Prince, should you ever stumble and stray Into a duo not yet done,

Remember, though you'd like to stay: 'Two's company, and three is none.'

J. LIBBEL.

102

So Like the Prince.

I.

WHILE I was staying at Ludwigstein some three or four summers ago, the Prince arrived in his own territory, to remain a few months, for the hunting season, and brought with him a very noticeable valet-a youth of singularly fine appearance and possessed of a somewhat winning and polished manner: no one knew where he had found him.

Such was the dearth of change in Ludwigstein, that even the new valet created a sensation; indeed, so much so, that when this same valet appeared with his Prince outside the palace grounds, the people for a time looked at the valet even more than at the

master.

The Prince was perhaps a little imprudent in introducing this young man into his household, valet though he was; for, to tell truth, he bore a striking resemblance to his master; but his Serene Highness was given to doing things after his own fashion, never concerning himself, or even thinking for a moment, what others might think or say. Being the greater part of his time away from home enjoying life in foreign cities of pleasure, he forgot that there was an opinion in Ludwigstein: wherefore did the folk of that little place open their eyes the wider, as is their wont when one greater looks with indifference over their heads,

-not that it appeared that the likeness between master and valet had been observed by the former, though so evident to the rest of the world.

The fact is, that the Prince hated the place, and, confounding the people with it, hated them. It is a sleepy, stupid town, dusty in sunshine, and muddy after rain; its town-council, which thinks itself metropolitan, is poor and primitive, and has not yet conquered the pride it takes in handing all its revenues over to the Prince, who, on his part, well acquainted with all the modern mprovements, has failed hitherto in introducing any of them into the capital. Indeed, the Serene Highness, observant of Russian maxims in these days unfavourable to Princes, did his best to withhold from them the new ideas, lest they should come to know of the great cauldron of conspiracy now simmering, and which he cordially hoped would soon boil over and scald the disaffected, each according to his deserts. For the rest, the Prince, who had

weighed these things in the general scale, hoped that all would continue to be for the best, leaving him to have his old way at home and abroad, and his subjects theirs as heretofore.

It might be fairly inferred that the people of Ludwigstein knew pretty well all about their Prince, seeing that he ruled over so small a realm, and that the distance between him and his lowest subject was by no means equal to that between the Czar of all the Russias and his serfs. But their knowledge of the Prince and his movements was very slight, and the less authentic as being gossip which had filtered from the stable and kitchen through the instrumentality of kitchen-maids and grooms; for the Prince was away the greater part of the year, and came only to the homepalace to hunt the boar.

I remember when for the first time I visited the little town in which this palace stands, how, as everything was shown to me, it was introduced with the whispered word 'princely,' just as it might be 'ducal' at Weimar, or 'royal' at Berlin: it was the princely stable, the princely farm, the princely park, the princely palaceas if the Prince himself were in the midst of them, though as little seen as his fish in the princely ponds, or his face in the princely mirrors of the château.

The royal suite had returned to Ludwigstein three days before the inhabitants had a sight of the new valet, and on this occasion he was seated behind the Prince as the carriage drove through the town to a favourite pavilion in the neighbourhood. People were struck with his resemblance to the Prince. And not they alone; for the same idea was in vogue among the lords and ladies of the court.

As time went on, it was seen by the courtiers at the château that the new valet was rapidly gaining the Prince's favour. They made a pleasantry of the dexterous way in which the new valet anticipated the wishes of his master, and saw how, in place of the menial duties of his situation, he was set to the performance of higher ones; for His Serene Highness had more than once dictated letters to him and had caused them to be issued in the valet's. handwriting. Besides all this, the Prince had put into his hands a batch of accounts to examine, and had deputed him to pay out certain moneys. These doings, as if they had been contrary to court etiquette, were, for want of better, made topics of conversation between the chancellor and the mistress of the robes, and the chamberlain and the ladies-in-waiting. But, playfully as this matter was treated by them, there was something like disquietude among the courtiers, who cannot think with complacency of a favourite, even though he may belong to the domestic class.

