"No, no, no, Mr. Dumas, although forming the anti-French alliance is an achievement, the main credit for facilitating this task does not lie with the Foreign Office, but with France."
"How so?"
The secretary took a sip of tea and said, "You see, good and bad are often highlighted by contrast, and in terms of setting the stage, France has always done quite well."
Upon hearing this, Great Dumas couldn't help but retort, "But sir, when France was busy setting this stage, you would have still been a citizen of the Hesse Grand Duchy of the German states, wouldn't you?"
The secretary shrugged and said, "To be exact, at that time my father was a Hesse mercenary serving the joint sovereign federation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Hanover. If you insist on pointing out my German heritage, well yes, I indeed have it, but so what? I am now a glorious British gentleman."
