The king listened with a gloomy look.
"Nothing can be altered now," he said, "the situation must be struggled with as it now is. This night I shall join the army with Ernest; I shall assemble it in the south of the kingdom, that we may reach the southern troops as soon as possible."
"And we--where shall we go?" cried the queen anxiously.
The king took her head between his two hands, and impressed a kiss upon her brow, then he said, with extreme mildness and gentleness, but with equal determination:
"You and the princesses must remain here."
"Here?" cried the queen, taking a step backwards in her extreme surprise, whilst she gazed with frightened eyes upon her husband--"here? during the enemy's occupation! Impossible, you cannot intend it."
"I do intend it," said the king, "and you, my angel-queen, will be of my opinion when you think over it quietly, of that I am convinced."
The queen looked at him inquiringly, but slightly shook her head.
"I desire," continued the king, "to spare my country all the horrors of war, and to preserve my army from being overpowered in a useless struggle, therefore I must lead them to join the South German army, and thus take a part in the great conflict. From the foreign occupation, with its humiliations, its pain, and its sorrows, I cannot shield my subjects and the families of my country. They must see the soldiers of the enemy in their homes, they must admit them to their houses, whilst their own sons oppose them in the field. As I, with my son, share the fate of the army, so must you, the queen, with our daughters, share the fate of the country; that is our royal duty; no family in Hanover must say that the family of the king acted differently to what was required of the subjects; we are united to our country by bonds which have endured a thousand years, we are flesh of its flesh, and blood of its blood; could you permit it to be said, 'the queen sat still in safety, whilst heavy times oppressed her country?'"
He stretched out his hand to feel for his wife, whilst his head turned towards the side on which he heard the slight rustling of her dress.