He accepted the principle of French mediation; but he was still free to discuss and refuse the special terms which might be offered.

He said that he was willing to accept an armistice, but it was only on condition that the preliminaries of peace were settled before hostilities ceased, and to them the King could not agree except after consultation with the King of Italy.

It was a friendly answer, which cost nothing, and meanwhile the army continued to advance.

An Austrian request for an armistice was refused; Vienna was now the goal; Napoleon, if he wished to stop them, must take the next move, must explain the terms of peace he wished to secure, and shew by what measures he was prepared to enforce them.
By his prompt action, Bismarck, who knew Napoleon well, hoped to escape the threatened danger.

We shall see with what address he used the situation, so that the vacillation of France became to him more useful than even her faithful friendship would have been, for now he felt himself free from all ties of gratitude.