Prokop couldn’t understand what it all meant; he read it several times and simply was unable to believe that the Princess meant quite simply … he wanted to run round to see her but was too agitated and bewildered. Was this again some feminine extravagance which was not to be taken literally and which he really didn’t understand? While he was reflecting like this Uncle Charles entered, accompanied by Carson. Both looked so … official and serious that it flashed through Prokop’s head: “They’ve come to say that they’re sending me away to that fortress; the Princess has been plotting, and now here we are!” He looked round for some weapon, in case it should come to force, selected a marble paperweight and sat down, mastering the beating of his heart.
Uncle Rohn looked at Carson, and Carson looked at Rohn with the mute question of who was to begin. Then Uncle Rohn said: “What we’ve come to tell you is … to a certain extent. …” He was beginning as usual hesitatingly, but suddenly he pulled himself together and continued more confidently: “My dear friend, what we have come to tell you is something very important … and discreet. It is not only in your interests that you should do this … but on the contrary. … To put it shortly, it was first of all her idea and … as far as I am concerned, after careful consideration … in any case we must leave her out of it; she is self-willed and passionate. Apart from that, it appears that she’s taken it into her head … in fact from every point of view it would be better to find a suitable way out of the difficulty,” he concluded with relief. “The General Manager will explain the position.”
Carson, as the General Manager, put on his spectacles very seriously. He looked quite disturbingly important and very different from what he had ever been like before. “I consider it an honour,” he began, “to interpret to you the wishes of our highest military circles, who wish you to connect yourself with our army … naturally only with the highest technical service, with duties which are related to your work, and that straight away in the capacity of—so to speak … I mean to say, that it is not a military custom to employ civilian specialists apart from war, but in your case, in consideration of the fact that the present situation approximates very closely to that of war, and with special regard to your exceptional significance, which is enhanced by the present conditions, and … and taking also into consideration your peculiar position or rather, to put it more precisely, your extremely private obligations—”
“What obligations?” Prokop interrupted him hoarsely.
“Well,” stammered Carson, somewhat embarrassed, “I mean … your interests, your relation. …”
“I never spoke to you about any interest,” said Prokop sharply.
“Aha!” said Mr. Carson, as if refreshed by this rudeness, “of course you didn’t; there was no need to. We didn’t flaunt that up at the castle. Of course not. Purely personal considerations, that’s what I mean. Powerful intervention, you understand? Of course you’re a foreigner—but that’s been arranged,” he added quickly. “It’ll be enough if you put in a demand to become a citizen of our State.”
“Aha!”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, only aha!”
“Aha! that’s all, eh? All you have to do is to make a formal demand and … apart from that. … Well, you will understand of course that … that we should demand some guarantee, eh? You will have to earn the right to the honour which is being bestowed on you … for exceptional services, eh? Let’s assume that … that you hand over to the Army Council … you understand, that you hand over.”
There was a dead silence. The Prince looked out of the window and Carson’s eyes disappeared behind the glitter of his glasses. Prokop was deeply uneasy.
“… that you hand over … simply hand over …” gulped Carson, also breathing with difficulty.
“What?”
Carson wrote a large K in the air with his finger. “Nothing further,” he said, relieved. “The next day you’ll get a document nominating you as an extra statum captain in the engineers … stationed in Balttin. Straight away. So.”
“That is to say only a captain to begin with,” said Uncle Charles. “We haven’t ventured any farther. But we have been given a guarantee that if it should suddenly come to a war—”
“Within a year,” cried Carson, “within a year at the latest.”
“—as soon as war breaks out—whenever and with whomever it may be—you will be appointed a general in the engineers. And should—as the result of the war—the form of government be changed you would also be given the title of Excellence and … in short at least a baronetcy to begin with. Even with regard to this … we have been given an assurance … from the highest quarters,” concluded Rohn almost inaudibly.
“And who told you that I should like that?” said Prokop icily.
“But my God!” cried Carson, “who wouldn’t? They’ve promised me the rank of knight; it doesn’t mean anything to me, but it’s
