“As if laws could not be altered!” cried Count Adam.  “As if the Emperor were not here to give new laws!  My son, let us speak openly and candidly to one another, and answer me one question:  On what terms are you with the Princess Charlotte Louise?”

The young man started, and for a moment a deep blush suffused his cheeks.  “I do not understand you, father.  What do you mean?  On what terms should I be with the Princess?”

“John Adolphus, you understand me well enough, and know what I mean,” returned Count Schwarzenberg smiling.  “When I ask on what terms you are with the Princess Charlotte Louise, I mean by that, what progress have you made in her good graces?”

An almost imperceptible smile flitted across the young count’s visage.  “Well,” he said, “the ladies of the Electoral house have ever been most condescending in their manner to me, Princess Charlotte Louise no less than her mother and sister, and, as I have done nothing to forfeit their favor, I hope that upon my return they will receive me as graciously as they dismissed me before I left home.”

“My son,” said Count Adam seriously, “you answer me evasively, and that is not well.  We two are made to support each other, and to go hand in hand in the difficult path which lies before us.  For you know as well as I do that our safety is imperiled when the Electoral Prince again makes his appearance at court, and we will henceforth find many stones of stumbling in our way.”

“But my wise and puissant father will remove all such obstructions,” cried the son, with a merry laugh.  “Let the Electoral Prince throw ever so many stones in our way, we can pick them up, and your honor will find opportunity to hurl them back at the little Prince, the last scion of his house.”

“I shall find opportunity, and, by heavens, I will make use of it.”

“And if my gracious father can or will make use of me in picking up the stones, or maybe in throwing them, I am most heartily at his service.  Your honor needs only to direct.  I shall aim well, and hope to hit the mark.”

“My son, verily, you are a great diplomatist,” cried Schwarzenberg, “and many an one who esteems himself an old adept in this art might take lessons from you.  How cleverly you managed to evade the question I put to you, and lead the conversation into a different channel!  But I must recur to my question, and, since you will throw stones subject to my direction, then, my son, I tell you that your relations with the Princess Charlotte Louise may become a most effective missile against the Electoral Prince, which, if you aim it accurately, may inflict a deadly blow upon the Prince.  Therefore, my fine son, answer my question honestly:  On what terms are you with the Princess Charlotte Louise?”

A cloud of displeasure flitted across the young count’s lofty and open brow, and his cheerful countenance became overshadowed with gloom.

“My God!” he said, “what on earth has the Princess to do with politics?”