"Impossible, sir."
"This League of Nations business is so uncertain."
"Very."
"I might be called back to Geneva quite suddenly, and I find that I have neglected"
"Precisely, sir. I admire you for it."
A pause.
"Damn it, Romsteck, you are embarrassing me."
"It does you credit, sir."
Another pause.
"If a couple of hundred florins would do, sir, it would be like old times. Quite in the Grand Ducal tradition.—I felt the tradition reviving yesterday; but I was sure of it when—when I interrupted you just now, sir."
The Colonel wheeled angrily and strode across the room.
"Look here, not a word against the Fräulein, do you understand? Damn you, the grandest grand duchess in the whole mildewed tribe wasn't worth the heel of her slipper."
