t nobleman. She said no to him, even when she found who
he was and what was his station--even when she found that he meant her
no dishonor. But our ruler heard of it, and, being displeased at this
mockery of the traditions of the court, and wishing in his sardonic mind
to teach these fanatical young nobles to rue well their bargain, he sent
word to the girl that she _must_ marry this man--my father. It was made
an imperial order!

"And so now, at last, since he was half crazed by her beauty, as men are
sometimes by the beauty of women, and since at last this had its effect
with her, as sometimes it does with women, and since it was perhaps
death or some severe punishment if she did not obey, she married him--my
father."

"And loved me all her life!" the old man broke out. "Nefer had man love
like hers, I will haf it said. I will haf it said that she loved me,
always and always; and I loved _her_ always, with all my heart!"

"Yes," said Helena von Ritz, "they two loved each other, even as they
were. So here am I, born of that love."

Now we all sat silent for a time. "That birth was at my father's
estates," resumed the same even, merciless voice. "After some short time
of travels, they returned to the estates; and, yes, there I was born,
half noble, half peasant; and then there began the most cruel thing the
world has ever known.

"The nobles of the court and of the country all around began to make
existence hideous for my mother. The aristocracy, insulted by the
republicanism of these young noblemen, made life a hell for the most
gentle woman of Hungary. Ah, they found new ways to make her suffer.
They allowed her to share in my father's estate, allowed her to appear
with him when he could prevail upon her to do so. Then they twitted and
taunted her and mocked her in all the devilish ways of their class. She
was more beautiful than any court beauty of them all, and they hated her
for that. She had a good mind, and they hated her for that. She had a
faithful, loyal heart, and they hated her for that. And in ways more
cruel than any man will ever know, women and men made her feel that
hate, plainly and publicly, made her admit that she was chosen as
breeding stock and nothing better. Ah, it was the jest of Europe, for a
time. They insulted my mother, and that became the jest of the court, of
all Vienna. She dared not go alone from the castle. She dared not travel
alone."

"But your father resented this?"

She nod