I saw Wilhelm II. fidget uneasily, and I knew that my cause was gained. ‘On the other hand,’ I resumed, ‘suppose that you have harboured a suspicion which is unjust. You run the risk of affronting a submissive enemy--of insulting the fallen. And it would be too late to repair the injury to your own prestige; the Paris mockers would never abandon so good a joke.’ The Kaiser frowned and tugged at his moustache. It was evident that he only sought an excuse to yield. ‘Consider, sire, that what is merely a question of politics with you is one of religion with the poor woman you have humiliated to-day. Your end is gained; the Imperial House of China has humbled itself in the dust before the Hohenzollerns. If a religious scruple has caused this public act to be done by proxy, that is a secret known only to a few persons who, for their own sakes, will never dare to reveal it.’ By this time the Kaiser was as anxious to pass the matter over as he had been just before to investigate it. ‘If I consent to take your advice, and dismiss the suspicion I have formed, will you in turn tell me two things?’ ‘I have no doubt I shall, sire.’ ‘Then, why are you in Berlin, and how is it you know so much?’ ‘I am here, sire, in the train of his Imperial Highness, as the confidential agent of the Dowager Empress of China.’ The Kaiser glared at me, biting his lip to repress the amused smile that struggled forth nevertheless. ‘M. V----, you are a wonderful man! I am not sure whether I ought to arrest you or to pardon you freely; however, I will cry quits if you will tell me who this fellow really is?’ ‘He is, of course, sire, the brother of his Imperial Maj----’ Wilhelm II. strode to me, seized me by the shoulders, and thrust me out of the room. VIII THE ABDICATION OF FRANCIS-JOSEPH I am now going to relate the story of what is, perhaps, the most extraordinary mission on which I have ever been employed. It will, I think, come as a surprise to many of the best-informed politicians on the Continent, including the highly placed personages whose schemes I was the means of detecting and defeating. It was during the war between the British and Boers in South Africa, at a period which I do not care to specify more particularly, that I had the honour to receive a request to proceed without loss of time to Petersburg, and wait upon M. Witte. It is chiefly this Minister’s unjust dismissal that has provoked me to make this disclosure. I was particularly gratified at being sent for by the great Russian Minister, because his action was a demonstration of the high confidence reposed in my loyalty. Although I was known to be a Pole by descent, and the favourite and confidant of the German Emperor, who had constantly employed me to combat Russian intrigues, yet M. Witte felt no fear in intrusting me with the secrets of Russian statecraft.