Note 4 — Chapter I

Count Perponcher always selected the ballet dancers for the Opera in Berlin. Many years ago I made the acquaintance at Milan of a lovely, fair Polish girl, Marie Urbanska by name, who was studying dancing there, and danced occasionally in the ballet at La Scala. She was then sixteen, and during her stay at Milan, all her expenses were paid by Count Perponcher. The Emperor William always called her “the little Countess” (die Kleine Gräfin), as her father was a Polish count, and she was still second danseuse at the Berlin Opera twelve years ago. One night, as she was ascending the stairs at the Villa Manzoni, where I too was staying, she was seized and gagged and conveyed to the house of a gentleman, who told her that he was in love with her. But she insisted on leaving the house, which he allowed her to do. The man in question, who was a German, was obliged to leave Milan, in consequence of this affair, which, however, was hushed up, as he came of a well-known family in Germany.