Count Bismarck bowed in silence. He then said:
"Your majesty, a Hanoverian equerry has just arrived here with a letter from the king. He has brought me a note from Count Platen."
A sorrowful expression came into the king's face.
"What does he write?" he asked.
"The king acknowledges your majesty as the victor in Germany, and is ready to accept such terms of peace as your majesty will grant."
For a long time the king was silent.
"Oh!" he cried, "if I could but help him. Poor George! Could not a curtailed Hanover without military independence be permitted?"
Count Bismarck's eyes looked with icy calmness and complete firmness on the king's excited face.
"Your majesty has decided that the incorporation of Hanover is necessary for the safety and power of Prussia. What good would a sham monarchy, a simple principality do to the Guelphs? But to us, such a hiatus inhabited by a hostile population would be dangerous. Your majesty must remember what mischief the Hanoverians would have done us, had they retained Gablenz, or had the general staff ordered less incomprehensible marches. Such a danger must be rendered impossible for the future!"
"Queen Frederika was the sister of my mother," said the king in a voice that trembled slightly.