Page's guests on this occasion learned much political history of the early twentieth century, and the mutual confessions of Mr.Lloyd George and Mr.Balfour gave these two men an insight into each others' motives and manoeuvres which was almost as revealing.

"Yes, you caught me that time," Mr.Lloyd George would say, and then he would counter with an episode of a political battle in which he had got the better of Mr.Balfour.The whole talk was lively and bantering, and accompanied with much laughter; and all this time shells from that long-distance gun were dropping at fifteen minute intervals upon the devoted women and children of Paris and the Germans were every hour driving the British back in disorder.

At times the conversation took a more philosophic turn.

Would the men present like to go back twenty-five years and live their lives all over again?
The practically unanimous decision of every man was that he would not wish to do so.
All this, of course, was merely on the surface; despite the laughter and the banter, there was only one thing which engrossed the Ambassador's guests, although there were not many references to it.

That was the struggle which was then taking place in France.