'This wine the King alone drinks when he doesn't feel well,' whispered Brühl.
'Panaceum universale! The lips of a woman are not sweeter.'
'Oh! oh!' exclaimed the youth.
'It is quite different for you,' said the councillor, 'but for me they have lost all sweetness. But the wine! wine is a nectar which, never loses its charm. Were it not for these letters!'
'You are still thinking of them?'
'Well, let the deuce take them.'
The councillor drank, but the wine was beginning to take effect. He grew heavier, he smiled, and then closed his eyes.
'Now a short nap,' said he.
'But you must finish the bottle,' said the page.
'Yes, it is the duty of an honest man to finish that which he began,' said Pauli.