“Bread-and-butter, thickish; and tea—the tea of the grocer du pays.”
“Miséricorde!! Monsieur le Duc will sup?”
“Possibly. As for tea, I understand that it would be appropriate if you added a shrimp. Monsieur, we play a part!”
“A part, Monsieur le Duc?”
“There’s a lady in the case, Alphonse.”
“Everything explains itself!” cried Alphonse, looking as though he might be about to throw himself on the Duke’s bosom. “And she loves ze shrimp?”
“Adores it.”
“It is not to be had in this wilderness, I fear.”
“No, Alphonse. Go and get it—at Greenwich, or Wapping, or wherever it lives. Leave at once. Be back at six-thirty. Good-bye, Alphonse.”
“A lady in the case! I will find ze shrimp!” said Alphonse, as he left the parlour.