Books: NAPOLEON AND BLUCHER

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"Ah, in truth, I am anxious to hear this," exclaimed Hardenberg,
"for I am listening to you in breathless suspense, and am as eager
to learn the conclusion of your history as though it were the
denouement of a drama. An accident, then, furnished you with a
reply, my beautiful Marquise de Barbasson?"

"Yes, your excellency, and never shall I forget the day and the
hour. It was on a beautiful day last autumn. As I was in the habit
of doing every day, I had gone with my book into the forest on the
shore of the lake. I lay in my favorite place under a large oak, in
the dark foliage of which the birds were singing, while the waves of
the lake at my feet were a sweet accompaniment. I was reading the
lately published poetry of my favorite bard, Goethe, and had just
finished 'The Wandering Fool.' This poem struck my heart as
lightning. I dropped the book, looked up to the clouds and shouted
to them: 'What are you but wandering fools! Oh, take me with you!'
But the clouds did not reply to me; they passed on in silence, and
my sad eyes turned to the lake extended before me like a polished
mirror, and mingling with the blue mists of the horizon, and I said
to the murmuring waves, as I had said to the clouds: 'Take me with
you, wandering fools! I am suffocating in my captivity! I must leave
this small town; it is a prison--an open grave!' At this moment, the
oak above me shook its foliage; a wind drove the waves faster, until
they broke on the shore; and a sheet of paper, which some wanderer
might have lost, was blown toward me. I took it, and suddenly the
wind was silent as though it had accomplished its mission; the oak
stirred no more, the lake was tranquil, and even the clouds seemed
to pause and look on while I unfolded and read the paper."

"Oh, I imagine what it was!" exclaimed Hardenberg. "A love-letter
from one of your admirers, who knew that the beautiful nymph of the
lake had selected that spot for her sanctuary."

"Ah, you do not imagine very well, your excellency. It was no love-
letter, but a newspaper! It was a copy of your dear, venerable
Vossische Zeitung. [Footnote: The Vossische Zeitung, one of the
oldest Berlin newspapers, is still published.] I read it at first
very carelessly, but suddenly I noticed an article from Berlin,
which excited my liveliest attention. It alluded to the strange
cures performed by Doctor Binder, a magnetizer. It related that many
sufferers came to Berlin from distant cities to be cured by the
doctor, whose whole treatment consisted of laying his hands and
fixing his eyes on his patients. It dwelt especially upon the
adventures of a young woman whose strange disease had riveted the
attention of all Berlin, and who, in consequence of the doctor's
treatment, had become a clairvoyante. It said that the truly
wonderful sayings and predictions of the young woman were creating
the greatest sensation, and that even ministers and distinguished
functionaries were visiting Doctor Binder's 'Hall of Crises,' in
order to listen and put questions to the clairvoyante."

"Ah, that was little Henrietta Meyer, who died a few months ago,"
said Hardenberg.

"Yes, she was so accommodating as to die and make room for me,"
exclaimed Frederica, smiling. "When I had read this article about
her, it seemed to me as though a veil dropped from my eyes, and I
were only now able to descry my future distinctly. I jumped up and
uttered a single loud cry that sped over the lake like a storm-bird,
and was repeated many times by the distant echo. Thereupon I ran
back to town, as if carried on the wings of the wind. The men on the
streets, who saw me running past, gazed wonderingly after me. Some
of them hailed and tried to speak to me, but I took no notice of
them, ran on, reached at last the humble dwelling of my parents, and
there I fell panting and senseless. They lifted me up, and carried
me to my bed. I lay on it motionless, and with dilated eyes. No one
knew my thoughts, or heard the voices whispering in my breast and
ominously laughing. I stared upward, and matured my plan of
operations. My poor father sat all night long at my bedside, weeping
and imploring me to look at him, and tell him only by a single word,
a single syllable, that I recognized him. My tongue remained silent,
but my eyes were able to glance at and greet the poor man. But why
tell you all the particulars of my wonderful disease? In short, all
my limbs were paralyzed, and even my mind seemed affected and
confused. I could eat and sleep, but I was unable to rise, and could
not utter a word. The physicians of our small town tried all the
remedies of their science to cure me. In vain! I remained dumb. Only
once, four weeks afterward, I recovered the power of speech. It was
in the night-time, and no one was with me but my poor father, who
passed nearly every night at my bedside, always hoping for a moment
when I might get better--when the spell would leave my tongue, and
the power of speech be restored. This moment had come now; I
intimated it to my father with my eyes, stared at him, and said in a
slow and solemn voice, 'Doctor Binder, at Berlin, is alone able to
cure me!'"

