"Yes," said the king hastily, "she will always remain with her dear children. Yes, and (as the young count once remarked that, if he could live in a splendid house 'under the Linden-trees'[26] with his mother, and if I would go to see them right often, he would have all he desired), I will make him a present of the most magnificent house 'under the Linden-trees' in Berlin, and the young count shall live there, and I will visit him right often in his new home." "That will be splendid," cried the boy clapping his hands. "You are delighted, too, are you not, Mariane?" "Certainly I am," replied his sister, smiling, "and I thank his majesty for the great honor he confers in giving us such grand titles." "I am glad to hear that you are pleased with your title, my dear daughter; but, as names and titles do not sustain life, a sufficient amount will be set apart for your use as pin-money. And when a suitable and agreeable gentleman demands your hand in marriage, you shall have a dowry of two hundred thousand dollars. When this becomes known you will certainly not fail to have a vast number of admirers from which to make your selection. No more thanks, if you please! We will now go to dinner. Count von der Mark, give your mother your arm, I will escort the young countess." "Your majesty," announced the servant, who entered at this moment, "Colonel von Bischofswerder and Privy-Chamberlain von Wöllner have just arrived, and beg to be admitted to your majesty's presence!" "True, indeed," murmured the king, "I had altogether forgotten them. Madame, you will please excuse me for withdrawing from your society. I must not keep these gentlemen waiting, as I directed them to meet me here on important business. When this business is transacted I must however return to Potsdam. Farewell, and await me at breakfast to-morrow morning." CHAPTER X. THE INVOCATION. "You have then really come, my friends," said the king. "You have really determined to attempt to invoke the Invisible?" "God is mighty in the weak," said Wöllner, folding his hands piously; "and we men are merely the vessels into which He pours His anger and His love, and in which He makes Himself manifest. By fasting and prayer I have made myself worthy to commune with spirits." "The longing after the Invisible Fathers throbs in my heart and brain; and, if in the heat of this longing I invoke them, they will lend an ear to my entreaties, and approach to answer the questions of your majesty, their best-beloved son." "Nor have I a doubt on the subject," said Bischofswerder, complacently. "I will entreat the spirit of the grand-kophta with the whole strength of my soul, and with all the means which the holy secret sciences place at my disposal. The hour has come in which will be determined whether the immortal spirit controls the mortal body, compelling it to obey its behests in spite of time and space."