Manchurian Books

He knows I dare refuse him
nothing, and he calls for wine, wine, wine, spending his days in revelry
and his nights in stupor."
"You astonish me. Why not cudgel the nonsense out of him? Your arm is
strong enough."
"I dare not lay stick on him, and I beg you to breathe nothing of what I
have told you, for he holds us both in his grasp, and he knows it. If I
called for help to put him in a real dungeon, he would blurt out the
whole secret."
"In that case you must even make terms with him. 'Twill be for but a
very short time, and after that we will reform him. He was frightened
enough of my sword in the forest, and I shall make him dance to its
point once this crisis is over."
"I shall do the best I can, Highness. But you must have been on your way
to Ehrenfels. Had you heard aught of what is afoot?"
"Nothing. 'Twas mere chance that Heinrich and I met in the forest, and
he was within a jot of impinging himself upon my sword in his hurry. I
stood in the darkness, while he himself held a light for the better
convenience of any chance marauder who wished to undo him.


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