Lord Romsey sprang to his feet.

"Good God, man! Do you know what you are saying?" he exclaimed.

"Perfectly," the other replied. "I told you that my errand was a
serious one. Shall I proceed?"

The Minister slowly resumed his seat. From behind the electric lamp
his face was ghastly white. In that brief pause which followed he
seemed to be looking through the walls of the room into an ugly
chapter of his future. He saw the headlines in the newspapers, the
leading articles, the culmination of all the gossip and mutterings of
the last few months, the end of his political career--a disgraceful
and ignoble end! Surely no man had ever been placed in so painful a
predicament. It was treason to parley. It was disgraceful to send
this man away.

"Germany wants peace," his visitor continued calmly. "She may not
have accomplished all she wished to have accomplished by this war,
and she is still as strong as ever from a military point of view, but
she wants peace. I need say no more than that."

Lord Romsey shook his head.

"Even if I had the influence, which I haven't," he began, "it isn't a
matter of the Government at all. The country would never stand it."

"Then you had better convert the country," was the prompt reply.
"Look upon it as your duty. Remember this--you are the man in all