Then followed in his mind bright visions of a lovely dwelling, situated in some distant part of his dominions, with Mercia for its mistress, and himself its secret owner, and constant visitor. How delightful! It should be fitted up like fairyland itself, with every luxury, and every appliance for her comfort. Little children might play about his knees, of which there was poor prospect of ever seeing in his royal palace; for so far, the Empress had proved barren. Then he awoke from his dream to the provoking reality of his true situation. This pleasing reverie created, to some extent, a reaction in his mind. As his temper cooled so did his courage to make this heinous charge against innocent persons: but he supported himself with the reflection that at most the unfortunate men could receive no greater punishment than a term of imprisonment. By the time his carriage reached the prime minister’s residence he had decided what to say, for he had succeeded in inventing an excellent excuse for his visit to the Observatory. He realised that it was necessary to have his statement ready as to the precise nature of the work he had requested his astronomer to prepare for him, which through her neglect had caused the extraordinary scene of which the prince had been an accidental witness. After much cogitation he evolved the feasible explanation that he had requested her to make calculations of each perturbation of the sun’s centre; and also to discover to what extent the additions of meteoric matter to his body would affect solar heat. He desired this information in the interests of all his subjects, but especially in those of agriculturists, and fruit-culturists, whose crops had been ruined by the continuous cold seasons. Under ordinary circumstances the Emperor would have obtained the attendance of any of his ministers without leaving his apartment; in one instant the summons would have reached him, had the minister been there to receive it. Here was the difficulty, however, for delay increased the danger, and allowed the enemy an advantage; accordingly the Emperor chose the less dignified but safer course of calling in person on his minister. While Felicitas was relating his extraordinary account of the conduct of their astronomer and the subsequent treatment he had received from her friends, Stonesack’s countenance was a study to behold. At first he appeared profoundly astonished; this gave way to so many varying emotions that it was impossible to say what was going on in his mind, or guess what opinion he had formed of the affair. However, he listened very gravely to the story, in which the Emperor’s powers of imagination had been considerably called upon. And when the minister was pressed for an answer as to the best method of dealing with the delinquents, he hesitated considerably, coughed; looked very red; blew his nose, and finished by saying he didn’t know.