"No. I will be honest. I sometimes sleep in the afternoon, Countess."
"And to-day?" she queried, with a laugh. "To-day business brought me.
I hoped to see you."
"Surely you flatter me. Since when have you considered me capable of being business-like?"
"I am all seriousness, Countess. Politics in Sturatzberg are as dried wood stacked ready for burning, and a torch is already in the midst of it. Until now the torch has been moved hither and thither, giving the wood no time to catch; but now I fear the flame is held steadily. I seem to hear the first sounds of the crackling."
"I seem to have heard the beginning often," she answered, "but a swift hand has always saved the situation."
"The danger has never been so imminent as it is now, Countess."
"Are you not still in Sturatzberg to cope with the danger?" she asked, turning to him with a radiant smile. "I stand alone, Countess; what can one man do? I wonder whether you can credit me with disinterestedness, whether you can believe that I have the welfare of this country at heart while carrying out the policy of my own?"
"Is not that the position of every Ambassador?"
"Nominally, perhaps. I was asking you to believe something more definite in my case," he returned. "Do I ask too much? In a measure, you and I are drawn together in this crisis. We should be allies."
"Are my poor wits of service either way?"