"It must be so!" said the queen in a voice choked with tears.
"And you, Ernest?" said the king, turning to the crown prince, "have you anything to suggest?"
"No!" said the crown prince with a sigh, as he lifted his little dog on to his knees and stroked its head.
"And you two?" asked the king.
"No!" replied Princess Frederika, as she proudly raised her head, and "No" sobbed her younger sister.
"Well, then, the thing is decided!" exclaimed the king quite cheerfully. "I have commanded the concentration of the army in Göttingen," he added, turning to Meding, "by my generals' advice, that they may march thence to the south. I shall start at two o'clock. I beg you, my dear Meding to drive to General Brandis and to Count Platen; request them to be ready for the journey, and tell them to meet me at the railway station at two tonight. I must ask you also to make your preparations and to accompany me; I shall need you. You will have but little time!" he added considerately.
"Oh! fully enough, your majesty," replied Meding.
"I believe," said the king to his son, "that you must yourself give the orders necessary to prevent any of your equipments being forgotten. And now, my dear Meding, give me the answer, that I may sign it."
Meding took a pen from the queen's writing-table, gave it to the king and placed his hand upon the white margin of the paper.
In firm bold characters the king wrote his initials, "G. R."