He continues, always
with my hand in his, "_J'arrive! inattendu! Mais, mon cher_,"--here
he turns off the French stop of his polyglot organ, and, as it were,
turns on the English stop,--continuing his address to me in very
distinctly-pronounced English, "I wrote to you to say I would be
here," then pressing the French stop, he concludes with, "_ce matin,
n'est-ce pas?_"
"_Parfaitement, mon cher_," I reply, giving myself a chance of airing
a little French, being on perfectly safe ground, as he thoroughly
understands English; indeed, he understands several languages, and, if
I flounder out of my depth in foreign waters, one stroke will bring
me safe on to the British rock of intelligibility again; or, if I
obstinately persist in floundering, and am searching for the word as
for a plank, he will jump in and rescue me. Under these circumstances,
I am perfectly safe in talking French to him "_Mais je ne vous
attendais ce matin_"--I've got an idea that this is something
uncommonly grammatical--"_a cause de votre lettre que je viens de
recevoir_"--this, I'll swear, is idiomatic--"_ce matin.
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