"And now he can betray them," said William. "By Heaven, Highness, do you think we, at this stage of our endeavours, shall trip over an insect like this D'Albeville?"
He finished his sentence with a smile at M. de Hesse. He was himself of a German House, a German Prince and a Grandee of the Holy Empire, and had alway an affection for and a powerful influence over the Landgraves, Electors, and Princes who made up the German confederacy.
- de Hesse responded—
"We are, as ever, ready to do what Your Highness thinketh fit in this juncture."
"Ah!" answered William warmly. "I should do ill to fail with such friends——"
"Should we not," asked M. Bentinck, "consult with some of the English at The Hague?"
"No," said the Stadtholder firmly. "They have none of them any conception of continental affairs, and at present are engaged in disputing over the form of the Declaration, for they seem already to be split into very decided parties."
M. Fagel and M. Dyckfelt both considered it a mistake not to more fully trust the English nobles, but both were aware that the Prince's distrust of that nation (but too well founded on experience) was not to be shaken.
The German Princes and Ministers were willing enough to keep the threads of the coalition as much as possible in their own hands, and none of them could believe that a youth like Lord Shrewsbury and an eccentric rake like Lord Mordaunt could be of use in serious counsels.
The envoy of the Elector of Hanover proceeded to lay before William the plans for the fortifications of the Rhine which the Germans had agreed to defend with troops, replacing those withdrawn by the States, in the same way as M. de Castagnana had engaged to fortify the frontier of Brabant on the side of Flanders.