Page:The Prime Minister by Hall Caine.djvu/41

Rh  That would be understood by our neighbour nation to be midnight in the country of dispatch, wouldn't it?  Certainly.  Have you remembered the difference in time?  Eh?  The difference of an hour between Greenwich and mid-European time?  [Embarrassed.] No, I confess, I had not remembered that.  Twelve o'clock in mid-Europe will be eleven in London. Therefore————  Therefore there is less than a quarter of an hour left.  That is so.  [Sinking into a seat.] And if the reply does not come within a quarter of an hour the absence of an answer will be a declaration of war.

[A strained and painful silence for a moment.

Rh