“You wish, then, to speak of yourself?” said Frederick.
“No, sire; I will speak of a subject which bloomed before the war, and since then has withered and faded in a subterranean prison; but it now threatens to put forth new buds, to unfold new leaves, and I fear your majesty will find that undesirable.”
“Speak, then, clearly, and without circumlocution. I am convinced it is only some gossiping or slander you wish to retail. You come as a salaried family spy who has snapped up some greasy morsels of scandal. Your eyes are glowing with malicious pleasure, as they always do when you are about to commit some base trick. Now, then, out with it! Of whom will you speak?”
“Of the Princess Amelia and Trenck,” whispered Pollnitz.
The king gazed at him fiercely for a moment, then turned and walked silently backward and forward.
“Well, what is your narrative?” said Frederick, at last, turning his back upon Pollnitz, and stepping to the window as if to look out.
“Sire, if your majesty does not interfere, the Princess Amelia will send a negotiator to Vienna, who undertakes to induce the Empress Maria Theresa to apply to you for the release of Trenck. This negotiator is richly provided with gold and instructions; and the Austrian ambassador has pointed out to the princess a sure way to reach the ear of the empress, and to obtain an intercessor with her. She will appeal to the fireman of the empress, and this influential man will undertake to entreat Maria Theresa to ask for Trenck’s release. This will take place immediately; an hour since the messenger received his instructions from General Riedt, and a quarter of an hour since he received four thousand louis d’or from the princess to bribe the fireman. If the intrigue succeeds, the princess has promised him a thousand louis d’or for himself.”
“Go on,” said the king, as Pollnitz ceased speaking.
“Go on!” said Pollnitz, with a stupefied air. “I have nothing more to say; it seems to me the history is sufficiently important.”
“And it seems to me a silly fairy tale,” said Frederick, turning angrily upon the grand-master. “If you think to squeeze gold out of me by such ridiculous and senseless narratives, you are greatly mistaken. Not one farthing will I pay for these lies. Do you think that Austria lies on the borders of Tartary? There, a barber is minister; and you, forsooth, will make a fireman the confidential friend of the empress! Why, Scheherezade would not have dared to relate such an absurd fairy tale to her sleepy sultan, as you, sir, now seek to impose upon me!”