These were the men with whom George had to deal. He was known intimately to each of them, and was hated most heartily by all save the Chancellor. When George entered the Gallery, the king took his seat in a great chair of state on a dais at one end of the room, while his counsellors ranged themselves on either side. I, with a dozen other gentlemen, had been commanded to be present, not as advisers, but as attendants on the king to give dignity to the occasion. George, having been sent to England secretly, had brought no retinue, since it was desired by every one connected with the affair that his presence should attract as little attention as possible and thus avoid alarming London. When George went to Whitehall, he was accompanied only by De Grammont and a gentleman of the count's household. While George knelt before his Majesty, asking leave to speak for the French king, his master, I could not help thinking of the strange contiguity of antagonisms so frequently observed in one's journey through this life, nor could I help wondering what would be the fate of the bold man kneeling before the king if his Majesty could but see through the Abbé's disguise. But I had little time for reflection, since George was not one who allowed matters to drag. On receiving permission to speak, he rose and went to the point at once in badly broken English, which I shall not try to reproduce. "I shall not take up your Majesty's time with idle words," said the Abbé, glancing at a written memorandum which he held in his hand. "My master, King Louis, sends greeting to his royal brother, and hopes that no cause of difference may ever arise to darken the blue sky of peace that now hangs over two kings, potent as are your Majesty and my master, and two nations, happy, rich, and powerful as are the noble realms of France and England. Believing the possession by either monarch of cities or territory within the other's realm to be a constant menace to this much-desired peace and amity, my master, the king of France, sends me, his humble ambassador, with plenary authority, the instrument of which now lies with your Majesty's noble Lord Chancellor, to make offer to your Majesty of the great sum of one hundred thousand pounds for the good city of Dunkirk, which is on territory contiguous to my master's domain." "The great sum of one hundred thousand pounds!" demanded Charles, contemptuously. "Does your master consider one hundred thousand pounds a great sum to pay for so great a city as Dunkirk?" "It is a great sum to pay, your Majesty," returned the Abbé, with meekness in his manner, but boldness in his words, "when it is considered that the king of France might have the city of Dunkirk for the mere taking, did he not love your Majesty." "Might have it for the mere taking, say you?" cried Charles, with a flash of imitation fire. "Odds fish, man! What do you suppose we should be doing while he was taking it?"