Let me then inform you of a secret but completed negotiation in which all the nearest relatives of our house have already taken part, and into the nature of which I now initiate you, too, as my son's friend. My daughter is to become the wife of my nephew, the Prince of Wales; she will therefore be the future Queen of England.
PRINCE (aside).
Zounds! A nice rival this!
QUEEN.
So you see, Prince, the importance of the issue involved! Will you consent to mediate this question—a question of such importance to all Europe—with my husband?
PRINCE.
I? With the King? Mediate? Oh, of course, Your Majesty, with the greatest pleasure! [Aside.] What a detestable errand!
QUEEN.
Very well, then you can begin at once. The King will be here shortly. Introduce yourself to him. Use this favorable moment to draw from him an expression of his opinion concerning the throne of England, and let me know the result at once.