The Ludwig Conspiracy(73)
“How about Dr. Gudden?” I asked. “If he could be convinced that this opinion of his serves only to prepare for a coup, he might be amenable to reason.”
“I know Bernhard von Gudden,” replied Dr. Loewenfeld, wearily rubbing his temples. “A highly intelligent, ambitious man, and above all a vain one. His expert opinion damning the king will be the pinnacle of his career. He’s making himself the talk of all Europe with it. He’s not about to give that up.”
“I think that Marot is right,” Hermann Kaulbach said, turning to the others. “We ought to get in touch with Dr. Gudden. It’s always worth making an attempt. Maybe he could be bribed.”
“Oh, and what would we bribe him with?” Count Dürckheim snorted angrily and lit himself a second cigar. “The king is no longer solvent. All the same, he goes on building and building. This very night he plans to travel on to Herrenchiemsee, to supervise work on the castle there. This is a never-ending nightmare. Can’t you finally grasp that fact?”
“Gentlemen, gentlemen! A little civilized conduct, if you please!” Old Dr. Loewenfeld had risen from his chair. Clutching his walking stick, he looked sharply at all of us. Once again his eyes blazed with the authority for which I had always admired him.
“There is no point in our shouting at one another,” he said at last. “That is not the way for us to save our king. I therefore suggest the following: Kaulbach and I will try to get in touch with Dr. von Gudden. Perhaps all is not yet lost. Meanwhile you, Count Dürckheim, and the king’s equerry, Hornig, should go on trying to reason with Ludwig and persuade him to appeal to the public.”
“You can forget that idea,” growled Dürckheim. “His Majesty has just ordered me to travel to England and beg the Duke of Westminster for ten million marks. So I’m obliged to leave Ludwig with the intriguers and lickspittles.”
“And you?” Dr. Loewenfeld hopefully asked the equerry.
Richard Hornig hesitated before he answered. “I must disappoint you. The king recently dismissed me from his service. I’m here because I love him, but that love is no longer returned.”
“Good God, Hornig!” cried Dürckheim. “In heaven’s name, what has happened?”
“Well, he gave me an order that I was absolutely unable to carry out.”
“Refusing to obey orders?” The officer frowned. “What kind of order was it, then?”
“I . . . I was to mount a bank robbery in Frankfurt.”
A leaden silence fell.
“Someone pinch me, please, to wake me up,” said Kaulbach at last. “You were asked to rob a bank for the king of Bavaria?”
The equerry nodded. “Those were His Majesty’s orders. If he can’t come by money in any other way, he wants to go on building however he can.”
“A king as bank robber.” Dr. Loewenfeld sighed deeply. “Maybe Ludwig is deranged after all, and the ministers are right.”
“He has his whims and fancies, but he is not deranged,” I said firmly. “Let me try convincing him to go to Munich. He’s already indicated that he’ll be taking me to Herrenchiemsee with him. Once there, I’ll do all I can to bring him to change his mind.”
For a moment I felt all eyes in the room turn to me. It was so quiet that you could hear the maidservants laughing in the garden outside.
“Very well.” Dr. Loewenfeld tapped the floor with his stick. It sounded like fate knocking at the door. “Then it’s decided. Marot goes to Herrenchiemsee with the king; Kaulbach and I will talk to Gudden. And not a word outside this room about today’s conversation. Swear by God and the king.”
We all raised our hands as we swore the oath. The royal physician looked gravely at us all before, at last, he went on. “One thing must be clear to you all, gentlemen: if Ludwig falls, it means the end of the Bavarian monarchy. And then we’ll be ruled by unfeeling bureaucrats. We stand at a turning point in history.”
With these words he opened the door, and the five of us went our separate ways. Had I guessed under what terrible circumstances I would see my fellow conspirators again, I would probably have run as far as I could go, screaming. Or emigrated to America at once. As it was, however, I walked down to the lake, feeling queasy, in the hope of meeting Maria there.
I would very much have liked to talk to her about the king and the ministers’ terrible plans for him, but I didn’t want to put her in such great danger. Anyone who knew about the plot against Ludwig, and our own plans, would be considered a tiresome troublemaker to be eliminated.