"Ah," exclaimed Hardenberg, drawing a deep breath, "I give you
permission to laugh at me. I was just as foolish as your father was.
Up to this time I believed in the reality of your sickness, and felt
quite anxious and alarmed. The words you uttered during that night
quiet me again, and illuminate the gloom, like a welcome miner's
lamp in a deep shaft. I hope, however, that they did not exert the
same effect upon your father."

"No, your excellency, fortunately they did not, and the proof of it
is that I rode, a week afterward--in a comfortable carriage, and
accompanied by my father--to Berlin, to place myself under the
treatment of Doctor Binder."

"Did the doctor promise to cure you?"

"He gave me hopes at least that he would be able to do so, and,
after accepting three months' pay in advance, received me into his
house, and the cure commenced. I willingly submitted to his piercing
glances and to his laying-on of hands. I was so obliging as to fall
asleep, and scarcely three days elapsed when I began already to
become slightly clairvoyant. The doctor was himself surprised at the
rapid effect of his cure; he informed some of his distinguished
patrons of the presence of a new clairvoyante at his house, and
invited them to witness my next awakening. Among these patrons were
some influential courtiers, Prince Hatzfeld and Field-Marshal
Kalkreuth. I had been told that these gentlemen were the most
zealous adherents of the French alliance, and the most ardent
admirers of Napoleon. It was but natural, therefore, that when I
became clairvoyant on that day, in the presence of these gentlemen,
I was the enraptured prophetess of a golden future for Prussia,
provided we maintained the alliance with France. The two courtiers
were visibly surprised and delighted at my prophecies; and when the
doctor had left the room for a moment, I heard Prince Hatzfeld say
to Field-Marshal Kalkreuth, 'Ah, I wish Hardenberg were here, and
heard the predictions of this wonderful girl! He believes in
clairvoyance, and her words, therefore, would make a profound
impression upon him!' ' We must try to have him brought hither,'
said Field-Marshal Kalkreuth; 'we must try to influence the stubborn
fellow in this way.' "

"That was a very clever idea," said Hardenberg, smiling; "I almost
envy those gentlemen their very pretty intrigue. They then made
offers to you, did they not?"

"No, I made offers to them."

"How so?"

"Listen to me. When the gentlemen left, and I was again alone with
the doctor, I suddenly awoke from my trance; rising from my couch, I
stepped up to him, and made him a respectful obeisance. He looked at
me in dismay, and seemed paralyzed with stupefaction, for you know
all my limbs were palsied, and I could only move my tongue. 'My dear
doctor,' I said, very calmly, 'I hope I have proved to you now that
I am possessed of considerable talent as an actress, and that I am
as well versed in playing my part as you are in yours. Both of us
try to obtain fame and wealth, you as a magnetizer, I as a
clairvoyante, and we stand mutually in need of each other. You are
the stage-manager, and possessed of a theatre that suits me, and I
am the leading actress, without whom you would be unable to perform
your play in a satisfactory manner. Let us, therefore, come to an
understanding and make an agreement.' Eh bien, your excellency, we
did come to an understanding; we did make an agreement. With a view
to a better position that soon would be accessible to me, I remained
temporarily the first actress, and, thanks to my performances, I
attracted an audience as distinguished as it was munificent."

"Now I comprehend every thing. You must permit me, however, another
question. Are Prince Hatzfeld and Field-Marshal Kalkreuth aware that
you are nothing but an--actress?"

"By no means, your excellency. They are so kind as to take me for a
bona fide clairvoyante. The doctor told them that, by my spiritual
connection with him, I was compelled to say, think, and do whatever
he wanted and commanded me, and that, if he gave me my instructions
while I was awake, I had to act and speak in my clairvoyant state in
strict accordance with them. In this way it happened, your
excellency, that I was used as the fox-tail with which the
electrical machine is set in motion--to make an impression upon you,
and to cure you of your hostility to France. The doctor became the
confidant of these gentlemen, who desired to cure you. They
surrounded your excellency with spies, a minute diary was kept of
your movements, and this diary was brought early every morning to
the doctor, who read it to me, and we agreed then as to the manner
in which I should avail myself of the information."

