Part 58 (1/2)

M. DORINET:--Madame Desjardins drew my attention to the toilette of Madame de Montparna.s.se. She said: ”_Mon Dieu!_ Monsieur Dorinet, are you not tired of seeing La Montparna.s.se in that everlasting old black gown?

My Rosalie says she is in mourning for her ugliness.”

MADAME DESJARDINS (_laughing heartily_):--_Eh bien--oui!_ I don't deny it; and Rosalie's _mot_ was not bad. And now, M'sieur the Englishman (_turning to me_), it is your turn to be betrayed. Monsieur, whose name I cannot p.r.o.nounce, said to me:--”Madame, the French, _selon moi_, are the best dressed and most _spirituel_ people of Europe. Their very silence is witty; and if mankind were, by universal consent, to go without clothes to-morrow, they would wear the primitive costume of Adam and Eve more elegantly than the rest of the world, and still lead the fas.h.i.+on,”

(_A murmur of approval on the part of the company, who take the compliment entirely aux serieux_.)

MYSELF (_agreeably conscious of having achieved popularity_):--Our hostess's deafness having unfortunately excluded her from this part of the game, I was honored with the confidence of Mdlle. Honoria, who informed me that she is to make her _debut_ before long at the Theatre Francais, and hoped that I would take tickets for the occasion.

MDLLE. ROSALIE (_satirically_):--_Brava_, Honoria! What a woman of business you are!

MDLLE. HONORIA (_affecting not to hear this observation_)--

”_Roses bloom in the fourth, and your secret, my dear, Which you whispered so softly just now in my ear, I repeat word for word for the others to hear_.”

Marie said to me.... _Tiens_! Marie, don't pull my dress in that way.

You shouldn't have said it, you know, if it won't bear repeating! Marie said to me that she could have either Monsieur Muller or Monsieur Lenoir, by only holding up her finger--but she couldn't make up her mind which she liked best.

MDLLE. MARIE (_half crying_):--Nay, Honoria--how can you be so--so unkind ... so spiteful? I--I did not say I could have either M'sieur Muller or... or...

M. LENOIR (_with great spirit and good breeding_):--Whether Mademoiselle used those words or not is of very little importance. The fact remains the same; and is as old as the world. Beauty has but to will and to conquer.

MULLER:--Order in the circle! The game waits for Mademoiselle Marie.

MARIE (_hesitatingly_):--

”_Roses bloom in the fourth, and your secret_”

M'sieur Lenoir said that--that he admired the color of my dress, and that blue became me more than lilac.

MULLER: (_coldly_)--_Pardon_, Mademoiselle, but I happened to overhear what Monsieur Lenoir whispered just now, and those were not his words.

Monsieur Lenoir said, ”Look in”... but perhaps Mademoiselle would prefer me not to repeat more?

MARIE--(_in great confusion_):--As--as you please, M'sieur.

MULLER:--Then, Mademoiselle, I will be discreet, and I will not even impose a forfeit upon you, as I might do, by the laws of the game. It is for Monsieur Lenoir to continue.

M. LENOIR:--I do not remember what Monsieur Muller whispered to me at the close of the last round.

MULLER (_pointedly_):--_Pardon,_ Monsieur, I should have thought that scarcely possible.

M. LENOIR:--It was perfectly unintelligible, and therefore left no impression on my memory.

MULLER:--Permit me, then, to have the honor of a.s.sisting your memory. I said to you--”Monsieur, if I believed that any modest young woman of my acquaintance was in danger of being courted by a man of doubtful character, do you know what I would do? I would hunt that man down with as little remorse as a ferret hunts down a rat in a drain.”

M. LENOIR:--The sentiment does you honor, Monsieur; but I do not see the application,

MULLER:--Vous ne le trouvez pas, Monsieur?

M. LENOIR--(_with a cold stare, and a scarcely perceptible shrug of the shoulders_):--Non, Monsieur.