"
I waved my hand in deprecation and told her it did not matter in
the least. The della Scalas, supreme lords of Verona for many
generations, were every man jack of them so parented. Even
William the Conqueror--
"_Tiens_ cried Antoinette, consoled, "and he became Emperor of
Germany--he and Bismarck!"
Antoinette's historical sense is rudimentary. I have not tried
since to develop it.
When I brought my victim of foreign tyranny to Lingfield Terrace,
Stenson, I believe, nearly fainted. He is the correctest of
English valets, and his only vice, I believe, is the accordion,
on which he plays jaunty hymn-tunes when I am out of the house.
When he had recovered he asked me, respectfully, how they were to
understand each other. I explained that he would either have to
learn French or teach Antoinette English. What they have done, I
gather, is to invent a nightmare of a _lingua franca_ in which
they appear to hold amicable converse. Now and again they have
differences of opinion, as to-day, over my taste for _veau a
l'oseille_; but, on the whole, their relations are harmonious,
and she keeps him in a good-humour: Naturally, she feeds the
brute.
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