Meantime the valet himself maintained a demeanour respectful rather than servile towards all, without distinction, as if he scarcely belonged to the household: which, from the courtier's point of view, if not impertinent, was irritating in the highest degree.

At this time Herr Harmann, the valet, liked no society so well as his own; and when he had disposed of his other duties, he would betake himself to his master's dressing-room, and, whatever his motive may have been, was never so happy as when determining the point of how he looked in his master's clothes. It is astonishing how great a portion of his time he spent, while his master was hunting the boar, in trying on now a gold lace coat and now a wig; for the Prince, being a little bald, possessed a wealth of perukes. On these occasions, Herr Harmann was very serious; and when he stood before the mirror to survey himself, he would assume an elevated air, conscious of the likeness he bore to the Prince, and would say: This is Herr Harmann who stands outside the mirror; but that is the Prince within it.'

Though, like an actor, he was in this way continually performing his own high part and encouraging his aspirations, he began to assure himself that he must not long remain a servant, but must take his place nearer to the Prince whom he so much resembled. All this, however, was a secret between him and the mirror. Nevertheless, he felt difficulty in concealing from others when among them that the Prince's cloak was on his shoulders. Meantime the Prince found him more and more useful, now entrusting him with duties which pertained rather to the steward, and now employing him in the work of a secretary, until at last he became both, to the great dissatisfaction of those who already held those offices.

In this way, while more than a year had passed, the Prince had as usual been on visits to other courts, and, in the character of the foreign count, had visited Paris and London, taking with him a portion of his suite and the invaluable Harmann.

The latter during the travels had shown a new character; he was a perfect linguist, and the effectiveness with which he made use of his talent was strikingly exhibited in Paris, at the Hôtel des Grands Seigneurs, where, discussing an important overcharge in the bill, he entered into the matter with the manager of the hotel in the Prince's presence, with so much fluency and tact as to lead to a considerable reduction in the charges.

One afternoon the court was amazed at learning that Herr Harmann had been appointed the Prince's secretary and had been entrusted with the management of the royal estates, a large part of which was the public revenue. When the chamberlain whis

pered the fact to his brother-courtiers, the announcement was received superciliously; but the ladies were more indignant. Fortunately for the new secretary, he was on the point of departing on a financial mission for the Prince, and so avoided the resentment that awaited him throughout the household.

Now that such a change had been made in his position, Herr Harmann naturally came into more familiar contact with his master. Among his manifold duties, it was a part of the morning's business to retail the latest news to the Prince when the latter was disposed to listen, which led Herr Harmann to make an assiduous study of the journals.

"There has been an attempt to assassinate the Grand Duke of Saxe-Waldeck, Monseigneur,' he said one morning, as His Serene Highness entered the library.

"Thou loving God!' said the Prince; why, the Saxe-Waldecks have been six hundred years on the throne!'

'Fortunately the assassin entirely failed, wounding only some of the attendants, your Highness,' said Harmann.

'Thou loving God!' said the Prince; 'the man who attempts the life of a ruler is worse than a sovereign who cuts to pieces a whole nation.'

Herr Harmann was so elated at becoming the Prince's secretary that he began to spend money like a minister; he became extravagant though he tried to hide it, but none could fail to perceive that his dress was most costly.

One day, when the Prince was out hunting, Herr Harmann strolled into the town, and, as he passed the barracks, to his surprise the guard presented arms. He did not show his astonishment, but returned a salute. He had been mistaken for the Prince, a circumstance which suggested to him how easily he might play a royal part, bearing as he did his prince's likeness on his face. On a similar opportunity he paid a visit to the market-place, and on his appearance there the busy throng suspended its bargainings, all whispering, The Prince, the Prince!

All these impressions accompanied him on a mission to Paris; they were not to be easily forgotten.

It was not known at the court until after the secretary had left that the Prince had made him Herr von Harmann, and decorated him with the order and riband of Saint Hermann; the secretary not only made the most of this on his travels, but even insinuated that he was travelling incognito, as though he were actually the Prince that he would like to have been.

Herr von Harmann's mission to Paris was soon completed, but not without showing him how easy a matter it would be to person