"I'm afraid it's bad diplomacy, sir, to go to his house like this—he is vain, you know," the younger man observed with a frown.
"Tut, tut, Boy, it's no time for ceremony. Who cares a copper!"
The clock in the church tower struck ten as Hay sprang up the steps and rang the bell.
"I hope he hasn't gone to bed," the Secretary said.
"At ten o'clock?" the President laughed, "a great general about to march on the most important campaign of his life—hardly."
The straight orderly saluted and ushered them into the elegant reception room—the room so often graced by the Prince de Joinville and the Comte de Paris, of the General's staff.
The orderly sniffed the air in a superior butler style:
"The General has not come in yet, gentlemen."
"We'll wait," was the President's quick response.
They sat in silence and the minutes dragged.