LOVE STORY OF FAMOUS CHANCELLOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 3018, 17 January 1912, Page 45

LOVE STORY OF FAMOUS CHANCELLOR.

REVELATIONS OF LIFE IN GERMAN POLITICAL CIRCLES. SWORE LIFE COMPACT. There is about to be published in Berlin ono of the most remarkable human documents, giving- an ultimate glimpse into a romance in high quarters. It is the life—and love-story of the Baroness ion Hedomann and Prince Chlodwig Hohenlohe, th* predeoes-or of Prince Buelow in tho German Imperial Chancellorship. Aii outline of th© course of this strange and fascinating- romance is given in the Daily Telegraph. It would seem that the Baroness was born to a life of great vicissitude. At an eariy aga she was engaged—it was a love affair pure and simple— to a young man named Scheffer; but this was broken off, although Scheffer was destined later to play a decisive part in her fortunes. She was afterwards married to a banker named Erzberger, nearly a-quarter ot a century her senior. This marriage was dasso'lved after Hen- Scheffer had agaia Crossed her path, and the Baroness admits that sho " was pronounced the guiltv party." A^« rw ards she bore a son to Herr Scneffer. The manner in which Prince Hohenloha made the acquaintance of the Baroness, of wfhom all Munich was talking, was essentially romantic.

MESSAGE IN A BOUQUET. Th.e Baroness, in these memoirs, thus describes the affair:

One day—how astonished I was—a messenger brought me a garland of flowers. Next morning- the same floral greeting, and so on, always anonymous and mysterious, till at lost I found in the oup of a lily a slip of paper with the humbla. petition of an admirer to bo allowed to make my acquaintance. Half curious, half distrusted. I did no* know what to do, and kept silence. But, as I was racking- my brains over this mystery and the attitude I should take up towards it, the bell rang- atnd a gentleman entered. ..." Pardon my intrusion. I am Count von L ——. and havo ventured to write to you. I havo heard so much about you that an overpowering desire to make your acquaintance silenced all considerations of reason in me. If my presence is distagreoable to you I am ready to withdraw." Ho remained, and he came again. For some time after this she did not know the real identity of her admirer. This knowledge was revealed to her by a dramatic mischance: In the summer of 1863 I was invited by friends to Salzburg. It was a reception day, and we were assembled in tho salon. Guests came and went. "Prince Chlodwig von Hohenlohe-Sohillingsfurst," announced the servant at tho door. Before tho cur-. tain appears my friend Count L ; on his arm a lady who is introduced as his . wife. I stare at him. speechless and confused. When he approaches me lam able to whisper, "Is it you, my friend, my father confessor? But why this mask, this . incognito? Are you really tho famous Hohonlohe?" " Later," he said quickly; "I will tell all later!" Tho pair swore a compact for life, and from this timo forward the Prince, as Bavarian Minister, Premier, member of tha Reichstag. Viceroy of Alsace-Lorraine, and Imperial Chancellor, " took no political steji and made no speech without consulting me, tho once despised." They spent long days riding through ths? woods side by side. She even visited Prinoe at Schillingsfurst during tho abseno* of tho Princess. On one of these occasions she narrates the following epi'vxle:— We were sitting in the Prince's 6tudy t and wow in tho middle of a livelv con* versation, when we heard the rattle of wheels, and, to our great astonishment, saw through the window that the Prinoesa was stepping out of the carriage. Slia bad como back unexpectedly from he* journey. " I should like to leave the Schlosa as quicklv as possible," I said, somewhat perturbed. "No. you must stay; you can't go now," was the firm answer. Whereupon he left the room, and returned a few minutes later with the Princess. " Allow me, my dearest Mary, to introduces our guest. Baroness von Hedoninnn." After the usual banal phrases Princess Hohen'oho, with enchanting amiabilitv, invited me (o dinner, and I stayed till the evening. BITTFR REPROACH. After the death of his wife, in 1897, the . Prince Droposed to the Baroness that she should become his wife. The grounds of - her refusal were misunderstood bv tha Prince. The Baroness writes: My heart was almost breaking when, without being able to defend myself, I heard from his lips the uniii6t reproach, "If you will not share my last days with me, let us complete tho final severance at once." These last despairing words of the. Prince rang mercilessly in my ears, as t left him, sunk back in a state of collapso in a big armchair in his study. Black rings circled before my eyes. More than thirty years of my life I had given to this man; I had devoted mvself to him with mv whole soul, only to hear euch hard words at the end. She tried to drown herself, but lived to return, in 1900, to Berlin, where she again eaw the Prince: I found my poor friend much changed; asthma and deafness had been added to the other infirmities of old age which tormented him. His condition caused me anxious and restless hours, and I sent him mv friend, the well-known physician. Doctor Schadclbauer, from the Tyrol. He advised the Prince to retire at once and seek complete repcee. Tho Princo took his advice, laid down the burden of hit office, and left Berlin. From this it would appear (adds the Daily Telegraph) that the Baroness was" indirectly responsible for the Chancellorship of Prince Biielow commencing exactly when it did.