He felt himself to be a man whose strength and position were both almost lost, and he was, perhaps, a little indifferent now to what had gone to make his life, but, for the last time, he resolved to sound the mind of the King—on two matters that he, Piper, had much at heart.
“Sire,” he said quietly, “all these princes and potentates come here with one object—to discover your Majesty’s future designs.”
“Yes,” answered Karl, “and you know better than any man that I have disclosed these to no one.”
“I do not seek,” replied the minister, “to endeavor to force your Majesty’s confidence.”
“But you want to know something,” remarked the King, with his sudden, ugly smile.
“Yes.”
“Well?”
Count Piper gave the King a straight look.
“I want to know if your Majesty has any thought of returning to Stockholm,” he said, and he could not keep a certain earnestness from his tone.
“That thought is ever uppermost in your mind,” replied Karl, not unpleasantly.