Norgate found Anna waiting for him in the hall of the smaller hotel,
a little further westward, to which she had moved. He looked
admiringly at her cool white muslin gown and the perfection of her
somewhat airy toilette.
"You are five minutes late," she remonstrated.
"I had to go into the city," he apologised. "It was rather an important
engagement. Soon I must tell you all about it."
She looked at him a little curiously.
"I will be patient," promised Anna, "and ask no questions."
"You are still depressed?"
"Horribly," she confessed. "I do not know why, but London is getting on
my nerves. It is so hatefully, stubbornly, obstinately imperturbable. I
would find another word, but it eludes me. I think you would call it
smug. And it is so noisy. Can we not go somewhere for lunch where it is
tranquil, where one can rest and get away from this roar?"
"We could go to Ranelagh, if you liked," suggested Norgate. "There
are some polo matches on this afternoon, but it will be quiet enough
for lunch."
"I should love it!" she exclaimed. "Let us go quickly."
They lunched in a shady corner of the restaurant and sat afterwards
under a great oak tree in a retired spot at the further end of the
gardens. Anna was still a little thoughtful.
"Do you know," she told her companion, "that I have received a hint to
present myself in Berlin as soon as possible?"
"Are you going?" Norgate demanded quickly.
"I am not sure," she answered. "I feel that I must, and yet, in a sense,
I do not like to go. I have a feeling that they do not mean to let me out
of Berlin again. They think that I know too much."
"But why should they suddenly lose faith in you?" Norgate asked.
"Perhaps because the end is so near," she replied. "They know that I have
strong English sympathies. Perhaps they think that they would not bear
the strain of the times which are coming."
"You are an even greater pessimist than I myself," Norgate observed. "Do
you really believe that the position is so critical?"
"I know it," she assured him. "I will not tell you all my reasons. There
is no need for me to break a trust without some definite object. It seems
to me that if your Secret Service Department were worth anything at all,
your country would be in a state almost of panic. What is it they are
playing down there? Polo, isn't it? There are six or eight military
teams, crowds of your young officers making holiday. And all the time
Krupps are working overtime, working night and day, and surrounded by
sentries who shoot at sight any stranger. There are parts of the country,
even now, under martial law. The streets and the plains resound to the
footsteps of armed hosts."
"But there is no excuse for war," he reminded her.
"An excuse is very easily found," she sighed. "German diplomacy is clumsy
enough, but I think it can manage that. Do you know that this morning I
had a letter from one of the greatest nobles of our own Court at Vienna?
He knew that I had intended to take a villa in Normandy for August and
September. He has written purposely to warn me not to do so, to warn me
not to be away from Austria or Germany after the first of August."
"So soon!" he murmured.
They listened to the band for a moment. In the distance, an unceasing
stream of men and women were passing back and forth under the trees and
around the polo field.
"It will come like a thunderbolt," she said, "and when I think of it, all
that is English in me rises up in revolt. In my heart I know so well that
it is Germany and Germany alone who will provoke this war. I am terrified
for your country. I admit it, you see, frankly. The might of Germany is
only half understood here. It is to be a war of conquest, almost of
extermination."
"That isn't the view of your friend Selingman," Norgate reminded her.
"He, too, hints at coming trouble, but he speaks of it as just a salutary
little lesson."
"Selingman, more than any one else in the world, knows differently," she
assured him. "But come, we talk too seriously on such a wonderful
afternoon. I have made up my mind on one point, at least. I will stay
here for a few days longer. London at this time of the year is wonderful.
Besides, I have promised the Princess of Thurm that I will go to Ascot
with her. Why should we talk of serious things any longer? Let us have a
little rest. Let us promenade there with those other people, and listen
to the band, and have some tea afterwards."
Norgate rose with alacrity, and they strolled across the lawns and down
towards the polo field. Very soon they found themselves meeting friends
in every direction. Anna extricated herself from a little group of
acquaintances who had suddenly claimed her and came over to Norgate.
"Prince Herschfeld wants to talk to me for a few minutes," she whispered.
"I think I should like to hear what he has to say. The Princess is there,
too, whom I have scarcely seen. Will you come and be presented?"
"Might I leave you with them for a few minutes?" Norgate suggested.
"There is a man here whom I want to talk to. I will come back for you in
half an hour."
"You must meet the Prince first," she insisted. "He was interested when
he heard who you were."
She turned to the little group who were awaiting her return. The
Ambassador moved a little forward.
"Prince," she said, "may I present to you Mr. Francis Norgate? Mr.
Norgate has just come from Berlin."
"Not with the kindliest feelings towards us, I am afraid," remarked the
Prince, holding out his hand. "I hope, however, that you will not judge
us, as a nation, too severely."
"On the contrary, I was quite prepared to like Germany," Norgate
declared. "I was simply the victim of a rather unfortunate happening."
"There are many others besides myself who sincerely regret it," the
Prince said courteously. "You are kind enough to leave the Baroness for a
little time in our charge. We will take the greatest care of her, and I
hope that when you return you will give me the great pleasure of
presenting you to the Princess."
"You are very kind," Norgate murmured.
"We shall meet again, then," the Prince declared, as he turned away with
Anna by his side.
"In half an hour," Anna whispered, smiling at him over her shoulder.