“You have said enough, Madam. If the King is indeed going mad, we cannot too soon have the fact ascertained.”
Hermengarde leant back in her chair and fixed a long and searching gaze upon the Chancellor. This time it was she who failed to penetrate beneath the impassive mask of the courtier.
“And how are we to ascertain it?” she said at length, putting the question apparently with reluctance. “We can show the public that he is contemplating marriage with a peasant girl; that he has made an assassin his bosom friend; that he has urged his Ministers to start a revolution, and has gone off secretly to the slums of Mannhausen to fraternise with the enemies of society and of his throne.”
“All that is not enough. The public will expect medical evidence.”
“You mean—”
“Dr. Krauss must be consulted.”
“He is here.”
“Here?”
“Yes, in the Castle. I sent for him two days ago.”
Von Sigismark trembled. This woman’s terrible activity frightened him. He felt himself, as it were, swept off his feet. It was some time before he ventured to make a fresh remark.