I quote from these critics because they have examined the letters themselves and can speak with first-hand knowledge. I do so with more freedom because they have not been slow in pointing out my shortcomings. I should also like to express my indebtedness for many other critical reviews, notably to the _Athenæum_, to Monsieur de Wyzewa for his essay in the _Revue des deux Mondes_, and to Mr. Andrew Lang in _Longman’s Magazine_. ----- I should like to thank Dr. Carl Petersen, Assistant Librarian at Lund University, for his courtesy and assistance; Count Carl Lewenhaupt (sometime Swedish and Norwegian Minister in London) for procuring me the portrait of Aurora Königsmarck, now in the possession of the elder branch of the Lewenhaupt family; Count C. G. von Rosen for permission to reproduce the portrait of Philip Christopher Königsmarck; Count Kielmansegg for allowing me to see Lady Darlington’s patent of peerage at Gülzow; and Count Erich Kielmansegg for calling my attention to a slight error in the history of the Lund letters, corrected in this edition. As an edition of this book has been published in America without my knowledge or consent, and as it is, moreover, full of grammatical and other errors, for which I am not responsible, I take this opportunity of saying that this is the only authorised edition for sale in America. In conclusion, I should like to repeat what I wrote in the preface to my first edition: “The story of the romantic life of this uncrowned Queen has been shrouded in mystery, and she has been even more misrepresented than Mary Queen of Scots. Her imprisonment in the lonely castle of Ahlden was longer and more rigorous than Mary’s captivity in England, and the assassination of Königsmarck was as dramatic as the murder of Rizzio.” W. H. WILKINS. _March, 1903._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE THE ROMANCE OF THE PRINCESS’S PARENTAGE 1 CHAPTER II. THE PROGRESS OF ELÉONORE 13 CHAPTER III. THE WISDOM OF SERPENTS 25 CHAPTER IV. PRINCE GEORGE GOES A-WOOING 38 CHAPTER V. THE SACRIFICE 47 CHAPTER VI. THE COURT OF HANOVER 59 CHAPTER VII. THE POWER OF COUNTESS PLATEN 70 CHAPTER VIII. ENTER KÖNIGSMARCK 82 CHAPTER IX. PLAYING WITH FIRE 94