Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1901-03-07
COUNT ERLIOH'S INFATUATI0N

III any woman deserved to bt
hurled from the Tarpeian rock, 1t wal
the Princess DRisper. Yes" contin'
ued His Excellelcy, after thoughtful
pause. without doubt or hesitation
say she was the worst woman 1 ever
met, and l have met some strange
characters in my day. When women
are bad, men cannot compete with
them in delivery. My old chief, who
was our representative then at Vienna,
used to say she was a laughing hyena
with ticket-0f-leave from the ZoOl)'
gical Gardens. In fact she was not .
woman. She was tiend-nothine
less"
Come Duke" put in our hostess
"you must have been In love with her,
yourself at some period, or you could
not talk SO Of one Of the weaker sex.
You must love q person before 20,
can hate them like that"
We all laughed at this sally The
idea Of the old Duke being in love
tickled us young ones immensely.
Nov, Lady Betty, that is too bad.
You ask me to tell you about the
wickedest woman have ever been
brought in contact with, and when
begin to describe her, you charge md
with being disappointed suitor."
you have not really denied the Inn
peahment now" replied she.
"Well, l do deny 1t. A young Eng
fish attache is not allowed the luxury
of falling in love with princesses. You
see, 1t would never do. Those on thu
staff Of an Embassy are admitted
everywhere on q footing Of intimacy
which Is denied to the highest In tho
country Of their exile, and II we went
falling In love with those connected
with Royal families, why, something
like Siberia would be our fate"
"Oh, Duke, please allow me to with'
draw my charge" cried Lady Betty.
who saw that we were in danger oil
getting a speech in place Of what gave
promise Of being story.
mo! think 1t is incumbent upol
me to refute this accusation before w
go further. wnat do you say, Pike?'
Lord Piketown twirled his nous
tache and ventured the opinion: THAT
his Excellency's word was sufficient.
III not" continued the Duke, the
narrative have to put before you will
fancy, entirely disabuse your mind
Of such an idea"
III you do not begin your story q
once, instead Of keeping our curiosity
at 30 cruel tension, the ladies' viii
all retire." said our hostess.
This was greeted with an approx.
Ing Hear, hear, from Lord Pike
town.
THAT would be a calamity at %
costs to be averted, so l must trust
the fates to prove my innocence, and
bow to the present presiding divinites
and he bowed with great gallantry II
the ladies.
1.-THE first time I met the Princess
was at a reception given by Lady
Stanhope in Vienna. She had just ar.
rived with her husband. a man whe
played an important part in European
politics Of that date. They were pro.
digiously rich, and spent their money
in the generous and lavish way char.
acteristic of the Russian nobility
There were people who said she wat
an adventures. and that her peoplt
had made fortune by poisoning thu
inhabitants Of the province Of Kief
with corn brandy. That might Of
course, be true
WAS she beautiful" asked Lady
Betty, by way of putting him back on
the rails.
"No, she was not Few of the Rus.
sian women are, but she was far below
the average, and how she came to
make a match with one Of the fore
most soldiers and diplomatists Of the
day is story in itself. Mind you, l
am only repeating gossip, but It was
commonly reported that she met tho
Prince-her husband when she was
In the employ Of the secret service
He was very anxious to get hold Of
some information Of a particularly in
teresting and valuable nature for tho
Russian Government. She promised
1t, and the price she demanded was.
marriage. The possession Of the sec.
ret, or rather the imparting of 1t to
st. Petersburg, placed a strong for.
tress In the hands Of Prince Dnieper,
and included the surrender to him
Of large portion Of the Turkish army.
This at once gave him a high place
In the Cars estimation, and she did
not appear In the transaction. So the
Prince got all the credit Of Z grand
coup, and she got her price, and with
It q position which placed her In the
front rank Of society In any capital.
II have remarked that she was not
beautiful. but she sang like an angel
and danced like a nymph. The next
time I saw her was in Rome. | vas
Under-Secretary then. A great friend
Of mine was the unfortunate Count
Erich. lie was sent to Rome to &C.
cupy responsible positlon when h
should still have been under r,s mote.
er's care. He was full II gem IL 81
q enthusiastic anu romantic
but, In spite Of oil, the greatest gaDy
you could possibly meet with in tue
whole German COnfederacy, and that
is saying a great deal.
Zone day proposed that we should
go to Nazzari's place in the Piazza IL
Spagna-a cafe Of European reputd.
ton for It's chef. You could get any.
thing there, from La Mancha ham
with garbanzos to the delicious dish
of wild boar with sweetsour sauce fol-
which Nazzaris was specially famous
We had finished dinner and were par.
taking Of our curacao, when a hand
was placed gently on my shoulder. !
glanced up, and there stood the prime.
ess Dnieper.
" Would you not like one Of those
ices-the ambrosia pistacblo-of the
Erst HerzOg Karl in the Karnthner