“I have told you.”
“But, sire—to conquer Poland, Saxony, and Russia——”
“Do you not think,” interrupted Karl, “that I am capable of executing this design?”
Count Piper was silent in sheer bewilderment; judging from the King’s recent actions he was capable of anything; on the other hand, the conquest proposed was so vast, the means so comparatively small that common sense refused to be convinced even by the genius of this extraordinary young man.
“Well?” said Karl.
The minister fastened on the aspect that was always nearest his heart—how his country would be affected.
“Sweden will never stand the strain!” he exclaimed.
Karl shrugged his shoulders.
“It can be done,” he said.
“Before God, sire, I do not think that it can.”