“Yes, your grace, like the king——”
“And why like the king?”
“Because, on the list of your guests, is the name of a king.”
“Not so, sir, you mistake; all my guests to-day are simply noblemen.”
“Your grace is surely jesting; the Count Haga,[A] who is among the guests——”
“Well, sir!”
“The Count Haga is a king.”
“I know no king so called.”
“Your grace must pardon me then,” said the maître-d’hôtel, bowing, “but, I believed, supposed——”
“Your business, sir, is neither to believe nor suppose; your business is to read, without comment, the orders I give you. When I wish a thing to be known, I tell it; when I do not tell it, I wish it unknown.”