"No one says so, madame. All say that to relax his mind, the king laughs at the chatter and listens to the songs of a pretty actress. After a quarter of an hour thus passed, he says, 'Enough for to-day. If I want you to-morrow, I will send for you.'"
"This is not gallant. If that is the way he courted Coccei's wife, I am not amazed that she did not listen to him. Do they say whether this Porporina is as stern as she was?"
"They say she is modest, well-behaved, timid, and sad."
"Well, that is the best way to please the king. Perhaps she is shrewd. If it were possible, and one could trust her—"
"Trust no one, madame, not even Madame de Maupertuis, who is now so fast asleep, I beg you."
"Let her snore away. Awake or asleep she is always the same. But, Von Kleist, I would wish to know this Porporina, and see if anything can be done with her. I regret that I refused, when the king proposed to accompany her to my rooms, to receive her. You know I had a prejudice against her."
"An unjust one. It was impossible—"
"Ah, God's will be done. Chagrin and fear have had such influence over me for the last year, that all secondary cares are effaced. I wish to see that girl. Who knows if she may not win from the king what we have vainly asked for? That idea has been in my mind for some days, and I have thought of nothing else. Seeing Frederick thus excited and uneasy about her, I was confirmed in the idea that I would find in her a gate of safety."
"Be careful, your highness. There is great danger."
"That is what you always say. I am more distrustful, yet more prudent than you. We must think of this matter. Now, my dear gouvernante wake up! We are at the palace."