Her heart beat wildly as she realized this; and the look in his eyes and the quick pain that twitched his face at the door haunted her.
The two men were talking of the new order of things in Vienna.
"The trouble is," said the Ambassador, "that Austria-Hungary is not a nation, but what Metternich called Italy--a geographical expression.
Where there are so many loose ends a strong grasp is necessary to hold them together." "And a weak hand," suggested Judge Claiborne, "might easily lose or scatter them." "Precisely.

And a man of character and spirit could topple down the card-house to-morrow, pick out what he liked, and create for himself a new edifice--and a stronger one.

I speak frankly.

Von Stroebel is out of the way; the new Emperor-king is a weakling, and if he should die to-night or to-morrow--" The Ambassador lifted his hands and snapped his fingers.
"Yes; after him, what ?" "After him his scoundrelly cousin Francis; and then a stronger than Von Stroebel might easily fail to hold the _disjecta membra_ of the Empire together." "But there are shadows on the screen," remarked Judge Claiborne.

"There was Karl--the mad prince." "Humph! There was some red blood in him; but he was impossible; he had a taint of democracy, treason, rebellion." Judge Claiborne laughed.
"I don't like the combination of terms.