mostly derived from that of the North German Confederation. Prussia's dominance over the entire empire is almost absolute. Prussia has three-fifths of our territory and two-thirds of our population. The Imperial German army is actually an enlarged Prussian army, devoted to the Kaiser. We of the other kingdoms (Bavaria, Saxony, Bohemia and Württemberg) still retained our own armies. The imperial crown is hereditary in the House of Hohenzollern, the royal house of Prussia. The prime minister of Prussia is also the imperial chancellor. We of Bohemia have little real input in the direction our county is moving. We are proud to be in the German Empire. We do not hate the British. “But William has a ‘love-hate’ relationship with the United Kingdom and in particular with his British cousins. Open armed conflict with Britain is never what William has in mind—‘a most unimaginable thing’, so he once told me--yet he often listens to those in high command that do not have his family ties to the British Crown. They would not hesitate to use our navy against yours if it came to that. “William sincerely believes that he is the victim of a diplomatic conspiracy set up by his uncle, Edward VII. He believes Britain is actively seeking to "encircle" Germany through the conclusion of the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904 and a similar arrangement with Russia this year in 1907. “The Kaiser highly values the importance of ‘personal diplomacy’ between European monarchs, of course. Are we not related by blood? He feels the same with his cousin-in law Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. At a private meeting at Björkö in 1905, William concluded an agreement with his cousin which he believes to be a treaty of alliance. “I am here not to have British interference in our internal affairs. But I must warn you of a most evil man who has the ear and confidence of the Kaiser, an Englander. I have seen him confer with William, and I do not like his peculiar vileness. “He appears to have once been extremely tall and thin, but some unfortunate accident has bent him forward in a slight stoop and he uses a cane. This makes his forehead which domes out in a white curve much more prominent. His two eyes are deeply sunken in his head. His shoulders are rounded as if from much study, and his face protrudes forward and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in an odd manner, such as I have seen in a lizard.” I instantly recognized my foe, whom I had thought I had dispatched to a watery grave. “What name does this person go by?” I abruptly interrupted. “Robert Catesby” “Ah hah! The name of the mastermind behind the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, an attempt by a group of English conspirators to kill King James I of England and the members of both houses of the Parliament of England. He enlisted Guy Fawkes, who was placed in charge of executing the plot because of his military and explosives experience.” I discoursed. “I of course had heard of this Guy Fawkes, because of the celebration you English do, but I did not connect the name Catesby. If this is not his true name, this of course underscores his sentiment, does it not?” the Duke surmised. “What has the Kaiser employed this ‘Mr. Catesby’ for?” I asked. “This I can only conjecture, for I have not been privy to their counsel. However, I have made mine own enquiries, you must understand.’ The Duke grew serious in tone. “I know there is a great deal of monies going to some project. There are two sites that I know Catesby has maintained offices at. One is in Schichau-Werft shipyards in Danzig and another is in Essen at the Krupp munitions factories.” “But there is a third, of which I am not sure what is doing there.” His voice lowered. “This my agents have trouble with, there is much secrecy and walls thrown up when we have tried to inquire. We have monitored equipments going in, shipments from your England and that is why I am coming to you. This Englishman has bad plans I think, and he has support of our own Kaiser, but I do not know if it will benefit Germany or just hurt many peoples in both our countries, Bohemia and England.” “I appreciate your Majesty’s candor and quite important information. I can say that I believe we also have encountered agents of this man. We are highly interested in his purpose, of which we have not yet been able to confirm. What specifically