But what have I got? I have reached my aim, and there is nothing for me to accomplish and to struggle for! That is the secret of my melancholy; I have nothing to struggle for. I have reached the acme of my prosperity, and every step I advance is a step down-hill toward the grave, and when the grave closes over me nothing will remain of me, and my name will be forgotten, while the name of the hateful usurper will resound through all ages like a golden harp!
Oh, a little glory, a little immortality on earth; that, Marianne Meier, is what the ambitious heart of the Princess von Eibenberg is longing for; that is the object for which she would willingly sacrifice years of her life. Life is now so boundlessly tedious and empty; it is nothing but a glittering phrase; nothing but a smiling and gorgeous but dull repetition of the same thing! But, hark! What is that?" She suddenly interrupted herself. "It seemed to me as if I heard steps in the small corridor. Yes, I was not mistaken. Somebody is at the door. Oh, it is he, then; it is Gentz."
She rushed toward the door, and opening it hastily, she said, "Is it you, my beloved friend?"
"If you apply this epithet to me, Marianne, yes, it is I," replied Gentz, entering the room.
"And to whom else should I apply it, Frederick?" she asked, reproachfully. "Who but you has got a key to my house and to this door? Who but you is allowed to enter my house and my room at any hour of the day or night?"
"Perhaps Lord Paget, my powerful and fine-looking rival," said Gentz, carelessly, and without the least shade of bitterness, while he sat down on the sofa with evident symptoms of weariness and exhaustion.
"Are you jealous of Lord Paget?" she asked, taking a seat by his side, and placing her hand, sparkling with diamond-rings, on his shoulder. "Remember, my friend, that it was solely in obedience to your advice that I did not reject the attentions of the dear lord and entered into this political liaison."
"I know, I know," said Gentz, deprecatingly; "nor have I come to quarrel with you about such trifles. I have not come as a jealous lover who wishes to upbraid his beloved with the attentions she has shown to other men, but as a poor, desponding man who appears before his friend to pour his lamentations, his despair into her bosom, and to ask her for a little sympathy with his rage and grief."
"My friend, what has occurred?" asked Marianne, in dismay.
"Where have you been during the week, since I have not seen you? You took leave of me in a hurried note, stating that you would set out on an important journey, although you did not tell me whither you were going. Where have you been, Frederick?"
"I was in Olmutz with the emperor and with the ministers," sighed Gentz. "I hoped to promote there the triumph of the good cause and of Germany; I hoped to witness a brilliant victory, and now--"
"And now?" asked Marianne, breathlessly, when Gentz paused.
"Now I have witnessed a disgraceful defeat," groaned Gentz.
Marianne uttered a cry, and her eyes flashed angrily. "He has conquered again?" she asked, in a husky voice.
"He has conquered, and we have been beaten," exclaimed Gentz, in a loud and bitter tone. "The last hope of Germany, nay, of Europe, is gone; the Russians were defeated with us in a terrible battle. The disaster is an irretrievable one, all the armies of Prussia being unable to restore the lost prestige of the coalition! [Footnote:
Gentz's own words.--Vide Gentz's "Correspondence with Johannes von Muller," p. 150.] The Russians have already retreated, and the Emperor Alexander has set out to-night in order to return to his dominions."
"And HE," muttered Marianne, "HE is celebrating another triumph over us! He is marching onward proudly and victoriously, while we are lying, crushed and humiliated, in the dust of degradation. Is it Thy will that it should be so, God in heaven?" she asked, turning her eyes upward with an angry glance. "Hast Thou no thunderbolt for this Titan who is rebelling against the laws of the world? Wilt Thou permit this upstart to render all countries unhappy, and to enslave all nations?"
"Yes, God permits him to do so," exclaimed Gentz, laughing scornfully. "God has destined him to be a scourge to chastise us for our own impotence. We do not succumb owing to his greatness, but owing to our weakness. The Austrian cabinet is responsible for our misfortunes! I have long since perceived the utter lack of ability, the contemptible character, nay, the infamy of this cabinet; in former times I used to denounce our Austrian cabinet to the other cabinets of Europe as the real source of the calamities of our period, and to unveil to them the whole terrible truth. Oh, if they had heeded MY warnings, when I wrote last June, and as late as in the beginning of August, to many prominent men, 'Beware with whom you enter into a coalition! Do not be deceived by an illusory semblance of improvement. They are the same as ever! With them no great undertaking, either in the cabinet or in the field, will succeed; their rejection is the conditio sine qua non of the preservation of Europe. It was all in vain! Finally, I was left alone with my warnings; every one deserted me!" [Footnote: Gentz's "Correspondence," etc., p. 144.]
"I did not desert you, Frederick," said Marianne, reproachfully, "and I compelled Lord Paget, too, to support your views. Thanks to our united efforts, that stupid Count Colloredo, at least, was forced to withdraw from the cabinet."