Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive) [Illustration: frontispiece (Copyright 1905 by G. Barrie & Sons)] A GENTLEMEN'S DINNER AT DEFFIEUX'S "Now, then, messieurs, as one should never be ungrateful, as one should bestow at least a single thought on those who have made one happy, I drink to my mistresses, messieurs, to whom I bid a last farewell to-day!" NOVELS BY Paul de Kock VOLUME V FRÉDÉRIQUE VOL. I PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH [Illustration: colophon] GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS THE JEFFERSON PRESS BOSTON NEW YORK _Copyrighted, 1903-1904, by G. B. & Sons._ FRÉDÉRIQUE I--A GENTLEMEN'S DINNER AT DEFFIEUX'S II--THE CHAPTER OF CONFIDENCES.--THREE SOUS III--BLIND-MAN'S-BUFF.--AT THE WINDOWS.--IN A BALLOON IV--THE LOST KEY V--FILLETTES, GRISETTES, AND LORETTES VI--MONSIEUR FOUVENARD'S BONNE FORTUNE.--THE GINGERBREAD WOMAN VII--MADEMOISELLE MIGNONNE VIII--AN EXPEDIENT IX--THE WEDDING PARTY IN THE FRONT ROOMS X--A PINCH OF SNUFF.--A FAMILY TABLEAU XI--MADAME FRÉDÉRIQUE XII--THE WEDDING PARTY IN THE REAR ROOM XIII--THE BRIDE AND GROOM AND THEIR KINSFOLK XIV--A YOUNG DANDY.--A DELIGHTFUL HUSBAND XV--A VAGABOND XVI--MADAME LANDERNOY XVII--MADAME SORDEVILLE AND HER RECEPTION XVIII--BARON VON BRUNZBRACK XIX--THE LITTLE SUPPER PARTY XX--BETWEEN THE PIPE AND THE CHAMPAGNE XXI--CONFIDENCES XXII--MONSIEUR DAUBERNY XXIII--A MOMENT OF FORGETFULNESS XXIV--COQUETRY AND BACCARAT.--A FIASCO XXV--A YOUNG MOTHER XXVI--THE SQUIRREL XXVII--A CONSULTATION XXVIII--A WORD OF ADVICE.--AN ASSIGNATION XXIX--AN ENCOUNTER ON THE CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES XXX--CONFIDENCE IS OF SLOW GROWTH XXXI--DISAPPOINTED HOPES XXXII--A REVELATION I A GENTLEMEN'S DINNER AT DEFFIEUX'S "A lady said to me one day: "'Monsieur Rochebrune, would it be possible for you to love two women at once?' "'I give you my word, madame,' I answered, frankly, 'that I could love half a dozen, and perhaps more; for it has often happened that I have loved more than two at the same time.' "My reply called forth, on the part of the lady in question, a gesture in which there was something very like indignation, and she said, in a decidedly sarcastic tone: "'For my part, monsieur, I assure you that I would not be content with a sixth of the heart of a man whom I had distinguished by my favor; and if I were foolish enough to feel the slightest inclination for him, I should very soon be cured of it when I saw that his love was such a commonplace sentiment.'