holy Church dare not
lose any of her provinces, and Silesia will be lost if it remains in the
hands of this heretical king; he must be punished for his insolence and
scoffing, for having dared to oppose himself to the Holy Father at Rome.
The injuries which he heaped upon the Queen of Poland must be avenged,
and I will not rest till he is so humbled, so crushed, as to sue for a
shameful peace, even as Henry the Fourth, clad like a peasant, pleaded
to Canoza. But the means, the means to attain this great object."

Hastily and silently he paced the room, his head proudly thrown back,
and a cold, defiant glance directed upward.

"To kill him!" said he suddenly, as if answering the voices which
whispered in his soul; "that would be an imbecile, miserable resort,
and, moreover, we would not obtain our object; ho would not be
humiliated, but a martyr's crown would be added to his laurels. When,
however, ho is completely humbled, when, to this great victory at
Hochkirch, we add new triumphs, when we have taken Silesia and
revenged Saxony, then he might die; then we will seek a sure hand which
understands the dagger and its uses. Until then, silence and caution;
until then this contest must be carried on with every weapon which
wisdom and craft can place in our hands. I think my weapons are good and
sharp, well fitted to give a telling thrust; and yet they are so simple,
so threadbare--a cunning fortune-teller, a love-sick fool, a noble
coquette, and a poor prisoner! these are my only weapons, and with
these I will defeat the man whom his flatterers call the heroic King of
Prussia." He laughed aloud, but it was a ferocious, threatening laugh,
which shocked himself.

"Down, down, ye evil spirits," said he; "do not press forward so boldly
to my lips; they are consecrated now to soft words and tender sighs
alone. Silence, ye demons! creep back into my heart, and there, from
some dark corner, you can hear and see if my great role is well played.
It is time! it is time! I must once more prove my weapons."

He stepped to the glass and looked thoughtfully at his face, examined
his eyes, his lips, to see if they betrayed the dark passions of his
soul; then arranged his dark hair in soft, wavy lines over his brow; he
rang for his servant, put on his Austrian uniform, and buckled on the
sword. The king had been gracious enough to allow the captive officers
in Berlin to wear their swords, only requiring their word of honor that
they w