The King has, a few days since, paid repeated visits to the Dowager-Queen; and my spies tell me, that he is extremely smitten with the beauty of Miss V——[2], who, in fact, has been the only cause of all these visits. All our engines are at play to extinguish this flame, and if I cannot bring that about, I am lost for ever! All this is a court-cabal to get me out, and one of the nobility in. Some people, by this means, hope to acquire greater influence in the affairs of the State. Miss V——, I am told, has a pretty face, and, what is still worse, she is said to be extremely virtuous; the King will, therefore, be at some trouble to subdue her. The Dowager-Queen, a very godly princess, keeps a sharp look out, and has, I am told, loudly expostulated about it with the King.
My spies watch every motion, and I am instantaneously apprized of the most minute occurrence. I don’t know how it is, but some time since the King was extremely reserved with me, and I would lay my head that all this is on account of Miss V——. But let me but once more lay hold of him, and your powder shall do wonders, mother; he then shall leave me no more, I warrant you. We have contrived matters so, that my F——c, in the newspapers, is called the dear beloved; he gives full credit to the appellation, and who knows but those that wrote this nonsense believed it to be true full as well as he does?
Woe! woe! and three times woe! the great mischief has begun. Miss V—— has yielded, and is the King’s favorite. Could you think of any thing so exquisitely foolish as this? She has given herself up to the King, on condition of having a left-handed marriage! The first Court Chaplain and Member of the Consistory, the Rev. H——, on Friday last, performed the ceremony at the palace of Charlottenburg, for which he received a hundred glittering Frederics-d’ors. She is now formally Queen, on the left hand, and, in the most extensive meaning of the word, the ruling queen, for she governs even the King. Would you believe it, mother, a formal law has, by order of the King, been made concerning marriages on the left hand, and this law has been inserted in the code of laws with all the publicity, to give a sanction to this archicomical mock-marriage! The public laugh at it, make remarks, and no one follows this Don Quixotism. But, dear mother, what is to become of me? I must have the K—g, should I tear him out of the arms of Proserpine herself, should I be forced to fetch him out of the midst of heaven or of hell. He shall be mine, mine alone! Think of means, dear sweet mother! No matter what means, no matter how dangerous! Necessity has no law; I must clear the road to the heart of my F——c; I will pull up by the root every thing that opposes me; V—— must vanish away from among the living. Ask A—lang, Werner, Bender, and all our people, how I must set about it. I will have no denial; a third person is most fit for the business.
V—— is pregnant, and does not suffer the King to go from her side one minute. He is most vulgarly smitten with that little figure; he sees nothing but through her eyes; he does nought but by her directions. They say, in town, that she makes him do many a good action[3]; I know nothing of it.
What do they call good? Is it, perhaps, that now he meddles with the concerns of the land, and reads every scrap himself? Pray what has a King ministers for, and why does he pay them? Let those work, and let him be merry and amuse himself! State-affairs are much too tedious to interfere with them. As soon as I have him again, I will soon make him sensible that my philosophy is the best of all, and alone suits a monarch. He shall be no secretary; not he, indeed; he shall not daily stain his fingers with ink, and sign nonsense. Rietz and M—— may do that. A-propos, let me soon know the pleasing intelligence, of which you gave me a hint not long since. Aqua toffana won’t do, dear mother, for we are not yet intimate enough with V—— to approach her thus. It ought to be a subtile and expeditious remedy, such a one as will rid us of that fool without creating any suspicion.
This moment Rietz comes to inform me, that the King has raised Miss V—— to a Countess I——heim. He has sent her to-day, by Rietz, the Imperial diploma, together with a brilliant hair pin, of great value. For God’s sake, speak with S—— about the matter, lest you will have me lose my senses.
Minna! Minna! only don’t be so violent. S—— has been busy for us all. In the afternoon he will send you the box with the powder, you know, and which has arrived from Venice only last night. F—— went thither post, day and night, and stopt but one day at Vienna to take a little rest. It costs 2000 zechins, but its effect is worth more than 2000 millions. But hush and be close! and, for God’s sake, no more confidents!