And into this--this mercantile scheming you would mingle a question of love--an affair of the heart? HOTHAM. I am here to speak for the hearts of our merchants, hearts that beat warmly for the throne, but still more warmly for their balance-sheets. If our factories have nothing to hope for, then, Prince [_takes his hands_], my protector, my patron, then I am all yours. And you shall see that I have other talents besides those of diplomacy. PRINCE. Talents to awaken a hope on which the bitterest disappointment must follow. HOTHAM. Wait, Prince, wait and trust-- PRINCE. To the counting-room? HOTHAM. Why not? And when, in case the King will not agree to the new treaties, I have devoted myself entirely to your cause, when you under stand that my heart beats high in gratitude to a Prince whom I met by mere chance and who has been my benefactor--when you have finally won the heart and hand of the Princess, then all I shall ask of Your Highness, as a German sovereign at the Diet of Regensburg, in Germany's very heart, is merely your assistance in obtaining from the German Empire some little concession for our harmless, innocent--manufactures. KAMKE (_opens the door to the right_). HOTHAM. Everything else later. For the present--trust me. Over there are the Queen's apartments. Farewell. [_He goes out_.] SCENE VIII PRINCE (_alone_). Land! Land in sight! Something, surely, can be done now! With Hotham at my right hand, I need only some female reinforcement at my left. The moment seems favorable. I will try to draw little Sonnsfeld, the Princess' lady-in-waiting, into the plot. She is waiting in the anteroom. I'll knock. [_He goes softly to the_ PRINCESS' _door and knocks_]. I hear a sound. [_He knocks again_.] The rustle of a gown--it is she. [_He draws back a step and turns_.] First one must take these little outposts and then--to the main battle. [WILHELMINE _comes in_.] PRINCE (_startled_). Ah, it is you--yourself! WILHELMINE. Oh, then it was you, Prince? I have reason to be very angry with you. PRINCE. With me, Your Highness? Why with me? WILHELMINE. As if you did not know the insult you have offered me. PRINCE. Princess, would you drive me mad? I offer _you_ an insult? WILHELMINE. Have you not heard what sort of a person this learned Laharpe of yours really is? PRINCE. Princess, Laharpe is one of the most intelligent of men and possessed of a pretty wit. One might search long among your scholars here in Berlin before finding his equal in cultivation. WILHELMINE. He is a wigmaker from Orleans! PRINCE.