The second-to-last person to have an audience with the Emperor crawled out of the Imperial Palace, practically soiling himself with fear. William II was so incensed he wanted to snatch a hunting rifle from a Guard and shoot the wretch.
"Your Majesty, you're becoming agitated again. As the Empress instructed, you need some Calming Salt." A nearby handmaiden presented a small dish of grayish powder. According to the doctor's instructions, one was to pinch one nostril shut, bring the other close, and carefully inhale.
William II snapped at the handmaiden, "Do you all take me for an invalid?"
The handmaiden holding the salt was terrified, standing frozen by the side of the throne, not daring to move. William composed himself and said in a softer tone, "I know this was the Empress's idea. It's not your fault. You may go."
After she left, he muttered, "Feodora is a woman of the Northern Lands, after all. Superstitious and easily swayed by treacherous words..."
