"Your majesty overwhelms me," I murmured. "Consider, sire, that to be your servant is in itself an honor so great that no other reward is necessary."
"Well, now, M. _de_ Petrovitch----" his majesty emphasized the particle by way of reminding me that I was now a knight of the important Order of Hohenzollern--"let us discuss your next step."
I seized the opportunity to obtain the information I was so anxious to secure.
"I should feel it presumptuous to enter into anything like a discussion with you, sire. If your majesty will be gracious enough to impart your criticism on my proposal?"
Wilhelm II. looked at me as though he found me to be a person of much good sense.
"Your idea, my dear de Petrovitch, as I understand it, is to provoke the British to reprisals by some outrage on the part of the Baltic Fleet during its passage to the Far East.
"Unfortunately, as you must see, the British are determined not to be provoked. Remember what has been done already. You have captured and sunk their ships, in violation of international law; you have sent out volunteer cruisers from the Black Sea in defiance of treaties, and turned back their mail steamers with government stores on board.
"What has been the result? The English Government has complained to yours; the Czar has ordered explanations to be given, and the thing has blown over.
"This time there must be something more than that. There must be something which cannot be explained away. We must if possible place Nicholas II., as well as Great Britain, in a position from which neither can retreat without loss of honor.
"To this end it is necessary that the Baltic Fleet should commit an act of war, and that the Czar should be convinced that the provocation has come from the English side. Do you understand?"
I recalled the hints dropped by Captain Vassileffsky at Revel.
"Your majesty has been informed perhaps that I have caused the officers and men of the Fleet to believe that they will find Japanese torpedo boats lying in wait for them among the English fishing vessels in the North Sea. In consequence, they will be ready to fire without waiting to see if the torpedo boats are really there, especially if the fishermen fail to retire as the Fleet approaches."