"You," said Viscount Tirrenne after a long thought, "it is very inappropriate. "Viscount Tyrrenne has always been a man of straightforward and upright temperament, so he did not mention the last time William III pretended to be an ordinary man, and only ran to London with a few retinues, and what happened to him, although at that time William III thought that Charles II was also his uncle anyway, and his father, William II, even if he did not accept the king when he was in exile, was at least willing to lend him a loan— This is the amount that Charles II falsely claimed to want to return, but William III probably did not expect that this happy king would never care about another debt.

Although Viscount Tirrenne did not say anything, William III had already heard what he meant, his face was hot in the darkness, his eyes were even more sore, and he wanted to kill himself at the thought of how much his innocence had caused him, to the Orange family, and to the Netherlands—"I am not here to tell you this. ”

"And what do you want to say to me?" asked Viscount Tyrenne.

"You have half of the blood of Orange in your body," said William III in a low voice, "I am willing to give up my present identity, even my life, if you wish, sir, and I will give you Utrecht as long as you nod." ”

Viscount Tyrene sighed: "We are in the church now, otherwise I would have thought that you were possessed by the devil, good sir, I know the efforts you have made in Utrecht, you have managed it very well, I do not think there is any defect, so that your ministers and people will rise up against you and expel you, you look ruddy-faced, strong, and do not look like you are going to see God at any time, why do you hand over Utrecht to me?"

"I want only to give it to one Orange, so to speak," said William III, "and as long as you wish to be a Dutchman, you may at once have half the Netherlands, and four provinces, and all agree that they will make you king if you are willing to renounce your rights and duties as a Frenchman—and I will go wherever I want." ”

"The news is truly shocking," said Viscount Tirrenne, "do you already think that the strength accumulated over the past few years is enough to fight against the king?"

"Add you, and that's enough. "We will not ask for more power, and you can become a vassal of Louis XIV and bow to him." ”

Viscount Tirene smiled, but not out of joy, but out of anger to the extreme: "I used to have a little kinship with you, because I loved my uncle Maurice, and he spoke like my second father, and you are also an Orange, so on many matters my Majesty and I are willing to stand idly by— But perhaps this is a mistake, for you think that we are all stupid, that my king is so stupid as to let a little man who at once betray him, his dignity and morality, for the slightest profit, nay, it should be said that he would be the governor of the Netherlands, and that I, you think I would have such ambition and stupid minds, that the Dutch would be willing to make a Frenchman their king. ”

He turned to William III, who had been sitting side by side on the bench, the old man's eyes shining in the darkness like steel or other metal: "Think of your grandfather, William, who has the same name as you, who saved the Dutch from the tyranny of the Habsburgs, for which he exhausted all his assets, and his two sons were also killed in the war, and he was rebuked for rebellion, and his relatives and friends were implicated. He thought he deserved a throne in return, and of course I thought so, a lot of people thought so, but how did the Dutch repay him?"

"When I read about him, and saw how he died in humiliation in a despicable conspiracy—not to mention that it was done by the Spaniards! Where was the protection he should have received while he was among the Dutch? No one even wanted to give a warning! His son, who was also your father, should have ascended to the throne as crown prince, but even in a ruling position, they were reluctant to give it! And he, the young and talented William III, how and when did he die! The same assassination, but younger than his father, and you, William, the third William, have you had a carefree, pampered life in Holland? They look at you like a thief trying to steal their purse!"

Viscount Tillenne said, already raising his voice unconsciously, he stood up, crossed his hands, crossed his chest, and made a fierce gesture: "Someone like this, William, if you come and tell me that this is a conspiracy, a trap, I would look up to you a little, but if it is true," a smile crossed his lips: " I must be truly amazed that they were able to give up not only a king, but a general, and now their last hope, and God, though they were only Protestants, I would say that they were no different from those Judas merchants, who could be so greedy and cruel!"

When Viscount Tirrenne stood up, William III also stood up: "You will not understand, sir, we are willing to die for the Netherlands, even if we have to shed the last bit of blood." ”

"Do you know what my majesty has said to me?" said Viscount Tirrenne, "sacrifice is a beautiful word, but not a good word, for when one mentions it, it is always accompanied by much sorrow and sorrow, and whatever the sacrifice, if it is not followed by the word 'return,' then the sad will be more sad, and the pain will be more painful, and sometimes it will even make the word too heavy, and no one can afford it—the only thing that can be so heavy is to abandon it." ”

"So," he continued, "all sacrifices must be rewarded, just as Christ Jesus always answered his followers, and only then can the sacrifice be worthwhile." ”

"Isn't such a statement like that of a businessman?" asked William III, "and there should be no reward for sacrificing for the sake of ideas and virtues." ”

"On the contrary," said Viscount Tirrenne, "there is nothing less to be cherished than free—and your grandfather did this, and he turned his back on his king for the Dutch, and did the Dutch thank him? No, did the Dutch thank him when he hired soldiers with his money? No! His tears fell on his son's corpse, did the Dutch thank him? No! As soon as he said that he was going to be king, they were indignant that he had sought ownership of the Netherlands in the first place. ”

"They're already feeling remorse. William III said.

