artments and
galleries.

Those who belonged to the queen's small circle, and who had been
together yesterday, greeted each other with a familiar air. They did
not keep together to-day. It was their duty to mingle with those guests
who were less frequently invited. The king was attired in the uniform
of the hussars and was in a happy mood. During the pauses, he would
walk through the rooms, speaking to this one and that, and would have a
pleasant word for every one. The queen looked as if suffering, and it
was evident that it cost her an effort to keep up.

It was Irma's habit to enter into cheerful conversation with the
singers, who were always seated on a raised platform separated from the
rest of the room. The malicious asserted that she did this, in order to
make a parade of her affability; but Irma simply believed it her duty
to be kind and affable to the artists.

Doctor Gunther was engaged in conversation with the director of the
academy and intendant Schoning. They were discussing designs for
paintings to decorate the new parliament house, which had recently been
completed by the king's orders. The artist regretted that there was no
accepted symbol of the constitution. The conventional antique female
figure holding a sheet of paper, was always cold and unsatisfactory.

"You re-awaken an old thought," replied the intendant. "What we lack is
the myth-creating power and, if you will allow the expression in this
case, the court-directing power. Just as there is a field marshal, so
should there be a court director who--I mean it seriously--should
always have precedence in all affairs of importance, and, at court,
should always represent the constitution. Believe me, the constitution
is not admitted at court. What I mean is, it is not represented and is,
therefore, unknown there. Do you not agree with me, privy councilor
Gunther?"

Gunther, rousing himself from a reverie, answered: "There's no longer
any use in trying to find myths and symbols to represent things which
have been weighed and measured and of which we have distinct
conceptions. It would be just as unsuccessful as an attempt to
represent the goddess of reason."

He spoke in an absent manner, for he was constantly watching Irma. She
was about to return to the company, when he advanced toward her. She
said: "Ah, nowadays everything is according to programme. In olden
times, the king sent for a bard with his harp, and the old man, with
his white beard