"The marriage must be at once!"
"At once!"
"Yes. This very night, if possible."
"Oh, father, you ask too much. The king would never consent to such a proposal."
"It is he that will propose it."
"And why?"
"Because we shall force him to. It is only thus that all the opposition can be stopped. When it is done, the court will accept it. Until it is done, they will resist it."
"What would you have me do, then, father?"
"Resign the king."
"Resign him!" She turned as pale as a lily, and looked at him in bewilderment.