Of course, there is a great deal of amusing naivety in the deeds and words of Lady V. What is important, however, is that she has a sense, or more precisely a presentiment, of the proximity of the political and social catastrophe towards which England is heading.

Prytz and I sat and talked for three hours in ‘Mirabelle’ today. We discussed various matters – not only current events. Prytz’s general mood is quite remarkable. He thinks that the world is drifting towards catastrophe, recalling in its importance the fall of the Roman Empire. The old order has had its day. The ruling classes of England, France and many other states are rotten and bankrupt. The Allies are losing the war less because of a shortage of tanks and planes than because of the weakness of their spiritual armour. The Allied armies have no idea for which they would be willing to fight in earnest. For who can be inspired by the idea of ‘democracy’, as embodied by the regimes of England and France? The German army does have an idea – a stupid, crazy idea, but one which still inspires it. The Allied armies lack such an idea. That’s the crucial thing.

And yet Prytz is a major entrepreneur, a capitalist to his bones. He is head of SKF

A leading manufacturer of ball bearings.

and president of the match conglomerate founded by Kreuger.

Ivar Kreuger, Swedish industrialist.

True, Prytz is a clever and a progressive man, but still…

A sign of the times!