Kambyses married two of his sisters.
Artachschasa II married his two daughters; Kobad his daughter Sambyke.
Artaviraf, the founder of a great ancient religion, married no less than seven of his sisters--because "there were no other women worthy of the honor."
According to that, the aristocracy of old must have been as rotten as that of our day.
Lucretia is the only person I trust, and they would have robbed me of her services long ago if my marriage contract did not vest the power of dismissal in me.
Unlike me, she can afford to defy the King"s wrath.
CHAPTER LI
COLD RECEPTION--ENEMIES ALL AROUND
Frederick Augustus gives his views on adultery--Doesn"t care personally, but "the King knows"--"Thank G.o.d, the King is ill"--I am deprived of my children--Have I got the moral strength to defy my enemies?
PILLNITZ, _May 20, 1901_.
I am undone. That malicious Tisch woman holds me in the hollow of her hand.
I dropped into a sea of ice when I set foot in the castle. Long faces, suspicious looks, frigidity everywhere. The King treats me like a criminal. I wonder the guards don"t refuse their _spiel_ at my coming and going.
PILLNITZ, _May 21, 1901_.
Frederick Augustus arrived. He doesn"t say for how long, and acts the icicle in the presence of others. At night he seeks his "rights," seeks them brutally.
This afternoon he said to me:
"That you made me a cuckold isn"t exactly killing me; this sort of thing happened to better men than I, and--I was almost prepared for it. But to hear it announced from the King"s lips----"
Because His Majesty knows--Frederick Augustus raved and swore I had dishonored him.
"If I wasn"t a royal prince, I would be kicked out of the army," he whined.
In short, adultery isn"t so very reprehensible if the King doesn"t know.
Late tonight profound disquietude at court. The King is ill.
Thank G.o.d, the audience I feared must be postponed.
PILLNITZ, _May 22, 1901_.
It wasn"t. His Majesty appointed Prince George his representative, and I received a command to call on him at ten sharp.
I wrote on the Court Marshal"s brutal invitation: "I refuse to see His Royal Highness."
Ten minutes later the Tisch entered my apartment with a look of triumph on her hateful face. She handed me a letter on a golden plate and waited.
"Your Ladyship is dismissed," I snapped.
She didn"t move: "I expect your Imperial Highness"s commands with respect to the royal children," she said. "May it please Your Imperial Highness to read Prince George"s letter."
I tore open the envelope. His Majesty"s representative "graciously permits me to see my children at nine in the morning and between five and six in the afternoon. At no other time, and never unless Baroness Tisch is in attendance."
I threw the letter on the floor and trampled on it. "Get out," I commanded the Baroness. If she hadn"t gone instantly, I believe I would have choked her.
So I am deemed unworthy to mother the children I bore; and a spy is officially appointed to watch my intercourse with the little ones lest I corrupt them. No other inference was to be drawn from the measure.
"I will show them." But no sooner was the threat launched, than a great fear clutched at my heart.
Was I in a position to defy them? To guard the purity of the royal children "is the King"s first duty towards his family." If he had proof positive that I was an impure woman, there was no use quarrelling with his decision. Besides, moral delinquencies engender more than physical weakness. I felt my boasted energy ebbing away fast.
"I am without strength, unnerved, because Henry left me," I lied to myself. The abandoned woman is either a tigress or a kitten. I happen to be no tigress.
CHAPTER LII
PRINCE GEORGE REVEALS TO ME THE DEPTH OF HIS HATRED
A terrible interview--"The devil will come to claim you"--Uncertain how much the King and Prince George know--I break into the nursery and stay with my children all day--Prince George insults me in my own rooms and threatens prison if I disobey him.
PILLNITZ, _May 23, 1901_.
I caught Prince George in the park after laying in wait for him three long hours.
"Why does Your Royal Highness forbid me to see my children?" I demanded, every nerve aquiver.
"His Majesty"s orders. He thinks you are not fit company for growing children. You are leading a G.o.dless life."
"What does Your Royal Highness mean?"
"What I said. A G.o.dless life, such as you entered upon, is an invitation to the devil. Sins are the devil"s envoys. When you are black with sin, the devil himself will come to claim you."
He dropped his theological lingo and continued: "My fine daughter-in-law wants to be everybody"s lady-love. If she had her sweet will, she would ruin every young chap in the residence and the surrounding country."
He looked about him and, seeing we were un.o.bserved, eased his bile in this pretty epigram as rank as a serpent"s saliva: "An adulterous wife, that"s what you are. Satan alone knows how many you seduced."