"Remorse with indifference and mockery, I see," said Viscount Tyrrenne contemptuously, "how many concessions have you made to make them ...... You didn't think that it was yours in the first place, and if they hadn't sat idly by and watched the Spaniards kill your grandfather, then legally and morally, you would be the undisputed ruler of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands would have become a unified and complete country, and neither the British, well, nor the French, would have tried to cut a piece of your territory, but the Dutch had given up, and now you, and they, were going to swallow the bitter fruit. ”

William III shook his head, "I came to convince you, but now I'm almost convinced by you." ”

"Whether it's your impulse or a conspiracy, I'm sorry, Your Highness, I'm not going to go any further. Viscount Tyrene lifted his cloak.

"Aren't you afraid that the king's spies will inform Louis XIV of our meeting?" asked William III. The first grab

"Not only them, but when I go back, I will write a letter to tell His Majesty in detail about this matter, and he will laugh heartily when he sees it. Viscount Tirrena said.

"Aren't you afraid? Perhaps Louis XIV would have become suspicious of you, so far away from him, and with the army, the taxes, and the people. ”

"You must have heard of the Prince of Condé," said Viscount Tirrenne, "but you may be half right, and it is quite possible that Your Majesty has written back to me, Mr. Viscount, since the people of Utrecht are so earnest and sincere, you should not refrain too much, but accept it as soon as possible...... Wait a minute. ”

"It's different, Poland doesn't belong to France, but North Holland ......"

"You still don't understand what I mean," said Viscount Tyrene helplessly, "I want to tell you that my venerable Sun King, a man with an incomparably powerful army, country and people, and his heart is as open as the sea, and a king like this will never be suspicious of his courtiers, for he and I know very well that even if I really betray him, he can defeat the Netherlands once, and of course he can defeat the second time." ”

William III opened his mouth and could barely speak.

"So whatever tricks those men may play, forget it," said Viscount Tirrenne, "these means are of no use to your Majesty, William, go back to your Utrecht, and at least hold on to the surname Orange between England and France, and do not let it disappear in the Netherlands altogether." ”

He turned around and was about to leave, but was stopped by William III: "I have one more thing to tell you," he said, standing in the row of benches. It's like something that's been forgotten for a long time: "I guess it's whistleblowing." ”

"It sounds hard to imagine that you were willing to give your life for the Netherlands just now," Viscount Tirene frowned: "What are you going to tell me?"

"It has nothing to do with the Netherlands," said William III, "with the most basic morality of man." ”

"I know what human beings can be when they're at their worst. Viscount Tirrene said, "You can say it, and I'll listen to you." ”

"You know Madame Lavariel. William III said, seeing Viscount Tyrene nodding, he continued: "She bore a child to Louis XIV. ”

"The Duke of Hallepur," said Viscount Tirrenne, "and Madame Lavarière was thus canonized as the Duchess of Brussels." He bowed his head slightly, showing respect: "What does it have to do with them?"

"Some of the Dutch," said William III, "came up with a despicable plan, which was to hire an army to infiltrate Brussels and take away the Duchess and her children." ”

Viscount Tirenne's application became serious: "How many?"

"A thousand people. "William III said that there was an anachronism in his nature, which allowed him to bravely accept exile and death, but also made him unable to accept the use of a young child and a woman to bring the enemy to their knees, and they could fight, from Utrecht to other places, even to North America, and they could hold out for ten, twenty, or a hundred years, but such an act, wherever and when, was extremely shameless, and he was adamantly against it, but he knew that although those people had promised him on the surface, they did it anyway, judging by the flow of money on the books...... He looked at Viscount Tirena and was a little ashamed, but if Viscount Tirena could send his troops in time, it might be too late.

———— wait a minute.

Sorrowful William I

As a young man, William van Orange served as secretary to King Carlos I of Spain and later as acting King Philip II of Spain to govern the provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht. A famous patriotic nobleman in the Netherlands, a political activist in the Dutch Revolution, the first ruler of the Dutch Republic, and the "father of the nation" of the Netherlands. [1] He was called the "Silent Man" when he was shocked and silent when he heard King Philip II of Spain talk about his plan to drive the Protestants out of the Netherlands.

In 1565, he became a core member of the "League of Nobility" that opposed the policies of Spanish rule. In 1566 demonstrations were launched, and the Dutch Revolution broke out. In 1567, after the Governor of Alva suppressed the Revolution, Wilhelm went into exile in Germany. In 1568, he led 30,000 mercenaries into the Netherlands and failed. After that, many mercenary attacks were organized, but they failed. In 1572 the revolution broke out again, and the provinces of Northern Holland elected him governor. In 1577 William came to the south, became the leader of the revolution, and recruited French and German armies to fight against the Spanish army, dividing the north and the south in a chaotic situation. In 1581 the United Provincial Republic was established in the north, and William was elected as the first consul. In 1584, William was assassinated at his home by the Assassin Gérard, sent by Philip II. William was a great statesman with exceptional organizational skills, wit, and patience, but he was not a great general and was bound to lose almost every battle. But he persevered and made a comeback after each failure, eventually succeeding.

The Spanish authorities had long planned a plot to assassinate William. In March 1582, William was shot by a young man hired in Spain, but survived his death. In the two years that followed, there were as many as five assassinations against William. On 10 July 1584, William was buried in Delft after being shot three times by the Spanish Assassin Gérard, who had infiltrated his home. The following year, William's son, Prince Maurice, 18, succeeded to the throne.