signet ring on
his left finger cut into the flesh, his eyes were like glittering points
of fire.

"It is the old dream concerning Paul?" he demanded.

"It has nothing to do with Paul," she assured him. "Concerning him I
will admit that I have had my weak moments. I think that those have
passed. It was such a wonderful dream," she went on reflectively, "the
dream of ruling the mightiest nation in the world, a nation that even
now, after many years of travail, is only just finding its way through
to the light. It seemed such a small thing that stood in the way. Since
then I have met Paul's wife. She does not understand, but at least she
loves."

"She is a poor fool, no helpmate for any man," Immelan declared. "Yet it
is not his cause I plead, but mine. I, too, can minister to your
ambitions. Be my wife, and I swear to you that before five years have
passed I will be President of the German Republic. Germany is no strange
country to you," he went on passionately. "It is you who have helped in
the great _rapprochement_. At times when Paul has been difficult, you
have smoothed the way. I would not speak against your country, I would
not speak against anything which lies close to your heart, but let me
tell you that when the day of purification comes, the day when God gives
us leave to pour out the vials of vengeance, there will be no prouder,
no more glorious people than ours. Our triumph will be yours, Naida. You
yourself will help to cement the great alliance of these years."

She shook her head.

"I am a woman," she said simply. "Incidentally, I am a politician and
something of an altruist, but when it comes to marriage, I am a woman. I
do not love you, Oscar, and I will not marry you."

There was a darker shade upon his face now. Unconsciously he had drawn a
little nearer to her.

"Listen," he begged; "it is perhaps possible that I have not been
mistaken--that a certain change has crept up in you even within the last
few days? Tell me, is there any one else who has found his way into your
heart? No, I will not say heart! It could not be your heart in so short
a time. Into your fancy? Is there any one else, Naida, of whom you are
thinking?"

"That is my concern, Oscar, and mine only," she answered haughtily.

A weaker woman he would have bullied. His veins were filled with anger.
His tongue ached to spend itself. Naida's bearing cowed him. She
remained a dominating figure. The unnatural restraint imposed upon