"General Fraser-Freer, retired.

We have come on a matter of supreme importance--" The old man muttered something I could not catch.

I could see that he had been hard hit by the loss of his elder son.

I asked them to be seated; the general complied, but the boy walked the floor in a manner most distressing.
"I shall not be long," he remarked.

"Nor at a time like this is one in the mood to be diplomatic.