"My dear Alfred," he then said in a gentle voice, "you have just built a house and newly furnished it. The countess is delicate, I am sure of your faithfulness and devotion, but you must think of your family. You would make too great a sacrifice; leave my service and this court,--the court of banishment," he said sadly, "to those who are alone in life, and have only themselves to think of." "Your majesty," cried Count Wedel hastily, interrupting the king, "you will hurt me much if you do not accept my service, if you forbid me the honour of standing beside you in misfortune; I shall not leave you," he added with blunt frankness, "and if you do not allow me to be your chamberlain, at least I will be the courtier of misfortune." A joyful smile passed over the king's face. "Misfortune has its charms," he said, "it teaches us to know our true friends. We will speak more of this hereafter. And now, my dear Captain von Düring," he said, turning towards him, "I have heard of your wonderful march, tell me about it, I wish to hear how you found it possible to wave the banner of Hanover to the very end, after I had been forced to lower it," he added, with a sorrowful sigh. "Your majesty," said Captain von Düring, "I was at Emden with my company, an overwhelming force of the enemy desired me to capitulate, I declared that I would rather be buried beneath the ruins of the town than lay down my arms; they then granted me a free retreat. I withdrew," he continued, "with my company towards Holland. A large number of young men from every district joined me. I procured a number of passports partly by persuasion, partly from a list of pass formularies, I filled them in and distributed them amongst my soldiers. They had to pack up their arms and their uniform and thus they took them with them to the Hague. Here I found your majesty's resident minister, Count George Platen." "An excellent young man!" cried the king. "A true servant of your majesty, full of energy and zeal," said Captain Düring; "I received from him a hearty reception and the warmest support. Here I heard of the battle of Langensalza, and we celebrated the victory with the greatest joy, for we were then convinced that the army had cut its way through to the south." "It ought to have done so!" said the king gloomily. "We considered," proceeded Captain von Düring, "how it was possible for my company to reach the army,--there was but one way, through France--" "Through France!" cried the king. "Yes, your majesty," said Captain von Düring, "it was a risk but I ventured it. We got into the railway train as simple passengers, and happily we all succeeded in avoiding the notice of the French authorities, and in detached parties by the roundabout way of Thionville, Metz, and Karlsruhe, we reached Frankfort. The order, prudence, and punctuality of the soldiers was exemplary." "What a marvellous march!" said the king.