Note 1 — Chapter XV · A Meeting between Bismarck and Ludwig

He wished greatly to meet the young Monarch. Bavaria was, if not a great state, still great enough to weigh very considerably in the scale in the adjustment between North Germany and France which the Prussian statesman foresaw in the near future. It was, however, not an ordinary official conference, with ceremonies and in the presence of witnesses, which he desired, but a confidential tête-a-tête. He wrote to his old friend Prince Hohenlohe. The latter, in his turn, addressed himself to Count Holnstein, who was in close relations with the King, and who had been the latter’s playmate in childhood. He was now Ludwig’s trusted deputy, with the title of Chief Royal Master of the Horse.1