was short-lived. She died in the month of March, 1789. "All
Berlin is in mourning," wrote M. d'Esterno. "The Countess of Ingenheim
is cruelly regretted by the people, the royal family, and even the
Queen, much less for the person of the said Countess as because of the
increase of credit which her death will bring to Dame Rietz, the old
habitual mistress, who is said to be very avaricious and a great
intriguer."

VIII.

The literature of the day shed tears over the royal bereavement,
celebrated the "virtues" of this susceptible monarch, and contrasted
with the withering scepticism of Voltaire and the criminal frivolity
of the French the tender abandon with which Frederick William gave
himself up to "nature's sweetest inclination." "Women-haters," wrote
Baron de Trenck, "have been the scourges of humanity. The King of
Prussia has a great soul, full of sensibility; in love he is capable
of a tender attachment: he knows the value of his mistress. Supposing
he gives her a million, the money is divided among the members of the
household who are citizens. He will not rob an honest man of the
spouse who constitutes his happiness, he will not sacrifice Rome for
Cleopatra. He wants to please all by himself. For twenty months he
courted Mademoiselle de Voss, he married her, he was faithful to her,
he wept over her ashes. Every citizen wise enough to know human
weaknesses must wish that if he made a fresh choice it would fall on
an object as worthy of his heart. So let him enjoy a happiness which
belongs to the simple peasant as it does to kings." This hypocritical
twaddle, this licentious casuistry, was "very good style" in Germany
then, and was highly appreciated.

IX.

The distraction which Trenck desired for the afflicted soul of the
King was not long in presenting itself. In 1790, on the anniversary of
the Countess of Ingenheim's death, Mademoiselle Doenhof was presented
at Court. Everyone there was busy consoling Frederick William. A
claimant had even been put forward in the person of a young lady
called Viereck, a friend of Mademoiselle de Voss, who had taken the
latter's place with Princess Frederica. Unhappily for Mademoiselle
Viereck's friends, she was dark and in no way recalled the dear
departed. Mademoiselle Doenhof, on the other hand, was, according to
the French Minister, "so perfectly fair that, while pretty in
artificial light, in daylight she was as yellow as a lemon." With the
same charms as Mademoisell