"What do you mean, surrender? Palmerston, do you know what you're saying?"
John Russell's eyes nearly spat fire. This was undoubtedly the ultimate insult to him and everything he had done before.
Palmerston merely spread his hands, wearing an air of detached indifference as he spoke in a most flippant tone.
"I'm only a translator. Please, go right ahead."
John Russell looked to George Villiers. Naturally, the latter could not admit to anything like surrender. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and changed his phrasing.
"We should consider changing the terms of negotiation. The situation is no longer what it was before. The Austrians are more cunning than we imagined; they do not wish to be controlled by us.
"And Britain is facing an unprecedented crisis. We absolutely cannot bear the cost of the Near East Expeditionary Force being wiped out.
"So we should reconsider how to cut our losses in time, rather than keep thinking about how to squeeze out one more profit.
"Otherwise, we will eventually die of greed."
Though George Villiers had softened his wording as much as possible, it was still far too grating for the British politicians present.
"Mr. Villiers, we haven't reached that point yet, have we?
"The war has gone on for nearly a year, yet our main forces remain intact. Though the Mediterranean Fleet has suffered one defeat, our losses are under fifteen percent. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has suffered losses exceeding eighty percent."
Sir Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty, was still defending the Royal Navy. Beside him, Secretary at War Henry Pelham also tried to give examples proving that the British Army still had the strength to fight on.
They were still trying to prove that this was not defeat, but a strategic withdrawal.
John Russell merely