"Your excellency," asked Schladen again, "can you tell me where I may
find this man for whom all Prussia is calling?"
"You have not yet told me his name," whispered Baron von Stein. "To find
him it is necessary to know his name."
"His name is on this letter which the Princess von Radziwill requested
me to deliver to him," said Schladen, taking one from his
memorandum-book, and handing it to the patient.
Baron von Stein quickly took it, and, on looking at the superscription,
he muttered, "My name! my name is on the letter!"
"And it is your name that is now on all Prussian lips--that the queen is
calling from afar--that the king--"
"Ah," interrupted Baron von Stein, "the king has insulted me too deeply;
I should almost dishonor myself if I forget it!"
"You will shed the most radiant honor on your name by forgiving it,"
exclaimed M. de Schladen. "The king has commissioned me to tell you that
he hopes in you alone. He will intrust to you the department of the
interior and of finance; he assures you of his most implicit confidence;
he promises never to allude again to what has passed between him and
you. Here, your excellency, is a communication from Minister von
Hardenberg, which will confirm all I have said."
He laid another letter on the table. Baron von Stein took it and looked
at the address with a faint smile. "It is Hardenberg's handwriting," he
said; "he is a genuine courtier, and takes it always for granted that
the king's will is a sacred law for every one.
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