PARIS, _May, 1897_.
Dear L.,--I can hardly believe that we have been here a month. The
time has slipped by, as it has a way of doing when one is
frightfully busy; in my case it was particularly exasperating.
Johan's secretary took rooms for us at the Hôtel Chatham, which
was not a very good choice, as you will see.
The day for Johan to present his _lettres de créance_ was fixed
for the 20th of April. M. Crozier, the gentleman who introduces
Ambassadors and Ministers to the President, appeared with two
landaus, escorted by a detachment of the _Garde Nationale_.
The little courtyard of the hotel could not contain more than the
carriages; the horsemen were obliged to stay in the very narrow
rue Daunou, which they filled from one end to the other.
While the two gentlemen were exchanging their greetings I slipped
out and walked down the rue de la Paix, which I found barred from
the rue Daunou as far as the rue de Rivoli.