Birmingham speech? " He shrugged his shoulders. " Yes," he
answered, " and what action has been taken since ? Birmingham was but a manoeuvre, or at best a momentary gesture of pique. I beg you not to be so sentimental. Take my advice. Ignore the Foreign Office and focus your attention upon the Federation of British Industries. That is where the real power lies. And remember, my dear friend, remember the secret de l'Empereur." My retort to this last insult was drowned by the orchestra, which at that moment burst into an impassioned rendering of the Marseillaise. Walking back through Covent Garden, I paused under the portico of St. Paul's Church, beloved of Hogarth and of Shaw. Soothed by the continuity of English art and letters, I was able to reflect without indig- nation upon the monstrous allegations of my French acquaintance. I felt wounded, of course, but not unduly rancorous. The sound of distant cheering reached me from the precincts of the theatre. " That man," I reflected, " must have derived his fantastic theory from the conver- sations of sound business men."
Previous page
