Had he not opposed it for months? And now, having surrendered
against his better judgment, this gratuitous affront was offered him! It
was damnable. He smote the offending note. He would soon find out
whether it was true or not. Then he flung the thing violently to the
floor. But he realized that this burst of fury would not translate the
muddle, so he stooped and recovered the missive. He laughed, but the
laughter had a grim Homeric sound. War! Nothing less. He was prepared
for it. Twenty thousand troops were now in the valley, and there were
twenty thousand reserves. What Franz Josef of Austria or William of
Prussia said did not amount to the snap of his two fingers. To avenge
himself of the wrongs so long endured of Jugendheit, to wipe out the
score with blood! Did they think that he was in his dotage, to offer an
insult of this magnitude? They should see, aye, that they should! It did
not matter that the news reached him through subterranean channels or by
treachery; there was truth here, and that sufficed.
"Enter!" he cried, as some one knocked on the door.
Herbeck came in, as calm, as imperturbable as ever.
"Your highness sent for me?"
"I did. Why the devil couldn't you have left well enough alone? Read
this!" flinging the note down on his desk.
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