"How stupid you are! Where do you suppose I'm going? But, you see, I have quite a choice; I can go and sleep at another one of my aunts', if I choose--it doesn't matter which, I have a bed with each of them; I might sleep in the Marais, for I have an aunt on Rue Pont-aux-Choux." "Pardieu! that's convenient, isn't it? So, when you want to pass the night with your lover, you tell one aunt that you've been with another one, and so on. Oh! fortunate niece! I have known lots of nieces, but very few in so pleasant a position as you occupy." "Oh! come, don't laugh at me! Let me tell you, monsieur, that my aunts see each other very often; and so, if I should lie and say I had passed the night with one of them when I hadn't, they'd soon find it out, and I shouldn't have a very nice time." "Forgive me, dear love! I didn't mean to offend you!" "Kiss me. When shall I see you again?" "When you are willing." "I'll come to see you Thursday, about two. Will you wait for me?" "Most certainly." "And you'll take care that your friend don't come and disturb us; if she does, I'll make a scene with her. I'm very jealous, let me tell you. You love me, don't you? Ah! you've made me tipsy, you see, and I don't know what I'm saying." I reassured Rosette and left her on Faubourg Saint-Denis, where she had finally decided to go. She was a very attractive girl, her conversation was amusing, and her person most alluring. But I was sorry that she had a tent pitched in every quarter of Paris; one could never be sure where she had gone into camp. XXXVI A SCENE I had known Rosette a month, and thus far had had no reason to repent. I had observed, to be sure, that the young woman did not always tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; but, after all, a lover should not act toward his mistress in the capacity of a juryman. Moreover, Rosette herself had told me, in a moment of effusiveness, that she lied a great deal and lied very well. It seemed to me that, after that, I was not justified in losing my temper when she told me a falsehood; for she might reply: "I gave you fair warning!" I often took Rosette to dine in a private dining-room. Knowing as I did what justice she could do to a hearty meal, it would really have been a pity not to give her an opportunity for practice; and as I myself am endowed with a lusty appetite, our little parties always afforded us pleasure: when love went to sleep, the stomach woke, and _vice versa_. Rosette came to my rooms once or twice a week, and sometimes unheralded. When I was absent, she went into my chamber; I had told Pomponne that she was to be admitted at any time. When she had come and failed to find me, I always discovered it instantly, for she turned everything in the apartment topsy-turvy. She tossed about papers, books, combs, brushes, and soap; looked through all the drawers, and left nothing in its place; even the chairs I always found in the middle of the room.