"And King Louis hath shamelessly outraged us by proclaiming his son, the pretended Prince of Wales, as King of Great Britain."
For a moment the company could not grasp the import of this news: it was too monstrous.
"His Christian Majesty hath been foolish before," added William, with grim meaning; "never, I think, as foolish as this."
"By God!" cried M. Heinsius, "there will be no further difficulty with England now!"
The silence broke into murmurs and exclamations. The King took no notice of them; he was thinking of the meaning of this in Europe. Louis had now broken the Treaty of Ryswyck as he had the Partition Treaties. The result would be instant and inevitable war. Even the peace party in the English Commons could not hang back now...
He turned suddenly to Albemarle.
"Send at once to London that M. Poussin is to leave as quickly as M. Barillon did in '88." He laughed shortly. "This will be the second time I have turned a French Ambassador out of London! And Manchester shall be recalled at once." He rose. "Gentlemen," he said, addressing the eager Dutch and Germans, "this meaneth our third war with France; and this time I think it will be conclusive, and we, not France, be left the vanguard of the world."
CHAPTER XV
THE EVE OF WAR
Service was being held in the Royal Chapel at Hampton Court.