'H'm?' said Augustus.
'Your Majesty knows well,' Brühl continued, 'that I am not mixed up in Sulkowski's affairs.'
'It is over! Enough of it!' interrupted the King impatiently.
'Not altogether,' rejoined Brühl, 'and that is why I feel so unhappy. I took his duties, I am an honest man, I was obliged to investigate everything.'
The King stared at Brühl; there was something alarming in that look.
'Among his papers were found some letters accusing your Majesty's ungrateful servant; there were many abuses; deficits in the accounts--'
The King cleared his throat.
'But I still have money?' he asked with energy.
'Yes, but not as much as there ought to be,' said the minister. 'But the worst is this, that the letters exchanged between Sulkowski and some foreign courts condemn him as a most dangerous man. If he goes to Poland he will be protected by the laws of the republic; should he go to Vienna, he might be a menace to us there. In a word, wherever Sulkowski might go--'
Brühl looked attentively at the King's face as he said this, but although he knew his character well, he could not guess what impression he had made on Augustus by his speech. Augustus looked surprised, gazed round the room, grew red and pale by turns, appeared confused, but did not say a word.