'Is the King well?'
'Yes, but--'
Ludovici looked at the Count and said sadly:
'But you will find him changed. A great many things are changed. I was against your travelling.'
'What has happened?' said Sulkowski carelessly.
'The worst that could happen. Your enemies accused you; the Queen is at their head, then Guarini, and the cunning Brühl. We are lost.'
Sulkowski looked at him as at a madman, shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
'You must be dreaming.'
'I should like to dream,' said Ludovici gloomily. 'There is no time for illusions, we must try to save ourselves, if there is still time for that. I came, risking my life, to warn you. The gates are guarded, the houses are surrounded by spies: if you come to Dresden, so that they recognise you at the gate, they will not admit you to the King; such are the orders.'
'But it cannot be,' the Count cried passionately. 'It is a stupid hoax, someone has told the King some nonsense, and you believed it. There is no man in this world who could take the King's heart from me. It is impossible, it is a lie! I laugh at it! They would dare not to admit me to the King? Ludovici, you have lost your senses--'