"_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--"_à cause de votre lettre que je viens de
recevoir_"--this, I'll swear, is idiomatic--"_ce matin. La voilà!_" I
pride myself on "_La_," as representing my knowledge that "_lettre_,"
to which it refers, is feminine.

"_Caramba!_" he exclaims--an exclamation which, I have every reason
to suppose, from want of more definite information, is Spanish.
"_Caramba!_ that letter is from Edinburgh; _j'ai visité_ Glasgow,
the _Nord et partout, et je suis de retour_, I am going on business
to Reims, _pour revenir par Paris,--si vous voudrez me donner le
plaisir de votre compagnie--de Jeudi prochain à Mardi--vous serez mon
invité,--et je serai charmé, très charmé._"

[Illustration: "Au revoir!"]

Being already carried away in imagination to Reims, and returning by
Paris, I am at once inclined to reply,

"_Enchanté!_ with the greatest pleasure."