As he was the President's personal representative, and carried a letter from the President to the Kaiser, an audience could not be refused--indeed, it had already been duly arranged; but there was a quiet opposition to his consorting with the "All Highest" alone.

It was not usual, Colonel House was informed, for His Imperial Majesty to discuss such matters except in the presence of a representative of the Foreign Office.

Germany had not yet recovered from the shock which the Emperor's conversation with certain foreign correspondents had given the nation.

The effects were still felt of the famous interviews of October 28, 1908, which, when published in the London _Telegraph_, had caused the bitterest resentment in Great Britain.

The Kaiser had given his solemn word that he would indulge in no more indiscretions of this sort, and a private interview with Colonel House was regarded by his advisers as a possible infraction of that promise.