Chapter 11
Who Smoked the Gregorides BrandI left the presence of the
Japanese Emperor deeply disheartened.
It is true I had myself foretold this failure, and that his
Japanese majesty and his advisers had been good enough to
compliment me in almost extravagant terms on the energy and
resourcefulness I had shown in baffling the enemies of peace.
But I am unaccustomed to defeat, no matter what are the odds
against me, and I felt that the first point in the game had been
scored against by the formidable woman whose beauty and strangely
composite character had fascinated me, even while I was
countermining her.
For my work was not yet over. Indeed, it had but just begun.
I had not succeeded in averting war between the two great Powers
of Asia. But I hoped to thwart the efforts wh
