took place. Both men were overbearing and quick-tempered, and the affront put upon his eldest daughter could not but seem difficult of acceptance to the old Duke. The Emperor, at last losing all patience, sprang from his chair and declared in his most fiery manner that, should his request be rejected, he would start instantly for his own dominions, and marry neither one nor the other of his host's fair daughters ; nor for the matter of that would he marry at all, little heeding the future of his empire, since the wound at his heart would not heal sufficiently to permit of his ever thinking of any woman but that one girl whom he had met for the first time a few hours previously !