M. de Pérégrin himself opened the carriage door, and, the wheels of the carriage still rolling, he leapt like a young hobbite onto the pavement, rang, entered the palais with his domestic, and was announced to the Count.
M. de Pérégrin was pacing the entire length of the salon for the third time, when he apperceived the Count of Monte Fato standing on the threshold.
"Eh! It's M. de Pérégrin," said Monte Fato. "I thought I had misunderstood."
"Yes, it is I!" said the Count de Pérégrin in a hoarse voice.
"It remains for me to enquire why I have the honor of seeing M. de Pérégrin so early," said Monte Fato. "You cannot have yet had your second breakfast."
"Nor my first, monsieur. I have well other concerns at the moment. You had an encounter this morning with my son, monsieur?" said Pérégrin.
"As you can see, he did not kill me, or even fight," said Monte Fato.
"And nevertheless, he regarded you as the cause of his father's dishonor, as the cause of that horrible ruin that, at this moment, overwhelms my house worse than the wave that, before destroying the Empire of Numéneur, ruined the royal grounds at Méneltarme, so that they were a shocking sight."
