Fantastic legends of the Meyerling tragedy—Talks with the Crown Prince’s valet—Foolish story given by _Berliner Lokal Anzeiger_—What the Grand Duke of Tuscany knew—What Count Nigra knew—What Countess Marie Larisch tells—Her story confirmed from a contemporary source—Doubts which remain in spite of it—Was it suicide or murder? 218 CHAPTER XXIII The Archduke John Salvator—His many accomplishments—His criticisms of his superiors—His disgrace at Court—His love affair with an English lady—“Your darling Archduckling”—His proposal to abandon his rank and earn his living as a teacher of languages—His love affair with Milly Stübel—He quarrels with Francis Joseph, takes the name of John Orth, and leaves Austria 232 CHAPTER XXIV John Orth—Had he been plotting with Rudolph?—Indirect confirmation of story told by Countess Marie Larisch—Did John Orth really marry Milly Stübel?—Failure to find the proofs of the marriage—John Orth’s letters written on the eve of his departure for America—Disappearance of his ship off Cape Horn—Is John Orth really dead?—Examination of the reasons for believing that he is still alive 244 CHAPTER XXV The revolt of the Archdukes—Instructive analogies—Later years of the Empress Elizabeth—Her manner of life described by M. Paoli, the Corsican detective—Her fearlessness—Her superstitions—Various evil omens—The last excursion—Assassination of the Empress at Geneva—How Francis Joseph received the news 259 CHAPTER XXVI “Austria’s idiot Archdukes”—A _catalogue raisonné_—The Emperor’s brothers—The Archduke Rainer—The Archduke Henry and the actress—The Archduke Louis Salvator, the Hermit of the Balearic Islands—The Archduke Charles Salvator—The Archduke Joseph—The Archduke Eugène and his vow to be “as chaste as possible”—The Archduke William and his courtship in the _café_—The Archduke Leopold—The awful Archduke Otto and his manifold vagaries 272 CHAPTER XXVII The centrifugal marriages of the Habsburgs—Francis Joseph’s attitude towards them—His attitude towards Baron Walburg, the Habsburg who had come down in the world—Where he draws the line—His refusal to sanction the marriage of the Archduke Ferdinand Charles to the daughter of a high-school teacher—The Archduke resigns his rank and becomes Charles Burg—Marriage of the daughter of Archduchess Gisela to Baron Otto von Seefried zu Buttenheim 284 CHAPTER XXVIII The marriage of Archduchess Stéphanie to Count Lonyay—Attitude of the King of the Belgians towards that marriage—Attitude of Francis Joseph—He sanctions the union, but snubs the bridegroom—Marriage of the Archduchess Elizabeth to Otto von Windischgraetz—Francis Joseph’s approval—The Windischgraetzes raised to the rank of Serene Highnesses 294