received his thanks with approving smiles. After he had dismissed
the secretary of legation, and was alone, the smile faded from his
face, and his countenance was sad and disturbed.

"It has come to this," he said, as he paced his room, with his hands
folded behind his back. "This man, whom I once loved so warmly,
wishes to murder me. Ah! ye proud princes, who imagine yourselves
gods on earth, you are not even safe from a murderer's dagger, and
you are as vulnerable as the commonest beggar. Why does he wish my
death? Were I a fantastic, romantic hero, I might say he hoped to
claim his sweetheart over my dead body! But Amelia is no longer a
person for whom a man would risk his life; she is but a faint and
sad resemblance of the past--her rare beauty is tear-stained and
turned to ashes, but her heart still lives; it is young and warm,
and belongs to Trenck! And shall I dissipate this last illusion?
Must she now learn that he to whom she sacrificed so much is but a
common murderer? No, I will spare her this sorrow! I will not give
Trenck the opportunity to fulfil his work; even his intention shall
remain doubtful. I shall not go to Konigsberg; and if, in his
presumptuous thirst for notoriety or for vengeance, he should enter
Prussia, he shall be cared for--he shall not escape his punishment.
Let him but try to cross my borders--he will find a snare spread, a
cage from which he cannot escape. Yes, so it shall be. But neither
the world nor Trenck shall suspect why this is done. If my brothers
and envious persons hold him up in future as an example of my
hardness of heart, what do I care for their approval, or the praise
of short-sighted men! I do my duty, and am answerable only to God
and myself. Trenck intends to murder me--I must preserve myself for
my people. My mission is not yet accomplished; and if a poisonous
insect crosses my path, I must crush it."