“Are you going to take these terms?” she demanded impetuously.
“Do you see anything else for me to do?” asked the disheartened Prince.
“Nothing a man like you could do,” she replied sharply.
“Madame,” said M. Pfingsten, “there is the Muscovite army.”
“But where is the man to lead it?” asked Aurora, with a cruel glance at Augustus.
M. Pfingsten was encouraged by her presence, which breathed energy and vitality.
“Let your Majesty,” he urged, “tear up that paper—put yourself at the head of the army now in Varsovia and march on Saxony—there is nothing more to lose and everything to be gained.”
“Sir,” said the Countess bitterly, “you discuss expedients only possible with another prince—and with another prince we should not have been brought to this pass.”
Augustus flushed but could find no answer in his own defense.
“What is it that you propose to do?” she added sharply.