“And I shall immediately write you a receipt for them with my own hand,” cried the Elector, hastening with youthful speed to his writing table, and grasping paper and pen.  With alacrity he dashed off a few words on the paper, moistened a great wafer, laid paper over it, and, pasting it beneath the writing, pressed his great signet upon it.

“There is the deed,” he said; “take it, Schwarzenberg, and send me the money.”

But the count refused the proffered paper, smilingly waving it off with his hand, while reverentially taking one step backward.

“First the money and then the deed,” he said; “all must be in order, gracious sir, and you shall not acknowledge yourself a debtor ere you have received your money.”

“Oh! how well I feel all at once!” cried the Elector, “and what a free, glad consciousness I have again in no longer feeling myself a poor debtor, but once more knowing that I have money in my pockets.  Now we will give orders for our servants to be paid off; then we will pay the Electoral Prince’s debts, and send him money for his traveling expenses, that he may come home and have no pretext for refusal and delay.”

“Your highness ought to send another chamberlain to persuade the Electoral Prince in a friendly manner to return,” said the count.  “There is, for example, Herr von Marwitz, a peculiarly polished and clever gentleman, and in good standing with the Electress and all favorers of the Swedes, but withal a faithful servant of his honored lord.”

“Yes, Marwitz shall set off for The Hague, and to-day, too,” replied the Elector, with animation.  “Marwitz shall bring back my son to me, and I shall exhort and command him under penalty of my wrath to take no excuses whatever, and to enter into no further explanations.  He shall pay his debts, take my son money for his journey, and say to the Electoral Prince that my accumulated wrath as father and Elector will fall upon and crush him if he does not now obey me.  I will have an obedient and submissive son, with whom my will is law, else it were better that I had no son!  This very day Marwitz shall set out.”

“I beg the favor of your Electoral Highness to defer the departure of the Chamberlain von Marwitz until to-morrow,” pleaded the count.  “Your grace will without doubt desire to write a few words to your son; the Electress, too, will doubtless avail herself of the opportunity to communicate with her son and dear relatives; and I also have a few dispatches to prepare for our envoys there.  Most humbly, therefore, I beseech you that Marwitz may not commence his journey to The Hague until to-morrow or the day after.”

“To-morrow then be it, Adam, to-morrow he must start.”

“Then your highness and the Electress must prepare your letters to-day, and—­candidly speaking, I had a great request to make of your Electoral Grace.  I have arranged a little hunting party for to-day, and would esteem it an especial favor if your highness would do me the honor to take part in it.”