Wolff made no answer, but he straightened his shoulders and held out a steady hand. "In any case, thank you for your friendship, Kurt," he said. "It has been the best—no, almost the best thing in my life." That loyal correction touched the elder man profoundly, and for the first time a faint trace of emotion relaxed Wolff’s set features. "Do not let my wife suspect that anything serious has passed between us," he added. "She suffers enough." The two men embraced, and Seleneck went out of the room with his brows knitted in bitter, painful lines. He did not wish to see Wolff’s wife, much less speak with her, but she was still seated by the table, and as he entered she rose as though she had been waiting for him. She did not offer him her hand, and in spite of all his resolutions he felt that the enmity and distrust were in his eyes as he waited for her to speak. "Has anything happened?" she asked breathlessly. If he could have forgotten his friend’s face, he might have pitied her in that moment. Only a few months had passed since he had welcomed the girlish bride on the Karlsburg platform, and now all the girlhood had gone. She looked old as she stood there—pitiably old, because the age lay only in the expression, which was bitter, miserable, and reckless. "What should have happened, _gnädige Frau_?" Seleneck answered, parrying her question with an indifference which concealed a very real anxiety. He could not free himself from the conviction that she knew. He could not imagine it possible that she was ignorant of the consequences of the last night’s catastrophe. "You know very well what I mean!" Nora said roughly. "I ask you because you must know. Will there be war?" Seleneck nearly laughed. So much for his sharp-sightedness! She had not been thinking of her husband, but of herself; or was perhaps the fear written on her face, fear for his safety? He did not believe it. He was too bitter against her to give her the benefit of the doubt. "I know no more than you know, _gnädige Frau_," he said. "Our ultimatum has been sent to England. The next twenty-four hours must decide." "But surely you have an idea—surely you can guess?" "_Gnädige Frau_, we soldiers are not politicians. We are ready to march when the order is given. That is the only point with which we are concerned." He waited an instant, and then, as she did not answer, he clapped his spurred heels together and went.