It chanced, when my turn came, that the Marquis de Vierle, himself, was
in the room; and, when he saw my face, his welcome was intensely
ardent. He apologized effusively that I had been received at the
regular entrance and, so, had been compelled to wait my turn for
identification--but, surely, my regrets had been noted.
I told him he was quite right--that I had regretted, and that the
apology was, really, due from me for coming, and that I had enjoyed
being pushed and jostled, once again, like an ordinary mortal. He
wanted to treat me with all the deference due me and I very firmly
declined. I told him, frankly, I was there to see and enjoy and not to
be seen nor to receive special attentions. I asked him, as a
particular favor, to tell no one of my presence and to permit me to
remain absolutely incog.; that, for this night, I was plain Armand
Dalberg and not a Royal Highness nor an Archduke.
The house was one of the largest in the Capital, standing in a park of
its own, on the edge of the inner town, and had been the residence of
the French Legation for a century. It had been improved and added to,
at various periods, until it had taken on about every known style of
architecture.
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