“You don’t seem to perceive that by my plan he will choose for himself—as far as any monarch can. You would not wish him to choose a shop-girl or a village maiden, I presume? Try to look at it sensibly, Ernestine. There need be no fuss and no difficulty. Your cousin will write to congratulate you on your son’s coming of age, of course. In your answer, you hint that it is your hope that your families may one day be more nearly connected, and you make the same remark to the Hercynian Envoy when he presents the Emperor’s letter. It is merely the expression of a pious wish on your part—doesn’t even bind you if Michael turns rusty when he gets older, but it tides over this crisis, and makes a good impression. Why, in the name of all that is unreasonable, should you hang back?”
“Because—oh, I must tell you—because my cousin Ottilie and I have arranged for years that he is to marry her daughter Lida. There, you know the truth now!”
“And how long has this beautiful arrangement been in force?” Nothing in Cyril’s tone showed that he had suspected its existence for a long time past.
“Since Michael was three years old. We were at Tatarjé at the time—it was before you and I became friends—and we determined to bring them up together as far as possible, that they might really learn to know one another.”
“And so this is the explanation of all the running wild in woods, and so on?” said Cyril indulgently. “Upon my word! it’s a very pretty idea, Ernestine. Pity that it’s so utterly out of the question.”
“Out of the question! Cyril, I have promised Ottilie. It is to be.”
“Oh, indeed, and what becomes of Michael’s youth, and the impossibility of his knowing his own mind, and so on? It seems to me that you are trying to pin him down pretty strictly to one young lady.”
“It is quite in a different way. They have been destined for each other nearly all their lives.” (“Probably quite all, by Princess Ottilie,” interjected Cyril, sotto voce.) “You cannot say that I have entered into the arrangement upon impulse. I was sacrificed in marriage to political considerations, and I determined solemnly that my son’s life should not be spoilt in the same way. You helped to sacrifice me, and that is why I cannot accept your advice about Michael. He shall make his own choice, and fall in love properly with the girl he is to marry.”
“But how are you going to make him fall in love with Princess Lida? It is the last idea that would come into his head after their having been brought up together like brother and sister. More probably he will fall in love with some maid of honour old enough to be his aunt.”
“Cyril, what a coarse thing to say!” Ernestine spoke with chilling disapproval, but it was evident that the shaft had gone home, and Cyril improved his opportunity before she had time to recover herself.