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“We shall see; but you must make no mistake. You imagine that women ‘do not count’ in the East, yet I assure you a foolish marriage for M. Kemal Pasha would be a national disaster.”

“I wish you were not so much against British rule.”

“I must face facts. You have been doing strange things here for the last twenty-three years. We do not object to you because you are rulers, but to the way in which you now rule. In Islam all the faiths co-operate. Israel has its place, and we venerate Christ no less than our Prophet. It is the same in England itself, yet the very men whom you receive in your London drawing-rooms are spoken of in Egypt and India as ‘natives.’”

“Neither can I understand that.” I agreed.

“No, you would not; but, if you really want to know the truth, we are discouraged and hurt. How can your Empire accept your ex-Premier’s pro-Greek campaign after his glorious speeches in support of democracy?”

“The more I think about it,” said I, “the less I understand.”

“Well, the consequences for us are black. We were so long content to pass our days in confidence that all was well with British at the helm. Now we are watching with anxious eyes; only we pray that the ‘to-morrow’ which all good Moslems desire, may yet come with M. Kemal Pasha. I have sons, who must all be soldiers, since we no longer trust the West.”