COUNT ERLICH’S INFATUATION

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1511, 14 February 1901, Page 9

COUNT ERLICH’S INFATUATION

(By Athol Forbes)

“If anv woman deserved to ho Lt.i-ed from the Tarpeian rock, it was hu ixoillkcy. after' a <dn “ w -without- doubt or hesitation 1 can .. . she was the worst woman 1 ever met. and I have met some strange chaiaccex> hi mv day. When women are bad. man cannot compete with them m de\'..yMv old chief, who was our representative then at Vienna, used to .say she was a laughing hyena .wit, 1 a c-ickct oleave from the Zoological Gardens. In fact, she was not a woman, She was a fiend —nothing less.” -Come, Drake,?’ put in our hostess, -you must have been m love with lu yourself at- some period, o. you c not talk so. of one of we weaker sex. You must love a person before you can hate them like that.” We all laughed at this sally. . Tlie idea of the old Duke ever being m love tickled us young ones immensely. v -Now, Lady Betty, that is too mad. You ask me to tell you . about- the wickedest woman I have ever been brought in contact with, and wnen 1 beau* to describe her, you charge... me v, ith 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 v/ould never do. Those on the staff cf 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 ystuld be our fate.” ' •

* “Oh, Duke, please 'allow me to wjlli- ■ draw the charge/-’ cried 'Lady' Betty, who -•saw that we were in danger of: getting a speech hr 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, Piker''’.. Lord Piketovn twirled his moustache and ventured the opinion: “That His Excellency’s word was sufficient.”. “If not,” continued the Duke, “-the narrative I have to put before you will, I fancy, entirely disabuse your mind of such an idea.”

“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. Liord Piketown. “That would be a calamity at all costs to be averted, so I must trust the facts to prove my innocence, and how to the present presiding divinities,” and he bowed with great gallantry to the laches. > “The first time I met the

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. They 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 ha#. made a fortune b.y poisoning the inhabitants of the province of Kiel? with corn brandy. That m ight, of course, be true.” “Was she beautiful?” asked Lady Betty, by way of putting him back on the rails. -No, she was not. Few of the Russian women are, but- she was far -below the average, and how she came to make a match with one of the foremost sglditrs and diplomatists of the day is a story in itself. Mind you, £ am only repeating gossip, but it was commoiJ.v reported that -she met the Prince—her 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 imputing of it to St. Petersburg, placed a strong fortress in the hands of Prince Dnieper, and included the surrender of him of • a large portion of the Turkish Army. This at once gave- him a high, place m the Tsar's estimation, and she dul not appear in Die 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. ‘T hare remarked that she was not beaut 1 ul, but .she .sang like an angel and danced like a nymph. The next ' tune 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 stdl have been under his mofher s care. He- was full of genius—-of a kind—enthusiastic and romantic, but, in spite, of all,; the greatest gaby you could possibly meet wmh.in the whole G frriaan Confederacy,; and that is saving a great deal. • ,

Olio day 1 proposed that we should go to- place in the Piazza, 'de’ Spagna—a cafe ‘of European reputation' c for its chef. You could get anything there, from a La, Mancha ham with garbarizos,: to the delicious dish of wild boar with sweet-sour sauce, for which - Nazzarfls’ was specially famous. We had finished dinner and were partaking of our curacoa, when a .band was placed gently on iny shoulder. I glanced up, and there stood the Princess Dnieper.

ould you not like one of those ices—the ambrosia pistachio—of the Erst Herzog; Karl in the Karnthner fetrasse at Vienna?’ she asked. ‘‘l,was so taken by surprise that she should remember me that I do not know what my response was. You see. I was _ youngi and rather, flattered that - m y friend should see me spoken to so familiarly by a princess, of her. repr.- ~ tat ion. He nudged me, and I hastened—to present him. : ' "—, i(i : ! s '“Hmnif

Ah!. I knew your father, and he is dead. Well! It- was he who recommended me white truffles boiled in champagne. You must bring your friend to see me,’ she added, and she gave him a ravishing glance. • . _ r -In an instant she was gone. Aly friend walked to the window and gazed after her as she drove away. ‘So 'chat 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 yourliqueur.’ • - ‘Do ycu think we could go tc-morrow night ?’ •'lf you are anxious—-yes,’ .1 replied. “How many 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 bus-and under tragic circumstances- in >the East, She did not add'that-she had been separated from him for three years. ohe cried, and I saw big: tears come into the eyes cf my companion as he sympathised with her. Then she .talked a .-our. -Germany; insisted upon our dining with her . the next evening, promising us some Imperial Rhine- carp stewed with button mushrooms. o-i course. Count Elrich was delighted’ at. this manifest compliment to himself, and when we came away that evening he simply raved about her the whole way.

