I again observed that the matter was not so simple, as all the material had to be properly collected, sifted, and arranged if it were to be done as it ought to be, and that in the immediate future I should not have the necessary leisure for this purpose. Besides, when I wrote the book I would beg leave to submit the proofs to him sheet by sheet for revision and correction. He agreed, imposing one condition--that I should observe silence respecting his collaboration, “for, of course, that would be to collaborate.” I called his attention to the fact that letters with questions and envelopes with proofs would be opened in the Central Bureau downstairs. “Register them, then; writing ‘Personal’ on the cover, and in that way they will reach me unopened,” he replied. With these words he stood up and gave me his hand, said he had been glad to see me again, hoped I would visit him later when I came to Berlin, and repeated that I was right in what I said respecting my promised pension, which I should receive. He then shook hands with me once more, and I took leave, delighted with his amiability, and determined to do everything possible to please him. In the evening I gave Bucher an account of my interview, and on the following Monday I dined with him at a restaurant in Unter den Linden, when we made all the necessary arrangements for the supply of information to me. He had as little faith as myself in the mythical bookseller, but thought it quite possible that some one had tried to palm off that fiction on the Chief, and imagined that in that case it was probably Keudell who had instigated the intrigue. A day or two later Balan came to my desk, and said: “I congratulate you, Herr Doctor. A pension of 1,200 thalers, and thanks for your services in addition. That is a great deal.” Thanking him for his congratulation, I replied that the amount was payable under an old contract, and that if I had not earned it up to the present I should try to do so in the future. A few hours later I received the order, signed by the Imperial Chancellor; and on my going again to the Ministry next morning to take leave of my colleagues, I found the following letter on my writing-table: “The Imperial Chancellor and Princess Bismarck request the honour of Dr. Busch’s company on Saturday, the 29th of March, at 9 P.M.” Of course I accepted the invitation. It was one of the Chief’s Parliamentary evenings, which I had never yet attended. Next day, at noon, I left Berlin, half sad, half glad. Sad, because I was leaving him in whom all my thoughts were centred, and glad because I had recovered my liberty, and should henceforth no longer pace those floors where intrigue crawls at the feet of the honest and unsuspecting, causing them, by knavish and underhand trickery, to stumble and to fall. CHAPTER IV HERR VON KEUDELL IN THE PRESS AND IN REALITY