But you believe, Ludwig?"
"Carl, you are as innocent of it all as I am or as my brother was. Come
with me to Jugendheit."
"No, Ludwig, this is my country, however unjustly it has treated me."
"Yes, yes. And to think that you and I and the grand duke were comrades
at Heidelberg! But if your Gipsy fails you?"
"Still I shall remain. This will be all I shall have, these clocks. I am
only sixty-eight, yet no one would believe me under eighty. I no longer
gaze into mirrors. I have forgotten how I look. There were letters found
in my desk, all forgeries, I knew, but so cleverly done I could only
deny. I saw that my case was hopeless, so I fled to Paris. I wrote
Herbeck once while there. He believed that I was innocent. I have his
letter yet. He has a great heart, Ludwig, and he has done splendid work
for Ehrenstein."
"He keeps a steady hand on the duke."
"But you, what are you doing in Dreiberg, in this guise?"
Herr Ludwig sat upon the counter and clasped a knee. "Do you care for
fairy-stories?"
"Sometimes."
"Well, once upon a time there lived a king. He was young. He had an
uncle who watched over him and his affairs. They call such uncles prince
regents. This prince regent had an idea regarding the future welfare of
this nephew.
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