"But that's a royal palace!" cried Boyen-Xènes-Baguines, startled out of his rêverie induced by tobacco.
"So I gather," replied Monte Fato – whether ironically or naïvely, no one could tell. "I have no doubt that it will be satisfactory. I have also bought a delightful suburban villa in Barroue-Don."
"Mon cher," said De Brie, rising, "your guest is charming, but there is no company so good that one does not leave it, and even for bad company, as Aragon observed on leaving the bed of Arwenne to chase after Orcs. I must go to the ministry, but I will use the memory of this meal as a consolation for the abominable taste in mushrooms that reigns there. Au revoir, messieurs; votre très humble erchamion."
And he left, crying, "Make way for the seigneur of the Ring!"
"I too must be off," said Boyen-Xènes-Baguines. "I have to offer my readers something better than yet another of Sacqueville-Danglars's speeches."
"De grâce, monsieur, not a word; let me have the honor of introducing the Count to the world," said Réginard.
