"Good evening, Lady Henrietta."
"Good evening, Your Highness."
"You asked for an interview, my lady, here I am. How may I be of service?"
"Your Highness, you know full well, that you have absolutely no intention of being of service to me! However, I do have a favour to ask of you."
"Ask away, madam, and believe me, if I can grant you this favour, then I will do so."
"Your Highness, I have been shut into these two rooms now for above two days. Sir, I am going insane with this confinement, utterly unnecessary as it is! I am dying of tedium! I was used to be in the habit of taking exercise everyday. It is far too much to hope that you would allow me to take my exercise on horseback, but, sir, I beg you, permit me to take one hour of exercise, on foot, each day. I will gladly give you my word of honour that I will not attempt to escape during these periods."
"Ah, madam, I am sorely tempted to grant you your request, but I must remind your ladyship that you are in the midst of a foreign army. For your own safety, I most deeply regret, that I cannot, no, will not, permit you to leave thee quarters."
"Sir! I protest, 'tis vastly inhumane in you!"
"Madam, I cannot begin to tell you how deeply that label wounds me; I have ever prided myself on being a man of enlightenment, but I repeat, it is impossible."
"But, Your Highness, I promise that I will not attempt an escape. It would be quite impossible, you have taken away my coach and coachman, I have no riding habit with me, and it is impossible that I should even essay such a trial while afoot. Pray, sir, have pity on one who is trapped, without even company to share my misery!"
"Very well, madam. I am prepared to make certain concessions. It is by my orders that you are permitted to see any other person but your maid. How if I were to relax that order?"
"How do you mean, sir?"
"Let us suppose, for a moment, that I was prepared to allow an officer to bear you company for a space of some few hours each day? It would of course much depend on his duties, but I think it could be managed."
"I would far rather take exercise, sir, but I admit that company would be vastly pleasureable. But, I have no acquaintance amongst your officers that could bear me company."
"That, madam, is not strictly true; you have met Hauptmann von Smallhausen."
"Your Highness' secretary? Sir, do you intend to insult me further?"
"Madam, you misunderstand. Von Smallhausen is my Military Secretary, a far different creature than a family man of business. Von Smallhausen has been in my service, although not in a military capacity, for a space of above three years. He is no mere soldier, he has an acute mind, and is well read in the classics, and has a wide experience of life outside the army. Additionally, he is a man of high moral standards and absolute integrity. "
"Very well, Your Highness, I shall attempt to bear his company."
"Good, that is settled then... oh, by the way, do you play chess?"
"Why... yes."
"Good evening, Your Highness."
"You asked for an interview, my lady, here I am. How may I be of service?"
"Your Highness, you know full well, that you have absolutely no intention of being of service to me! However, I do have a favour to ask of you."
"Ask away, madam, and believe me, if I can grant you this favour, then I will do so."
"Your Highness, I have been shut into these two rooms now for above two days. Sir, I am going insane with this confinement, utterly unnecessary as it is! I am dying of tedium! I was used to be in the habit of taking exercise everyday. It is far too much to hope that you would allow me to take my exercise on horseback, but, sir, I beg you, permit me to take one hour of exercise, on foot, each day. I will gladly give you my word of honour that I will not attempt to escape during these periods."
"Ah, madam, I am sorely tempted to grant you your request, but I must remind your ladyship that you are in the midst of a foreign army. For your own safety, I most deeply regret, that I cannot, no, will not, permit you to leave thee quarters."
"Sir! I protest, 'tis vastly inhumane in you!"
"Madam, I cannot begin to tell you how deeply that label wounds me; I have ever prided myself on being a man of enlightenment, but I repeat, it is impossible."
"But, Your Highness, I promise that I will not attempt an escape. It would be quite impossible, you have taken away my coach and coachman, I have no riding habit with me, and it is impossible that I should even essay such a trial while afoot. Pray, sir, have pity on one who is trapped, without even company to share my misery!"
"Very well, madam. I am prepared to make certain concessions. It is by my orders that you are permitted to see any other person but your maid. How if I were to relax that order?"
"How do you mean, sir?"
"Let us suppose, for a moment, that I was prepared to allow an officer to bear you company for a space of some few hours each day? It would of course much depend on his duties, but I think it could be managed."
"I would far rather take exercise, sir, but I admit that company would be vastly pleasureable. But, I have no acquaintance amongst your officers that could bear me company."
"That, madam, is not strictly true; you have met Hauptmann von Smallhausen."
"Your Highness' secretary? Sir, do you intend to insult me further?"
"Madam, you misunderstand. Von Smallhausen is my Military Secretary, a far different creature than a family man of business. Von Smallhausen has been in my service, although not in a military capacity, for a space of above three years. He is no mere soldier, he has an acute mind, and is well read in the classics, and has a wide experience of life outside the army. Additionally, he is a man of high moral standards and absolute integrity. "
"Very well, Your Highness, I shall attempt to bear his company."
"Good, that is settled then... oh, by the way, do you play chess?"
"Why... yes."
1 comments:
Chess, huh? Is this the start of a gambit?
-- Jeff
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