Eberhard Ludwig, who now added to his titles that of Duke of Moempelgard, waited patiently for some time ere he took possession in person of his new domain. His troops were there, and Friedrich Graevenitz had been despatched to take direction of affairs. Meanwhile, some of the bastards were raising doleful cries in Vienna and in Paris, but a few remained obstinately at Moempelgard, and to Friedrich Graevenitz was assigned the task of removing them before Serenissimus made his state entry. The Landhofmeisterin had intimated her intention of accompanying his Highness on this official journey, and there had ensued a sharp quarrel, by letter, between the lady and her brother in Moempelgard. She won the day, of course, as usual, yet her heart was heavy in this hour of her greatest triumph, for the Duke grew colder to her each day. Madame de Ruth, her wily counsellor, had died a few months after the Duchess Johanna Elizabetha's visit to Ludwigsburg, and the courtiers had marvelled at the Landhofmeisterin's passionate grief. She had followed the old courtesan's coffin to Neuhaus, and had seen her laid to rest beside the little mound of the child's grave. And the Graevenitz had refused to be comforted. Zollern almost deserted Ludwigsburg after his old mistress's death. He withdrew to his castle, and only at rare intervals could he be persuaded to visit the Duke and the Landhofmeisterin. Yet the Graevenitz's power was unabated; in point of fact, it seemed to grow more absolute; but the courtiers noticed her melancholy, and while some put it down to her grief at Madame de Ruth's death, others observed the Duke's colder manner, and predicted the Landhofmeisterin's downfall. It was a blow to these prophets when the news was confirmed that the Graevenitz was to accompany Serenissimus on his state entry to Moempelgard. There were various intrigues to prevent her Excellency from carrying out the project. Chief among these was a riot at Moempelgard, which was entirely organised and stirred up by discontented Wirtembergers. It required little to enflame the Moempelgarders, for they hated the very name of Duke's mistress from past Esperance experiences, and the Landhofmeisterin's doings in Wirtemberg were well known. Friedrich Graevenitz wrote at great length to his sister (he always wrote lengthily, and the most trivial letter he alluded to as 'my business,' saying pompously, 'I have been working'). So he wrote at enormous length to Wilhelmine, advising her to refrain from journeying to Moempelgard, but the Landhofmeisterin only laughed, and hurried on the preparations for the official entry.