Germany and France had been gathering armaments, relations were strained to the breaking point, war might be declared at any moment, the allies were only held from attack by the ominous silence of Russia. Then Ulster had won the Emperor to his side, and an alliance was now in treaty between the Russian and the British Empires which would make the threatened war impossible. It was in the moment of the Chancellor's triumph that Nicholas IV. came to his house an enemy.
"For your own sake," said the Emperor, coldly, "you'd better see that we are not overheard."
Ulster seized this chance of covering his confusion, entered the house, surveyed the empty study and returned, saying again that his household were all at the church. The Emperor had taken one of the garden chairs, his back to the windows, and thoughtfully looked out upon the garden, his long lean fingers tapping a cigarette. By a gesture he told the Chancellor to sit down.
"There is," he began in his purring, sibilant English, "a young Indian prince now resident in England."
The Chancellor had been racking his brain to find the meaning of the Emperor's coldness. His head was lowered in thought, but now he glanced up sideways under his heavy brows.
"Lots of them," said he.
"I speak," said the Emperor, "of the Maharajah of Haidar."
"I remember, sir," answered Ulster, thoughtfully. "He is serving in Her Majesty's Bodyguard."
"Exactly," said the Emperor in a tone which forbade further comment. "This young prince is descended, your Grace, from the ancient royal line of the Moguls. On his elevation to the throne of Haidar, he was recognized by the Moslem as a sacred personage. He demanded of the Indian Government the restoration of the ancient Peacock Throne, which had been taken from his ancestors by the Persians, and later secured by the British from the Persian Treasury. He demanded also the right of a royal salute, claimed to be addressed as a Royal Highness, and asked for certain privileges of maintaining armed forces within his kingdom of Haidar. All these demands were granted."
"Sir," the Chancellor spoke satirically, "these statements are of the profoundest interest."