"Your country is very much under the dominance of Germany," he ventured.

"Very much, I admit, but not utterly so. You must remember that after
the cataclysm of 1917, Russia has been born again in travail and agony.
No hand was outstretched to help her, save that of Germany alone, for
her own sake ultimately, perhaps, but nevertheless with invaluable
results to Russia. We had vast resources which Germany exploited,
magnificent human material which Germany has educated and disciplined.
The two nations have grown together for their common interest. At the
same time, Paul Matinsky and very many others have always felt that
there is one of Germany's great ambitions in which Russia ought not
necessarily to become involved. I think--I hope that you understand me."

"In plain words," Nigel said, "you refer to this projected plan of
isolating England."

"In plain words, I do," she admitted. "Russia's intentions concerning
that are trembling in the balance. Germany is pressing her hard. Nothing
will be finally decided until I return to Petrograd. You see, I speak to
you quite openly, for I myself have had some experience of your present
statesmen. I believe if you were to repeat this conversation to any one
of them, if, even, you could open their eyes to what is happening, they
would only shrug their shoulders and say that they relied for their
protection on the League of Nations."

"You are unhappily right," Nigel groaned, "yet one perseveres, and after
all there is an element of mystery about the whole affair. The French,
as you know, have not imitated our blind credulity. Their frontier would
seem to be impregnable, and the difficulties of invading England, even
from the air, are very much as they were during the last war. It was
these considerations which made my uncle persevere in his attempt at
secret-service work on the Continent. Everything depends upon our
knowing exactly what is in store for us."

"And have you discovered that?" she enquired.

He shook his head.

"Everything that we have learnt so far has been of negative value," he
replied. "The German citizen army is large, but not threateningly so. So
far as we have been able to discover, they do not seem to have any
secret store of guns or ammunition. Their docks hold no secrets. Yet we
know that there is something brewing. Both the men upon whom my uncle
relied have been murdered."

"But one of them succeeded in getting a dispatch through, did he not?"