ts lion's mane which we know
so well--a head now whitened by the frost of years. No sound came to him
there, save a soft voice which Fate refused to silence, and this voice
whispered and whispered yet again to him: "Death shall not divide us,
nor is eternity long enough to separate thee from me!"

* * * * *

Religion is not the cure of love. Perhaps religion is love and love is
religion--anyway, we know that they are often fused. For a time after
Liszt had parted from the Countess, fortune smiled. Then came various
loans to friends, managerial experiments, the backing of an ill-starred
opera, and a season of overwrought nerves.

Luck had turned against the supposed invincible Liszt. Then it was that
the Princess Wittgenstein appears on the scene. This fine woman,
earnest, strong in character, intellectual, had tried ten years of
marital hard times and quit the partnership with a daughter and a goodly
dot.

The Princess had secretly loved Liszt from afar, and had followed him
from town to town, glorying in his triumphs, feeding on his personality.

When trouble came she managed to have a message conveyed to him that an
unknown woman would advance, without interest or security, enough money
for him to pay all his debts and secure him two years of leisure in
which he might regain his health and do such work as his taste might
dictate.

Of course Liszt declined the offer, begging his unknown friend to
divulge her identity that he might thank her for her disinterested faith
in the cause of Art.

A meeting was brought about and the result was as usual. The Grand
Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, in the face of scandal, took the Abbe and
Princess under protection, giving them the Chateau of Altenburg, near
Weimar, for a retreat. There Liszt, guarded from all intrusion, composed
the symphonies of "Dante" and "Faust," sonatas, masses and parts of
"Saint Elizabeth." For thirteen years they lived an idyllic existence.
Then, having married her daughter by her first husband to Prince
Hohenlohe, the Princess set out for Rome to obtain a dispensation from
the Pope, so she and the Abbe could be married. Her husband, who was a
Protestant, had long before secured a divorce and married again. Pope
Pius the Ninth granted her wish, and she hastened home and prepared for
the wedding. It was said that flowers were already placed on the altar,
the marriage feast was prepared, the guests invited, when news came that