o 4 
x 
Kaspar Hauser. 
Hennenhofer told the man that the child was a soldier’s son in 
whom he took an interest, and that there were sufficient reasons 
for keeping him hidden for a time; at a later period he would be 
otherwise disposed of. Miiller was not inquisitive, and accepted 
the task without objection. 
Meantime, there were many secret whisperings in Karlsruhe 
concerning the fate of the royal children, and a suspicion was 
prevalent that the elder son was not dead. Grand-Duchess 
Stephanie was uneasy, and desired a thorough investigation of the 
rumours ; but her husband postponed the discussion of the sub- 
ject, influenced partly by a dread of the scandal which would 
cover the royal name, and rendered still more undecided by the 
paralysing effect of the disease which, for three years, had been 
sapping his vital energies. 
There is no doubt that Karl secretly believed his elder son to 
be alive ; but he knew it would be difficult to prove the truth of 
such an assertion, and he felt that he could not live long enough 
to overcome the intrigues of the enemies who had stolen his 
child, while his death would be likely to put an end to the in- 
vestigation and add to the triumph of his opponents. There was 
danger, also, that an attempt to discover the whereabouts of the 
Prince would result in his being put out of the way by murder. 
In the then critical state of European politics it was easy to 
assert that the Great Powers would not allow so important a State 
as Baden to be governed by a Regency, as would be the case if 
the heir was not prepared to rule, and the only other alternative 
for Duke Karl was to renounce, or, at least, postpone his plans 
for the ventilation of a horrible family outrage, and consent to 
acknowledge the -children of his father’s morganatic marriage as 
eligible to the throne. He, therefore, provided for the succession 
in accordance with the wishes of the guilty pair, who had taken 
upon themselves so heavy a burden of crime in order to attain 
the object of their ambition. In case of Ludwig, the last of the 
regular line, dying without a direct heir, the crown was secured to 
the children of Countess Hochberg, by a decree issued by Grand- 
Duke Karl on the 4th of October, 1817, with the consent of the