"Sire, with Magdeburg?"
Napoleon still offered the rose, his face flushing.
"I must point out to your Majesty," he said, "that it is for me to beg, for you to accept, or decline."
It was the Queen's turn to flush.
"There is no rose without a thorn," she said, "but these thorns," she gazed at the rose, "are too sharp for me."
And turning, she left Napoleon with a rose in his hand, his lips pressing themselves together.