In that case perhaps M. Bertrand des Amis would not be too
exigent. And anyway, Andre-Louis had not eaten for four-and-twenty
hours, and whilst the employment here offered - the precise nature
of which he was yet to ascertain - did not appear to be such as
Andre-Louis would deliberately have chosen, he was in no case now to
be fastidious.
Then, too, he liked the name of Bertrand des Amis. It felicitously
combined suggestions of chivalry and friendliness. Also the man's
profession being of a kind that is flavoured with romance it was
possible that M. Bertrand des Amis would not ask too many questions.
In the end he climbed to the second floor. On the landing he paused
outside a door, on which was written "Academy of M. Bertrand des
Amis." He pushed this open, and found himself in a sparsely
furnished, untenanted antechamber. From a room beyond, the door of
which was closed, came the stamping of feet, the click and slither
of steel upon steel, and dominating these sounds a vibrant sonorous
voice speaking a language that was certainly French; but such
French as is never heard outside a fencing-school.
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