For Sceptre and Crown Volume I Part 41

"I will do my duty," interrupted the king with dignity; "when my soldiers take the field, my place is amongst them. Send mounted orderlies to my adjutant-general, to the chief of the general staff, and to the commandant of the corps of engineers," he said to Lex; "and you, my dear count, hasten and bring back the other ministers as quickly as possible!"

Count Platen and Lex departed.

The king remained alone.

He sat motionless before his table, as if lost in thought. His head sank down deeper and deeper, and occasionally a heavy sigh came from his labouring breast; then he put back his head, and raised his sightless eyes to heaven in silent enquiry.

Both the folding doors were suddenly thrown open, and the groom of the chambers exclaimed:

"Her majesty the queen!"

George V. roused himself, and stood up.

The queen hastily entered the cabinet, and walked up to her husband, who stretched out his hands towards her, and kissed her on the forehead.

Queen Marie was about forty-five years of age, her figure was tall, and still possessed its youthful elasticity, and her movements were extremely graceful. Her face, surrounded by abundant light brown hair, no longer had the fresh rosy colouring and childish features which appeared in her large half-length portrait, taken at the time of her marriage when Crown Princess, which was hanging over the king's writing table; but her pure, expressive, and intelligent face was still beautiful, and her dark grey eyes sparkled with goodness and animation.

But now those eyes were full of care and uneasiness, and there was painful excitement in her voice as she said, looking up at her husband:

"I saw from my window Count Platen come and go hastily, and in this time of anxiety and difficulty I always fear some evil tidings. Is it anything important?" she asked in her strangely beautiful and flexible voice, whilst she looked anxiously at the grave, almost solemn countenance of the king.

George V. replied:

"It would be foolish to say it is nothing; you would soon discover the truth, and a queen will know how to face great perils."

He laid his hand gently on her head.

"Yes, it is important," he said; "this evening we shall be at war with Prussia."

"Oh! my G.o.d!" cried the queen, shuddering, "how is that possible? you had determined to remain neutral!"

"They offer me conditions which I cannot accept, without injuring the honour and dignity of my crown. I must refuse--and then war is declared!" said the king in a gentle voice, as if he wished to make the hard tidings easier to bear.

"Horrible!" exclaimed the queen. "Is no escape possible, can I not perhaps mediate?" she cried, as if seized by a sudden inspiration.

"Queen Augusta will recoil as I do from such a fratricidal war."

"Yes, it is indeed a fratricidal war," said the king, "for in many a family, whilst one brother fights for me, another will be in the Prussian service; but nothing can be done, believe me it is so. I am sure the only thing I can do now is to prevent, as far as possible, bloodshed in my own country. Count Platen believes he can still negotiate."

"Oh! that he had not negotiated so long," cried the queen impetuously, "then we should not have been in this dreadful position, no help on either side; at least we should not have been without Gablenz and his troops. Believe me, my own dear husband," she cried affectionately, "Platen's ridiculous indecision has plunged us all into misfortune."

The king listened with a gloomy look.

"Nothing can be altered now," he said, "the situation must be struggled with as it now is. This night I shall join the army with Ernest; I shall a.s.semble it in the south of the kingdom, that we may reach the southern troops as soon as possible."

"And we--where shall we go?" cried the queen anxiously.

The king took her head between his two hands, and impressed a kiss upon her brow, then he said, with extreme mildness and gentleness, but with equal determination:

"You and the princesses must remain here."

"Here?" cried the queen, taking a step backwards in her extreme surprise, whilst she gazed with frightened eyes upon her husband--"here? during the enemy's occupation! Impossible, you cannot intend it."

"I do intend it," said the king, "and you, my angel-queen, will be of my opinion when you think over it quietly, of that I am convinced."

The queen looked at him inquiringly, but slightly shook her head.

