I went very seldom to see Ernest, but I knew that they were happy. They had two children now, whom they adored, and Marguerite liked better to remain by their cradles than to go to balls or parties. I confessed to myself that I would have been glad if Eugénie had had such quiet tastes. Marguerite always was kind enough to inquire for my wife; as for Ernest, he had never entered our house again, and I approved his course. I had not met Bélan for a long while, when he entered my study one morning, flushed, panting, and in a profuse perspiration. He sat down beside me and did not give me time to question him. “I am, my friend, I certainly am! I am sure of it now. It is a most frightful, most abominable thing!” “What is it that you are, then?” I asked, watching Bélan mop his forehead. “Parbleu! do you need to ask? I am a cuckold!” Bélan said this in such an absurd tone that I could not resist the desire to laugh. While I indulged it, Bélan sprang to his feet and muttered in a feeling tone: “I did not think that an old friend, a married man, would laugh like this at my misfortune.” “I beg pardon, my dear Bélan,” I said, forcing him to resume his seat; “I beg pardon. You certainly cannot suppose that I intended to hurt you. But the fact is that you said that so suddenly that I thought it was a joke.” “No, I swear to you that there is no joke about it. Mon Dieu! that wicked Armide! Such a well-bred woman, and nobly born! A woman who wouldn’t let me take off my shirt in her presence! I cannot stand it any longer, and I have come to consult you as to what I had best do. You are a lawyer and you will advise me.--Shameless creature!” “Come, come! First of all, calm yourself, Bélan, and then, if you desire my advice, tell me what makes you think that your wife is deceiving you.” “I have told you, my friend, of a certain marquis who used to pay court to my wife, and who afterward came in the kindest way to visit us. Oh! as to that, I must admit that he overwhelmed me with attentions. He came often----” “It was you yourself who urged him to, so you told me.” “Yes, that is true, because the Girauds had presumed to make remarks. Besides, could I ever have imagined? Perfidious Armide!--A woman who pinched and bit and scratched me on our wedding night, when I--you understand?” “Well, my dear Bélan?”