Page:A Gentleman From France (1924).djvu/41

 it would weary my reader, but suffice it to say that they were legion.

Prime ministers, ambassadors, dramatists, poets, and actors,—in short, all the great people who came to the château had first to do homage to Madame's latest dog love; and of one accord, being very polite people, they pronounced him the most wonderful dog they had ever seen, although in secret afterwards some of them expressed themselves very freely to the contrary.

But none of these things ever came to the ears of either the actress or Pierre. If he did occasionally hear other things not intended for his keen cocked ears, he kept his own counsel and so kept out of trouble.

Early in the summer—it was July by the calendar, but of course Pierre did not know that—he noted great excitement