The Prince let the spur touch his horse’s side.
“Use to me?” He looked at his gentleman sideways. “What use should they be to me?… Were I M. de Witt I would police the Hague better.”
“You think these malcontents are dangerous, Highness?”
“To the Government, yes.… There is no one so hated as a usurper, Bromley, when the people who gave him his power become tired of him.”
“Does Your Highness think M. de Witt is hated in that fashion?”
“You must see that he is not loved,” answered the Prince.
“It is curious, too,” remarked the Englishman.
“It is,” said William; “for, as I reminded M. Van der Graef but now, M. de Witt is a good man.”
Mr. Bromley glanced quickly at his master. He was not a man of quick perceptions, but the Prince’s mocking intonation could not altogether escape him.
“Remind me,” continued William, “that when next I write to M. de Witt I mention that he had better take precautions——”