CHAPTER IX.
When the small circle composed of the select of the court were at tea, the intendant announced it as his intention to celebrate the birthdays of those great minds who had contributed to the elevation of the drama, and said that he meant to begin with the approaching anniversary of Lessing's birth.
"What play will you give us?" inquired the queen.
"I should feel highly honored if Your Majesty would decide which it shall be."
"I?" asked the queen, looking toward the king, who was sitting opposite to her. Although apparently engaged with an illustrated newspaper, he must have felt that the queen's eye was upon him, for he looked up and said:
"Yes, please yourself."
"Then I should like 'Emilia Galotti.'"
All looked up, for this work, as well as Schiller's "Love and Intrigue," had, during the last reign, been placed on the list of forbidden plays.
A pause ensued. It was the king's turn to speak, and what would he say?
He remained silent. A moment later, he showed Schnabelsdorf, who was sitting near him, a portrait of a foreign scholar who had recently died, and asked whether it was a good likeness.