"If your agents
have failed at the job it may be worth my while to look for it."
His quiet acceptance of the situation irritated the minister.
"You entertain me, John Armitage! You speak of that packet as though it
were a pound of tea. Francis and his friends, Winkelried and Rambaud, are
not chasers of fireflies, I would have you know. If the Archduke and his
son are dead, then a few more deaths and Francis would rule the Empire."
John Armitage and Count von Stroebel stared at each other in silence.
"Events! Events!" muttered the old man presently, and he rested one of
his hands upon the despatch box, as though it were a symbol of authority
and power.
"Events!" the young man murmured.
"Events!" repeated Count von Stroebel without humor. "A couple of deaths
and there you see him, on the ground and quite ready. Karl was a genius,
therefore he could not be king. He threw away about five hundred years of
work that had been done for him by other people--and he cajoled you into
sharing his exile. You threw away your life for him! Bah! But you seem
sane enough!"
The prime minister concluded with his rough burr; and Armitage laughed
outright.
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