"I desire," continued the king, "to spare my country all the horrors of war, and to preserve my army from being overpowered in a useless struggle, therefore I must lead them to join the South German army, and thus take a part in the great conflict. From the foreign occupation, with its humiliations, its pain, and its sorrows, I cannot shield my subjects and the families of my country. They must see the soldiers of the enemy in their homes, they must admit them to their houses, whilst their own sons oppose them in the field. As I, with my son, share the fate of the army, so must you, the queen, with our daughters, share the fate of the country; that is our royal duty; no family in Hanover must say that the family of the king acted differently to what was required of the subjects; we are united to our country by bonds which have endured a thousand years, we are flesh of its flesh, and blood of its blood; could you permit it to be said, 'the queen sat still in safety, whilst heavy times oppressed her country?'"

He stretched out his hand to feel for his wife, whilst his head turned towards the side on which he heard the slight rustling of her dress.

The queen had folded her hands together; her eyes had been fixed on her husband, and had gradually lost their expression of fear and anguish; now they shone through tears upon the king.

As he ceased speaking she took his outstretched hand, put his arm around her shoulders, and pressed close to him.

"You are right!" she cried, "Oh! as ever you are right! Your great, n.o.ble heart always knows what is good and just. Yes, my king, my husband, I will stay here, separated from you, but united through our country, our love, our duty!"

"I knew that you would be of my opinion," said the king calmly and affectionately. "My queen could not think and feel differently to myself."

And they stood for some time in a silent embrace. The queen wept quietly, and laid her head upon the king's broad breast, and with his hand he gently stroked her luxuriant hair.

The flowers still gave out their perfume, the fountains plashed on, the birds sang in the trees, and all nature breathed happy peace; and over all the sunshine, over all the sweet spring scents and the singing, hung unseen the heavy thunder-cloud and the forked flash which was to destroy all this quiet happiness, all this royal splendour, for ever.

A knock was heard at the door.

The king gently put the queen from him.

"The ministers await your commands," said Lex, as he entered.

"Now," said the king gently to his wife, "leave me to arrange what is needful with the ministers. We will see one another again."

"May G.o.d bless your councils," said the queen fervently.

"These are evil times, dear Lex," said the queen, affectionately, to the privy councillor, who bowed low as she pa.s.sed him; "would that they were safely over!" And she slowly left the king's cabinet.

The ministers entered and seated themselves around the table.

Besides Count Platen, Bacmeister, and General von Brandis, the minister of the household and supreme chamberlain, von Malortie, was present. He was an old gentleman, with short grey hair and a small wrinkled face, who, from his discontented expression, bent figure, tall black necktie, and half b.u.t.toned-up frock-coat, looked more like an invalided government clerk than the witty composer of a book considered as an authority at every court, "The Lord Chamberlain as he should be."

There was besides the minister of equity, Leonhardt, the well-known lawmaker, a plain, slight man, with thin hair and sharply-cut, intelligent features, whose expressive, animated, and penetrating eyes were concealed behind silver spectacles; the minister for education, von Hodenburg, a fair man, who was still young, and who had formerly been diplomatic resident at the Hague; and also the young minister of finance, Dietrichs, who had been named as secretary by Count Platen--a highly-aristocratic minister, and whom the king had appointed, saying, "If he has ability, and if he works, he will some day be minister himself."

All these gentlemen had entered the king's cabinet in deep and solemn silence. When they had taken their places, George V. spoke:

"Gentlemen, the King of Prussia, through the amba.s.sador at my court, has proposed to conclude an alliance with me, now that the German Confederation is at an end. You know what has taken place in Frankfort.

I do not consider the dissolution of the German Confederacy as lawfully accomplished by the declaration of the Prussian amba.s.sador, though, alas! I must acknowledge that the German union is in fact broken. Since the misfortune to Germany is unavoidable, of a war between Austria and Prussia, I desire, as I repeat before you all, to enter into a treaty of neutrality with the King of Prussia. But that is not what his Majesty of Prussia requires of me. Count Platen, I beg you to read aloud Prince Ysenburg's note."

Count Platen slowly read the Prussian ultimatum. When he had ended, the king again spoke:

"I believe, gentlemen, that you are acquainted with the Prussian project of reform on the foundation of which I should have to conclude this alliance?"