It was arrayed in
a long, mouse-gray frock coat and shiny black trousers; a hand gloved in
lavender kid carried a top hat, while the other caressed, from time to
time, the carefully-waxed mustachios and imperial adorning a countenance
which was a singular mixture of craft and vanity. The little eyes were
half-concealed under drooping, baggy lids, the nose was long and sharp,
the lips very thin and severe, though at this moment parted in a smile
meant to be ingratiating. The figure entered and bowed profoundly,
disclosing Glueck's disgusted face in the doorway.
"Monsieur Tellier?" asked the Prince.
Tellier bowed again, and the Prince noticed the white line of scalp
leading, with geometrical precision, from the brow to the bald spot on
the crown, and then on down the back of the head. It reminded him,
somehow, of the Lake of Constance, with the Rhine flowing through it.
"You have something to communicate?" he continued, repressing a smile.
"Something of the first importance, Your Highness," said the Frenchman;
"otherwise I should not have taken the liberty of disturbing Your
Highness."
"Very well," and the Prince motioned him to a chair. "Sit down. I shall
be glad to hear you."
"It is something," said the Frenchman, with a glance at the open door,
"which should be communicated, if Your Highness please, in confidence.
Pages:
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68