"It is true that I might; but I should have missed a very fine comedy.
Madame, I compliment you. How well you have kept undiscovered, even
undreamt of, this charming intrigue!"

Madame gazed at the door and wondered if she could reach it before he
could.

"So, sometimes you are called 'Diane'? You are no longer the huntress;
you are Daphne!"

"Monsieur!"

"And you would turn into a laurel tree! My faith, Madame, it was a
charming scene! You are as erudite as a student fresh from the
Sorbonne."

"Monsieur, this is far away from the subject."

"Let me see; there was a line worthy of Monsieur de Saumaise at his
best. Ah, yes! 'I kiss your handsome grey eyes a thousand times'! Ah
well, let us give the Chevalier credit; he certainly has a handsome
pair of eyes, as many a dame and demoiselle at court will attest. It
was truly a delightful letter; only the music of it was somewhat
inharmonious to my ears."

"Take care, Monsieur, that I do not choose the block. I am not wholly
without courage."

"Pardon me! Jealousy has an evil sting. I ask you to pardon me.
Besides, it was evident that you had some definite purpose in trifling