MY PURPOSE IN THE PRESENT WORK
has been to draw a picture, based upon none
but genuine, trustworthy, and hitherto unpub-
lished material, of a woman about whom one
of her ladies in waiting, the Landgravine von
Fürstenberg, once said: "Neither chisel nor brush can depict
her as she really was, or that something about her which had
such power to attract and captivate, for it was a thing pe-
culiar to herself. She will live on in legend, not in history . . ."

In these pages my aim has been to bring her forth from
the realms of legend into the full light of history, while al-
ways endeavoring to keep wholly to the truth. I need hardly
insist that I have abstained alike from disparaging criticism
and from the "byzantine" adulation of former days. Even
when it has been necessary to touch upon delicate subjects,
the figures of the Emperor and Empress can stand the full
light of truth, and require neither indulgence nor servility.
Frau von Ferenczy, a faithful servant of the Empress, was
quite right when, in the course of an interview years after
the revolution, she said to Hofrat Julian Weiss: "Let all the
archives be thrown open! The result will only redound to the
honor of the dynasty which is now so often unjustly at-
tacked."

The record of every human creature must contain both
light and shadow. In the present work they have been appor-
tioned as my conscience and knowledge of the subject have
dictated When a human life does not turn out successfully,
its tragedy lies in the frustration of good intentions. It is
may to judge such lives, but we must try to understand them.

-v-