Anna shook her head at him gaily.

“Well,” she said, “I won’t indulge in any ante-jealousies.  I only hope that through her we shall get to know the truth.  Are things here still quiet?”

“Absolutely.”

“Also in Paris.  Francis, I feel so helpless.  On my way I thought of staying over, of going to see the Minister of War and placing certain facts before him.  And then I realised how little use it would all be.  They won’t believe us, Francis.  They would simply call us alarmists.  They won’t believe that the storm is gathering.”

“Don’t I know it!” Norgate assented earnestly.  “Why, Hebblethwaite here has always been a great friend of mine.  I have done all I can to influence him.  He simply laughs in my face.  To-day, for the first time, he admitted that there was a slight uneasiness at the Cabinet Meeting, and that White had referred to a certain mysterious activity throughout Germany.  Nevertheless, he has gone down to Walton Heath to play golf.”

She made a little grimace.

“Your great Drake,” she reminded him, “played bowls when the Armada sailed.  Your Cabinet Ministers will be playing golf or tennis.  Oh, what a careless country you are!—­a careless, haphazard, blind, pig-headed nation to watch over the destinies of such an Empire!  I’m so tired of politics, dear.  I am so tired of all the big things that concern other people.  They press upon one.  Now it is finished.  You and I are alone.  You are my lover, aren’t you?  Remind me of it.  If you will, I will discuss the subject you mentioned the other day.  Of course I shall say ‘No!’ I am not nearly ready to be married yet.  But I should like to hear your arguments.”

Their heads grew closer and closer together.  They were almost touching when Selingman and Rosa Morgen came in.  Selingman paused before their table.

“Well, well, young people!” he exclaimed.  “Forgive me, Baroness, if I am somewhat failing in respect, but the doings of this young man have become some concern of mine.”

Her greeting was tinged with a certain condescension.  She had suddenly stiffened.  There was something of the grande dame in the way she held up the tips of her fingers.

“You do not disapprove, I trust?”

“Baroness,” Selingman declared earnestly, “it is an alliance for which no words can express my approval.  It comes at the one moment.  It has riveted to us and our interests one whose services will never be forgotten.  May I venture to hope that your journey to Italy has been productive?”

“Not entirely as we had hoped,” Anna replied, “yet the position there is not unfavourable.”

Selingman glanced towards the table at which Miss Morgen had already seated herself.

“I must not neglect my duties,” he remarked, turning away.

“Especially,” Anna murmured, glancing across the room, “when they might so easily be construed into pleasures.”