"It was the first time they ever put electricity in the Capitol."
"They put too much in," he said, "and such a lot of people! Dear me! I shall never forget it. Didn't I look bored?"
"No, your Majesty looked very serious and as handsome as a Lohengrin" I answered.
"Lohengrin, really! I did not see any Elsa I wanted to save."
"Oh, I meant only a Lohengrin de passage," I replied.
The Emperor laughed. "That is good."
"I recollect what your Majesty wrote on the photograph you gave Monsieur Crispi."
"Really? What was it? I don't remember."
"You wrote: 'Gentilhomme, gentilhomme; corsaire, corsaire et demi'."
"What a good memory you have!" he said, and added, very kindly, "I am very glad to have you and your husband here, and I hope you will like Berlin. But"—holding a finger warningly—"don't look for many Lohengrins."