"What are the Austrians up to? Do they want to crown that fellow Chambord King of France? Even if he signs, I absolutely won't agree!"
The courtiers standing nearby were stunned by their monarch's astonishing lack of intelligence. France was no collection of petty German states that Austria could abolish or establish at will.
Yet no one dared remind Louis Philippe that he was overthinking things, because their sovereign was simply the sort of man who loved seeing conspiracies everywhere.
But for that very reason, the courtiers didn't want to lose their positions either, so they all turned to Baron Pasquier, the royal household's chief steward.
The latter was a little helpless, but he had long been prepared to take the blame, so he said,
"Your Majesty, this must be a trick by the Austrians. They're only trying to force you to go to Vienna. It seems they've run into trouble.
Otherwise, they wouldn't need to resort to such tactics."
"But what if they haven't? What if this is a trick by Chambord?"
"Then you have even more reason to go to Vienna. That way, you can avoid offending Austria while also thwarting Chambord's scheme.
France has only one king, and that is you."
Baron Pasquier immediately followed up with a flattering remark. After all, one didn't strike a man who came bearing smiles.
Yet Louis Philippe's expression was unusually grave. He said,
"France has only one king, and that is me. I don't need anyone to prove it!"
The courtiers were all rather baffled. They couldn't understand why Louis Philippe would choose this crucial moment to offend Austria.
After all, there was still the marriage alliance between the House of Orleans and the Spanish Bourbons to consider, and neighboring Austria would have a great deal of influence over whether