"Wagner would not feel like it, I know him: under such circumstances he does not know at all how to dominate, but he grows listless and loses his good humour."
"That mustn't be!" I exclaimed. "It is absolutely necessary to think of something!"
"Ah yes! Do help us out of it if possible, but do not count upon me, I feel utterly incapable of an idea that would be in the least amusing."
I saw Servais in the distance with Richter, they were by the edge of the lake, under the little landing shed, and were throwing bits of wood into the water, to induce Russ and Cos to take their bath.
"I believe a light is dawning in my mind," said I to Cosima. "Wait for me where you are." And I ran down to join the two young men at the edge of the lake.
"My friends," I said to them, "in the face of a delicate situation do you feel the moral force to do something unusual, grand, heroic?"
"Not at all, not at all," replied Servais. "I don't feel equal to anything of the kind."
"That is something like! Now you see, Servais, you can't get out of it. We must improvise a first class charade for this evening."
"A charade! Before Wagner, we two alone?"
"But we shall be absurd! We shall be speechless, like idiots."
"On the other hand the presence of the Master will inspire us. Moreover, we have had experience at your house in Munich, and it is very certain that only we two (you especially) have shown any talent of this kind."
"It is foolish, impossible, abominable," groaned Servais, in the depths of dismay. "I would rather throw myself into the lake."
"It is not a drama that they want of us, but a farce.. .. Oh, come, they will not be critical, and perhaps we shall have the glory of amusing the Master."
He raised his head abruptly, tucking his pale yellow locks behind his ears:
"Very well, so be it. Let us play a charade!"
"Ah, good! We must have everything arranged before supper. Let me tell the good news to Madam Cosima, and then we must get to work!"
"I see that you have thought of something," said Cosima, when I returned to her.
"A charade? Splendid! I do not know exactly what that is, but I am sure that it is something good."
"As to that, you must risk the pillage of your wardrobe."
"I risk it. They shall open the cupboards and the drawers for you. Take anything you like, except, perhaps, my India shawl, which I cherish very much.... But you must tell me exactly what you are going to do, so I can explain it all to Wagner; otherwise he would torture his mind in the effort to comprehend.... I am sure that he hasn't the slightest idea what a charade may be!"