"I have never found," Julian replied, "that the pessimist walks
with his head turned towards the truth."
"How long have I," the Prime Minister asked, after a brief pause,
"for my reply?"
"Twenty-four hours," Julian told him, "during which time it is
hoped that you will communicate with our Allies and pave the way
for a further understanding. The Council of Labour asks you for
no pledge as to their safety. We know quite well that all of us
are, legally speaking, guilty of treason. On the other hand, a
single step towards the curtailment of our liberties will mean the
paralysis of every industry in the United Kingdom."
"I realise the position perfectly," Mr. Stenson observed drily.
"I do not exactly know what to say to you personally, Orden," he
added. "Perhaps it is as well for us that the Council should have
chosen an ambassador with whom discussion, at any rate, is
possible. Nevertheless, I feel bound to remind you that you have
taken upon your shoulders, considering your birth and education,
one of the most perilous loads which any man could carry."
"I have weighed the consequences," Julian replied, with a sudden
and curious sadness in his tone. "I know how the name of
`pacifist' stinks in the nostrils. I know how far we are
committed as a nation to a peace won by force of arms. I know how
our British blood boils at the thought of leaving a foreign
country with as many military advantages as Germany has acquired.
But I feel, too, that there is the other side.
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