"At length I was convalescent. My hair had been cut off. I was thin but still pretty. One day, while I was studying in my mirror the pathetic figure I looked with the little fair curls clustering on my head, Hagen, who was on orderly duty, came in and announced Duke Frederick-Augustus. "I was still really too ill to receive him, but I was longing for the encounter. I must confess, to my shame, that I didn't come out on top that day. "He came in and bowed ceremoniously. His blue eyes, in his pale, smooth face, were bright and dim by turns. "'My dear sister, what a pleasure to find you up at last, and looking so well.' "His perfect ease of manner froze me. He went on: "'There is no point in not telling you at once the pleasant object of my visit. Tomorrow it will be nine months since the death of my regretted brother, the Grand Duke Rudolph. As the legal period of your widowhood then expires their Majesties the Emperor and Empress would be glad if you could see your way to fix a convenient date for the celebration of our marriage. They have expressed their intention of being present.' "'Tell their Majesties, my dear brother,' I replied, 'that I will fix any date that suits their pleasure, and kindly add that I hope it will be the last time I shall give them this trouble.' "He bowed gravely. "'That is also my heart-felt desire, dear sister,' he said. "And he went out. "We were married one day in March, 1912, a dull, threatening day. The Emperor and Empress, true to their promise, were present at the religious ceremony and left for Berlin in the evening. About five o'clock, first at the Rathaus and then at the castle, the State authorities and magistrates took the oath of fealty to the new Grand Duke. At eight the superior officers and higher dignitaries of the Grand Duchy, some thirty guests, were present at a dinner, informal on account of our recent mourning, in the banqueting-hall on the ground floor. "The second course had hardly begun when the sound of tapping, now loud, now soft, was heard coming from the first floor, immediately above our heads. "At first no notice was taken. But the noise continued, tap, tap, tap, with exasperating regularity. "The Grand Duke, frowning slightly, beckoned to the lackey standing behind him. "'What's that noise?' he asked in a low tone. 'Go and stop it.' "The man had not returned in a quarter of an hour, but the noise did not cease. "'Here, Kessel,' cried the Grand Duke, half annoyed, half amused, 'try and find out what's going on above our heads. Excuse me, gentlemen,' he said, turning to our guests. "Kessel went. Five minutes later he came back, very red. The noise had stopped. "'Well!' said the Grand Duke, what was it?' "Kessel was still silent. "'Look here, Major,' Frederick went on, beginning to lose patience. 'You can't have discovered a plot up there, I presume. I must ask you to reassure my guests. What was the matter?' "'Builders, your Highness,' murmured Kessel.