ay have
need of them,' he said hurriedly, stretching out his hand towards the
pile of signed warrant papers.

'Since when can Baron Schuetz dispose of his Highness's signature? I have
already told you that if urgent business arises, in spite of my fatigue,
I shall be prepared to attend to it at La Favorite. Au revoir, Baron.'

She spoke resolutely, yet in a perfectly unconcerned voice, and Schuetz,
fearing lest his observations had failed him, and the 'great one' was
after all not nearing her downfall, bowed himself out with his accustomed
obsequiousness. He would have changed his mind could he have seen the
cloud of misery and anxiety which settled on her face directly she was
alone. She arranged various papers, extracting several from the neatly
docketed packets. These she regarded as instruments in her hands; this
document was a sword of Damocles which she could suspend over the head of
that enemy; this other a pistol which, an she willed it, she could level
at the credit and honour of another; here a short report spelling ruin to
a noble family's pride; there a note to convict an honoured courtier of
fraud or of traitorous intrigue. If she was indeed to fall, she would not
alone be flung from her eminence; those who had hated her should also be
dragged down with her. She smiled bitterly. After all, even though she
wreaked vengeance as she fell, what would it avail her? This triumph of
her spite would be a satisfaction, but----She sighed, and would have
replaced the damning papers in their hiding-place. No! she would take
them with her. If the crushing misfortune came, at least she would have
the consolation of retaining some power over others.

Sadly she mounted the stairs to her own apartments, and calling the
waiting-maid, she bade Maria gather together all the jewels and gold; a
few of her best-loved books; some of her most gorgeous clothes.
Grumbling, Maria packed them in a huge nail-studded chest.

The Landhofmeisterin stood watching till the last chosen object was
safely packed away, then she bade Maria summon lackeys from La Favorite.
They came quickly, and her Excellency ordered them to carry the chest to
her little Chateau Joyeux. Her voice was perfectly steady as she gave
these orders, her face stern and calm. Her whole action was unhurried,
deliberate; she might have been making arrangements for a gay hunting
expedition. There was no trace of anxiety in her manner.

Maria hovered about, after the lack