Yet it was evident, as Page came into his office this morning, that to Lord Robert, as to every member of the Government, the President's note, with its equivocal phrases, had been a terrible shock.

His manner was extremely courteous, as always, but he made no attempt to conceal his feelings.

Ordinarily Lord Robert did not wear his emotions on the surface; but he took occasion on this visit to tell Page how greatly the President's communication had grieved him.
"The President," he said, "has seemed to pass judgment on the allied cause by putting it on the same level as the German.

I am deeply hurt." Page conveyed Mr.Lansing's message that no such inference was justified.

But this was not reassuring.
"Moreover," Lord Robert added, "there is one sentence in the note--that in which the President says that the position of neutrals is becoming intolerable--that seems almost a veiled threat." Page hastened to assure Lord Robert that no threat was intended.
Lord Robert's manner became increasingly serious.
"There is nothing that the American Government or any other human power can do," he remarked slowly and solemnly, "which will bring this war to a close before the Allies have spent their utmost force to secure a victory.