'I will not bear
these whisperings!'
Seraphina burst into tears.
'Sir,' cried the Baron, rising, 'this lady - '
'Herr von Gondremark,' said the Prince, 'one more observation, and I
place you under arrest.'
'Your Highness is the master,' replied Gondremark, bowing.
'Bear it in mind more constantly,' said Otto. 'Herr Cancellarius,
bring all the papers to my cabinet. Gentlemen, the council is
dissolved.'
And he bowed and left the apartment, followed by Greisengesang and
the secretaries, just at the moment when the Princess's ladies,
summoned in all haste, entered by another door to help her forth.
CHAPTER VIII - THE PARTY OF WAR TAKES ACTION
HALF an hour after, Gondremark was once more closeted with
Seraphina.
'Where is he now?' she asked, on his arrival.
'Madam, he is with the Chancellor,' replied the Baron. 'Wonder of
wonders, he is at work!'
'Ah,' she said, 'he was born to torture me! O what a fall, what a
humiliation! Such a scheme to wreck upon so small a trifle! But
now all is lost.'
'Madam,' said Gondremark, 'nothing is lost. Something, on the other
hand, is found. You have found your senses; you see him as he is -
see him as you see everything where your too-good heart is not in
question - with the judicial, with the statesman's eye. So long as
he had a right to interfere, the empire that may be was still
distant.
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