ppy enough to have any. I do not think any
one was ever better loved than he. It so happened that his own
inheritance was not a large one; that made no difference. My husband,
with my fullest consent and approbation, had every intention of
providing for him: we had enough and to spare: money and land and house
room for half a dozen families, and our two selves alone to enjoy it
all. He always seemed fond of us. I suppose it was his facile manner,
which could take the appearance of an interest and affection which he
did not feel--"

"No, Frau Graefin! no, indeed!"

"Wait till you have heard all, my poor child. Everyone loved him. How
proud I was of him. Sometimes I think it is a chastisement, but had you
been in my place you would have been proud too; so gallant, so
handsome, such grace, and such a charm. He was the joy of my life," she
said in a passionate under-tone. "He went by the name of a worthy
descendant of all essential things: honor and loyalty and bravery, and
so on. They used to call him _Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter_, after the
old song. He was wild and impatient of control, but who is not? I hate
your young men whose veins run milk, not blood. He was one of a fiery
passionate line. At the universities he was extravagant; we heard all
sorts of follies."

"Did you ever hear of anything base--anything underhand or
dishonorable?"

"Never--oh, never. High play. He was very intimate with a set of young
Englishmen, and the play was dreadful, it is true; he betted too. That
is a curse. Play and horses, and general recklessness and extravagance,
but no wine and no women. I never heard that he had the least affinity
for either of these dissipations. There were debts--I suppose all young
men in his position make debts," said the countess, placidly. "My
husband made debts at college, and I am sure my brothers did. Then he
left college and lived at home awhile, and that was the happiest time of
my life. But it is over.

"Then he entered the army--of course. His family interest procured him
promotion. He was captain in a fine Uhlan regiment. He was with his
regiment at Berlin and Munich, and ----. And always we heard the same
tales--play, and wild, fast living. Music always had a hold upon him.

"In the midst of his extravagance he was sometimes so simple. I remember
we were dreadfully frightened at a rumor that he had got entangled with
Fraeulein ----, a singer of great beauty at the Hofoper at ----. I got my
hu