266 Ten Years of "iny Life. 



children, and I did not see any reason why it should stop at 



that number. With all that Mrs. F was very elegant. 



She was, in fact, the leader of our society, and nobody thought 

 even of disputing her this place. 



I do not think there is to be found anywhere a society with- 

 out a sprinkling of old maids, either belonging to the subdued, 

 soft, resigned class, who have not found a husband though 

 deserving one, or to the crabbed, prickly species, who have 

 remained single because they were too clever and sharp, and 

 frightened away marrying men ; spinsters with eyes as search- 

 ing as those of custom-house officers, tongues as sharp as 

 razors, and wagging even in sleep. 



We were not neglected in this respect either, and favoured 

 with a number of noble spinsters belonging to the latter class, 

 and being held in high respect, alloyed with some dread, not 

 because they were bad-tempered or malicious, but on account 

 of their awful cleverness. They understood everything best, 

 and were not stingy with their treasure of knowledge either ; 

 they gave it away lavishh^, even without being asked. They 

 had* studied everything, read every book or pamphlet, and 

 whenever a topic turned up in conversation, and one of them 

 was present, Brockhaus, Pierer, and Meyer might remain un- 

 disturbed, for each of them was a living encyclopaedia. 



Another unmarried lady who now and then appeared 

 amongst us was Countess Haake, the ' Palast Dame ' of the 

 Queen, who had been with her since her Majesty's entrance 

 into Berlin in 1827, and it may be imagined that everybody 

 strove to win her good graces. I need not say more about 

 this lady, as I have stated somewhere else that she strikingly 

 resembled the Princess Iturbide of Mexico. 



Though everything in the Hotel de Treves, where we lived 

 first, \vas excellent, our first care was to look out for a house. 

 Assisted by good luck and our new friends, we found one which 

 suited us in every respect, and I went in February to Berlin to 

 buy my furniture and other things required for housekeeping. 

 Not liking to live in an hotel without my husband, I accepted 

 the invitation of the Corvins to stay with them. 



On the day of my arrival I called on Countess Schulemburg, 

 requesting an audience with the Queen, who received me on 

 February 23 even more graciously than the first time. After 

 having been with her a short time she rose, calling out, ' His 



