"The old general was enchanted. Now he need not sit alone to enjoy his cigar."
Marianne, pausing, began to turn over pages.
"There is so much, children, I can't read it all. Besides, it is sad. The Princess Frederika loses her husband, the widow of Frederick the Great dies, and so does the King. Then the Queen has a second little son. His name is Frederick William Louis, but you know who he is, our Prince William. He was the tiniest little babe, it says here. But you must hear how good our Queen is. 'I am Queen,' she wrote to her grandmother, 'and what rejoices me most is that I need no longer economise in my charities.'
"The citizens of Berlin at once, when she became Queen, waited upon her," read Marianne. "The Queen made them welcome and said: 'It gives me great pleasure to know you. The good will of my Prussian subjects and of you will never be forgotten. It shall be my aim to hold that love, for the love of his subjects is the best crown of a King. With joy I embrace this opportunity to know my citizens better.'
"To Röckeritz the King said:
"'My blessed uncle, Frederick the Great, has said that a treasure is the basis and prop of the Prussian states. We have now nothing but debts. I shall be as economical as possible.'
"Then did he propose to continue, as King, to live upon the income he had made suffice as Crown Prince?
"'The debts of my father,' said he very earnestly, 'must be paid by industry, discipline and economy.'
"Ludwig," wrote Erna, "is much pleased with all this, but he hopes the King will not forget that France is not yet at the end of her troubles. There is talk of a young man named Napoleon Bonaparte, who is the hope now of France. They say he will right everything.
"There are many stories told about our new King and his hatred of ceremony. I will write them to amuse myself. My wedding will not be quite so soon. I am not well and it is best for me now not to work. I do not know what is my trouble, but I cough and do not sleep well at nights and all are very, very kind to me.