"You and I both stand high in the list of those to whom great rewards shall come.

His Majesty approves altogether of your reluctance to avail yourself of his permission to wed the Princess Eiderstrom.

'Von Ragastein has decided well,' he declared.

'These are not the days for marriage or giving in marriage.

These, the most momentous days the world has ever known, the days when an empire shall spring into being, the mightiest since the Continents fell into shape and the stars looked down upon this present world.' Those are the words of the All Highest.