Page:Armistice Day.djvu/431

Rh. There ought to be an elevator.

. Yes.

. Put one in. Send me the bill.

(nodding). Thank you. We need it badly. ( leaves the room by the first door.) These old houses, very picturesque, very ornamental—

. But no conveniences?

. The men who built them didn't know the meaning of the word. We felt that when we turned this into a hospital. Think of it: it used to be a show place! Not much left of it now. There was a bed here—right where you are sitting; one of those great, big, canopied affairs—

. Unsanitary.

. Very. That's why I had it taken out. But Henry of Navarre had spent a night in it.

. Even Henry of Navarre had to give way to modern efficiency!

(nodding). Yes. (He points to the door through which has gone.) That was his anteroom the next morning. Can you picture it? The courtiers: the crowds of lords and ladies: the nobility of France waiting to greet His Majesty!

(strolling over). Nothing like that to-day, is there?