He stood at the door, welcoming arrival after arrival,
the happiest man of all the joyous company who honored Belmont that
day.
A carriage with outriders brought the Count de la Galissoniere and
his friend Herr Kalm and Dr. Gauthier, the last a rich old bachelor,
handsome and generous, the physician and savant par excellence of
Quebec. After a most cordial reception by the Bourgeois the
Governor walked among the guests, who had crowded up to greet him
with the respect due to the King's representative, as well as to
show their personal regard; for the Count's popularity was unbounded
in the Colony except among the partizans of the Grand Company.
Herr Kalm was presently enticed away by a bevy of young ladies,
Hortense de Beauharnais leading them, to get the learned professor's
opinion on some rare specimens of botany growing in the park.
Nothing loath--for he was good-natured as he was clever, and a great
enthusiast withal in the study of plants--he allowed the merry,
talkative girls to lead him where they would. He delighted them in
turn by his agreeable, instructive conversation, which was rendered
still more piquant by the odd medley of French, Latin, and Swedish
in which it was expressed.
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