Marie said to me.... _Tiens_! Marie, don't pull my dress in that way. You shouldn't have said it, you know, if it won't bear repeating! Marie said to me that she could have either Monsieur Müller or Monsieur Lenoir, by only holding up her finger--but she couldn't make up her mind which she liked best. MDLLE. MARIE (_half crying_):--Nay, Honoria--how can you be so--so unkind ... so spiteful? I--I did not say I could have either M'sieur Müller or... or... M. LENOIR (_with great spirit and good breeding_):--Whether Mademoiselle used those words or not is of very little importance. The fact remains the same; and is as old as the world. Beauty has but to will and to conquer. MULLER:--Order in the circle! The game waits for Mademoiselle Marie. MARIE (_hesitatingly_):-- "_Roses bloom in the fourth, and your secret_" M'sieur Lenoir said that--that he admired the color of my dress, and that blue became me more than lilac. MULLER: (_coldly_)--_Pardon_, Mademoiselle, but I happened to overhear what Monsieur Lenoir whispered just now, and those were not his words. Monsieur Lenoir said, "Look in"... but perhaps Mademoiselle would prefer me not to repeat more? MARIE--(_in great confusion_):--As--as you please, M'sieur. MULLER:--Then, Mademoiselle, I will be discreet, and I will not even impose a forfeit upon you, as I might do, by the laws of the game. It is for Monsieur Lenoir to continue. M. LENOIR:--I do not remember what Monsieur Müller whispered to me at the close of the last round. MULLER (_pointedly_):--_Pardon,_ Monsieur, I should have thought that scarcely possible. M. LENOIR:--It was perfectly unintelligible, and therefore left no impression on my memory. MULLER:--Permit me, then, to have the honor of assisting your memory. I said to you--"Monsieur, if I believed that any modest young woman of my acquaintance was in danger of being courted by a man of doubtful character, do you know what I would do? I would hunt that man down with as little remorse as a ferret hunts down a rat in a drain." M. LENOIR:--The sentiment does you honor, Monsieur; but I do not see the application, MULLER:--Vous ne le trouvez pas, Monsieur? M. LENOIR--(_with a cold stare, and a scarcely perceptible shrug of the shoulders_):--Non, Monsieur. Here Mdlle. Rosalie broke in with:--"What are we to do next, M'sieur Müller? Are we to begin another round, or shall we start a fresh game?" To which Müller replied that it must be "_selon le plaisir de ces dames_;" and put the question to the vote.