The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-08-04

lSlZ. i became lnp1cdteu III IL
IN a somewhat curious manner.
l CHANGED to be lunching at the Es-
planade in Berlin, chatting with La
rogue of the French embassy. Our
hostess was Frau ~Breitenbach, a
wealthy Jewess-a woman who came
from Dortmund-and who was spend
ing money like water In order to
wriggle into Berlin society. AS per-
sonal adjutant of the crown prince, I
was, of course, n of the principal
guests, and I suspected that she was
angling for a card of invitation to the
next ball at the Marmor palace.
Frau Breitenbach was lunching with
sixteen guests at n big, round table,
her daughter Elise, a very smartly
dressed girl of nineteen, seated oppo-
site to her. 1t was a merry party, in
Guiding, as 1t did, some of the most
renowned persons in the empire, among
them being the imperial chancellor,
Bethmann-H ollweg, and that grand
%seigneur, who was a favorite at court,
the multimillionaire serene highneSs,
Prince Macmillan Egon Zu Fuersten-
berg. OF the latter it may be said that
no man rivaled his influence with the
emperor. What he said was law in
Germany.
F~uerstenberg was head of the ia
nous princes trust" now dissolved,
but at that time, with its capital of
$500,O00 900, it was a great force in the
German commercial world. Indeed,
such a boon companion was he of the
kaiser's that IN august but purely dec
orative and ceremonial place was actu-
ally invented for him as colonel mar
shall of the Prussian court, an excuse
to wear a gay uniform and gorgeous
decorations, as befitted a mar who,
possessing a hundred millions, was an
important asset to the emperor in his
deep-laid scheme for world power.
Young Mar Across the Room.
That merry luncheon party was the
prologue of a very curious drama. AS
we chatted I noticed that far across
the crowded room, at a table set in a
window, there sat alone a d~ark-haired,
sallow, good-looking young civilian,
who was eating his lunch in a rather
bored manner, yet his eyes were fixed
straight upon Elise Breitenbach, as
though she exercised over him some
strange fascination.
Half a dozen times I glanced across,
and on each occasion saw hat the
young man had no eyes for the no.
tables around the table, his gaze being
fixed upon the daughter of the great
fnancier.
Somehow I felt a distinct belief that
the young civilians face was familiar
to me. 1t was not the first time l had
seen him, yet 1 could not recall the cir
cumstances In which we had met.
Two nights later I dined with the
B~reitenbachs at their fine house in the
Alsenstrasse. The only guest besides
myself was the Countess Won Basse-
WITT, and after dinner Frau Breiten-
bach took the countess aside to talk,
while / wandered with her daughter
into the winter garden, with its high
palms and gorgeous e~xotics, that over
looked the gardens of the Austrian en-
bassy.
When the man had brought us cof-
Zee, the pretty Elise commenced to
question me about life at the crown
princes court.
"How intensely interesting it must
be to be personal adjutant to the
crown prince! Mother is dying to get
a command to n of the receptions at
Potsdam," the girl said. "Only today
she was wondering-well, whether you
could possibly use your influence in
that direction"
In an instant I saw why / had been
invited to dinners and luncheons so
often.