friend," he exclaimed, as he held out his hands, "I am distressed
to keep you waiting! Such zeal in our affairs must, however, not remain
unnoticed. I will remember it in my reports."

Anna smiled as he stooped to kiss her fingers.

"I had special reasons," she explained, "for my haste. I was
disappointed, indeed, that I could not see you last night."

"I was at Windsor," her host remarked. "Now come, sit there in the
easy-chair by the side of my table. My secretaries have not yet arrived.
We shall be entirely undisturbed. I have ordered coffee here, of which we
will partake together. A compromising meal to share, dear Baroness, but
in the library of my own house it may be excused. The Princess sends her
love. She will be glad if you will go to her apartments after we have
finished our talk."

A servant entered with a tray, spread a cloth on a small round table,
upon which he set out coffee, with rolls and butter and preserves. For a
few moments they talked lightly of the weather, of her crossing, of
mutual friends in Berlin and Vienna. Then Anna, as soon as they were
alone, leaned a little forward in her chair.

"You know that I have a sort of mission to you," she said. "I should not
call it that, perhaps, but it comes to very nearly the same thing. The
Emperor has charged me to express to you and to Count Lanyoki his most
earnest desire that if the things should come which we know of, you both
maintain your position here at any cost. The Emperor's last words to me
were: 'If war is to come, it may be the will of God. We are ready, but
there is one country which must be kept from the ranks of our enemies.
That country is England. England must be dealt with diplomatically.' He
looks across the continent to you, Prince. This is the friendly message
which I have brought from his own lips."

The Prince stirred his coffee thoughtfully. He was a man just passing
middle-age, with grey hair, thin in places but carefully trimmed, brushed
sedulously back from his high forehead. His moustache, too, was grey, and
his face was heavily lined, but his eyes, clear and bright, were almost
the eyes of a young man.

"You can reassure the Emperor," he declared. "As you may imagine, my
supply of information here is plentiful. If those things should come that
we know of, it is my firm belief that with some reasonable yet nominal
considerations, this Government will never lend itself to war."

"You really believe that?" she asked earn