The letter--(I have it in my desk
now)--was folded square, sealed with five seals, and signed in the King's
name by the Minister of War; and it was brought, as I well remember, by a
mounted orderly from Cologne.
So a couple of empty rooms were chosen on the second story, just over one
of the State apartments at the end of the east wing; and my father, who was
by no means well pleased with his office, set to work to ransack the
Chateau for furniture.
"Since it is the King's pleasure to make a gaoler of me," said he, "I'll
try to give my poor devil of a prisoner all the comforts I can. Come with
me, my little Gretchen, and let's see what chairs and tables we can find up
in the garrets."
Now I had been longing to explore the top rooms ever since I came to live
at Bruehl--those top rooms under the roof, of which the shutters were always
closed, and the doors always locked, and where not even the housemaids were
admitted oftener than twice a year. So at this welcome invitation I sprang
up, joyfully enough, and ran before my father all the way. But when he
unlocked the first door, and all beyond was dark, and the air that met us
on the threshold had a faint and dead odour, like the atmosphere of a tomb,
I shrank back trembling, and dared not venture in.
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