“Yes, and I will give you a proof of it at once! Sir, what do you ask for your good advice?”
“Bravo, bravo!” cried Rietz. “Well sung, my prima donna! Now we shall understand each other; and with your permission we will proceed to talk seriously. Madame, will you form an offensive and defensive alliance with me? Do not reply yet! I have no desire whatever that you should buy the cat in the bag; first hear what I have to say, and then make up your mind. We are now at the beginning of a new era; and to most men the future is as a book written in mysterious and illegible characters. But I think I can decipher it, and I will tell you what it contains. I read in this book that Prussia is now governed by a king who can do anything but govern himself, and who is like soft wax in the hands of those who know how to manage him.”
“How dare you speak so disrespectfully of your king?” cried Wilhelmine.
“Madame,” said Rietz, shrugging his shoulders, “give yourself no trouble! To his valet and to his mistress—pardon me for this word, my queen—the greatest king is but an ordinary man; and when we two are alone, we need stand on no ceremony. The king, I say, will be ruled over. And the only question is, by whom? The question is, shall the valet and the mistress rule over the happy and prosperous kingdom of Prussia, or shall they leave this difficult but remunerative business to the Rosicrucians, to the Invisible Fathers, and to their visible sons, Bischofswerder and Wöllner.”
“If they do that,” cried Wilhelmine, with vivacity, “the mistress and the valet will be lost, they will be banished.”
“That is also my opinion,” said Rietz. “These dear Rosicrucians dread our influence. They know that we are both too wise to believe in the hocus pocus, and that it sometimes affords us pleasure to enlighten the king’s mind on the subject of these mysterious fellows and their jugglery. I, for my part, hate these pious hypocrites, these wise fools. It is as impossible for me to live together with them in friendship, as it is for the honest dog and sneaking cat to sojourn harmoniously in one kennel. And I account it one of my greatest pleasures when I can sometimes give them a good blow, and tear out a piece of their sheepskin, in order to show the king that a wolf is disguised in sheep’s clothing.”
“I feel exactly as you do on this subject,” cried Wilhelmine, laughing. “I find it impossible to accept their offers of friendship. They have frequently attempted to make me their ally, but I wish to have nothing to do with the Invisible Fathers of the inner temple; I prefer the visible sons in the outer halls, for we, at least, know what they are!”
“You are a divine woman,” cried the chamberlain, in delight. “If you were not my wife I should certainly fall in love with you. It is fortunate, however, that you are my wife, for lovers are blind, and it behooves us both to keep our eyes open to avoid being caught in the snares which will be laid for us in great plenty by our pious fowlers. ‘They or we;’ this will be the watchword throughout the glorious reign of our king. The Pharisees and Rosicrucians, or—may I pronounce the word, my enchantress?”
“Yes, my friend, pronounce the word!”
“Well, then! The watchword is: ‘The Pharisees and Rosicrucians, or the libertines and mistresses!’ I cast my lot with the latter party, for with them good dinners and brilliant fêtes are the order of the day. With them pleasure reigns, and joy is queen.”