"But he will not succeed, be assured of that, my Adam, he will not succeed
in it. I only know too well that in you I have a faithful, devoted
servant, in the Electoral Prince a rebellious and refractory son; that
with you all is bound up in my life; with him all in my death!"

"Oh, no, your highness, no, it is impossible that the Electoral Prince
could be so heartless and degenerate as to wish for his father's death.
No, I must take the part of the Electoral Prince against you. You accuse
him falsely, most gracious sir; he surely loves you, and it is only his
ambition and youthful arrogance that sometimes lead him to do what is not
right, and what surely he would not do if he only reflected better. Out of
youthful presumption he undertook, despite your commands to the contrary,
to remain longer at The Hague, and even to send back the Chamberlain von
Schlieben, whom you had dispatched to him with strict orders to bring him
home. And only his stormy, boundless ambition is at fault now in inducing
him to appear here in rather an unbecoming manner. But you must not be
angry with him for it, dear sir, and on that very account have I come to
you to-day, to beg and implore you most earnestly not to admit any
feelings of resentment into your mind this day, which is to restore to you
the Electoral Prince."

"He is coming, then, at last?" cried the Elector, breathing again. "He has
finally had the goodness to heed our oft-repeated commands, and
condescended to return home? But this return is, as I feel, likely enough
to prepare renewed vexation for me, and in your magnanimity you come to me
only to sweeten a little the pill which my son gives me to swallow. Speak
out openly, Adam, and keep back nothing! What is it? What has the
Electoral Prince done?"

"Oh, your highness, I am convinced that he means nothing bad, and has no