“He is to marry a princess of the Palatinate!” exclaimed the Stadtholder.  “Ah! now I understand why the Electress, despite her tender love for her only son, constantly endeavors to keep him away, and to prolong his stay at The Hague.  I always thought until now that it was on my account.  I thought that the Electress believed me to have evil and malign intentions with regard to the Electoral Prince, and for that reason alone was opposed to her son’s return.  But now I see into it; she is for this Palatinate marriage, she wishes by that means to bind her son more closely to her own house and its interests, to alienate him further from the Emperor and the Holy Roman Empire.  It is the daughter of the banished Bohemian King, the Princess Ludovicka Hollandine, who is to be the tie to unite him to Orange and the Palatinate.  All this becomes suddenly clear to me, and I can not imagine how I could have been so blind and so innocent as not to have divined and penetrated into this earlier.  The Electoral Prince does, indeed, in each of his letters make mention of the little household over which the banished Bohemian Queen, the Electress of the Palatinate, presides at Doornward, not far from The Hague.”

“She has now removed her residence farther, to The Hague itself,” said Count Lesle dryly; “without doubt, because winter approaches, and it will be more comfortable for the Electoral Prince not to find it necessary to travel that long way to Doornward to see his dearly beloved one.  She must be quite a pretty girl, the Princess Ludovicka Hollandine, and, moreover, of very tender complexion, and not at all disposed to play the prude with the young, handsome Electoral Prince, who seems particularly to please her.”

“And the Electress is particularly partial to her sister-in-law, the Electress of the Palatinate,” said Schwarzenberg thoughtfully.  “Tears always come into her eyes whenever she speaks of her, and calls to mind her brother’s unhappy fate.[13] It would, indeed, be for the advantage of her house if the daughter of her banished brother should again exalt the honor of her family, and find in Brandenburg amends for the lost Palatinate.  For when women take it into their heads to meddle with politics, then are their hearts always interested; and even in politics, match making is their especial delight.  Yes, yes, Count Lesle, I see into it now; you are right.  The Electoral Prince is to wed the Palatinate Princess, and the Electress favors this match.”

“But the Emperor would be displeased at it in the highest degree,” cried Count Lesle.  “It is therefore impossible that this alliance take place.  You must do everything to prevent the Elector from granting his consent, and however many are for it, and blow upon one horn, yet the Elector must strike no note in harmony with this Palatinate marriage."[14]

“No, the Elector will not and shall not,” replied the count decidedly.  “It is for me to prevent him, and—­You are indeed right.  There is nothing left to be done but to summon the Electoral Prince from The Hague.”