“We have come, Madam, under a sense of the heaviest responsibility to inform you that, in our opinion, his Majesty, King Maximilian is no longer capable of governing. In the interests of the dynasty and of the Kingdom of Franconia it is necessary that his person should be put under restraint, and a regent appointed to exercise the royal authority.”
This fatal declaration, thus formally conveyed in the cold official words of the Chancellor, affected the Princess like the touch of a block of ice. She trembled, and the full gravity of the situation rose before her mind.
It was some little time before she answered—
“Your announcement does not take me by surprise. For some time past I have been reluctantly driven to the same conclusion. Though I regard my nephew with the most tender affection, I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that his conduct has not of late been that of a sane man.”
The two conspirators, who had been plotting with this end in view for so long, exchanged these sentences with a lofty seriousness which seemed born of the crisis. It was as if they were conducting a solemn rehearsal for the benefit of an audience.
It was the Count’s turn to resume.
“Under these circumstances it becomes my duty to summon a secret meeting of the Privy Council of Franconia without delay, to take its instructions in the crisis, and I venture to ask your consent to appear before the Council in person, and acquaint it with your views, to which the utmost weight will naturally be attached by the Councillors.”
The Princess interposed a question.
“You consider it necessary to call the Council together before adopting any measures with regard to the King’s person?”
“Undoubtedly, Madam. In a matter of such terrible gravity I dare not act on my own responsibility. It is not as if there had been any violent outbreak of mania which would justify Dr. Krauss in ordering the immediate restraint of his Majesty.”