Louise refers, in her Diary, to the Kaiser as "cousin." If there be any relationship between her and William, it is that imposed by the Saxon marriage, Saxon princes and princesses having frequently intermarried with the royal and princely Hohenzollerns, despite the differences of religion. There are four courts of Saxony despite that of Dresden: Weimar, Meiningen, Altenburg and Coburg and Gotha. The latter duchy's ruler, Karl Eduard, is of English descent, a son of the late Duke of Albany. Hence, Louise's cousinship with Victoria Melita, sometime Grand Duchess of Hesse, now Grand Duchess Kyril of Russia. Of course, Louise is closely related to all the Orleans and Bourbons. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, who died on the scaffold at Paris, October 16, 1793, she calls her great-grand-aunt and namesake, claiming, at the same time, most of the Kings and princes of France of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as relatives. CONTENTS CHAPTER I MOTHERHOOD PAGE A sterile Royal Family once fruitful--Diary true record of self--Long legs of Countess Solms--A child only because he can't help it--Wet nurse to Socialist brat--Royal permit for nursing--Royal negligee talk--A Saxon failing 1 CHAPTER II THE SWEET FAMILY Husband loving, but family nasty--Money considerations--Brutal caresses in public--Pests in the family--Awful serenity--Meddle with angels' or devils' affairs--Father-in-law's gritty kiss 7 CHAPTER III WEEPING WILLOW--EMBLEM ROYAL A pious fraud--Theresa Mayer--Character of the Queen--Mopishness rampant 11 CHAPTER IV MY UNPLEASANT YOUTH Father hard to get along with--Royal imaginations--Kings cursing other kings--Poverty and pretense--Piety that makes children suffer--Up at five to pray on cold stones--Chilblains and prayer 15 CHAPTER V A FIERCE DISCIPLINARIAN Diamonds used to punish children--Face object of attacks-- Grunting and snorting at the royal table--Blood flowing at dinner--My brother jumps out of a window 19 CHAPTER VI LEOPOLD DEFENDS MY HONOR AT HIS PERIL Punished for objecting to familiarities--Awful names I was called--Locked in the room with wicked teacher--Defend myself with burning lamp--My brother nearly kills my would-be assailant 23 CHAPTER VII PRINCES AND PRINCESSES DANCE TO THE TUNE OF THE WHIP