South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-02-14

TO whisper tender promises in their
ear.
And the love affair which I am
going to relate happened in the Wei
mar, where Goethe composed his
immortal poems: in the Weimer. the
name of which is associated with
that dead Germany the world shall
see no more. At least, it began
there. though its tragic end occur
red at Heidelberg. the other historic
town with its ruined castle, its tow
ers and church spires, that shall no
longer attract tourists as they have
done in the buried past, which
seems now so far away from us all.
The Heroine.
It's heroine was a little princess,
who also had golden hair and blue
! eyes and who had hoped TO escape
from the tedious life TO which she
had been born and for which she
felt that she was not made. She
loved the sun. towers lovely dresses,
fine Jewels, the liberty TO go about
and TO do what she liked with her
existence. and she could not resign
herself to see it flow in the same
even stream in which that of her
mother and Of all kindred had been
spent. Her heart hungered after in
dependence and the right to live and
love, which was denied to her by
the exigencies of her rank.
She was a rebellious little prin-
cess, and she was to pay the penalty
so sadly and so cruelty, that one
cannot help plying her, instead of
blaming her, as her royal relatives
did when they found themselves
faced by a scandal such as had
never before ruffled the peace of
their naughty house. She was
miserable little princess also, so mis-
cradle that she lacked the courage
to assert herself and to break
through the barriers which implac-
ably prejudices had erected all
around her and that. finding herself
powerless to fight her way through
them. she lay down and died when
she had at last convinced herself Of
the hopelessness of the struggle.
Parental Difficulties.
This poor girl, whose death caused
such a sensation among all the
royal and imperial circles of Ger
many, was the Princess SOphy Of
SAKE Weimer, a cousin of the reign
ing grand duke of that name. Her
father was a younger scion of the
illustrious house at whose shrine
the great Goethe himself had wor-
lshipped. and her mother a princess
of luxembourg Budingen. The
bluest blood in Europe flowed in
her veins and she seemed to be
destined to unite herself in marriage
with some German prince whose
quarterings were as unimpeachable
as her own. But, alas in our mat
ter-of-fact goth century it is not
enough even for a princess to be
able to boast of a long line of ia
nous ancestors to find a suitable
husband Some wealth is also re-
quired in order TO sustain the dig
Unity Of ones rank. And the parents
of pretty little Sophy were so badly
off in that respect that they had
not even been able to go on living
at Weimer and had had 10 retire to
the relative obscurity of Heidelberg
where they could at least ecOnomize
without its being too much noticed.
Prince William of SAKE Weimer
had bought a modest villa in the
old university town, where his high
birth made him conspicuous per-
sOnage, and secured for him quite
excepticnable treatment from the To-
cal society, without imposing upon
him any extra expenses he could
not very well have incurred. When
| ever a ball was given or a reception
took place at the house of some one
or other OF the few people whom
he condescended TO frequent, the
best carriage out of the best livery
stables in Heidelberg was hired 10
take him together with his wife 70
the entertainment. The rest of the
time the princess walked or used in
p quite a democratic way, the street
cars whenever she visited her
friends. A local dressmaker made
her gowns and those of her daugh-
ter. and the butcher and bakers &C
count were often allowed 10 &C
cumulate 10 a considerable amount
, before they were settled with many
siChs and grumblings on the part
of the existence. that was led by the
, family. one in which the question
, | of money played the principal part,
and in which the children were
, taught before everything else the
necessity TO be economical, which,
by the way. neither the Princess
Sophy nor her two brothers were
= inclined 10 accept.
The former was the one upon
which this constant want OF ready
cash told in the most painful man
- ner. Her mother had taken her 20
+ Weimer during one or two winter
= seasons and had even presented her
. at the Berlin court But these visits
had been the source OF much grief
10 the high-spirited girl whose
pride had suffered SO much AZ find
= / ing herself dressed like a house
! maid. If not worse. beside the sump-
/. tuous garments Of the other young