Therefore, if we presume that Ludwig was not mad after all, can it be that his death was also not accidental? After all, if Ludwig was sane and lucid, it is possible that he might have tried planning to escape. This is also possible, as von Burg shows us: “…the King looked at his watch and walked to the window again, looking out with mounting anxiety… In the distance was the barely discernable outline of a canoe going in the direction of Leoni, its occupants bowed against the force of the wind.” (von Burg, 297). And later: “…Ludwig scanned the lake and the Schlosspark through the glasses [his opera glasses – ed.] and then suddenly, like a cat pouncing on a mouse, he said, ‘Tell me, Mauder, have the Gendarmes received fresh instructions?’

‘I have no idea, Majesty. That side of the administration has nothing to do with me. Has Majesty some special reason for asking?’

‘Yes, two of them have just taken up positions outside the Schloss. Can you think of any reason why they should do that, Mauder?’” (von Burg, 300).

If Ludwig had earlier seen the canoe through his window, and had now observed it again through his opera glasses, it is possible that he aimed to escape across the lake to Leoni, where his cousin Elisabeth of Austria and her daughters were waiting. Before he went out with von Gudden on his final walk, he had had a large meal with wines and coffee; perhaps this was to prepare himself for a coming ordeal – such as wading or swimming a short distance through the lake towards the canoe. Ludwig had been a powerful swimmer, and the water at this point relatively shallow. His nurse Mauder had watched him unbutton his heavy topcoat and undo the buttons of his inner jacket before setting off, even though the weather had been bad. Why? Perhaps Ludwig had aimed to do this, so that he could simultaneously remove the two coats before swimming or wading; otherwise, they would have hampered his progress.

On their way to the lake, Ludwig – considerably fitter and stronger than the out-of-condition Dr. von Gudden – kept walking ahead of the doctor. As they reached the lake, they found a bench, and Ludwig suggested that they may sit and rest for a while. Rest was of course welcome to the unfit Dr. von Gudden, but it was no accident, for Ludwig may have planned to spring up and rush towards the lake before the ageing Dr. Gudden could stop him or spring the alarm. No longer befuddled by drink or soporifics, Ludwig was certainly able to do this. However, if there was a plot to assassinate him – as he kept insisting there was – then he had played into the hands of his enemies by sitting on the bench. How easy it would have been for a would-be assassin to trap his quarry! There is little doubt that Prussia was involved, as well as two ubiquitous and unsavoury gentlemen, Max Holnstein and Philipp zu Eulenberg. Both of them, incidentally, received generous rewards from Prussia and both later enjoyed careers in Berlin which were littered with intrigue and deception.