Prominent among the many grand ladies of the little court was the wife of the Prussian ambassador.  It was her first appearance among them, her father’s death, following immediately upon her marriage, having secluded her, and now, in the little circle where her husband’s position gave her much prominence, she was the cynosure of all eyes.  The duke, too, and his duchess, to whom she had been presented a few weeks previous, treated the ambassador’s wife with special deference.

The court ladies, however, looked upon the appearance of this new star with anything but satisfaction.  They all discovered soon enough, that Frau von Wallmoden, with her cold and haughty manner, was a very proud woman, and certainly she had no reason to be so; they knew only too well who she was:  only a burger’s daughter, who had no right to be in their charmed circle at all; her father’s great wealth, and a certain prominence to which he had attained by success in his manufacturing interests, were all she could lay claim to at best.  But she certainly carried herself with remarkable security; they all admitted that it was evident her husband had schooled her carefully for her first appearance, for she made no mistakes.

The men were of another opinion.  They found that the ambassador had proven himself a profound diplomatist in this, as in other things.  He, standing on the threshold of old age, had married a beautiful young girl with a fortune, which fortune, if report did not err, had been greatly augmented since their marriage, and was still on the increase.  Such a condition of affairs was to be envied.  Wallmoden was not the least surprised at the impression which his wife’s beauty and manners made upon them all, and he took it, as the true diplomatist takes all things, as a matter of course.  He had expected nothing else, and would on the contrary have been surprised if she had not created a sensation.

He stood for one moment now, in a window recess with his brother-in-law, the head forester, and asked casually, while he glanced indifferently over the heads of the guests: 

“Who is it Prince Adelsberg has with him?  Do you know?”

“You mean the young Roumanian?  No.  I see him to-day for the first time; but I have heard about him before.  He is Prince Egon’s bosom friend, and accompanied him on his oriental tour.  He’s as handsome as a picture, and how the fire does flash in his eyes.”

“He looks to me like an adventurer,” said Wallmoden, coldly.  “How did he come to be invited here?  Has he been presented to the duke?”

“Yes, at Rodeck, so I heard.  The duke went over there the first thing.  Once in a while Prince Adelsberg succumbs to the, rules of etiquette.  But as to this invitation, it signifies nothing; every one is invited here to-day.”

The ambassador shrugged his shoulders.

“It is hardly wise to invite persons about whom you know absolutely nothing into your midst.”