“And now, sir, will you tell me what has taken place since September?”

“Things have moved slowly.  Augustus endeavoured, after his defeat on the Dwina, to make peace with Charles on his own account, and without the knowledge of the diet, but Charles refused to give audience to any of his agents, and would not even see the beautiful Countess of Konigsmark, who is, you know, herself a Swede, and whom Augustus sent, thinking that her blandishments might win over the young king.  It was useless.  Charles maintained the ground that he took up from the first—­namely, that he would treat with the diet, but would have nothing whatever to say to Augustus.  So the diet sent an embassy of four senators.

“Instead of receiving them with every pomp and ceremony, as they expected, the king met them on horseback.  He demanded that, as a first condition, they should dethrone Augustus.  Parties in the diet were pretty equally divided; but the proposal was rejected, for even those most hostile to Augustus resented the proposal that we, a free and unconquered people, should be ordered by a foreign prince to change our king.  So nothing came of it.

“The Swedish army advanced a certain distance into Poland, and there were a great number of skirmishes, but there has been no serious fighting, nor is there much chance of any, until the snow has gone and the country dried up in the spring.  At present, Augustus is quarrelling with the diet, who still set themselves against the importation of more Saxon troops.  But doubtless, before the campaign begins in earnest, he will have settled matters with the senators, and will have his own way in that respect.  There is, however, little chance of the diet agreeing to call out the whole forces of the country, and the next battle will, like the last, be between the Swedes and the Saxons, who may have with them perhaps a few thousand Poles, belonging to the king’s party.”

“You don’t belong to the king’s party, count?”

“No.  I, like the majority of our nobles, have no interest whatever in the war, for we were never consulted before it began.  It is an affair between Saxony and the Swedes.  Let them fight it out.  It would be a bad day for Poland, if Augustus and the Russians were to overcome and despoil Sweden.  We want no addition of territory, for that would be to strengthen our kings against us.  We see the trouble caused by Augustus having Saxony at his command, and if he had other territory, the country would be divided into two parts, one of which would have nothing in common with the other.

“Still less do we wish to see Russia gain territory to the north of us.  Hitherto we have thought but little of the Muscovites, but this war has shown that they can put great armies into the field, and the czar is making them into a nation which may some day be formidable to us.