"Sire, one hour ago a courier arrived who was the bearer of important information."
"Whence came he?" said the king, calmly.
"From your majesty's ambassador in Vienna, Count Borche."
"Ah!" said the king, "is the empress, our noble aunt, suffering?"
"The empress is perfectly well, but her husband, the emperor—"
"Well, why do you not continue?" said the king, impatiently.
"Would your majesty not wish some restorative first?" said Fredersdorf; but the king pushed him angrily away.
"I wish your phrase, Pollnitz. What of the Emperor of Austria?"
"Sire, Emperor Charles the Sixth is no more, he died the twentieth of October."
"Truly," said Frederick, leaning back, "it was worth the trouble to make so much to do about such insignificant news. If the emperor is dead, Maria Theresa will be Empress of Germany, that is all. It does not concern us." He stopped and closed his eyes.