played and lost. Disgrace for you; for me--well, perhaps there
is a power behind me too strong. The chancellor? Pouf! I have no
fear of him. But you who laugh at the archbishop--"

"He is too old."

"So you say. But he has dreams unknown to us. He has ceased to
act; why? He is waiting for the curtain to rise. Nothing escapes
him; he is letting us go to what end we will, only, if we do not
act at once, to draw us to a sudden halt. Now to this meddling
Englishman: we have offered him a million--five millions for
four. He laughs. He is a millionaire. With characteristic
bombast he declares that money has no charms. For six months,
since his father's death, we have hounded him, in vain. It is
something I can not understand. What is Leopold to these
Englishmen that they risk a princely fortune to secure him his
throne? Friendship? Bah, there is none."

"Not in France nor in Austria. But this man was an Englishman;
they leave legacies of friendship."

The Colonel walked to the window and looked down into the
gardens. He remained there for a time. Von Wallenstein eyed him
curiously. Presently the soldier returned to his seat.

"We are crossing a chasm; a man stands in our way; as we can not
go around him, we, being the stronger, push him aside. Eh?"

"You would not kill--" began the minister.