To these graces of body were allied equal graces of mind and character.  Her conversation sparkled with wit and wisdom; she could hold fluent discourse in half a dozen tongues; she played and sang divinely, wrote elegant verses, and painted dainty pictures.  Her manner was caressing and courteous; she was generous to a fault, with a heart as tender as it was large.  And the supreme touch was added by an entire unconsciousness of her charms, and an unaffected modesty which captivated all hearts.

Such was Aurora of Koenigsmarck who, in company with her sister, set forth one day to claim the fortune which her ill-fated brother, Philip, was said to have left in the custody of his Hanoverian bankers—­a journey which was to make such a dramatic revolution in her own life.

Arrived at Hanover the sisters found themselves faced by no easy task.  The bankers declared that they had nothing of the late Count’s effects beyond a few diamonds, which they declined to part with, unless evidence were forthcoming that the Count had died and had left no will behind him—­evidence which, owing to the secrecy surrounding his murder, it was impossible to furnish.  And when a discharged clerk revealed the fact that the dishonest bankers had actually all the Count’s estate, valued at four hundred thousand crowns, in their possession, the sisters were unable to make them disgorge a solitary mark.

In their extremity, they decided to appeal to the Elector of Saxony, who had known Count Philip well and who would, they hoped, be the champion of their rights; and, with this object, they journeyed to Dresden, only to find themselves again baffled.  Augustus was away on a hunting excursion, and would not return for a whole month.  His wife and mother, however, gave them a gracious reception, as charmed by their beauty and sweetness as sympathetic in their trouble.

When at last Augustus made his tardy appearance at his capital, the fair petitioners were presented to him by the Dowager Electress with words of strong recommendation to his favour.  “These ladies, my son,” she said, “have come to beg for your protection and help, to which they are entitled both by birth and their merits.  I beg that you will spare no effort to ensure that justice is done to them.”

His mother’s pleading, however, was not necessary to ensure a favourable hearing from the Elector, whose eyes were eloquent of the admiration he felt for the two fairest women who had ever visited his land.  Aurora’s beauty, enhanced by her attitude of appeal, the mute craving for protection, was irresistible.  From the moment she entered his presence he was her slave, as anxious to do her will as any lovesick boy.

And it was to her that, with his courtliest bow, he answered, “Be assured, dear lady, that I shall know no rest until your wrongs are repaired.  If I fail, I myself will make reparation in full.  Meanwhile, may I beg you and your sister to be my guests, that I may prove how deep is my sympathy, and how profound the respect I feel for you.”