----"Not such a goose as I look.... Once more, what on earth is the effect that the waltz does produce upon you?" ----"I ... do not know." ----"Try to find out." And as I foresaw that my wife was about to make me a little confidence, and my wife's confidences have always deeply interested me, I turned down the lamps, made her turn her back to the light, and applied an attentive ear to her pretty mouth. "Now, come," I said to her; "do tell me." ----"I am sure, I don't know." ----"Oh yes, you do." ----"It's only nonsense...." ----"All the more reason why you should say it out. Go on, my own darling: there is nothing so dangerous as nonsense turned inwards." ----"Little shivers ... ever so small ... you know.... Don't kiss me in the neck: you'll make me shriek...." ----"Little _frissons_!... Where?" ----"All over...." ----"Humph! I begin to understand the danger you were speaking of just now.... Now, darling, explain yourself more clearly, you know; I have not got it yet." ----"I adore you!" she said rising, and, taking my head in her two hands, she kissed me tenderly. We took a delicious cup of tea together, and it was agreed that in future my wife should only waltz with me. It would appear that, when I waltz, I do not set about it too awkwardly. At any rate, it is the conclusion that I drew from our resolution. VI. The Beauty of Englishwomen--Their Dress--Their Hair--Advice to French Ladies--Hyde Park--Interior of English Theatres--O Routine! such is thy handiwork. The French women are more graceful and more piquant than the English; but they are less healthy and less fresh-looking. Their eyes are brighter, their mouths much prettier, and their figures a great deal finer; but their complexion is not so clear, nor nearly so fine. Regular walks and baths are the secret of the health and beauty of the English woman. She fears neither draught nor douche. She sleeps with her window open, and, on rising, inundates herself with cold water. In winter weather, the least hardy wrings a hard towel in water, and rubs herself with it from head to foot to promote the circulation of the blood, till her skin shrieks for mercy. The appetite thus awakened, she descends, fresh and vigorous, to breakfast heartily on eggs and cold meat, and then sets out for the lawn-tennis ground, or goes about her daily task. It is in the fields, or on the lawns of their gardens; always in open air, that most Englishwomen pass six months of the year. * * * * *