COUNT ERLICH'S INFATUATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11571, 8 February 1901, Page 3

COUNT ERLICH'S INFATUATION.

" If any woman deserved to be hurled from the Tarpeian rock, it was the Princess Dnieper. Yes," continued His Excellency, after a, thoughtful pause, "without doubt or hesitation I can , say she was the worst woman I; ever met, and I have met some strange characters in my day. When women are bad, men cannot compete with them in devilry, vMy old chief, who was , our > representative then at Vienna, used to say she was a laughing hyena with a ticket-of-leave from the Zoological Gardens. In fact, she was not a woman. She was a fiend nothing less." W ; ■'■'■■'

"Come, Duke," put in our hostess, "you must have been in love with her yourself : at some period, or you could not talk so of one of the weaker sex. You must a. person before you can hate them'like that." We all laughed at this sally. The idea of the old Duke ever being in love tickled us*young ones "immensely. .:- "Now, Lady Betty, that is too bad. You ask me to !■■ tell . you about the wickedest woman I have ever been brought in contact with, and when I begin to describe her, you charge me with being a disappointed suitor.*

" You have not really denied the impeachment now," replied she. "Well, I do deny it, a young English attache is not allowed the luxury of falling in love with princesses. You see, it would never do. / Those on the staff of an embassy, are. admitted everywhere on a footing of intimacy which is denied to the highest in the country of their exile, and if we went falling in love with those connected with Royal families, why, something: like Siberia would be our fate."

" Oh, Duke, please allow me to withdraw my charge," cried Lady Betty, who saw that wo were in danger of getting a speech in place of what gave promise of being a story. "No! I think it is incumbent upon me to refute this accusation before we go further. What do you say, Pike?" { Lord Piketown twirled his moustache, and ventured the opinion: "That His Excellency's word was sufficient." / "If not," continued the Duke, "the narrative 1 have to put before you will, I fancy, entirely disabuse your mind of such an idea." :''■-'-•'- . - v ~;■ - '' "If you do not begin your story at once, instead of keeping our curiosity at so cruel a tension, the ladies will all retire," said our hostess. . This was greeted with an approving "Hear, hear," from Lord Piketown. "That would be,a calamity at. all costs to be averted, so I must trust the fates to prove my innocence, and bow to the present presiding divinities," and he bowed with great gallantry to the ladies. " The first time I met the Princess was at a reception given by Lady Stanhope in Vienna. She had just arrived -with her husband, a man who played: an important part in European politics. of that date. .1 hey were prodigiously . rich, and spent their money in the generous, and lavish way characteristic of the Russian nobility. There were people who said she was an adventuress, and that her people had made a fortune by poisoning the inhabitants of the province of Kieff with corn brandy. That might, of course, be true." "Was she beautiful?" asked Lady Betty, bv way of putting him back on the rails. " No, she was not. Few of the Russian wom'en are, but she was far below the average, and how she came to make a match with one of the foremost soldiers and diplomatists of the day is a story in itself Mind you, I am only repeating gossip, but it was commonly reported that she met the Princeher husband-when she was in the employ of the secret service. He was very anxious to get hold of some information of a particularly interesting and valuable nature for the Russian Government She promised it, and The price she demanded was-marriage The : possession of the secret, or rather the imparting of it to St. Petersburg, placed a Strong 8 fortress in the hands of Prince Dnieper, and included the surrender to him of a large portion of the Turkish army. Th s "at once gave him a high place in the, Tsars estimation, and she did not appear in the transaction. So the Prince got all the credit of a grand coup, and she got her price, and with it a position which placed her in the front rank of society in any capital. ; "I have remarked that she was not beautiful but she sang like an ancel and danced like a nymph. The next time I saw her was in Rome. I was Under-Secretary then. A great friend of mine was the unfortunate Count Erlich. He was , sent to Rome to occupy a. responsible position when he should still have been tinder his mother's care. He was full of genius— a kind—enthusiastic and romantic, but. in spite of all. the greatest gaby you could possibly meet with m the whole German Confederacy, and that is saying a great deal. -J ■ - " One day I proposed that we should go to Nazzari's place in the Piazza di Spagna—-a >afe of European reputation for its chef. You could get anything there, from a La Maucha ham with garbanzos to the delicious dish of wild boar with sweet-sour sauce, for which Nazzari's was specially famous. we had finished dinner and were partaking of our curnroa. when n hand was placed gently on my shoulder. I glanced up, and there stood" the Princess Dnieper. "'Would you not like one of those ices— the ambrosia pistachio— of the Erst Herzog Karl in the Karnthner Strasse at Vienna? she asked. " T was so taken bv surprise that she should remember mo that I do not. know what my response was. You see, I was young, and rather flattered that my. friend should see mo spoken to so familiarly by a princess of her reputation. He nudged me, and I hastened to present him. ." ' Count Erlich, son of the general? Ah! I knew your father, and he is dead. Well! It was he who recommenced me white truffles boiled in champagne. You must bring your friend to see me,' she added, and she gave him a ravishing glance. "In an instant she was gone. My friend walked to the window and gazed after her as she drove away. 'So that is Princess Dnieper.' he said. 'You must take me to see her. When-can we go? What a charming creature!' "'Sit down, Count, and finish your liqueur.' v "'Do you think we could go to-morrow night?' " ' It you are anxiousyes,' I replied. "How manv times since have I cursed Nazzari's! This story is too long to tell you all. We called next night. She told us of the death of her husband under tragic circumstances in the East. She did not add that she had been separated from him for three years. She cried, and I saw big tears come into the eyes of my companion as he tymnathised wiijh her. Then she talked about Germany; insisted upon our dining with her the next evening, promising lis some Imperial Rhine carp, stewed with button mushrooms. Of course, Count Erlich was delighted at this manifest compliment to himself, and when we came away that ovening he simply raved about her the whole way, "'Have a care!' I suggested. 'Do not go there too much.' " 'Nonsense! She is the woman above all others who can be useful to me.' ■•.'"!

