His love of solitude grew by degrees to be a disease, and at times he literally fled from people. In the middle of the seventies the Queen-mother gave a family party at the Swiss châlet "Pleckenau," not far from Hohenschwangau. The King, Prince Otto, their aides-de-camp, the Mistress of the Court, and two ladies-in-waiting, were with her. The little party were sitting at table in excellent spirits when a mounted messenger with a telegram arrived from the castle: the Austrian Archduke Rainer, who was staying at Bregenz, asked her Majesty whether it would be convenient for her to receive him the following morning. She handed the telegram to the King, who grew pale as he read it. The displeasure visible on his features affected the whole party. He rose from the table and went out, the others remaining seated. Without a word, he went back to Hohenschwangau. Arrived there, he ordered two carriages to be got ready and to await further orders. The preparations were to be made so quietly that no one would have any suspicion of what was taking place. A little while later the Queen-mother, his brother, and the courtiers returned; and soon the building was quite quiet. The gentlemen of the court lived in a house beside the castle. The King's apartments were on the first floor, his mother and her ladies inhabiting the ground floor. Only by stealing softly down the stairs could he reach the courtyard of the castle without being heard. Ludwig and his servant accomplished this undetected, and hied them to the royal stables, which are situated at some distance away. With all the speed possible, and in the middle of the night, the King drove to a little village which he was occasionally in the habit of visiting. Here the announcement of his arrival was like a bolt from the blue. The master of the posting station where he alighted had let all his rooms to a military commission; these gentlemen had to be got out of the way as quickly as possible. All had gone to bed, and had to be aroused. The general had only time to half-dress himself and rush out before he met his King on the staircase. At three in the morning Ludwig at last went to bed; despite sedatives it was not possible for him to procure any rest. The next morning the King received a telegram informing him that the Archduke Rainer had left, "after half-an-hour's visit." Ludwig gave orders for his horses to be put to at once. A breakfast which he had ordered, and paid for with eighty guldens, was left untouched. He returned to Hohenschwangau with the same speed with which he had left it. His mother greeted him from her window. Laughing, he called up to her; "I avoided that visit nicely, didn't I?" The Queen-mother, although she was not satisfied with his flight, was obliged to laugh too.