ten o'clock
Three vessels had been despatched to each city , and the instructions of those in command of the squadrons were to bring the German Emperor , the Emperor of Austria , and the King of Italy to London . The news of the defeat of the League had preceded them by telegraph , and all three monarchs willingly obeyed the summons which they carried to attend a Conference for the ordering of affairs of Europe . The German Emperor was at once released from his captivity , although only under a threat of the destruction of the city by the air-ships , for the Grand Duke Vladimir , who ruled at St. Petersburg as deputy of the Tsar , had first refused to believe the astounding story of the defeat of his brother and the destruction of his army . The terrible achievements of the air-ships were , however , too well and too certainly known to permit of resistance by force , and so the Kaiser was released , and made his first aërial voyage from St. Petersburg to London , arriving there at ten o'clock on the evening of the 8th , in the midst of the jubilations of the rejoicing city . The King of England had sent a despatch to the Emperor of Austria inviting him to the Conference , and General Cosensz had sent a similar one to the King of Italy , and so there had been no difficulty about their coming . At mid-day on the 9th the Conference was opened in St. Paul 's , which was the only public building left intact in London capable of containing the vast audience that was present , an audience composed of men of every race and language in Europe . Natas was absent , and Tremayne occupied his seat in the centre of the table ; the other members of the Inner Circle , now composing the Supreme Council of the Federation , were present , with the exception of Natasha , Radna , and Anna Ornovski , and the other seats at the table were occupied by the monarchs to whom the purposes of the Conference had been explained earlier in the day .