"'Well, mind she does not bleed you.' "He was a conceited young gaby, and. he answered somewhat hotlv that he could look after himself. From that moment a coldness sprang up oetwecn us. But wo kept the appointment together at the Princess' dinner pnrty next night, which was rather a grand affair. There were about a dozen guests, and the Count had his carp, stewed with mushrooms. " After that nigh: we met at rare intervals A coldness sprang up, and the old intimacy was at an end. He fell completely into her toils, and she twisted him round her little finger or easilv as if ha v"'-e nothing mo~o than a skein of floss silk. Thev were simply inseparable, driving here and there together, and they were the common talk of the clubs and cafes. She was still received in good society, fo.* Continental capitals are not like London. Qreatei latitude is allowed, especially in regard to Russian princesses. Every evening they were to be seen on the Pincio, in a grand barouche and four, with two big whiskered Russians in livery on the rumble. Once 1 came quite near to them. The Princess gave me a beaming smile, and he a somewhat patronising bow. ','■■ " A few days after this incident the ex-, plosion came. My chief. Lord X——, who represented this country then in the Eternal City, received a ciphe.. telegram. He was dictating a letter to me when it was handed in. ; : ■ ; "'My God!' he ejaculated. 'Is it possible? Put that letter away. No, stay! tear it up and burn the pieces. I am off to the Prussian Embassy.' :

{■:* " He would not wait for the carriage, but tore out of the house and hailed a vehicle, bidding the .man to drive for all he was worth. He was by no means an exoitable man, and his conduct on this occasion caused me great uneasiness. ( That night I was due ■ to dine with/some of the officers in a cavalry regiment stationed in Rome. It rather ■ suited my purpose,' for the thought occurred to me that porchanco one might hear something which would throw light on the cxclamation and surprise ot my chief;: but in this I was disappointed. .I was returning to | the Embassy about half-past ; twelve, when I was accosted by ,- muffled figure. I re-

cognised Count Erlich by his German accent. -\-; : - "'Help me!' .he cried, hoarsely. - ' I:- am-. a ruined man!' "He gripped my arm an burst into tears. " ' Come- with me,' I said. " 'No, no! Here, come into the shade I cannot tell you in' the light.: Have you heard nothing?' he inquired, eagerly. 'No? Well. I may as well tell you. My country and - Austria will be ;at war to-morrow, if I hostilities have -hot 'already 1 begun—-and;it- is myfault—all through .; my ; infatuation:'. for that Jezebel, the : Princess whom you introduced me to. Now that the game is up and; the cards known .Austria will rush into war before we have more : time to prepare, for Italy is notoriously weak, and a month would make a tremendous difference, and, give us, an enormous advantage. Austria will not wait now, and this may mean to Prussia.' ■'-'" ' You have parted with some diplomatic secret?' I said. " ' God forgive me! ; Yes. You know the Princess and I were about : to marry?' ' "I nodded. "'Two evenings ago we were discussing money matters, and she imparted to m© the fact that she was about to invest largely in Italian securities. The temptation was too great. 'I;knew that it had just been settled that Italy was to be our ally in the event of war with Austria,, and as soon as this fact would be out tftere would be a general fall in Italian securities. She begged me to tell her why I advised her to shun Italian bonds; and, fool that I worse than fool, traitor. ... I told her that the country had just given a secret pledge to support Prussia.' 4

"'And she communicated that' ■■'''■■ "' To the Austrian Ambassador. Suspicion fell on mo at once. This night a letter was received from her. offering to give up the name of her informant to my chief for a stated sum. A wire has been received from. Berlin, and she will get her price.'

•■ ■'' ' What can Ido for you - "' Lend me some money. I have settled all my estates upon : her, and she in turn was to settle some British securities on me. I am ruined, not only in honour, but in money. ". Thank God my father is dead.' And lie again burst into sobs. " He waited while I procured five English £10 notes, which I handed to him. With hasty thanks, he was gone, but he was arrested at Naples, and—disappeared from history. Next day war broke out. Yet the affair of poor Count Erlich was only one of her many misdeeds. ."No: I was never in love with her," added His Excellency.