“The prisoner was consigned to my keeping by your Majesty's Minister of War,” said my father.
“By von Bulow?”
My father bowed.
“Upon whose authority?”
“In your Majesty's name.”
The King frowned.
“What papers did you receive with your prisoner, Colonel Bernhard?” he said.
“None, your Majesty—except a despatch from your Majesty's Minister of War, delivered a day or two before the prisoner arrived at Brühl.”
“How did he come? and where did he come from?”
“He came in a close carriage, your Majesty, attended by two officers who left Brühl the same night and whose names and persons are unknown to me. I do not know where he came from. I only know that they had taken the last relay of horses from Cologne.”