placed the document beneath a paper weight in front of him.
When he leaned across the table, his folded arms formed a semicircle
around it.

"This letter, Mr. Coulson," he said, "is not an official communication."

"It is not," Mr. Coulson admitted. "I fancy it occurred to my friend
Jones that anything official would be hardly in place and might be
easier to evade. The matter has already cropped up in negotiations
between Mr. Harvey and your Cabinet, but so far we are without any
definite pronouncement,--at least, that is how my friend Mr. Jones looks
at it."

Sir Edward smiled.

"The only answer your friend asks for is a verbal one," he remarked.

"A verbal one," Mr. Coulson assented, "delivered to me in the presence
of one other person, whose name you will find mentioned in that letter."

Sir Edward bowed his head. When he spoke again, his manner had somehow
changed. It had become at once more official,--a trifle more stilted.

"This is a great subject, Mr. Coulson," he said. "It is a subject which
has occupied the attention of His Majesty's Ministers for many months.
I shall take the opinion of the other person whose name is mentioned in
this letter, as to whether we can grant Mr. Jones' request. If we should
do so, it will not, I am sure, be necessary to say to you that any
communication we may make on the subject tonight will be from men to a
man of honor, and must be accepted as such. It will be our honest and
sincere conviction, but it must also be understood that it does not bind
the Government of this country to any course of action."

Mr. Coulson smiled and nodded his head.

"That is what I call diplomacy, Sir Edward," he remarked. "I always tell
our people that they are too bullheaded. They don't use enough words.
What about that other friend of yours?"

Sir Edward glanced at his watch.

"It is possible," he said, "that by this time Mr.----- Mr. Smith, shall
we call him, to match your Mr. Jones?--is attending my wife's reception,
from which your message called me. If he has not yet arrived, my
secretary shall telephone for him."

Mr. Coulson indicated his approval.

"Seems to me," he remarked, "that I have struck a fortunate evening for
my visit."

Sir Edward touched the bell and his secretary appeared.

"Sidney," he said, "I want you to find the gentleman whose name I am
writing upon this piece of paper. If he is not in the reception rooms
and has not arrived, telephone for him. Say that I