"Does not that come to the same thing?" asked the Professor.
"What shall I do among these strangers?" continued Ilse, anxiously.
"Nonsense," replied the Professor. "Have you any reason to give?" and he looked at her, discomposed.
"I cannot say that I have," replied Ilse.
"Then decide at once, and come. We should probably feel more free if we could live as we liked; but I should not wish to reside for weeks at a hotel in a foreign city; and, from another point of view, this reception will save both parties the difficulty of offering and refusing compensation. We shall remain there as long as is indispensably necessary; then we shall go south, as far as we can. It is, after all, only putting off the journey a few weeks."
When the Professor's letter of acceptance arrived, the Chamberlain informed the Sovereign of it in presence of the Marshal: "See to it that the pavilion is arranged as comfortably as possible. Dinner will be served at the pavilion at whatever hour the Professor wishes."
"And what position does your Highness intend the strangers shall occupy at Court?" inquired the Marshal.
"That is understood," said the Sovereign; "he has the privilege of a stranger, and will occasionally be invited to small dinners."
"But the Professor's wife?" asked the Marshal.
"Ah!" said the Sovereign, "the wife. It is true, she comes with him."