a broken man? You do not know all, Herbeck, not quite all.
Franz also sought the hand of the Princess Sofia. He, too, loved her,
but I won. Well, his revenge must have been sweet to him."

"But your daughter has been restored to her own."

"Due to your indefatigable efforts alone. Ah, Herbeck, nothing will ever
fill up the gap between, nothing will ever restore the mother." The duke
bowed his head.

Herbeck studied him thoughtfully.

"I love my daughter and she loves me, but I don't know what it is, I
can't explain it," irresolutely.

"What can not your highness explain?"

"Perhaps the gap is too wide, perhaps the separation has been too long."

Herbeck did not press the duke to be more explicit. He opened another
drawer and took forth a long hood envelope, crested and sealed.

"Your Highness, here is a letter from the prince regent of Jugendheit,
formally asking the hand of the Princess Hildegarde for his nephew,
Frederick, who will shortly be crowned. My advice is to accept, to let
bygones be bygones."

"Write the prince that I respectfully decline."

"Do nothing in haste, your Highness. Temporize; say that you desire some
time to think about the matter. You can change your mind at any time. A
reply like this commits you to nothing, whereas your abrupt refusal will
only widen the breach."

"The wider the breach the better."

"No, no, your Highness; the past has disturbed you. We can stand war,
and it is possible that we might win, even against Jugendheit; but war
at this late day would be a colossal blunder. Victory would leave us
where we began thirty years ago. One does not go to war for a cause that
has been practically dead these sixteen years. And an insult to
Jugendheit might precipitate war. It would be far wiser to let me answer
the prince regent, saying that your highness will give the proposal your
thoughtful consideration."

"Have your way, then, but on your head be it if you commit me to
anything."

The duke was about to gather up his documentary evidence, when Herbeck
touched his hand.

"I have an idea," said the chancellor. "A great many letters reach me
from day to day. I have an excellent memory. Who knows but that I might
find the true conspirator, the archplotter? Leave them with me, your
Highness."

"I shall not ask you to be careful with them, Herbeck."

"I shall treasure them as my life."

The duke departed, stirred as he had not been since the restoration of
the princess.