"
"Isn't there?" Penelope answered. "You are an Englishman, and you
should know. Are you convinced, then, that your country today is
at the height of her prosperity, safe and sound, bound to go on
triumphant, prosperous, without the constant care of her men?"
Somerfield looked up at her in growing amazement.
"What on earth's got hold of you, Penelope?" he asked. "Have you
been reading the sensational papers, or stuffing yourself up with
jingoism, or what?"
She laughed.
"None of those things, I can assure you," she said. "A man like
the Prince makes one think, because, you see, every standard of
life we have is a standard of comparison. When one sees the sort
of man he is, one wonders. When one sees how far apart he is from
you Englishmen in his ideals and the way he spends his life, one
wonders again."
Somerfield shrugged his shoulders.
"We do well enough," he said. "Japan is the youngest of the
nations. She has a long way to go to catch us up."
"We do well enough!" she repeated under her breath. "There was a
great city once which adopted that as her motto,--people dig up
mementoes of her sometimes from under the sands."
Somerfield looked at her in an aggrieved fashion.
"Well," he said, "I thought that this was to be an amusing
luncheon party."
"You should have talked more to Lady Grace," she answered. "I am
sure that she is quite ready to believe that you are perfection,
and the English army the one invincible institution in the world.
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