"And dupe me!" exclaimed Hardenberg, laughing. "Fortunately, I did
not allow myself to be thus dealt with, but penetrated the handsome
little swindle at the outset; yet I made up my mind to continue
playing the farce for some time, because it afforded me an
opportunity to discover and foil the intentions, wishes, and schemes
of my adversaries. But tell me now, my pretty young lady, what would
have happened if I had not allowed you to perceive to-day that I was
aware of the whole trick?"

"In that case I myself would have disclosed the intrigue to your
excellency. Did I not send my young nurse twice to your house
yesterday, in order to pray you to come to me, if possible, last
night, because I had important news to communicate to you? Did I not
write to you that the doctor would not be at home during the whole
evening, and that I might, therefore, communicate an important
secret to you without being disturbed?"

"Unfortunately, I was not at home, and the supper at Marshal
Augereau's, which you used so skilfully during your pretended
trance, deprived me of an hour of important disclosures! But suppose
I had come, and met you alone; what would you have told me then?"

"Precisely what I tell you now. I would have fallen down before you
as I do now, and, clasping your knees in this manner, would have
said what I say now: 'Mercy, my lord and master, mercy! I can lie
and dissimulate no longer before your noble face; your eyes
embarrass me; your smile overwhelms me with shame; the farce is at
an end, and the truth commences. The truth, however, is that I adore
you; that I will no longer unite with your adversaries against you;
that I will serve you and none but you, and devote to you my whole
life and every pulsation of my heart!'" She attempted to conceal her
face, bathed in a flood of tears; but Hardenberg softly laid his
hands upon her cheeks, and, gently raising her head, gazed at her
long and smilingly.

"What talent!" he said; "in truth, I admire you! It was a charming
performance. True love and passion could express themselves no
better, or surpass your imitation."

She arose from her knees and looked at him with eyes flashing with
anger. "You do not believe me?" she asked, almost menacingly. "You
suspect me, although I have revealed my heart to you as sincerely as
I have ever revealed it to Heaven itself."

"Foolish girl, how can I believe you?" he asked. "Have you not gone
out into the world to plunge into adventures, and to seek your
fortune? Have you not dived into the sea to find pearls? Can you
wish me to play the agreeable part of your safety-rope--that is
all!"

"No, no!" she exclaimed, wildly stamping with her feet; "that is a
vile slander! Why should I choose precisely you for my safety-rope?-
-why reveal my soul to you? Do you not believe that those gentlemen
who are using me against you, who worship and admire me, would not
be ready to assist me? But I have rejected their homage and their
offers; I despise and abhor them all, for they are your enemies. I
hate France, I detest Napoleon, for you are opposed to the French
alliance, and you have been reviled by Napoleon; I am longing for an
alliance with Russia, for I know this to be your wish, and I have no
wishes but yours, no will but your will!"

"Ah!" exclaimed Hardenberg, laughing, "this is the strangest
political declaration of love which woman ever made to man!"

"Great Heaven! you are laughing!" she cried angrily. "You do not
believe me, then? How shall I be able to convince you?"

"I will show you a way to do so," said Hardenberg, suddenly growing
very grave.

"Tell me, and I swear to you that I will try it!"

"Serve me in the same manner as you have hitherto served my enemies.
Become the prophetess of my policy, as you have been the prophetess
of the policy of my opponents. Permit me to become the prompter of
the clever clairvoyante, and play now as inimitably against my
adversaries as you have played for them."

Frederica Hahn burst into loud laughter. "In truth, that is a
splendid idea," she said, "a revenge which your excellency has
devised against the other gentlemen. Here is my hand. I swear to
serve and to be faithful to you as long as I live. Do you now
believe in the truth of my love?"

"Let me first see the actions inspired by this love," said
Hardenberg, smiling. "I will prove to you immediately that I confide
in your head, although I am not vain enough to believe in your
heart. Listen to me, then! It is my most ardent desire that the king
should leave Berlin, and be withdrawn from the influence of the
French. Prince Hatzfeld and old Field-Marshal Kalkreuth, however,
insist that he remain at Berlin, and thereby manifest the adhesion
of Prussia to the alliance with France. I suspect, nay, I might say,
I know, that the king is in danger, and that, as soon as he utters a
free and bold word, the French will use it as a pretext to seize his
person and imprison him, as they have done Charles and Ferdinand of
Spain. Caution, therefore, the sanguine and credulous gentlemen;
point out to them the dangers menacing the king here; tell them
that. it is the bounden duty of his majesty to save himself for his
people; shout with your inspired and enthusiastic voice: 'Go!
Destruction will overwhelm you at Berlin! Save the king! Convey him
to Breslau!'"

