Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-20

" M1SknE
Crown Princess Stephanfe.
delight him more than to escape her pres
ence.
To show his utter contempt for her flnery
and everything connected with the i'm
per1al household, he would cultivate the
friendship and acquaintance of those who
moved in the lowest sphere of life. AL
though hundreds OF horses and the most
gorgeous equipages on the continent were
at his constant disposal, whenever the OPP
portunity was afforded the crown prince
would slip out Of the palace unobserved.
and hailing a facre would order the driver
to take him to the Prater, or any place
where fancy dictated.
The relations between the different men,
bers of the royal household became more
ana more strained each day. The result of
IT all was that breach arose between the
different members of the royal family with
the emperor and Stephanie on one side
ana rudolph and the empress on the other.
rms is positively authentic, and it cannot
be doubted even now that the empress was
extremely hostile to her daughter-in-law
During my three and a half years. stay in
Vienna I observed the conduct of these
two noted women. Not once during that
entire time was the Austrian capital large
enough to hold them simultaneously. When
Stephanie was at the palace the empress
was in Greece and when the empress was
in Vienna Stephanie and the archduchess
were in the mountains The climax was
reached when Rudolph wrote to the pope
for a dispensation granting him an abso-
lutte divorce from the crown princess who
he claimed, like most princesses, for rea-
sons of state, was thrust upon him as q
WIFE The pope returned this missive to
the emperor, who sent for Rudolph. What
took place between the two never will be
known. 1t was a heated interview, and the
last one between father and son. and that
in face of the fact that this was many
months prior to the latter's death. Ru-
doiph and the emperor were seen many
times thereafter at court, but the GOODNESS
between them was only too apparent and
occasioned comment all over the empire.
Poor Franz Joseph who had always been
an indulgent father, and who really meant
we'll. had lost complete control over Ru-
dolph. and the latter. caring but little for
the conservative policy of his father, and
thoroughly disguised with his domestic af-
FAIRS, plunged into a round of dissipation
and debauchery. He preferred the COM
pany Of cab-drivers, MINISTRIES, restaurant
keepers and jockeys to the society which
was happier than when he could listen to
the Tyrolean songs and topical dittes of
Brandtmaier and his associates.
Captivating vetsern.
Vetsera, whose name I spell not as
have seen it in print, but as I beheId it up
on her tomb in the cemetery on tine out
skirts of Heiligen Kreutz, an unpretentious
yet beautifully situated village some twen-
ty miles from Vienna and about an hour
and a half's walk from the convent at
Myerling, which formerly was the hunting
lodge in which she and Rudolph died, met
Rudolph for the first time in the ball room
Of the palace Be it said in her favor that
when Rudolph on that occasion gazed into
those rapturoTs, sparkling eyes which had
dazzled and thrilled the souls of more than
one, and which twinkled and sparkled with
merriment and hidden delight, he looked
upon mere girl blossoming into woman
hood with innocent and chldlike ways
This girls love for the prince, in its way,
was most sacred and profound There is
rot virtuous and 10 evidence that Rudolph
ever looked upon Fer otherwise than with
the eye of an ardent lover.
Unfortunate Love.
In those passionate letters exchanged be-
tween the baroness and prince will be
found an undercurrent of pathos which
will not fail to move many. Rudolph loved
this woman as he had none other before
In those clandestine meetings In the book
store on the Graben, In the parks and in
the isolated quarters of Vienna he poured
forth the yearnings of his soul. His life at
the palace was unhappy. Neither Stephanie
becoming melancholy and was contemplat-
ing suicide. He had but one thought. and
that was Vetsera. 1t was Vetsera during
his sleepless nights, Vetsera upon arising,
Vetsera during the day. Vetsera was con-
stantly n his thoughts, and he did not
spend a moment of happiness without her.
Divorce or no divorce, they would marry,
regardless of his heirship to the throne,
the empire or his arbitrary father. He
could not and would not live without Vet
sera. In this way he appealed to Vetsera,
and she, moved by his pitifui tale, like a
girl inexperienced in the affairs of the
world, sympathized with the man who
found in her confidant. She became mad
ly in love with Rudolph, and the two
blind lovers as they were-vlewed the mat
ter in but one light, and that was that
Stephanie. never having had a natural
claim to Rudolph, should step aside and.
relieving him of his misery, make room for
their unalloyed happiness.
The little chapel at Heilgen Kreutz
where the pictures of Vetsera and her only
brother. who is also dead. may be seen in
the centers of the large stained windows,
and beneath the floor of which the nuns at
Myerling, who alternating day and night
in the constant prayer for the soul of Ru-
dolph, are to be buried. tells its little tale
of an unpropitious love, and the fnscrip-
ton, Life Is like flower, which blossoms
and is gathered" which Is hewn upon the
cross marking the grave of the Inflated
Vetsera, suggests the uncertainty of every
thing worldly. ]. H. METZEROTT.