forth in the hall, and he saw the
Geyling's furious face, and, realising that something unexpected had
occurred, he came forward quickly.

'A mistake, Madame,' he said shortly as he reached the Geyling. 'Let us
endeavour to obliterate it by your grace!' And he commanded the musicians
to play the new dance, but he danced unevenly, constantly glancing in the
direction of the door where Wilhelmine had disappeared. Madame de Ruth
watched for a moment, and then, with a nod to Stafforth who stood beside
the dais in evident perplexity, she turned and went to seek Wilhelmine.

* * * * *

The next day Stuttgart talked much of the handsome stranger whom Cupid
had chosen to dance with the Duke, and conjecture was rife as to who she
could be. Then it leaked out that she was to sing in the theatricals that
night, and the curious, which means each person in or near a court, were
on tiptoe with expectation.

Many looked for her at the stag-hunt in the Red Wood that day, and Madame
de Ruth, who had the reputation of knowing everything, was fairly
besieged by questioners. She told them so little, though in so many
words, that they were all the more anxious to be informed further. But
what part was the unknown to take in the theatricals? they asked among
themselves. She had not been seen at the rehearsals--strange--but Madame
de Ruth assured them that the mysterious one was indeed to sing that
night.

The chosen piece was La Fontaine's _Coupe Enchantee_, a pretty thing, and
even decorous enough for the hearing of Johanna Elizabetha; new too in
Stuttgart, though Paris had already forgotten it.

You may imagine that the invited guests were in their places at the
theatre in good time. Behind the scenes there was much bustle and
confusion. His Highness Eberhard Ludwig, to say the least of it, was
perturbed; he ran from dressing-room to dressing-room, knocking and
inquiring if the players were there. When he came to the dressing-room
set apart for Madame de Geyling the door was opened suddenly, almost
knocking his Highness on the nose, and an angry face appeared through the
door's aperture. One side of this face was painted for the stage, while
the other was only adorned with the pigments with which the Geyling was
accustomed to hide her ageing features. The Duke smiled: I regret to say
he actually laughed, and this laugh provoked a torrent of angry words
from the lady. His Highness retired discomfited, a