"I will play my part so skilfully that even the boldest will be
filled with dismay," cried Frederica, with flaming eyes, "and that
dear old Field-Marshal Kalkreuth will implore the king on his knees
to leave Berlin, and go to Breslau. But, when I have played this
part for you--when you have attained your object, and I have given
you proofs of my fidelity and obedience--will you then believe that
I love you?"

"We shall see," he said, smiling. "I am, perhaps, not as wise as
Ulysses, and shall not fill my ears with wax, but listen to the song
of the siren, even at the risk of perishing in the whirlpool of
passion. Let us not impose upon ourselves any promises concerning
the destiny of our hearts; but your position in the world is an
entirely different question. As to this, I must make you promises,
and swear that I shall fulfil them. You promise that you will serve
me, enter into my plans, and support my policy?"

"Yes, your excellency, I swear to you that your opponents themselves
shall beseech the king to leave Berlin, and renounce France."

"Well, then, on the day the king arrives safely at Breslau, you will
receive from me a document securing you an annuity on which you will
be able to live independently here at Berlin."

"And is that all?" she asked, in a contemptuous tone. "You promise
me nothing but money to keep me from starvation?"

"No," said Hardenberg, smiling, "I promise you more than that. I
promise that little Frederica Hahn, the watchmaker's daughter, shall
be transformed into an aristocratic lady, and that I will procure
you a husband, who will give you so distinguished a name that the
daughter of the Marquise de Barbasson need not be ashamed of it. Are
you content with that, my beauty?"

"Would it be necessary for me to love and honor the husband whom
your excellency will give me?" asked Frederica, after a pause.

"Suppose I reply in the affirmative?" asked Hardenberg.

"Then I answer: I prefer remaining Frederica Hahn. for then I shall
at least have the right to sit at your feet and worship you, and no
troublesome husband will be able to prevent my doing so."

"Well, then, my charming little fool, I shall select for you a
husband who will, like a deus ex machina, appear only in order to
confer his name upon you at the altar, and who will then disappear
again. Do you consent to that?"

"Your excellency, that would be precisely such a husband as I would
like to have, and as my imagination has dreamed of--a husband sans
consequence--not a man, but a manikin!"

"I shall, however, see to it that this manikin, besides his name,
will lay at your feet another splendid wedding-gift, and a corbeille
de noce, which will he worthy of you. You accept my offers, then, my
friend?"

"No, unless you add something to them."

"What is it, Frederica?"

"Your love, your confidence, your belief in my love!" she exclaimed,
sinking down at his feet.

"Ah," said Hardenberg, "let us not be so audacious as to attempt to
raise the veil that may perhaps conceal a magnificent future from
our eyes!" [Footnote: This scene is not fictitious, but based upon
the verbal statements and disclosures of the lady who played so
prominent a part in it.--L. M.]

CHAPTER XIX.

THE TWO DIPLOMATISTS.

The royal family celebrated an important festival at Potsdam on the
20th of January. Crown-Prince Frederick William had been confirmed
at the palace church. In the presence of the whole royal family, of
all high officers and foreign ambassadors, the prince, who was now
seventeen years of age, had made his confession of faith and taken
an oath to the venerable and noble Counsellor Sack that he would
faithfully adhere to God's Word, and worship Him in times of weal
and woe. After the ceremonies at church were over, a gala-dinner was
to take place at court, and invitations had been issued not only to
the members of the royal family, but to the dignitaries and
functionaries, as well as the ambassadors, who had come over from
Berlin. This dinner, however, was suddenly postponed. The king was
said to have been unexpectedly taken ill. It was asserted that the
excitement which he had undergone at church had greatly affected his
nerves, bringing on a bleeding at the nose, which had already lasted
several hours, and which even the most energetic remedies were
unable to relieve.

The ambassadors repaired to the palace in order to ascertain more
about the health of the king, and the principal physician of his
majesty was able at least to assure them that his majesty's
condition was not by any means alarming or dangerous, but that the
king needed repose, and could not, according to his intention, go to
Berlin that day, but would remain at Potsdam, and, for a few days,
abstain entirely both from engaging in public affairs and receiving
visitors. This news did not seem to alarm any one more seriously
than the French ambassador, Count St. Marsan. He left the royal
palace in depressed spirits, and, entering his carriage, ordered the
driver in a hurried tone to return to Berlin as fast as possible.
Scarcely three hours elapsed when the carriage stopped in front of
the French legation, and the footman hastened to open the coach-
door. Count St. Marsan, however, did not rise from his feet, but
beckoned his valet de chambre to come to him. "Have no letters
arrived for me?" he asked.

