e at such a step. The Court itself was not present, except in the
person of Prince Leonhard. He had made no secret of his disapproval of
this conferring of new titles, but as a subject of his brother, he
appeared at the ball, and conversed freely with the members of the
opposition, especially with Herr Weidmann, the President of the House
of Deputies.

Although the Prince represented his brother, and always spoke of him
with great deference, he was not averse to hearing such remarks as,
"Ah, if you were the ruler, there would be a different order of things;
then we should have a model country." In court circles a secret
compassion was felt for Prince Leonhard, because custom made it
desirable, in fact even necessary, for him to affect liberal views, to
popularize himself, as the aristocracy called it. He encouraged arts
and sciences, and even political movements; the journal which was
understood to be secretly supported by him slightly favored the
opposition.

Prince Leonhard made the circuit of the rooms arm in arm with Clodwig,
which was no slight mark of distinction. The Count must have mentioned
Eric to the Prince, for he called him from his place behind the first
row of those who were waiting to be saluted, and said aloud:--

"I am glad to see you again, my dear Dournay; you have become a great
scholar, I hear. Well, well, you always had considerable talent that
way; you showed it even as a boy. How is your honored mother?"

Eric expressed his thanks, with a tone of happy relief that the first
meeting with Prince Leonhard had passed off so pleasantly. No trifling
compliment was paid him by the Prince, who added:--

"I should be glad if you would bring Herr Sonnenkamp to me; where is
he?"

Sonnenkamp, unhappily, was not to be found. By the time he was summoned
from the smoking-room it was too late; the Prince was already opening
the ball with Bella.

Herr von Endlich was beaming with happiness, but Sonnenkamp's face wore
a singular expression when he learned that the Prince had desired
Captain Dournay to present him. A still more striking contrast existed
between the dispositions of the two men. The Wine-count possessed a
confident, self-satisfied manner, with sufficient tact, however, to
prevent him from giving offence. His every word and motion plainly
implied his superior knowledge on all points. He could enter into
conversation with men of the most dissimilar pursuits, and make a good
appearance in the