And mind you, you are not
to expect to receive any gratitude for your toil.
_M._ But he speaks a kind word now and then, doesn't he?
_Von B.-H._ A kind word? Ha-ha. When I think of all that I have done
for that man, the acts I have defended, the stupidities I have tried
to convert into statesmanship, the tempers I have been the butt of,
the childish insults I have had to tolerate, the theatricalities
I have been compelled to treat as if they were the most glorious
manifestations of Imperial splendour--when I think of all this
and realise that he and I are both still alive, I marvel at such a
spectacle of human endurance.
_M._ I must confess you are not very cheerful or very encouraging.
_Von B.-H._ I did not set out to cheer you up or to encourage you, but
I thought it just as well that someone should tell you the truth.
_M._ Why aren't you glad then at having dropped your burden?
_Von B.-H._ I own I ought to be, but, as you hint, I am not. There
are ways of doing things, and there is a real difference in walking
quietly through a door and being kicked out through it with all
possible violence.
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