Part 31 (1/2)
”Very well.--But there are some men who have a perfect mania for singing.”
”And who often sing false--as, for instance---- I declare four queens!”
While these gentlemen played, Anatole shouted at the top of his voice:
”'Come, lady fair; I await thee, I await thee, I await thee!'”
”That is horrible!” said the count.
”It sounds like the hissing of a railroad train when it stops.”
”I have a sequence!”
”It seems that we are not to see Madame Monleard and her husband this evening?”
”No; they have gone to some grand affair.--I declare a single bezique!”
”Ah! Monleard doesn't propose that his little wife shall be bored; they are going to parties all the time.”
”Yes; if only it will last.--I declare four kings--eighty!”
”And why shouldn't it last?--Mon Dieu! how that fellow makes my ears ache with his 'I await thee! I await thee!'--I am sorry for Mademoiselle Adolphine.”
”Haven't you heard, monsieur le comte,--a simple marriage in diamonds,--that Monsieur Monleard was speculating on the Bourse in a--another marriage, clubs this time--in a terrific way?”
”Faith! no.--Why, I am not counting at all. It's that infernal singer's fault!”
”I have been told for a fact that he has lost a lot of money lately.”
”We must never believe more than half of what we're told, you know.”
”Double bezique!”
”Deuce take it! how you are beating me! Ah! they're singing a duet now; we shall hear Mademoiselle Adolphine, at all events. If she could only drown that fellow's voice!”
”I have made eleven hundred on this deal.”
”And I a hundred and twenty. I am a long way behind. Do we count the fifteen hundred?”
”To be sure; when you get three beziques, they count fifteen hundred.
But, in order to count them, you must still have the first two in hand.”
”Yes, yes, I know that. What is it they're singing now? Something else from _La Dame Blanche_, I think.”
”It's your play, monsieur le comte.”
”Yes, so it is; I beg your pardon. It's that man's voice that confuses me, or rather stuns me. Oh! what a squealer! Poor girl! she has a stock of patience.”
”I declare a royal marriage!”