Herbert Briarfield looked towards Signor Ricordo with a kind of nervous laugh. Even yet he did not know how to regard him.
"I agree with your—what do you call him?—Dr. Johnson. When he was asked where he would rather live in the summer, he said, 'On the whole, London.' 'And where in the winter?' asked his questioner. 'Ah, in winter,' he said, 'there is no place else. Yes, London is interesting.'"
"What impressed you most in London?" asked Briarfield, for want of a better question.
Ricordo hesitated a second.
"The friendliness of the waiters, I think," he replied.
All three burst out laughing.
"Good," said Herr Trübner. "Ah, it is true, true. A man walks London streets and never meets a friend; but let him go into a restaurant, and the waiters take him into their confidence immediately."
"And did you visit our national institutions while in London?"
"Yes, I worked very hard. I saw everything. East, west, north, south, I went everywhere—everywhere. I wanted to see, to understand."
"And your impressions?"