This very learned and intensely uninteresting discussion was here summarily put a stop to by the appearance in the room of several ladies who had respectively claims upon the respective talkers, and who were ready and willing to inspect the inside of the luncheon hall.
“How singularly our hours of refection have changed,” remarked Mr. L. Inthelaw. “You remember that in the sixteenth century the saying was:
‘Lever à cinq, diner à neuf,
Souper à cinq, coucher à neuf,
Fait vivre d’ans nonante et neuf.’
“And even in the early days of the reign of Louis XIV the dinner hour of the court was eleven o’clock, or noon at the latest.”
“Yes,” I replied, “I have noticed that the historians say that one of the causes which hastened the death of Louis XII was his changing his dinner hour from nine to twelve at the solicitation of his wife. What a fine house this is!”
“Well, sir,” was the response, “believe a stranger and a foreigner when he tells you that, good as are some of the hotels in Europe, the American ones surpass them all both in size and in general fitness of purpose.”
“I am glad to hear you say so. I presume that the great extent of our territory, the natural disposition of our people to travel, our extensive network of railways, have developed our hotel system, and made it, as you say, without a parallel in the world,” I replied.
“Have you traveled much, sir?” asked Mrs. Lawyer.
“Yes, well nigh all round the world. And so, I flatter myself, I have had more experience in hotels than most men.”
“You must have seen a great variety,” I remarked.