"I beg your pardon, madame--I was thinking--I was surprised--not to find--another person here." Frédérique curled her lip and frowned slightly. "Do you refer to Monsieur Saint-Bergame?" she said. "Yes." "It is true that--three days ago--I should not have taken supper without him. But we have quarrelled." "Ah! you are on bad terms now?" "Yes." "Not for long, I presume?" "Perhaps so. When one has been able to pass two days without trying to see a certain person, one can pass a week; when one has passed a week, there is no reason why one should not pass a month, and so on. He did something that--displeased me, and I told him so. Instead of apologizing, he thought it became him to make a scene, and he made a miserable failure of it. He should have come the next day--that same night, indeed--to beg my pardon; he didn't do it, and now I think it would be too late. Look you, my friend--I want to call you my friend, and you give me leave, do you not, monsieur?--I believe that I can do without Saint-Bergame much better than I thought." As she spoke, she offered me her hand so prettily that I was tempted to throw my arms about her and kiss her. But I confined myself to taking her hand and putting it to my lips; whereupon she hastily withdrew it, crying: "Well, well! what in heaven's name is he doing? Are men in the habit of kissing their male friends' hands? that is a new idea, on my word!" XX BETWEEN THE PIPE AND THE CHAMPAGNE The baron, who was beginning to be drowsy with the combined effects of the wine and tobacco, and whose eyes were not nearly so wide open as at the beginning of the supper, saw me, none the less, when I kissed Madame Dauberny's hand. He immediately snatched his pipe from his mouth and glared at me, crying: "Mein gut frent, is id drue tat you pe not ein leedle pit in loafe mit montame? not ein leedle pit, I say?" "What has stirred you up now, baron?" laughed Frédérique; "are you going to begin again?" "Nein, but for vat do mein gut frent Rocheverte, he kiss your hand? I haf seen him kiss your hand." "I did it without concealment, baron, and I ask nothing better than to do it again." "So! in tat case, so vill ich do id again; but I haf not yet done id at all." "Fill your pipe, baron, and let my hand alone. We were saying that Armantine's concert this evening was a bit _mouche_, to use a slang term--eh, monsieur?" "Yes, madame." "I haf not seen if tere vas _mouches_ [flies] at Monsir Sordeville's; but he pe ein sehr bleazant man, sehr--how you say?--he make me much talk; he loafe ven I talk; he say tat I shpeak vell te language." Frédérique's face suddenly changed; her brow grew dark, and her expression was no longer the same. She looked keenly at the baron, saying: "What did you talk about with Monsieur Sordeville?" "Ve talk of pizness. As I haf come to France mit der ambassador, he haf question me of bolitics, of te gufernment, of many serious subjects. He pe a brovound man, he haf alvays agree mit me."