William Monk 07 - Weighed in the Balance

revolutions of ’48.” He dipped his spoon into his soup and drank without seeming to taste it. “The tide of nationalism is rising all over Europe, and most especially here. Sooner or later, I think we will be one nation. Sometimes principalities like ours survive independently. Some chance of history, or geography, makes them unique, and the large powers are content to let them be. Usually, they are swallowed up. Friedrich believed we could remain as we are. At least,” he corrected, “that is what we thought. Count Lansdorff is a strong protagonist for that view, and, of course, so is the Queen. She has dedicated her life to serving the royal dynasty. No duty whatsoever has been too hard for her, no sacrifice too great.”
    “Except forgiving Gisela,” Monk said, watching Eugen’s face.
    He saw no humor in it, no understanding of irony.
    “To forgive Gisela would mean to allow her to return,” Eugen answered, finishing his soup and breaking a little bread on his plate. “That is impossible! If you knew Ulrike, you would have understood that from the beginning.”
    A solitary manservant removed the soup plates and brought in roasted venison and boiled vegetables.
    “Why are you prepared to help a foreigner inquire into what can only be a most distressing and unseemly affair?” Monk asked, accepting a generous serving.
    Eugen did not hesitate. A shadow crossed his face, and his china-blue eyes flickered with what might have been amusement.
    “A percipient question, sir. Because I can best serve my country and her interests if I know the truth.”
    Monk had a sudden chill rack him, as if the food he had swallowed had been iced. Eugen might just as well have added “That is not to say I will allow it to be repeated!” The meaning was there, for an instant, in his face.
    “I see,” Monk said slowly. “And what will serve your country? Accidental death? Assassination by a hired man, preferably unknown, or murder by his wife for her own personal motives?”
    Eugen smiled coldly, but there was appreciation in his eyes.
    “That is an opinion, sir, and mine you do not need to know, nor would it be in my interests that you should. Felzburg is dangerous at the moment. Feelings run very high. We stand at the crossroads of half a millennium of history, perhaps even at the end of it. Germany as a nation, rather than a language and a culture, may be at the beginning of hers.”
    Monk waited, not wishing to interrupt when he sensed Eugen had more to say. His host’s eyes were bright, and there was an eagerness in him which he could not mask.
    “Ever since the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire under Napoleon,” Eugen went on, his food now forgotten, “we have been only scores of separate little entities, speaking the same tongue, having the same culture and hoping one day to bring to pass the same dreams, but each in its own way.” He was staring at Monk intently. “Some are liberal, some chaotic, some dictatorial and repressive. Some long for freedom of the press, while both Austria and Prussia, the two greatest powers,believe censorship is as necessary to survival and defense as is an army.”
    Monk felt a faint stirring of memory. News of rebellions all over Europe one spring; men and women at the barricades, troops in the streets, proclamations, petitions, cavalry charging at civilians, shots into the crowd. For a brief spell there had been wild hope. Then despair had closed in as one by one the uprisings had been crushed and a subtler, deeper oppression had returned. But how long ago was it? Was that 1848?
    He kept his eyes on Eugen’s and listened.
    “We had parliaments, briefly,” Eugen went on. “Great nationalists arose with liberal ideas, freedom and equality for the vast mass of people. They too were crushed, or failed through their own ineptitude and inexperience.”
    “Here as well?” Monk asked. He loathed exposing his ignorance, but he had to know.
    Eugen helped them both to an excellent Burgundy.
    “Yes, but it was brief,” he replied. “There was little violence. The king had already granted certain reforms and legislated far better conditions for workers and a measure of freedom for the press.” A flicker of a smile crossed Eugen’s lean face. It looked to Monk like admiration. “I think that was Ulrike’s doing. Some people thought she was against it. She would have an absolute monarchy, if she could. She could rule like your Queen Elizabeth, give orders and chop the