"Then," said Susie, slowly, "I think that I must tell the Prince."
"Do so, by all means," retorted her companion, a little impatiently. "I give you full permission, if you care to take the responsibility. But, I assure you, it's a heavy one."
"Oh, not so awfully heavy!" said Susie, sceptically. "You have already told me what a little place Schloshold-Markheim is."
"It is little; but so is the pivot that a great piece of machinery swings on. Collins said yesterday that the peace of Europe may hang upon this question. I laughed at him then, but it's not at all impossible that he may be right. Of course, with a little thing like the peace of Europe, every schoolgirl has the right to meddle! A million of human beings, more or less—what do they amount to? Let us slaughter them, maim them, outrage them, burn their houses, destroy their crops! Let us put great armies in the field, and fight great battles and think only of the glory! Don't look at the shapeless things beneath the hoofs of the horses, nor think of the women waiting at home—waiting for the lists of dead and missing! Let us release the spring that will set all this in motion—it requires only a touch, the merest touch! And think, we should be making history! Besides, our honour requires it! We must be jealous of our honour—it is of so much more importance than the peace of Europe!"
And Vernon, having arrived at the hotel entrance, bade them good-bye and was wheeled to the lift, leaving his companion rather breathless.
CHAPTER XV
"Be Bold, Be Bold"
Lord Vernon, no doubt, would have spoken with less acerbity but for the fact that his nerves were jangling badly. The lift was started promptly, but it required all his self-control to remain seated in his chair during the slow progress upward of the great machine of which Monsieur Pelletan was so proud. Scarcely had the door of his apartment closed behind him, when he threw aside the invalid wrappings with a perfect fury, sprang from his chair, and hastened into the inner room. Collins and Blake were seated at a table there, labouring with a telegram in cipher.
"What's the matter now?" demanded Collins, sharply, as he looked up and saw Vernon's disordered face.
For answer, Vernon took from his pocket a folded paper and tossed it on the table.