My statesmen and counsellors would have sent to London an ambassador with sterner qualities.

I preferred not.
Terniloff is the man to gull fools, because he is a fool himself.

He is a fit ambassador for a country which has not the wit to arm itself on land as well as by sea, when it sees a nation, mightier, more cultured, more splendidly led than its own, creeping closer every day." "The English appear to put their whole trust in their navy, your Majesty," Dominey observed tentatively.
The eyes of his companion flashed.

His lips curled contemptuously.
"Fools!" he exclaimed.

"Of what use will their navy be when my sword is once drawn, when I hold the coast towns of Calais and Boulogne, when my cannon command the Straits of Dover! The days of insular nations are passed, passed as surely as the days of England's arrogant supremacy upon the seas." The Kaiser refilled his glass and Dominey's.
"In some months' time, Von Ragastein," he continued, "you will understand why you have been enjoined to become the friend and companion of Terniloff.