Get out!
[_Exit_ SECRETARY.
PRIME MINISTER
It is the report of your Majesty's interview with the Ambassador.
KING
[_Glancing at the paper and speaking in quick, excited tones._
My message has been altered. It was conciliatory. It is a challenge now.
Who did this?
PRIME MINISTER
Your Majesty sees the culprit before you.
KING
Are you trying to make war?
PRIME MINISTER
I am trying, your Majesty, to save the country from the results of your
Majesty's indiscretion in calling the Ambassador to your palace without
consulting your Ministers. If we do not strike now we lose our prestige
as a great nation, our national honor is dragged in the dust. We have to
fight. We cannot afford to back down.
KING
[_Striding across the room, agitatedly._
But this is unholy, barbaric--this deliberate concoction of a great,
terrible war. I saw clearly this evening as I was talking with the
Ambassador how utterly without inner necessity this war-scare is. It is
a made thing from beginning to end, and I refuse absolutely to sanction
it.
CHIEF OF STAFF
[_Deliberately.
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