"I am surprised to find your Excellency here," he said; "I did not know that you too had taken leave of absence for this quiet life."
"My gracious master would have been surprised if I had not done my duty. It was my intention to have reported to your Highness to-day at the palace concerning the health of the Princess."
"So it was for that," said the Sovereign. "I had forgotten that my Lord High Steward is never weary of his office of guardian."
"An office that one has exercised almost half a century in the service of the illustrious family becomes in fact a habit," replied the High Steward. "Your Highness has heretofore judged with kind consideration the zeal of a servant who is anxious to make himself useful."
The Sovereign turned to the Marshal, and asked, in a suppressed voice:
"Will he remain?"
The Marshal replied, distressed:
"I could obtain no promise, nor even a wish from him."
"I knew it already," replied the Sovereign, hoarsely. He turned to the Professor, and violently forced himself to assume a friendly demeanor, as he said: "I have heard from my daughter of your campaign against broken chairs. I wish to have some talk with you alone about it."
They sat down to table. The Sovereign gazed vacantly before him, and drank several glasses of wine; the Princess also sat silent, the conversation flagged, the High Steward alone became talkative. He asked about a bust of Winkelmann, and spoke of the lively interest which the nation took in the fate of their intellectual leaders.