THE LITTLE SUPPER PARTY Frédérique led us through a narrow hall, at the end of which we entered a small room, well carpeted and deliciously warm; in each corner, and between the windows, were boxes of growing flowers. The apartment was too elegant for a dining-room, and not enough so for a boudoir. A table was laid there, with all the luxurious appointments that add so much to the charm of a repast. "This, messieurs, is what I call my _Petit Trianon_, or my _petits appartements_--that is to say, it is the room where I receive my friends. I need not tell you that my husband is never admitted here. I believe that you did not come here to see him. We are like the sun and the moon: we are never seen together unless there is some serious disturbance in the solar system. As we have agreed that each of us shall enjoy absolute liberty, we live up to our agreement." "Ten id is apsoludely as if you haf no husbant, hein? Ha! ha!" "Oh! it isn't the same thing, by any means.--To table, messieurs!" We took our places, Frédérique between us, of course. Her affable, unconventional manner instantly put her guests at their ease. The baron was radiant; he rolled his eyes about, and kept repeating: "Ich loafe sehr viel your _betit Trille-anon_." "Flowers everywhere!" I said, glancing at those on the table, and at the boxes that surrounded us. "Yes, I adore them; I must always have some about me." "Birds of a feather flock together." "Oh! my dear Rochebrune, pray don't put me on a diet of insipid compliments! I detest them. I prefer the volnay. Come, messieurs, drink! Do you prefer chambertin--or pomard? You have only to speak." "I should mit bleazure trink all te drei." "And you are quite right. Vive variety! It is charming, isn't it, messieurs?" "It's very nice, in the matter of wine." "And in everything else! own up to it, hypocrite!" "I am too honest to contradict you." "That's right! Why, see my flowers--how lovely they are! these roses and camellias and hyacinths and cactuses! Would the bouquet be so pretty, if I had nothing but roses?" "Evidently, flowers are your passion." "Faith! yes; and I believe the only one I have ever had thus far. Perhaps that is the reason I have been so frivolous, so fickle." "I vould like to pe a tulib," murmured the baron. "You choose ill, baron; the tulip has very little charm for me; I care little for odorless flowers." "In tat case, I vould like to pe--a beony." "Ha! ha! ha! you are not happy in your choice of flowers. Well, messieurs, what did you think of Monsieur Sordeville's reception? Was the concert good? I arrived very late." "Faith! that was lucky for your ears; for there were a lady and a gentleman who put us to a severe test. By the way, a young man, with a very light complexion, sang some ballads tolerably well. Who was he, I wonder? He talked a good deal with Madame Sordeville."