--'It is Japanese ware,' said the duchess. 'This kind of ware is, I suppose, only made for the foreign markets, and not used in Japan, and so probably you have not seen it before. We think it rather nice. You see our taste has little depth.' --'Well! madam, I must apologise to you for carelessly expressing approbation of an article coming from my own country. I would not have done so if I had carefully examined it and had made sure that it was Japanese, but it certainly looks charming.' We sat down again and resumed our conversation. --'Do you read our papers much?' said the duchess. --'Not much, madam, only those parts which interest me particularly--the war, for instance.' --'Then you speak French, of course,' said she. --'Only a very, very little, madam, and unless spoken very slowly, I do not understand at all,' I replied. 'People in society generally do not care to take that trouble.' --'Very true, indeed,' she said, 'one often forgets that one is speaking to a foreigner while actually doing so. But what do you think of our papers?' --'They seem generally good,' I answered, 'though not perhaps as good as those of England, for there, far more money is spent in obtaining good items of news from all parts of the world. But this is too trite, I think, to speak to you about.' --'I am sorry for it,' she said, 'but I must say that most of our journals appear not to have done sufficient justice to your country, in regard to the present war.' --'To be frank, madam, I must say that they generally were not quite fair. I am afraid they have done more harm than good to the country which they meant to befriend, for if they had not given so much encouragement to that country, much misfortune which has overtaken it might have been evaded or at least lessened. It may have been only due to a pacing mistake. The press is much better now, and is beginning to represent more truthfully the sentiment of the people, I think.' --'It is very true,' she said; 'at the same time, I must say that the aggressive attitude of that country could not have been created by our journals, however partial they may have been. In that respect, there may be another country which is more responsible.' All the while other guests and members of the house were carrying on conversation in a very lively manner, in twos, threes, or fours. --'But, baron, what do you think of the present political situation?' she said. 'What is the real sentiment of England?' --'You must know such things better than I. To me, however, it seems England is perfectly sincere in her good wishes towards France. She has no _arrière pensée_.' --'But some people say she wants war with our neighbour,' said she. --'No! decidedly not,' I said. 'I know there are many people in England who have no confidence in German policy; but "want war," "provoke war," decidedly not!' --'That's my opinion too,' said she quickly.