"You would like nothing better than war."
"Unless it is peace."
"Where is the king?"
The carter smiled. "He is hunting, they say, with the crown prince of Bavaria."
"But you, why have you come dressed like this?"
"That is a little secret which I am not at liberty to disclose."
"But, great God, what's to be done?"
"Lie," urbanely.
"What good will lies do?"
"They will suspend the catastrophe till we are ready to meet it. The marriage is not to take place till spring. That will give us plenty of time. After the coronation his majesty may be brought to reason. This marriage must not fall through now. The grand duke will not care to become the laughing-stock of Europe. The prince's advice is for you to go about your affairs as usual. Only one man must be taken into your confidence, and that man is Herbeck. If any one can straighten out his end of the tangle it is he. He is a big man, of fertile invention; he will understand. If this thing falls through his honors will fall with it. He will work toward peace, though from what I have learned the duke would not shun war."