Moreover, King George had only held back his answer until the evening in order to secure time for taking measures himself. Orders had been given to the different regiments of the Hanoverian army to mobilize and assemble at Göttingen. The intention of the king was to manœuvre so as to obtain the assistance of the Bavarian army. Towards eleven at night, Prince Ernest had asked permission of Queen Mary to take leave of her and at the same time to present to her his friend Benedict. The real object of the young prince was to get his mother to entrust her hand to the palmist, and to be reassured by him as to the dangers which might encompass the queen. The queen received her son with a kiss, and the Frenchman with a smile. Prince Ernest explained his wish to her. She readily granted his request and held out her hand. Benedict knelt on one knee and respectfully put his lips to the tips of her fingers. "Sir," she said, "in the circumstances in which we are placed, it is not my good- but my ill-fortune that I wish you to tell me." "If you see misfortunes before you, madam, I may be permitted to seek in yourself the powers which Providence has given you to resist them. Let us hope that the resistance will be stronger than the strife." "A woman's hand is feeble, sir, when it has to struggle against that of destiny. "The hand of destiny is brute force, madam; your hand is intelligent force. Look, here is a very long first joint to the thumb." "What does that mean?" asked, the queen. "Will power, Majesty. Your resolution once taken, reason alone can conquer you and make you change--danger, accident, persecution, never." The queen smiled and nodded approvingly. "Also, you can bear to hear the truth, madam. Yes, a great misfortune menaces you." The queen started. Benedict went on quickly. "But, calm yourself, it is neither the death of the king, nor of the prince: the line of life is magnificently marked, on their hands. No, the danger is entirely political. Look at the line of fate: it is broken here, above the line of Mars, which shows from what direction the storm will come; then this line of fate, which might dominate again if it stopped at the circle of the middle finger, that is, at the circle of Saturn, goes on, on the contrary, to the base of the first finger, a sign of ill-fortune." "God tries every one according to the rank he holds. We will endeavour to bear our ill-fortune like Christians if we cannot bear it like kings."