"You
understand perfectly, Baron von Pollnitz, of which fault, amongst
the many that you daily and hourly commit, I speak. You know that it
has pleased you to declare the house, which I have just presented to
Boden, to be yours, and that you have found credulous people who
have lent you money on that representation."
"Will your majesty grant me a favor?" said Minister von Boden,
glancing kindly at Pollnitz, who stood near him crushed and
trembling.
The king consented by bowing silently, and the minister proceeded:
"Your majesty has just made me most rich and happy, and I consider
it my duty, as it is my pleasure, to share both riches and happiness
with my fellow-creatures. Baron von Pollnitz, by the commands of the
late king, executed the plans for the house which your majesty has
so kindly presented to me; he also selected the decorations and
furniture, and this may have led him to believe that the house,
which had been built and furnished according to his taste, might
become his own. I am much indebted to Pollnitz, for a man so plain
and simple as I am would never have been able to make this house so
tasteful and elegant. Permit me, therefore, your majesty, to
liquidate this debt by considering the small mortgage which Baron
von Pollnitz has put upon this house, as my affair.
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