"
"I trust," Mr. Van Reinberg murmured, "that they are big enough."
"In the first place," I continued, "I doubt whether Mr. de Valentin is a
sufficiently heroic figure to fire the imagination of the people. He does
not seem to me to have the daring to carry a mob with him, and he will
need that. And in the second place--"
"Well?"
I glanced around the room. We were absolutely alone, but I dropped my
voice.
"Is this in confidence, Mr. Van Reinberg?" I asked.
"Sure!"
"I do not believe that the Power whose intervention he relies so much
upon is England. I do not believe that my country would risk so much to
gain so little. We are on excellent terms with France as it is. Secret
negotiations with Mr. de Valentin would be unpardonable chicanery on our
part, and I do not think that our ministers would lend themselves to it."
Mr. Van Reinberg nodded.
"Whom do you believe he referred to then?" he asked.
"Germany," I told him. "That is where I believe that he has made a fatal
mistake. He will never make a successful bid for the sympathies of the
French people, if he presents himself before them backed by their
historic enemy.
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