Not far from Wilhelmshöhe, just a pleasant drive of an hour or so, past yellowing cornfields, under rows of apple and cherry trees, lay Wilhelmsthal, a charming country-house lying in a tiny hamlet far from a railway station, also built by an Elector of Hesse and inhabited by the before-mentioned King Jerome. This delightful little summer Schloss has hardly been touched in its arrangements since the Great Napoleon’s brother left it. All the beds remain with the French eagle spreading its wings above the green silk curtains; the Dresden china figures he looked at every day still occupy their places on the shelves; the china timepiece that struck the hour yet stands beside his bed, though it has long ago ceased to measure time. The tourist can lean out of the windows of his bedroom and see the carp, descendants of those he used to feed, or perhaps the very same fish, swimming about in the pond a little distance away. It is a place where time seems to have stood still for the last hundred years. The Emperor in Wilhelmshöhe liked to ride at about seven o’clock in the morning, while it was still comparatively cool. He was almost invariably accompanied by the Empress, as well as by any other members of his family who happened to be staying at the castle. It was a pretty sight to watch the procession of horses coming two by two from the stables across the road, each horse led by a groom, while two _Sattel Meisters_ in cocked hats and much embroidered uniforms walked behind them, all being under the command of two officers, the Emperor’s _Leib-Stall-Meister_ and that of the Empress. A former Master of the Horse to His Majesty, Baron von Holzing-Berstett, was one of the judges at the International Horse Show at Olympia a few years ago. All the tourists from the hotel opposite used to assemble outside the Schloss gates, under the stern control of two gendarmes, who kept them penned on one side of the road. The horses were halted in the shadow near the big pillared portico of the Schloss, and as soon as the attendant gentlemen and ladies emerged, were brought up and walked round the terrace by the grooms till a start was made. As a rule the Emperor and Empress were very punctual, and nothing annoyed His Majesty more than to be kept waiting. A lady always rode in attendance on the Empress, but as one of those who could ride--only two out of the four were able to do so--was usually absent on her holidays at this time, I often was called upon to supply the place of the absent _Hof-Dame_. The Princess, when her lessons began again, had to ride at five in the evening instead of seven, so I very frequently managed two rides a day, and even sometimes three. Often I was summoned in the early morning from my repose by a breathless footman. “Will _gnädiges Fräulein_ please get up at once to ride with Her Majesty? The Countess has a cold. In five minutes the horses will be round.”