“I have the pleasure, I believe,” he said in English, with only a trace of the softer accent, “of making the acquaintance of young men who fly like birds, and, also, who have seen much in the battlefields.”
The boys bent their heads in acknowledgment of his kindly accusation.
“The captain here tells me that you have an important mission in Paris, of a strictly personal nature,” continued the genial host, when all were seated.
“We have, sir,” responded Henri.
“You are a Trouville, I understand?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Henri.
“I know that family well,” observed the questioner. “Some of my people and yours, history tells, had mutual interests in the long ago.”
“I am very proud of that, sir.”
“Why, you are quite a young diplomat,” laughed the gentleman behind the desk.
“But,” he continued, “it is at the present we are looking.”