"Since you ask," he said, "I tell you. You know of the slight coolness which there has been between our respective Governments? Our people have felt that the policy of your Ministers in expending all their energies and resources in the building of a great fleet, to the utter neglect of your army, is a wholly one-sided arrangement, so far as we are concerned. In the event of a simultaneous attack by Germany upon France and England, you would be utterly powerless to render us any measure of assistance. If Germany should attack England alone, it is the wish of your Government that we should be pledged to occupy Alsace-Lorraine. You, on the other hand, could do nothing for us if Germany's first move were made against France." Peter was deeply interested, although the matter was no new one to him. "Go on," he directed. "I am waiting for you to tell me the specific contents of this document." "The English Government has asked us two questions; first, how many complete army corps we consider she ought to place at our disposal in this eventuality; and, secondly, at what point should we expect them to be concentrated? The dispatch which I received to-night contains the reply to these questions." "Which Bernadine has promised to forward to Berlin to-morrow night," Peter remarked softly. De Lamborne nodded. "You perceive," he said, "the immense importance of the affair. The very existence of that document is almost a _casus belli_." "At what time did the dispatch arrive," Peter asked, "and what has been its history since?" "It arrived at six o'clock," the ambassador declared. "It went straight into the inner pocket of my coat; it has not been out of my possession for a single second. Even whilst I talk to you I can feel it." "And your plans? How are you intending to dispose of it to-night?" "On my return to the Embassy I shall place it in the safe, lock it up, and remain watching it until morning." "There doesn't seem to be much chance for Bernadine," Peter remarked. "But there must be no chance--no chance at all," Monsieur de Lamborne asserted, with a note of passion in his thin voice. "It is incredible, preposterous, that he should even make the attempt. I want you to come home with me and share my vigil. You shall be my witness in case anything happens. We will watch together." Peter reflected for a moment. "Bernadine makes few mistakes," he said thoughtfully. Monsieur de Lamborne passed his hand across his forehead. "Do I not know it?" he muttered. "In this instance, though, it seems impossible for him to succeed. The time is so short and the conditions so difficult. I may count upon your assistance, Baron?" Peter drew from his pocket a crumpled piece of paper. "I received a telegram from headquarters this evening," he said, "with instructions to place myself entirely at your disposal." "You will return with me, then, to the Embassy?" Monsieur de Lamborne asked eagerly.