"I will see."
He returned in a few minutes.
"Lord Cowley is not in Vienna now. He is at the Grand Baths."
"Still, there is somebody at the embassy office. I must go there."
After a brief interview with his superior, the permission was accorded.
The officer and I reached the embassy building, and as I passed the jovial English porter at the door, my heart rose, for already I felt the shadow of the British lion over me.
A pale, emaciated, gentlemanly youth, with a gold eyeglass, was standing with his back to the fire, reading a copy of the "Times," while at his feet lay a magnificent bull-and-mastiff, by far the more dignified animal of the two. The exquisite gave no sign of his knowledge of our presence.
"Ahem!"
No attention.
The dog yawned, the great clock on the wall ticked with an aggravating loudness, and at last I broke out—