The resources of the state are at the present moment
entirely swallowed up, or, as we hope to prove, wisely invested. In
a month from now, I do not question we shall be able to meet any
command your Highness may lay upon us; but at this hour I fear that,
even in so small a matter, he must prepare himself for
disappointment. Our zeal is no less, although our power may be
inadequate.'
'How much, Herr Grafinski, have we in the treasury?' asked Otto.
'Your Highness,' protested the treasurer, 'we have immediate need of
every crown.'
'I think, sir, you evade me,' flashed the Prince; and then turning
to the side-table, 'Mr. Secretary,' he added, 'bring me, if you
please, the treasury docket.'
Herr Grafinski became deadly pale; the Chancellor, expecting his own
turn, was probably engaged in prayer; Gondremark was watching like a
ponderous cat. Gotthold, on his part, looked on with wonder at his
cousin; he was certainly showing spirit, but what, in such a time of
gravity, was all this talk of money? and why should he waste his
strength upon a personal issue?
'I find,' said Otto, with his finger on the docket, 'that we have
20,000 crowns in case.'
'That is exact, your Highness,' replied the Baron. 'But our
liabilities, all of which are happily not liquid, amount to a far
larger sum; and at the present point of time it would be morally
impossible to divert a single florin.
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