Considering that Gilbert represented a rural constituency, and that his
party was not even in office, I felt inclined to smile. However, I took
him seriously.

"Same old war scare, I suppose?" I remarked.

"It has been a 'scare' for a good many years," he replied seriously.
"People seem inclined to forget that behind the shadow all the time there
is the substance. I happen to know that there is a great deal of tension
just now at the Foreign Office!"

"Things seem pretty much as they were six months ago," I remarked. "There
is no definite cause for alarm, is there?"

"No definite cause, perhaps, that we know of," my cousin answered; "but
there is no denying the fact that an extraordinary amount of apprehension
exists in the best informed circles. As Lord Kestelen said to me
yesterday, one seems to feel the thunder in the air."

I was thoughtful for a moment. Perhaps, after all, I was inclined to envy
my cousin. My own life was a simple and wholesome one enough, but it was
far removed indeed from the world of great happenings. Just then, I felt
the first premonitions of dissatisfaction.

"I believe I'm sorry after all, that I didn't go in for a career of some
sort," I remarked.

My cousin looked gratified. He accepted my regret as a tribute to his own
larger place in the world.