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THE GYPSY.
No, your majesty. That sound means that the rumour has just spread among them that the Princess of Basque has been falsely imprisoned in the palace. They are calling for blood.

THE KING.
What! An uprising against me?

THE GYPSY.
Not at all, your majesty. They hold your majesty blameless. They believe that you have been deceived by the false counsel of the Eldest of the Wise Men. It is his blood they are calling for.

THE KING.
( to the Eldest of the Wise Men )

There you have it!
That, as some one has admirably phrased it, is the situation in a nutshell.
What shall we do?

THE WISE MAN.
( stupefied )

But your majesty–!

THE KING
. Your advice–what is it? Come, be quick. Out of your wisdom, born of long study and deep reflection, speak the word that shall set this jangled chaos in order once more.

THE WISE MAN.
Your majesty, I am afraid I do not understand these things.
If you had asked me about the Absolute–

THE KING.
There is no Absolute any more! The Absolute has been missing from this kingdom–and for all I know, from the Universe–since half- past six o’clock this morning. No one regrets its absence more than I. There can be no comfort, no peace, no order, without an Absolute. But we must face the facts. The Absolute is gone, and this kingdom will be without one until I restore it with my own hands. I shall set about doing so immediately. And meanwhile, old man, you had better seek some safe corner where my misguided populace cannot lay hands on you.

THE WISE MAN.
Your majesty–

THE KING.
Go. We have business to attend to.

( The Eldest of the Wise Men goes out.)

And now, you sharp-nosed scoundrel, I want some of your advice! When the roof of the world has fallen in, there are no precedents, wisdom is worthless, and the opinion of one man is as good as that of another,–if not better. So what have you to suggest?

THE GYPSY.
Your majesty, before I make my suggestion, let me confess to you that I had underrated the force of your majesty’s personality. Not until this moment have I understood that you possess the qualities of kingship as well as the title of king.

THE KING.
Well, what of that?

THE GYPSY.
This, your majesty. There is only one man in your kingdom who can cope with this girl whom you call mad. Your servants cannot do it. As I passed by the room where she is imprisoned, I heard the soldier whose eye she blacked talking to her. He was saying that it was a great honour to have had a black eye from her hands, and he was begging her autograph. If she had desired to escape, she could have done so–he is her devoted slave. And the doctor who went to examine her as to her sanity has stayed to talk to her about horse-breaking. That, as you know, is his avocation; and he has found in her a woman who knows more about it than he does. He sits there like a man entranced. They are all putty in her hands.

THE KING.
( impatiently )

Get to the point.

THE GYPSY.
I have said that there is only one man in the kingdom
who can cope with her. And that man is your majesty’s self.