"Ah! Heltzendorff. How good it is to get a breath of soft air from the Mediterranean! We shall have a port on this pleasant sea one day--if we live as long--eh?" That remark showed the trend of events. It showed how, hand in hand with the Emperor, he was urging preparations for war--a war that had for its primary object the destruction of the Powers which, when the volcano erupted, united as allies. The bright autumn days passed quite uneventfully, and frequently I went pleasant motor runs into the mountains with His Highness, up to the frontier at the Col di Tenda, to La Vésubie, Puget-Théniers, and other places. Yet I was still mystified at the reason of our sojourn there. After we had been at the Villa Lilas about ten days I was one afternoon seated outside the popular Café de l'Opéra, in the Place Masséna, when a lady, dressed in deep mourning and wearing the heavy veil in French style, passed along the pavement, glanced at me, and then, hesitating, she turned, and, coming back, advanced to the little table in the corner whereat I was sitting. "May I be permitted to have a word with you, Monsieur?" she asked in French, in a low, refined voice. "Certainly," was my reply, and, not without some surprise, I rose and drew a chair for her. She glanced round quickly, as though to satisfy herself that she would not be overheard, but, as a matter of fact, at that hour the chairs on the terraces of the café were practically deserted. At the same moment, viewing her closely, I saw that she was about twenty-four, handsome, dark-haired, with well-cut features. "I know, Monsieur, that I am a complete stranger to you," she exclaimed with a smile, "but to me you are quite familiar by sight. I have passed you many times in Berlin and in Potsdam, and I know that you are Count von Heltzendorff, personal-adjutant to His Highness the Crown-Prince--or Count von Grünau, as he is known here in France." "You know that!" I exclaimed. She smiled mysteriously, replying: "Yes. I--well, I happen to be a friend of His Highness." I held my breath. So this pretty young Frenchwoman was one of my young Imperial master's friends! "The fact is, Count," she went on, "I have travelled a considerable distance to see you. I said that I was one of the Crown-Prince's friends. Please do not misunderstand me. I know that he has a good many lady friends, but, as far as I am concerned, I have never been introduced to him, and he does not know me. I am his friend because of a certain friendliness towards him." "Really, Madame, I don't quite understand," I said. "Of course not," she answered, and then, glancing round, she added: "This place is a little too public. Cannot we go across to the garden yonder?" At her suggestion I rose and walked with her to a quiet spot in the gardens, where we sat down, and I listened with interest to her.