In fact, waltzes have been forbidden ever since an accident which happened to Empress Frederick at a court ball not long after her marriage.  She was waltzing with a young nobleman, when suddenly she was tripped up inadvertently by her partner, and precipitated to the floor at the very feet of old Empress Augusta, her mother-in-law.  The latter, who was a terrible despot on the score of etiquette, could not bear the idea of a dance which could have the effect of placing a princess of the blood in such an undignified position, and turning a deaf ear to all arguments about the mishap being due to the awkwardness of the dancers, rather than to the dance itself, she vetoed the inclusion of waltzes thenceforth in all programmes of court balls.

Fortunately, no such regulation prevails at the Court of Vienna, where Strauss’s waltzes invariably form the most attractive feature of the so-called “hofball” and “ball-bei-hof.”  There is a great difference in the character of these two state balls at Vienna.  To the first, all sorts of people are commanded who are entitled solely by virtue of their official position to appear at court.  The second, and far more brilliant one, is restricted to what is known as the court circle, or the elite,—­the old blue-blooded aristocracy,—­alone.

So far Emperor William has resisted all the pressure brought to bear upon him by the princesses and ladies of his court to revive the waltz, taking the ground that it is more conducive than any other dance to ridiculous mishaps on the highly polished and parqueted floors of the royal and imperial palaces.  Even with the polka, the schottische and the mazurka, to which the round dances are now limited, there are so many accidents that some time ago the kaiser summoned the generals commanding the various troops stationed in and around Berlin, and instructed them to direct those officers who were not able to dance properly, to abstain from attempting to do so at the imperial entertainments.  The result is that young officers are now put through their paces by their seniors, and have to display a certain proficiency in dances around the billiard or mess table before they are allowed to dance at court.

I remember on one occasion at a court ball at Berlin when a young subaltern incurred the anger of the late Prince Frederick-Charles by tripping up his partner.  The Red Prince assailed the young officer so bitterly that the crown prince was obliged to intervene.

At a Viennese court ball I once saw the young secretary of a foreign embassy fall so unfortunately while dancing with one of the archduchesses that he actually came down in a sitting position on her face, and caused her nose to bleed.  It need scarcely be added that he left Vienna the next day, and a week later obtained his transfer to another post.

A short time before the tragedy of Mayerling, Crown Princess Stephanie had a very nasty fall, owing to the gaucherie of a cavalry officer with whom she was waltzing.  The emperor was terribly annoyed, and Crown Prince Rudolph spoke his mind in no measured tones to the offender.