There is an unwritten law that when one country intends to wage
war against its neighbor a formal declaration shall be made. But
again Madame had forsaken the beaten paths. More than three
weeks had passed since the duchy's representative in Bleiberg
had been discredited and given his passports. At once the
duchess had retaliated by discrediting the king's representative
in Brunnstadt. Ordinarily this would have been understood as a
mutual declaration of war. Instead, both governments ignored
each other, one suspiciously, the other intentionally. All of
which is to say, the gage of war had been flung, but neither had
stooped to pick it up.
Perhaps Madame expected by this sudden aggressiveness to win her
fight with as little loss of blood as possible, which in justice
to her was to her credit. Again, a declaration of war openly
made might have moved the confederation to veto it by coercion.
To win without loss of life would leave the confederation
powerless to act. Therefore it will be seen that Madame was not
only a daring woman, but a general of no mean ability.
This post was an isolated one; between it and Bleiberg there was
not even a village.
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