An hour later the electric wire bore his despatch to Vienna.
The night fell; restless and sleepless the general watched the sun which only at midnight sank for a short time below the horizon, and soon reappeared, mingling the twilight of evening with the morning dawn.
At noon a secretary arrived from Prince Gortschakoff and brought him a sealed letter.
The general hastily broke the seal with its large double eagles, and in the neatest handwriting saw the reply to his despatch.
It ran thus:
"The king cannot trade upon the succession to Brunswick, which will devolve upon himself and his heirs, by right of family inheritance, and the lawful transmission of land. He is however ready to abdicate immediately, provided the government of the kingdom of Hanover is guaranteed to the Crown Prince."
"I expected this," said the general with a sigh.
And sticking the paper into his uniform, he seized his plumed hat, and descended the stairs to the carriage already waiting to convey him to the Emperor Alexander.