"That is quite another thing," he replied.
Lady Chandos laughed, sadly.
"The usual refuge of a man when he is brought to bay," she said. "No words, no arguments will be of any use to me; I shall never be really friends with you until you give up Madame Vanira."
"Then we will remain enemies," he replied. "I will never give up a true friend for the caprice of any woman," he replied, "even though that woman be my wife."
"Neither will I consent to go to Berlin," she answered, gravely.
"Then I must go alone," he said; "I will not be governed by caprices that have in them neither reason nor sense."
"Then," cried Lady Marion, "it is war to the knife between us!"
"War, if you will," said Lord Chandos; "but always remember you can put an end to the warfare when you will!"
"I shall appeal to Lady Lanswell and to the Duke of Lester," said Lady Marion, and her husband merely answered with a bow.
With them it was indeed "war to the knife." Such was the Gordian knot that Lady Lanswell had to untie, and it was the most difficult task of her life.