"Oh, yes! slaves of both sexes! That was refined, and no mistake. I tell you that your Romans were infernal debauchees; they put up with--aye, cultivated all the vices! Why, monsieur, what do you say to the Senators who had the effrontery to propose a decree that Cæsar, then fifty-seven years of age, should possess all the women he desired?" "'Ah! le joli droit! ah! le joli droit du seigneur!'" "I would like right well to know if he made use of that right." "_Fichtre!_ he must have been a very great man!" "Don't you know what used to be said of him: that he was the husband of all the women?" "Yes, and we know the rest." "I say, you, over there! Haven't you nearly finished talking about your Romans?" "What about our host's toast?--Come, Dupréval, we're waiting; the guns are loaded, the matches lighted." "Silence at the end of the table! Dupréval is going to speak! Great God! what chatterers those fellows are!" "It's not we, messieurs, that you hear; it's the music. Hark, listen! they're dancing; there are wedding parties all about us--two or three at least." "What is there surprising in that? Aren't there always wedding feasts going on at Deffieux's?" "For my part, if I kept a restaurant, and had such a class of patrons, I would take for my sign: the _Maid of Orléans_." "Oh! that would be very injudicious: many brides would refuse to have their wedding feasts at your place." "Hush! Dupréval is getting up; he's going to speak." "As you know, messieurs, this is my last dinner party as a bachelor, for I am to be married in a fortnight. Before settling down, before becoming transformed into a sedate and virtuous mortal, I determined to get you all together; I wanted to enjoy once more with you a few of those moments of freedom and folly which have--a little too often, perhaps--marked my bachelor days with a white stone. 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!" "Here's to Dupréval's mistresses!" "And to our own, messieurs!" "To the ladies in general, and to the one I love in particular!" "To their shapely legs and little feet!" "To their blue eyes and fair hair!" "I prefer brunettes!" "To their graceful figures!" "To the Hottentot Venus!" "To the destruction of corns on the feet!" "Oh! of course, Balloquet has to make one of his foolish remarks!" "Messieurs, pardon me for interrupting you, but, in proposing a toast to my mistresses, pray don't think that I mean to imply that I have several. I am no such rake as Rochebrune is, in that respect; one at a time is enough for me. I intended simply to address a parting thought to those I have had during the whole of my bachelor life. That point being settled, I now yield the floor to our friend, who, I believe, was about to reply to the questions that had been put to him, when I proposed my toast."