Part 11 (1/2)
”I shall silence it!”
”Once, or twice, but afterwards there will come the years of weariness and longing, when, in your despair, you will throw yourself on some one's breast, and even then you will not be happy. I know the world well; such is our lot. The King, however, is fascinating and beautiful, and life with him may become a paradise.”
”But he is inconstant, and I do not understand capricious love. It disgusts me! Such love is not for me!”
”It is the women who are at fault,” responded Countess Reuss, ”if they do not know how to make such relations permanent. It would be useless to bind him with an oath, for the first priest would release him from it. Your best guarantee of stability will lie in your common sense, tact, and beauty. Every woman must know how to keep a husband, or a lover--it is our business.”
Countess Hoym shrugged her shoulders.
”It is a very poor love that one has to keep tied by a string!”
exclaimed she. ”I do not care for such love! But frankness for frankness, dear Countess,” she continued, in a whisper. ”I do not pledge myself. At present, I wish to remain faithful to Hoym, and it is only love that would ever make me unfaithful to him. The moment I love, I shall leave Hoym and go openly to the one I love; and the man who loves me shall be my husband.”
”But the King! the King!”
”Whether he be a king or no, matters not to me,” said Countess Hoym.
”Do you know that the King is married, although he does not live with his wife?”
”He will be obliged to obtain a divorce and marry me,” rejoined Anna.
”I have no wish to play the _role_ of either Esterle, or Konigsmark, or of Teschen.”
Having said this, she rose and walked majestically across the room; Countess Reuss was silent, there was nothing more to be said.
”You will do as you please,” said she, after a while. ”As a good friend, it was my duty to warn you and give you good advice. Let us remain friends, but allow me to tell you this: the position you disdain is not so base and secondary as you imagine. The King will bow to your wishes; you may rule the country, and do much good; you may succour the unfortunate, make the people happy--all this is worth something.”
”My honour is dearer to me than all that,” replied Countess Hoym. ”Let us speak no more on this subject.”
They left the room. The ladies in the drawing-room looked at them curiously, trying to guess the subject of their conversation. Anna's face was crimson, the Countess Reuss was pale, yet both were smiling.
Suddenly the light of torches shone out beneath the window, and, looking out, Furstenberg perceived the King on his way to visit Teschen, but he looked as sad as a man who had been sentenced to suffer some severe penalty.
CHAPTER VI.
Adolf Magnus, Count Hoym, who occupied a position corresponding to that of Secretary to the Treasury, had no friends, either at court or in the country. All hated him, because he imposed taxes on beer. The Saxons resisted the King as much as they could; and the King, who never had sufficient money to meet his enormous expenses, was enraged at their resistance. It was the n.o.bles who made the strongest resistance, and the King was advised to despoil them of all their privileges, and surround himself with foreigners, who would not have any relations either with the n.o.bility or with the ma.s.ses of the people.
Augustus had partially followed this advice, and the majority of his secretaries and favourites were taken from foreign lands. Italians, Frenchmen, and Germans from other provinces occupied all the most important positions in the state. Hoym, being a very able man in finding new sources of income for the King, enjoyed great favour with His Majesty; for Augustus required millions, for Poland, for the army, for entertainments, and for his favourites. Hoym, however, had no great confidence in the King's favour; the fate of Beichling and several others had rendered him distrustful, and he intended, as soon as he had grown rich, to seize the first opportunity to escape from Saxony with his head and his money.
Except Beichling, who was at that time imprisoned at Konigstein, Hoym did not possess a single friend. Marshal Plug hated him; Furstenberg could not bear him; the others disliked him.
When, after the wager had been laid, Hoym was commanded to bring his wife and present her at court, no one pitied him; on the contrary, all laughed at his distress.
The day following the ball, Hoym was obliged to bring the King his report. The new tax levied on liquors had met with resistance. In the province of Luzyce, in particular, the n.o.bles openly rebelled against it. The King could not bear the slightest resistance to his will. When the report was ended, Augustus the Strong turned to Hoym, and, frowning angrily, said,--
”Go to-day; go immediately, arrest those who are at the head of this opposition, and compel the others to obey my will!”
His presence in Luzyce not being in the least necessary, Hoym tried to persuade the King to send some one else, and allow him to remain in Dresden, where he had affairs of greater importance to attend to.
”There is nothing more important,” replied Augustus, ”than breaking the power and quelling the resistance of those arrogant n.o.bles. Take a squadron of Dragoons with you, and depart instantly. Should they dare to a.s.semble, scatter them. Tell them not to follow the example of the Polish n.o.bles, for I will not suffer anything of that kind from my own subjects. In two hours you should be on the road to Budzisyn.”