Mike took a sip from his own coffee, while he thought that over. No one in the Fourth of July Party had known that Wettin planned such early elections. Mike knew that for a certainty because he had come here from his own house, which doubled as FoJP headquarters, after spending the first two hours of the morning discussing the political situation with his wife and several other leading figures in the party.
Interesting. Among other things, it indicated that Wilhelm Wettin was going to take the high road, so to speak, rather than engage in maneuvers that might be tactically effective in the short run but would be deleterious in the long run. Perhaps he'd learned something from the whole experience.
'Very well. What do you want from me, then?'
'I want you to step down as leader of your party. I do not want you to run for prime minister again. Let someone else take your place. I want you to stay in the army.'
Mike hesitated. It was so tempting…
But, no. He'd be making that same mistake. Undoubtedly the oldest mistake in the political book and probably the most destructive. You always needed to think in the long term. Stabilizing and strengthening the new relationship that Gustav Adolf was seeking with him was more important than gaining a temporary advantage in negotiations.
'Ask for something else, Gustav. That one's a freebie. Ah, 'freebie' means-'
'I know what it means.' The emperor cocked his head quizzically. 'But I'm not sure I understand the term in this context.'
'I was not planning to run for prime minister anyway. I made that decision before I even got here. Since I arrived, I've spent several hours discussing it with my wife and several other close political associates. We're all agreed it would be best if I didn't run again.'
Clearly, the emperor had not anticipated that answer. He took a moment to finish his coffee.
'I am surprised,' he said, after setting down the cup. 'You could win, you know. Quite easily, I think. Your popularity is at an all-time high in the nation.' He chuckled. 'It's that 'Prince of Germany' business.'
Mike shrugged. 'Yes, I know-but that's also the problem. I've become too…what's the word? 'Princely,' I guess. I make too many people nervous, on the one hand. And on the other-which I think may be worse-I make too many other people too ambitious.'
' 'Too ambitious'? What do you mean?'
He gave Gustav Adolf a level stare. 'You know perfectly damn well what I mean. A prime minister had a clearly delineated position within the law. Powerful, but limited. A prince…has no clear limits. He might be capable of anything. What produces fear in some quarters can produce delusions of grandeur in another. Well, not that, exactly. I'd have to be the one with delusions of grandeur, and while I have my faults, that's just not one of them. But some of my supporters would get too…enthusiastic, let's say.'
Neither one of them said anything for perhaps half a minute. Then Gustav Adolf sighed softly and slumped a bit in his chair.
'Thank you for that, Michael. Yes, that is exactly where my fears lay.' He took a slow, deep breath and let it out. 'Who would you run then?'
'We haven't decided yet. Either Strigel or Piazza. But since Ed isn't here yet, we can't make any final decision.'
The emperor smiled a bit crookedly. 'My own preference would be your wife, actually. But I suppose that's impractical.'
Mike's smile was not crooked at all. 'Leaving aside the fact that the Germanies are not ready for a Jewess as prime minister, Becky would have a fit if anyone proposed it. She doesn't like being in the limelight.'
He finished his own coffee. 'And it wouldn't be a good idea anyway-although I agree with you that she'd be superb in the office. The problem is that prince business again. Too many people-both those overly fearful as well as those overly rambunctious-would assume that she was simply my surrogate.'
He shook his head. 'No, it's got to be either Matthias or Ed.'
'Of the two, my own recommendation would be Piazza.'
'Privately, I agree. I'm curious though, Gustav. What's your reasoning?'
'Two factors are critical, I think. The first is that I believe the nation would find it a bit reassuring to have an up-timer in the position of prime minister. In a peculiar sort of way, you provide the same sort of…call it 'distance,' that a royal family provides. You came from so far away that people think-not entirely foolishly, either-that you are a bit removed from the petty factionalism of everyday politics.'
Mike thought about it. 'There's possibly some truth to that. I agree that people tend to react to us that way. At least a bit. And your second reason?'
'Strigel is from Magdeburg province, Piazza from Thuringia-Franconia. The second is the one that more closely reflects the nation as a whole. I think he'd bring a wider experience to the position than Strigel would. Between the two of us, I also think he's more capable. But that speaks more to Piazza's strengths than to any real weakness on Strigel's part. I'd certainly be comfortable enough with Strigel as prime minister.'
Mike's private assessment was the same, but he saw no purpose in stating it aloud.
'To go back to the beginning, Gustav, ask me for something else.'
'A compromise, then. Something-it has to be of real substance, Michael-that your party will be willing to cede to the Crown Loyalists. Or whoever winds up being your principal opponent in the election. I suspect the Crown Loyalists are on the verge of collapse as a single and unitary party.'
'They were never really that to begin with. Yes, I think you're right. I think Amalie Elisabeth will now be the most influential figure in a new conservative movement. She won't run for prime minister herself, of course. First, because she's not about to relinquish her title; and second, because she's a woman. The nation wouldn't be much more willing to accept a gentile female prime minister than a Jewess, I think. Wilhelm will probably run again, more or less on her behalf.'
He considered the emperor's request. Not for long, though. This didn't really come as a big surprise.
'I am not willing to compromise on the citizenship issue, Gustav. I'd rather lose the election than retreat from our basic principles there. I would be willing, though-and I believe I can persuade the FoJP to agree-to compromise on the question of the established church.'
'The nature of the compromise being…?'
'Each province can decide for itself whether it wants an established church. But I would insist that the legal options would have to include complete separation of church and state. Without that, the Committees of Correspondence would dig in their heels.'
Gustav picked up the pot. 'More coffee?'
'Please.' Mike extended his cup.
They used the brief time needed to prepare the beverages to ponder the matter silently. Or rather, the emperor did.
After he took his first sip, he set down the cup and said: 'Agreed. With your permission, I will privately let the key parties on the other side know where you are prepared to compromise, and where you are not.'
Mike had lifted his cup to his lips but paused just before taking a sip. 'Satisfy my own curiosity, if you would. Who are these 'key parties,' as you see it?'
'Wilhelm and the landgravine, of course. Also Duke George of Brunswick. Just because he's in the siege lines around Poznan doesn't mean he's not a central figure in the nation's political life. No one of any importance in Brunswick will do anything without George's approval.'
'Who else?'
The emperor named half a dozen prominent figures. All of them were in what could be called the moderate wing of the Crown Loyalist party-and not one of them had come to Berlin in response to Oxenstierna's summons.
'Finally…' Gustav Adolf hesitated. 'I think also Ernst Wettin.'
Mike's eyebrows raised. 'He considers himself an administrator, you know. Not a politician.'
The emperor chuckled. 'Yes, I know. It is time he expanded his horizons, I think.'
The next two hours went smoothly, almost effortlessly. By the end, Gustav Adolf assured Mike that he would rescind his disqualification of the Crown Loyalist MPs in a week or so.
That done, Mike stood up. 'And now that we've agreed I won't run again for the prime minister's post and I'll stay in the army, what do you want me to do?'