"Yes, your excellency; this was brought to the legation a few
minutes since," said the valet, handing a small, neatly-folded
letter to the count.

St. Marsan opened the note hastily. It contained nothing but the
following words: "I have just returned from Potsdam. I am probably
an hour ahead of your excellency, for I had caused three relays to
be kept in readiness for me. As soon as your excellency has arrived,
I pray you to inform me of it, that I may hasten to you.--H."

"To the residence of Chancellor von Hardenberg!" said the count,
putting the letter into his breast-pocket, and leaning back on the
cushions. The carriage rolled away, and ten minutes afterward it
stopped in front of the residence of the chancellor of state. St.
Marsan alighted with youthful alacrity, and, keeping pace with the
footman who was to announce his arrival, hastened into the house and
ascended the staircase. At the first anteroom the chancellor met
him, greeting him with polite words and conducting him into his
cabinet. "You have anticipated me, your excellency," he said; "my
carriage was in readiness, and I only waited for a message from you
to repair immediately to your residence."

"It is, then, highly important news that your excellency will be
kind enough to communicate to me?" asked St. Marsan, uneasily.

"On the contrary, I hoped you would communicate important news to
me. I cannot conceal from you that we are all in great suspense and
excitement; and I suppose it is unnecessary for me to confess to so
skilful and experienced a diplomatist as your excellency, that the
king's illness and bleeding at the nose were mere fictions, and that
his majesty thereby wished only to avoid meeting you."

"Indeed, that was what I suspected," exclaimed St. Marsan; "for the
rest, every thing at Potsdam appeared to me very strange and
inexplicable; I confess, however, that I do not comprehend what has
aroused the king's indignation, and rendered my person so offensive
to him?"

"What!" asked Hardenberg, with an air of astonishment. "Your
excellency does not comprehend it? It seems to me, however, that
this indignation is but too well-grounded. You know the fidelity and
perseverance with which Prussia has adhered to the French alliance;
that the king has withstood all promises of Russia, however alluring
their character, and has proved by word and deed that he intends to
remain faithful to his system, and never to dissolve the alliance
with France. And now, when my zeal, eloquence, and untiring
expositions of the utility of this alliance have succeeded in
rendering him deaf to all promises, and attaching his heart more
sincerely to France, you mortify and insult the king in so defiant a
manner! Ah, count, this is to postpone the attainment of my object
to a very distant period, and to take from me, perhaps forever, the
order I am longing for. For how can I keep my word?--how can I
obtain the king's consent to the betrothal of the crown prince with
a princess of the house of Napoleon, if France treats him with so
little deference and respect, and proves to him that she herself
does not regard the treaties which she has concluded with Prussia as
imposing any obligations upon her?"

"But your excellency drives me to despair," exclaimed Count St.
Marsan, "for I confess to you again that I do not comprehend what
act of ours would justify such grave reproaches."

"Well, permit me, then, to remind you of what has happened, and
request a kind explanation. Your excellency, I suppose, is aware
that the division of General Grenier, nineteen thousand strong, has
approached by forced marches from Italy and occupied Brandenburg?"

"Yes, I am aware of that," said St. Marsan, hesitatingly; "but these
troops will rest there but a few days, and continue their march."

"On the contrary," replied Hardenberg, "they are destined to remain
in Brandenburg. Their commanders declare emphatically that they will
be stationed in this province, and Brandenburg is already so full of
French soldiers that I do not see how quarters and sustenance are to
be provided for an additional corps of nineteen thousand men.
Besides, this augmentation of the French forces is contrary to the
express stipulations of the existing treaties, and it is, therefore,
but natural that this fact, which in itself would seem to point to a
hostile intention, should have excited the serious displeasure of
the king." "But the extraordinary circumstances in which the French
army has been placed ever since the disastrous campaign of Russia, I
believe ought to excuse extraordinary measures," said St. Marsan, in
his embarrassment. "His majesty the Emperor Napoleon, on learning
how offensive to the king is this increase in the number of troops
stationed in the province of Brandenburg, will assuredly hasten to
explain the necessity of the measure, and, however late it may be,
request his ally's consent to it."