He is known for a _Nero_,--that is, a fanatical reactionist.

The secretaries of the embassy despise him, and yet are familiar with him; tell him they know he is going to lie, and yet listen to what he says.

He smirks, bends double, pockets his money and laughs at us in his sleeve.

Verily, friend Lasagni, you are quite right! But I regret the eighteenth century--there were then such things as canes..