Chapter 40

"Messengers have been sent in every direction, to the watering-places, to the sea-side, to the country-houses, to fetch the absent ministers. At the time of the accident none of them were in London. They are expected to-day or to-morrow; they will hold a Council, but they cannot decide anything, for in the last result the King will appoint their new colleague, and the King is in Edinburgh. It is unlikely that His Britannic Majesty will hasten to make a choice in the midst of the cele…