"Don't you know," he said, "that it is the like which irritates and repels the like. It is this relationship which has been at the root of the great jealousy, which seems to have spread all through Germany. I need not go into all the causes of it with you now; sufficient it is to say that all the recent successes of England have been at Germany's expense. There has been a storm brewing for long; to-day, to-morrow, in a week, surely within a month, it will break." "You may be right," she said; "but who of all the Frenchwomen I know would care to reckon themselves the debtors of Germany?" "You will owe Germany nothing, for she will be paid and overpaid for all she does. Russia has made terms with the Republic of France. Politically, she has nothing to gain by a rupture; but with Germany it is different. She and France are ready at this moment to fly at one another's throats. The military popularity of such a war would be immense. The cry to arms would ring from the Mediterranean to the Rhine." "Oh! I hope that it may not be war," she said. "I had hoped always that diplomacy, backed by a waiting army, would be sufficient. France at heart is true, I know. But after all, it sounds like a fairy tale. You are a wonderful man, but how can you hope to move nations? What can you offer Germany to exact so tremendous a price?" "I can offer," Mr. Sabin said calmly, "what Germany desires more than anything else in the world--the key to England. It has taken me six years to perfect my schemes. As you know, I was in America part of the time I was supposed to be in China. It was there, in the laboratory of Allison, that I commenced the work. Step by step I have moved on--link by link I have forged the chain. I may say, without falsehood or exaggeration, that my work would be the work of another man's lifetime. With me it has been a labour of love. Your part, my dear Helène, will be a glorious one; think of it, and shake off your depression. This hole and corner life is not for long--the time for which we have worked is at hand." She did not look up, there was no answering fire of enthusiasm in her dark eyes. The colour came into her cheeks and faded away. Mr. Sabin was vaguely disturbed. "In what way," she said, without directly looking at him, "is Lord Wolfenden likely to be useful to you?" Mr. Sabin did not reply for some time, in fact he did not reply at all. This new phase in the situation was suddenly revealed to him. When he spoke his tone was grave enough--grave with an undertone of contempt. "Is it possible, Helène," he said, "that you have allowed yourself to think seriously of the love-making of this young man? I must confess that such a thing in connection with you would never have occurred to me in my wildest dreams!"