Chapter 7: At the ball

As I had almost suspected, Fräulein Luise stood out from the crowd even in the way she was dressed. Most of the young ladies had come in bright, flouncy ball gowns, their waists accentuated by tight sashes and their bodies bent into the fashionable, but awfully uncomfortable S-curve by their corsets, of which I as a doctor must strongly disapprove. The Bavarian duchess, however, had not forced herself into something quite so uncomfortable, she wore a shoulder bare dress reminiscent of the empire style, but tightening around the calves and with loose sleeves. It featured a peculiar pattern that was repeated in her head gear, hiding all of her cinnamon coloured hair.

I felt deeply for my friend, who started to squirm under the lady's lingering gaze.

"Delighted", she eventually murmured, the mere sound of the single word implying something more than even delight.

"Well…would you care for a drink, my dear?" I intervened, desirous to give Holmes, who looked passably horrified, an opportunity to leave for a moment.

"Thank you, doctor", she replied smilingly. "I have already many drunk."

I believed her without hesitation, for although she bore herself impeccably, her voice betrayed a slight giddiness. In addition, she continued devouring my poor companion with her eyes. I was highly confused.

It was not that Holmes was particularly unappealing to women, but certainly he was not worthy of such undivided attention, I thought grudgingly. After all, his frame was rather lean, and his now mussed hair tinged with grey at the temples. Still, I have often observed that minor and even not-so-minor flaws are graciously ignored by some women when there is money or fame to make up for it, and of the latter my friend had abundantly.

"Mr. Holmes", she chimed in a melting tone, handing him a little billet, "may I the honour have?"

A more thorough observation informed me of it being her dance card. Apparently, she was bound to waste no time.

"Naturally, madam", Mr. Holmes returned with an awfully forced smile. I could tell he strained to remember his instilled manners. "The slow valse would be convenient, I reckon?"

Obviously, he wished to get over with it, and therefore chose the dance the ball would be opening with.

"Thank you, sir. Dr. Watson?"

"Oh! Um – of course." Surprised, but not unpleasantly so, I signed in for the Allemande.

"Wonderful! I'll you after the dinner see, gentlemen!" She flashed us another smile and scurried away, no doubt determined on getting her card filled ere the evening began officially. I laughed heartily.

"Congratulations, my dear chap! I wasn't aware you had such forces of attraction. That's quite a conquest you've made! And a duchess, too. One day, she'll own one third of this country!"

Holmes writhed. "I assure you Watson, I did nothing to encourage the lady into – "

"Yes, I know, old man", I chuckled wisely, not wanting to rub it in. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll have an enjoyable evening."

And I turned away to the approaching Gräfin before he could give a waspish reply. Her Highness was in the company of the pleasurably agitated Agnes and a man that could only be her husband the Graf. He was shorter than her by an inch or so, but bully and broad in the shoulders, on his neck the square and heavy skull of the Prussian. He was bald, but with a large moustache and an even larger jaw.

"Gentlemen." Agnes and the Gräfin curtsied to us, and we bowed in return.

"My dear Mr. Holmes!" Agnes spluttered eagerly, not letting her Highness breathe a word. "How charming. Did you get on with the investigation? We really must have a talk to see whether our results tally. Anyway, it is wonderful you could come! These parties are a trifle dull sometimes, with the same faces over and over again. And it is a great advantage to have as many gentlemen attending as possible. Our cards are not nearly filled and we are still in need of someone to escort us to the table…"

Her Highness cleared her throat cautiously, interrupting the flow of Agnes' merry chatter. The three of us turned to her and the brawny man by her side.

"Please allow me to introduce my husband, the Graf of Baden. Friedrich, dies sind Sherlock Holmes und sein Gehilfe Doktor Watson", she explained, almost too fast for me to catch on.

The Graf, for his part, regarded us with as much condescension as he could muster, given the fact that both of us towered above him. He even took the trouble of re-adjusting his monocle for this purpose. We had been informed he ignored the English language, and yet he required no words to express his feelings towards us.

