"Yes, yes." I gave him the name instantly, hoping he would go.
"We don't need him right off; he can come here later, and you can talk to him yourself. Maria does not speak French."
Mademoiselle gasped for breath, while he looked about him approvingly.
"Real nice house you have, Madame, not very central, but we don't mind being in a quiet part of Paris, as Maria wants to learn French"; and seeing the conservatory, he remarked: "Arthur can play in there. That'll do splendidly." After an awkward pause: "Well, if the rooms are ready, we can come right in. Maria will be wondering why I have been so long." I also wondered why he had been so long!
To cap the climax, he handed Mademoiselle a five-franc piece, saying: "I guess this will cover the cab. The coachman can keep the change."
A light dawned on me! He thought this was a hotel!
I said, "When you get settled in your hotel I will come and see you."
"What! Can't you take us in? We counted on coming to your hotel."
I laughed outright. Mademoiselle raised what she is pleased to call her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders,
I explained to my guest his mistake. Instead of saying, "Oh! that's all right," he said, "Well, I'll be blessed," and without wasting any more time than for a hasty good-by he marched out to join the tired Maria, the baby, the nurse, and Arthur. We watched them as they drove off, all gazing out of the window at the hotel which was not a hotel.