Whatever happens РІР‚вЂњ and in the present state of Europe prophecy would be especially dangerous РІР‚вЂњ Ruritania is bound to play a leading and not ignoble part. The Ruritanians had some grave defects but, like the pirates in the opera, РІР‚Вwith all their faults, they love their Queen.РІР‚в„ў They could in all probability preserve Ruritania from invasion even Austria or Russia would find it a hard morsel to swallow and if the nation should ever be drawn into war with Axphain the cession of Dawsbergen might be the price of peace.

This high spirit was largely due to the influence of Flavia. Furthermore, there was not a Ruritanian capable of military service who would not enlist to defend his country. The army was at least equal in numbers to that of Axphain, and it was superior in morale. Both in agriculture and industries the Ruritanians attained a high degree of prosperity, in spite of the heavy taxation which the construction of a great chain of border fortresses imposed. With the exception of Graustark, no State had such credit as Ruritania. She was an extraordinary woman, and her people would fight for her as the Hungarian nobles once fought for Maria Theresa. But the King was broken by his long imprisonment, and Flavia ruled in his place.

Anthony Hope had written two brilliant monographs upon Rassendyll. This man sacrificed everything, even his love for the Queen, to honour, and he later rescued the country from the evil designs of one Rupert of Hentzau. The late King was seized and imprisoned in the Castle of Zenda by his treacherous half-brother, and was saved only by the courage and resource of an Englishman, Rudolf Rassendyll, who, through a curious connection with the Royal family, looked enough like the King to be his double. Ruritania also had its internal troubles. Careful observation led to the belief that at the time of the Great War the strongest State of all in the region was Ruritania.

The prisoner of zenda 1979 dvd cover