"Ducwitz, your Highness?" cried the chancellor, chilled.
"Immediately!"
"Father!"
"Must I give an order twice?"
"Your Highness, if you call Ducwitz I shall surrender my portfolio to you." The chancellor spoke without anger, quietly but firmly.
"Do so. There are others to take up your work." The duke, for the moment, had thrown reason to the winds. Revenge, the clamor of revenge, was all the voice he heard.
The chancellor bowed, turned to leave the room, when Hildegarde flew to the duke's side and snatched at his sleeve.
"Father, you are mad!"
"At least I am master in Ehrenstein. Herbeck, you will have the kindness to summon General Ducwitz."
"Your Highness," replied Herbeck, "I have worked long and faithfully in your service. I can not recollect that I ever asked one personal favor. But I do so now. Do not send for Ducwitz to-night. See him in the morning. This is no time for haste. You will throw the army into Jugendheit, and there will follow a bloody war. For I have to inform you that the prince regent, recognizing the false position he is in, has taken the ram by the horns. His troops are already bivouacked on the other side of the pass. This I learned to-day. He will not strike first; he will wait for you."