"Her Majesty," said the Admiral, "is a great king; she is beautiful, she is adorable, she is royal-hearted. If it were only Her Majesty, we should never have been where we are now; but the King will act with Acton, or Acton with the King, I don't know which, and the d--d one of them will try and hunt with the hounds and run with the hare, while the French are in the very act of hanging him. What did they do at Leghorn?--treated me as the master of a merchantman whose business it was to transport the _brave_ Neapolitan troops, and whose business was then to kick up my heels till the _brave_ Neapolitan general had made up his mind to run away again! The bonds of neutrality were to be drawn tight round the English, who could and would save Naples, and to be stretched in every direction the French, who meant to swallow up Naples as soon as they were ready, should choose; the King or Acton thinking that, by burying its head in the sand, the ostrich would escape being kicked." "But, Nelson," said My Lady, "in common fairness to the King, you must remember that neutrality with the French had to be observed; and the Emperor was most particular upon the point, that there must be nothing in the nature of operations against them, except at Malta, where they had dispossessed His Majesty of part of his dominions." "The Emperor," said the Admiral, with withering contempt: "was there ever such a fool in a Paradise? How is it that none of Her Majesty's wisdom and courage has descended to her brother's son? While he is playing with his precious scruples Naples will go, and the Great Duchy will go, and all the Emperor's fine new Italian dominions will go; and the day will come, mark my words, Emma, when Buonaparte--should he ever get back from Egypt--will enter Vienna in triumph and trample on him in his own palace!" "He is waiting for the Concert."