Following closely on this conference came a letter from the French Emperor to Persigny for Palmerston’s perusal, in which he strove hard to reconstruct his English alliance, but to which no other reply was given than that England gave France credit for good intentions, and would remain her friend so long as she did not disturb the peace of Europe.[71] Garibaldi’s invasion of the Sicilies had alarmed Austria. French conspirators, it was said, were already busy in Hungary and Russian Poland, and Venetia might be attacked at any moment. In these circumstances the attitude of Prussia was a matter of supreme concern to Austria. The unrest of Poland rendered it inconvenient for Russia to help Austria. Could she hope to induce Prussia to assist her in coercing her mutinous subjects? The meeting of the Emperor of Austria and the Prince Regent of Prussia at Töplitz was watched with intense interest by the Queen, who knew how fatal it would be for Germany if Prussia suffered herself to be entangled in the non-German affairs of Austria. The Austrian Emperor, however, did not ask for Prussian aid in the event of Venetia being attacked by France or Italy, unless, as he hoped, Prussia “after negotiations,” saw in such an attack a common danger. The real danger to Prussia was that Austria, after getting a promise of assistance, might provoke France to attack Italy; but as a matter of fact, the Prince Regent kept clear of all engagements with Austria at this interview, about which so much mystery was raised at the time. According to the private account of it given by the Prince of Prussia to the Prince Consort, it only led to an exchange of ideas, and to certain vague promises on the part of the Emperor Francis Joseph, that he would grant reforms to his provinces.[72] After the fall of the Neapolitan dynasty had been brought about, the French Emperor let it be known that whilst he approved of the creation of a strong Italian kingdom, he would not defend Italy if she attacked Austria. It was, indeed, the knowledge of this fact which enabled Cavour to hold the Italian Revolution in hand, for even Garibaldi was not so reckless as to rush into war against Austria without allies. Still, the Austrians put little faith in Napoleon’s assurances, and on the 25th of October a meeting between the rulers of Austria, Russia, and Prussia was held at Warsaw to discuss the situation.