I observed his deplorable wife was kneading her hands in the long glacé gloves. She clearly was dreadfully uncomfortable. I felt compassion for our hostess, whose husband's decided coldness rendered the situation difficult for her.

All of a sudden, my companion stepped forward and extended his hand, looking straight into the eyes of the german aristocrat, and out of sheer instinct, the other man grasped it, his mouth gaping in surprise.

"It is an exquisite honour indeed, Your Highness", Mr. Holmes said quietly. While his pronunciation was awkward, the words came fluently and in correct German. "If I am not much mistaken, there'll be the summons for dinner shortly, as Your Highness is in the habit of wearing false teeth, and took the precaution of removing them. Yes, the indentation on the palatine is quite pronounced. If I may have the permission, I would like to accompany Her Highness the Gräfin to the table, and you might consider taking your friend, the Freifrau Agnes. I'm afraid she is a little bored and surely will rejoice in your delectable company."

I will not attempt to portray the not too shrewd look of the nobleman's face, when Agnes, who enjoyed herself visibly, slipped her arm around his. As a matter of fact, the sound of a gong rang through the ballroom just one instant later, and a slight commotion started as people departed in pairs for the dining room.

Mr. Holmes insinuated a curt bow to the Gräfin, who modestly placed her hand on his forearm, and off they went, leaving me with the fuming, humiliated Graf and the enchanted Agnes, perfectly oblivious to the fact she had been tricked into keeping her distance to my friend.

oooOOOooo

The ball souper surpassed my most adventurous expectations. I don't think I have ever before or afterwards dined so excellently. The hors d'oeuvres alone would have cost me my annual war pension, and the Rhine wine flowed like water. In between Coquilles St. Jacques, caviar tartlets and Burgundy snails in garlic sauce, I tattered with Frau Mahler, who was my neighbor to the right. She still looked pale and fatigued from the journey, and maybe there was even more on her mind. Several times she enquired after any progress we may or may not have made up to now, but I did not feel entitled to give away what little information I had, and kept to replying evasively, yet optimistically.

I also recollected she was expecting her husband to arrive at Schwetzingen in short time, and on my part asked her a question to that effect.

"He let me know he would be taking ze night train from Saverne", she stated, anxious wrinkles marring her handsome face, "but ze transport system in ze Alsace is neither very efficient nor reliable. I assume he will be here early tomorrow, though."

And she cast a quick glance at my neighbour to the left, her brother-in-law Johann. He was a morose, taciturn fellow, tolerably good-looking but he had something unpleasant to his facial expression, a kind of sulking, constant dissatisfaction. He was nearly as disagreeable as the other chap, Leopold, to whom, as Frau Mahler had chanced to mention, he was linked by something akin to friendship.

Contrarily to Leopold, however, Johann was a grown man, closer to thirty than to twenty. There something very military about his person, something that not only his smart navy uniform could account for. His shoulders were square and his waist narrow, the blonde hair and sideburns neatly trimmed. I could imagine he might have the makings of a role model for the lad, though personally, I most definitely disliked him.

I saw Fräulein Luise eye him with interest across the table, every time she was not busy drooling over Mr. Holmes, that is. My head turned to Frau Mahler as if of its own volition, and I wondered whether there might be a spark of truth in what my comrade had suggested the previous evening: Frau Mahler's being attached to the young man in a more than familial manner. It was within the realms of possibility…but if so, did he feel in the same way? Could he feel for the wife of his brother, a woman nearly twenty years his senior?

I was disturbed in my daydreams only when Frau Mahler addressed me with a question, which she was doing for the second time now.

"I beg your pardon, what did you just say?"

She quirked one raven eyebrow. "I enquired whether you and Mr. Holmes will participate in ze game tomorrow. Ze murder game."

"Murder game?" I blinked in obfuscation.

"Assuredly. We anticipate fine weather, so Wilhelmina has prepared some outdoors entertainment." She smiled clemently. "I suspect she did it in order to please Agnes. Ze poor zing suffers from tedium, I imagine, zis place is slack wiz crimes and ze misfortune which befell me was not quite in her line. She's fond of a decent murder, you see."

