I was mistaken in
you, too! There is, alas! no more fidelity or constancy on earth!" She
pressed her hand against her aching forehead, and tottered back a few
steps, to sink exhausted on the divan.

Baron von Stein approached, and his face seemed to be radiant with
energy and determination. "No, queen," he said, loudly and firmly--"no;
you were not mistaken in me, and if your majesty hitherto believed me to
be a faithful and reliable man, I am sure you only did me justice.
Fealty does not change, however, and he who has once been found reliable
will be so forever. No; let me repeat once more, your majesty was not
mistaken in me, although I rejected the position offered to me. I
fearlessly and truthfully stated to his majesty the conditions on which
alone I could accept it. The king was unwilling to submit to these
conditions; he was angry at them and reproached me in such a manner as
to leave me no choice but to present him my humble declination, which he
granted immediately. I did not refuse his offer because the situation of
the country frightened me, but because, above all, I had to remain
faithful to myself, and obey the promptings of my conviction. My love,
my fealty, my soul, belong to Prussia and the royal dynasty. I retire
into obscurity, and shall wait for the voice of Prussia and of my king.
When he calls me--when he can profit by services such as I am able
conscientiously to perform--when he permits me to be faithful to myself
and to my principles, that all my energy and faculties may be devoted to
the welfare of my country, I shall gladly be ready to obey his call and
enter upon those services. I would come to him, though from the most
remote regions, and even should death menace me at every step. A true
man does not shrink from danger or death, but from hypocrisy and
falsehood, whether it concerns himself or others; he will not stoop to
the tricks of diplomacy and dally with that which ought to be either
forcibly removed from his path or carefully avoided, but with which he
never ought to enter into compromise or alliance."

"Now I understand you," said the queen, gently and mournfully. "You did
not wish to enter into an alliance with the secret friends of the French
in our suite. The king was unwilling to sacrifice Haugwitz, Beyme, and
Lombard to you, and hence you withdraw from the service. You did right,
and it makes my heart ache to be compelled to admit it. So long as those
three men are here, there w