"Kettledrums?" I asked. "I mean those the Grand Dauphin, called 'Son of a king, father of a king, never a king,' was so fond of, and which he finally married in secret." I looked bewildered. "You are a very ignorant girl," said Bernhardt. "Never heard of the prodigious bosoms of _Mademoiselle_ Chouin?" "They won't let the Duke marry?" I queried. "Not even temporarily," said Bernhardt. "And they are trying the same game on me. My garrison--a dung-heap. The people there, males and females, entirely unacquainted with soap and water. Nothing in the world to do but drink and gamble." "That reminds me. What are you doing in Dresden?" "With Your Imperial Highness's permission, I came to see my girl." "Who is the lady?" "No lady at all. Just an ordinary servant-wench, but prettier and more devilish than a hundred of them." "Bernhardt!" "What would you have me do, Louise? I haven't money enough to keep a mistress, and King and Queen certainly won't keep one for me. I wish I had lived a hundred and fifty years ago, when every lady of the court was expected to entertain the royal princes, the Palace footing the bill." CHAPTER XXXII PRINCE GEORGE SHOWN THE DOOR BY GRAND-DUCHESS MELITA A royal lady who walks her garden attired in a single diaphanous garment--Won't stand for any meddling--Called impertinent--My virtuous indignation assumed--A flirtation at a distance--An audacious lover--The Grand Mistress hoodwinked--Matrimonial horns for Kaiser--The banished Duke dies--Princes scolded like school-boys. DRESDEN, _February 5, 1896_. At last Prince George got his deserts, and got 'em good and heavy. There had been rumors for some time that Grand-duke Ernest Ludwig and his bride, Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg, the English branch, didn't get along together. Ernest Ludwig is a serious-minded, modest and intelligent man, but a good deal of a sissy. Victoria Melita is a spit-fire, very good-looking and anxious to let people know about it. She rides horseback and fences to show off her figure, and someone called her a Centaur. "Be in the palace gardens tomorrow at eleven," answered Melita, "and you will be convinced that I am not half-horse, even if my husband is a ninny." She kept the _rendezvous_, attired in a single garment of diaphanous texture. When Prince George heard that she had a lover, he went to Darmstadt to "correct her," as he expressed himself with much self-satisfaction. But Victoria Melita proved to him that English princesses are made of sterner stuff than the German variety. "I will have none of your meddling," said the bride of two years. "I came here to make peace between you people." "Play the dove to your daughter-in-law," quoth the Grand-duchess. "I hear you are fighting like Kilkenny cats." "You are impertinent, Madame," cried George furiously. "You will oblige me by showing this man the door," demanded Victoria Melita, addressing her husband.