"Well – but what is a murder game?"

The lady was ready to elaborate, but the main course was being served this instant, and for a while our attention was focused on boeuf bourguignon and partridges stowed with chestnuts.

"So…the game", Frau Mahler resumed a little later, delicately placing her cutlery on the plate, handles pointing in one direction. "It is quite simple. Everyone will draw a lot, and one of us will get ze 'murderer'. Zis murderer will try and catch somebody alone, and 'kill' him. Ze killed person has to lay down and remain zere until found by someone else. Ze murder has to be committed within one hour. After it has elapsed, we will come together again. Zen everyone has to give an alibi for ze time of the murder, which requests zat you keep track of your whereabouts, naturally. Finally, everyone wiz ze exception of the victim will try to figure out which alibi is false. For zis purpose, you will have to recollect whom you have seen where and when, and reconstruct ze course of events. Your celebrated friend should like it."

"I'm sure. It sounds quite interesting."

"Ze game can be played in several rounds", Frau Mahler proceeded. "It's a pleasurable pastime when ze weather is nice, I've found."

Honestly, the scheme sounded rather infantile to me, hardly a suitable occupation for adult persons. Yet I remembered Graf and Gräfin had an interest in jollying Agnes along. Perhaps the idea was not a bad one, after all. At least, it would afford us an opportunity to have a look-around on the property.

"Will you participate in the game?" I asked Johann Mahler, more out of politeness than actual interest.

"If it pleases Her Highness to send us about, behaving like little children, there is nothing I can do about it, now is there?"

"Johann!" Frau Mahler admonished him. "I zought it was a very charming idea. You should be grateful to have a bit of a change from your eternal marine training!"

Her younger relative shrugged his shoulders and carried on with his dinner.

We had come as far as the dessert, which was truly superb. I supplied my neighbour with a helping of sherbet champagne and myself with oeufs de neige, when my eye fell on Holmes. He was not eating at all, unsurprisingly. I knew well he did not care for sweets, and yet I wished I had observed him more closely to ascertain whether he had eaten anything. Next to him, the Gräfin took pleasure in making one-sided conversation, inviting both of us for the Asparagus season next year, I believe. Her mood was much improved, she seemed to be nearly relaxed, as long as she did not look at her husband, that is to say. The Graf would lock eyes with her from time to time, then huff and avert his regard. Agnes, seated by his side, was keeping colloquy a-going all by herself as well, laughing a lot and getting glowing cheeks like little red apples from the sparkling wine.

Her protégé Leopold was sitting on her other side, apparently slightly irritated. Opposite to him, pretty Fräulein Luise closed her soft lips around a spoonful of mousse au chocolat in rapture. I do not think I've ever found myself in the company of people so average and ordinary in many respects – and yet so inscrutable.

oooOOOooo

"Shall we dance?"

It was a little later, and the initial valse had begun in the ballroom. I had escorted Frau Mahler back there, and seeing that she had no dance partner, I offered myself readily.

"I'd like that – thank you!" she gave me a warm smile, and her teeth shimmered, competing with the sapphires in her jet black hair and around her neck. Carefully placing one hand on her back and taking her right into the other, I listened to the music for a moment to get the rhythm, and we slowly valsed out on the floor, filing in with the other couples.

Not far from us, I discovered the Graf and his wife, who had opened the dance together. He was glaring at her lugubriously, and she sought to evade his eyes, peering down on her feet most of the time.

"Your Cousin seems to be a very grave man", I remarked cautiously to my dance partner. She chuckled.

"Oh, not all is as it seems. Friedrich is a very decent man, he's doing a lot for ze people on his territory. He may be a tad severe, but at least he's a loving father and husband", she claimed, that strange little shadow flitting over her countenance again.

"I understand."