, - ‘Have a. care!’ I suggested. “Do net go there too much?

.'“Nonsense! She is the woman above all others who can be useful to met’ - ‘Wells mind she does .. not ~ bleed

you. 5 _ ’ V;u ; “Ho .was a conceited young gaby, and he answered somewhat • hotly, that. he could look after himself. From; that moment a coldness sprang up between ns. Hut we kept the appointment together at the Princes sis dinner party next night, which was rather a ; grand affair. There were about a dozen guest-s, and the Count- had His ; carp stewed with mushrooms. . : .“After thatnight, we met fit rare intervals. A coldness sprang up, and-the old intimacy was at nn miff/-: ;He fell completely into her toils:, ; and. fffie twistt’d,. Iffin round .-her.-,hfrtle.rfingjar*; aheasily a s if he were “notiling mpre, ;than .a .srke/n of floss silk. They were simply inseparable, driving here and there together, and they were the common talk of the clubs arid cafes: She was still received in good society, for Continental ' capit - als are not like - London.' Greater latitude is allowed, especially in regard to Russian princesses. Every evening they were to : he seen on the Pincio, in a grand barouche and four, with iwo< big, ■whiskered Russians • 'in livery on ~ the •rumble. Once I came quite 'hear.- to them. The Princess gave me a beaming smile, and he a. somewhat patronising bow. .

“A few days after this incident, tte explosion came. My chief, Lord’ X—who represented this country then in the Eternal. City, received a cipher telegram ITe was dictating ’a ■ letter. to’ mg-when it .\vas ..handed! in. ';. r. ;

‘ls it possible y. Put that 1 otter * away,’ No, stay

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 excitable man, and his conouoi: on this occasion caused me great uneasiness. That night I was due to dine with some of the officers in a cavalry ■- eg inient stationed in Homo. It rather suited me that perchance one might near something which would throw iigln on the exclamation and surprise of my chief; but in this I was disappointed. I was returning to the Embassy abou u half-past twelve, when I was accosted uy a muffled figure. I recognised Count Erlich by his German accent. “‘Help me!" he criecf hoarsely. lam a ruined man!’ , . “He gripped mv arm and burst into * “ ‘Come with me/ I said. “‘.No, no! Here, come into the shade, I cannot tell you m 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 hostilities have nor. already begun—and it is my fault— 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 'uto 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 disaster to Prussia.’ “ ‘You have parted with some tVelomatic secret?’ i said. ‘‘‘God forgive me! Yes. You know the Princess and I "were about to marry ?’ ‘‘l nodded. “ ‘Two evenings ago we were discussing money matters, and she imparted to me the fact that she was to invest largely in Italian securities. The temptation was t oo 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 woind be out „ there .would- be a general fad in Italian securities. She begged me to tell her why I advised her to shun Italian bonds, and, fool that I wa? — worse than fool, traitor .... I told her that the country had just gi/ei; a secret pledge to support Prussia.’ “ ‘And she communicated that

“ ‘To the Austrian Ambassador. .Suspicion fell on me at once. This night a letter was received from her offering to give up the name of her infornuuio to my chief for a stated sum. A wire has been received from Berlin, and she will get her price.’ “ ‘What can I do 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. fam ruined, not oaly in honour, but m money. Thank God my father is dead.’ And he again bumr, into sobs.

‘‘He Availed Avhile I procured five English, ten pound notes ,which I h aided to him. With hasty thanks, ho was gone, but he Avas arrested at Naples and —disappeared from history. Next day, Avar breke out. Yet the affair of poor Count Erlich Avas only one of her nr any misdeeds. “No; I Avas never in love with her,” added His Excellency.