He heard her little exclamation of grief. Its complete genuineness broke down a little the wall of his anger.
"And it is my fault!" she exclaimed. "If only I could do anything! Will you wait--please wait? I will go to the Palace myself."
His expostulation was almost a shock to her.
"Baroness," he replied, "if I permitted your intervention, I could never hold my head up in Berlin again! In any case, I could not stay here. The first thing I should do would be to quarrel with that insufferable young cad who insulted us last night. I am afraid, at the first opportunity, I should tell--"
"Hush!" she interrupted. "Oh, please hush! You must not talk like this, even over the telephone. Cannot you understand that you are not in England?"
"I am beginning to realise," he answered gruffly, "what it means not to be in a free country. I am leaving by the three o"clock train, Baroness.
Farewell!"
"But you must not go like this," she pleaded. "Come first and see me."
"No! It will only mean more disgrace for you. Besides--in any case, I have decided to go away without seeing you again."
Her voice was very soft. He found himself gripping the pages of the telephone book which hung by his side.
"But is that kind? Have I sinned, Mr. Francis Norgate?"
"Of course not," he answered, keeping his tone level, almost indifferent.
"I hope that we shall meet again some day, but not in Berlin."
There was a moment"s silence. He thought, even, that she had gone away.
Then her reply came back.
"So be it," she murmured. "Not in Berlin. Au revoir!"
CHAPTER III
Faithful to his insular prejudices, Norgate, on finding that the other seat in his coupe was engaged, started out to find the train attendant with a view to changing his place. His errand, however, was in vain. The train, it seemed, was crowded. He returned to his compartment to find already installed there one of the most complete and absolute types of Germanism he had ever seen. A man in a light grey suit, the waistcoat of which had apparently abandoned its efforts to compa.s.s his girth, with a broad, pink, good-humoured face, beardless and bland, flaxen hair streaked here and there with grey, was seated in the vacant place. He had with him a portmanteau covered with a linen case, his boots were a bright shade of yellow, his tie was of white satin with a design of lavender flowers. A pair of black kid gloves lay by his side. He welcomed Norgate with the bland, broad smile of a fellow-pa.s.senger whose one desire it is to make a lifelong friend of his temporary companion.
"We have the compartment to ourselves, is it not so? You are English?"
Some queer chance founded upon his ill-humour, his disgust of Germany and all things in it, induced Norgate to tell a deliberate falsehood.
"Sorry," he replied in English. "I don"t speak German."
The man"s satisfaction was complete.
"But I--I speak the most wonderful English. It pleases me always to speak English. I like to do so. It is practice for me. We will talk English together, you and I. These comic papers, they do not amuse. And books in the train, they make one giddy. What I like best is a companion and a bottle of Rhine wine."
"Personally," Norgate confessed gruffly, "I like to sleep."
The other seemed a little taken aback but remained, apparently, full of the conviction that his overtures could be nothing but acceptable.
"It is well to sleep," he agreed, "if one has worked hard. Now I myself am a hard worker. My name is Selingman. I manufacture crockery which I sell in England. That is why I speak the English language so wonderful.
For the last three nights I have been up reading reports of my English customers, going through their purchases. Now it is finished. I am well posted. I am off to sell crockery in London, in Manchester, in Leeds, in Birmingham. I have what the people want. They will receive me with open arms, some of them even welcome me at their houses. Thus it is that I look forward to my business trip as a holiday."
"Very pleasant, I"m sure," Norgate remarked, curling himself up in his corner. "Personally, I can"t see why we can"t make our own crockery. I get tired of seeing German goods in England."
Herr Selingman was apparently a trifle hurt, but his efforts to make himself agreeable were indomitable.
"If you will," he said, "I can explain why my crockery sells in England where your own fails. For one thing, then, I am cheaper. There is a system at my works, the like of which is not known in England. From the raw material to the finished article I can produce forty per cent.
cheaper than your makers, and, mind you, that is not because I save in wages. It is because of the system in the various departments. I do not like to save in wages," he went on. "I like to see my people healthy and strong and happy. I like to see them drink beer after work is over, and on feast days and Sundays I like to see them sit in the gardens and listen to the band, and maybe change their beer for a bottle of wine.
Industrially, Mr. Englishman, ours is a happy country."
"Well, I hope you won"t think I am rude," Norgate observed, "but from the little I have seen of it I call it a beastly country, and if you don"t mind I am going to sleep."
Herr Selingman sat for several moments with his mouth still open. Then he gave a little grunt. There was not the slightest ill-humour in the e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n or in his expression. He was simply pained.
"I am sorry if I have talked too much," he said. "I forgot that you, perhaps, are tired. You have met with disappointments, maybe. I am sorry.
I will read now and not disturb you."
For an hour or so Norgate tried in vain to sleep. All this time the man opposite turned the pages of his book with the utmost cautiousness, moved on tiptoe once to reach down more papers, and held out his finger to warn the train attendant who came with some harmless question.
"The English gentleman," Norgate heard him whisper, "is tired. Let him sleep."
Soon after five o"clock, Norgate gave it up. He rose to his feet, stretched himself, and was welcomed with a pleasant smile from his companion.
"You have had a refreshing nap," the latter remarked, "and now, is it not so, you go to take a cup of English tea?"
"You are quite right," Norgate admitted. "Better come with me."
Herr Selingman smiled a smile of triumph. It was the reward of geniality, this! He was forming a new friendship!
"I come with great pleasure," he decided, "only while you drink the tea, I drink the coffee or some beer. I will see. I like best the beer," he explained, turning sidewise to get out of the door, "but it is not the best for my figure. I have a good conscience and a good digestion, and I eat and drink much. But it is good to be happy."
They made their way down to the restaurant car and seated themselves at a table together.
"You let me do the ordering," Herr Selingman insisted. "The man here, perhaps, does not speak English. So! You will drink your tea with me, sir. It is a great pleasure to me to entertain an Englishman. I make many friends travelling. I like to make friends. I remember them all, and sometimes we meet again. _Kellner_, some tea for the gentleman--English tea with what you call bread and b.u.t.ter. So! And for me--" Selingman paused for a moment and drew a deep sigh of resignation--"some coffee."
"Very kind of you, I"m sure," Norgate murmured.
Herr Selingman beamed.
"It is a great pleasure," he said, "but many times I wonder why you Englishmen, so clever, so world-conquering, do not take the trouble to make yourselves with the languages of other nations familiar. It means but a little study. Now you, perhaps, are in business?"
"Not exactly," Norgate replied grimly. "To tell you the truth, at the present moment I have no occupation."
"No occupation!"
Herr Selingman paused in the act of conveying a huge portion of rusk to his mouth, and regarded his companion with wonder.