Hermengarde permitted a smile of scorn to show itself for one moment, before she rejoined—
“Indeed! I congratulate you. I was led to fear, from what I heard, that the King had taken up a rather alarming attitude. But perhaps you have been able to bring him to see things in a more rational light. Has Herr Mark been sent away?”
“No, Madam; I cannot say he has. But I have heard,” he pursued, catching at the opening she had given him, “of the arrival of a person whose presence I should have thought you would have considered equally embarrassing.”
“You mean the Fräulein Gitten, of course,” remarked the Princess, with composure. “Has the King been informed of it?”
“Not yet, I believe. But of course he must hear of it very soon, if she remains. That is why I have ventured to present myself before you. In the light of your Royal Highness’s own remarks a couple of days ago, it is surely a rather serious matter.”
He spoke deprecatingly. Hermengarde sat up and looked him in the face.
“It is a serious matter,” she said boldly. “It is serious for you, and for me, and for all of us—far more serious than you think. Have the goodness to recollect what you said on the last occasion when we discussed the King’s relations with this girl. Even then I hinted to you that it was no mere passing intrigue; but you were disinclined to share my view.”
“True, Madam, and I should be equally disinclined now; but the step which you have taken in introducing her into the palace, where she must constantly come under the King’s eye, makes the affair more important.”
“I think not. As far as my nephew is concerned, it matters little whether he meets her here in my apartments, or in her father’s cottage. On the whole, perhaps, he will have fewer opportunities of seeing her now than before. The difference is this, that the affair must now become public, and if the King of Franconia is courting a peasant girl, the whole world will know it. And that is exactly what I desire.”
The Chancellor looked at her anxiously. Rendered secure against consequences by her royal blood, it was easy for Hermengarde to run where it would be dangerous for him to creep. He dared not imitate her frankness, and yet it was necessary for him if possible to penetrate her designs.