"I've counted up to 99, Sire, but I'm not quite sure that I'm exact. A bay horse passed, and I wasn't sure whether to count him or not."
"That's all right, we'll take this up another time. I've spoken of you to my little friend and she is crazy to meet you, Wulf."
"Oh, Sire! Sire!"
"Yes ... so come along."
"To her house?"
"Oh, no—this lady is poetic, she wants the first meeting to take place in appropriate surroundings."
While Wulf was cudgeling his brains to think up a verse or two to fit the occasion, Fandor guided him down the Rue Castiglione, the Rue de Rivoli and at length reached the Place de la Concorde. He cast an anxious glance as he passed at the mysterious repairs, repairs not indexed by the administration, and then turned to the Singing Fountains.
"Sire, is this the place?"
"Yes, Wulf, but first there are a few formalities to be gone through."
The two men had reached the parapet overlooking the Seine.