I gently spun around with her, catching sight of Mr. Holmes, the lucky partner of a very eligible dancer. I could see many men turn their heads as the pair passed by, but Fräulein Luise wholly ignored them, casting ardent glances at my inapproachable friend. He did his best to miss them, now and then wrenching half a smile, but when he met my gaze, he rolled his eyes heavenwards. I could not but laugh a little.

"A most curious girl, the little Bavarian duchess, don't you think?"

Frau Mahler's mouth set into a thin line. "I don't know. I am not acquainted wiz her", she stated with such determination that I felt altogether discouraged from talking, and fell silent. Luckily the dance had come to an end a few beats later, and observing that Graf and Gräfin retired from the dance floor, Frau Mahler urged me to join them.

"Dear Margarete!" Her Highness smiled, taking her friend by the hands. "What an adorable gown you're wearing! I said just now to Agnes how lovely you are looking tonight. Didn't I, Agnes?" she beckoned to the old lady, who came in a scuttle.

"Absolutely marvelous!" she affirmed. "I'm sure you will have many dances tonight with Dr. Watson here and the other gentlemen."

Margarete Mahler smiled gratefully at the other women.

"By all means", I nodded assertively. "You must see to it that you enjoy yourself – "

The smile disappeared from her face as if wiped off. "I am sorry – please excuse me", she muttered, and dived into the sea of surrounding people. A moment later, we were joined by Mr. Holmes and Fräulein Luise, whose bliss was as evident on her features as was the agony on his.

"Indeed, doctor. We must us all enjoy", she lilted, giving everyone a broad smile. I perceived the expressions on the faces of Agnes and Wilhelmina had grown somewhat stony.

"Good evening, Luise", the Gräfin said stiffly. Her husband remained silent, looming behind her figure, watching me, Holmes and Luise with equal distaste.

"Well…which dance is next?" I enquired, embarrassed by the oppressing atmosphere.

"The Sarabande", Fräulein Luise sighed. "Really, why dance we old dances that people even did at the time of baroque? Why dance we not something more fashionable?"

"Because we are people of a certain exaltedness of breading", Her Highness berated her amiably, but strictly. "We have dignity to preserve…traditions to uphold…we can't possibly dance outlandish dances from the Americas!"

"Bah!" the girl moaned with vexation. "No mambo, no shimmy, no ragtime…it's sad…"

The music had recommenced, and suddenly, without announcing himself by the faintest din, Leopold materialized next to me. He was in an exclusive evening suit, his hair combed back from his pretty, feline face.

"Fräulein Luise." He bowed courteously to our young acquaintance. "May I have dis dance?"

The maiden looked at him with mild surprise. "You may", she eventually said, beating with her lashes coquettishly. The two young people vanished into the crowd and I felt my friend send a dumb prayer of gratefulness to heaven.

"What's she doing here?" Agnes hissed, sending a scornful glance after the retreating form of the girl.

"I did not want to invite her", the Gräfin sighed, "Her father asked me to let her stay…"

Agnes shook her head in disbelief. "The cheek!"

Holmes and I exchanged a quick glance, but neither of us was able to ask a question, since our party was enlarged by a group of gentlemen at this moment, apparently hunting fellows of the Graf. Apart from that, Agnes had again come uncomfortably close to my friend. For the sake of saving him, I would have asked him to dance myself, but as this was not actually an option, we made an excuse and left, in quest of more suitable partners.

Hi there! Ouuuf, that's been sweat and bloody tears again. Well, not literally, but in the figural sense. I hope it was worth it!

Yes, the dances are accurate for this period – jazz and latin dances were in the process of being developed, and surely they would have been danced in Europe by the time, if only in more liberal circles than the one we are contemplating. It was a time of upheaval and profound changes, which manifested in many ways.

And no, you can't tell a Prussian from a German by his skull – that was a kind of superstition disguised as a science, typical for the Victorian era. I believe they called it physiognomy, and it was claimed that every persons' origin as well as character traits could be deduced from the physique. That is why people in novels dating from this time are being described very much in detail – e.g. Sherlock Holmes.

I'll really have to start the mystery sometime soon….

All the best, Mrsforsyte