"As I tell you, I had known him only a few hours; but I had lost my head that day; you know that better than anybody, dear Adolphine, for you found time, even on that day, to come to me and say a few comforting words.--But what about that man?" "Well, at night, when my sister went away from the ball with her husband, he was standing near, just as they were entering their carriage. That man--he was drunk, no doubt, but still he insulted my sister." "The villain! He dared----" "Yes, he said: 'There goes the faithless Fanny!'--My sister, who heard the words plainly, told me herself. Was that an insult? Tell me frankly, Monsieur Gustave, hadn't you yourself applied that name to my sister more than once that day?" "It is quite possible; but I was out of my head, I didn't know what I was saying. That did not give that fellow, whose very name I don't remember, the right to repeat my words." "Auguste heard him, and the next day he fought a duel with the man." "And what was the result?" "A sword-thrust in my brother-in-law's forearm, which forced him to carry his arm in a sling at least six weeks." "Mon Dieu! that incident may well have occasioned unfortunate scenes between the husband and wife; it may have disturbed the domestic happiness of--your sister. She probably accused me of being the original cause of the duel! This is maddening!" "Don't be alarmed, Monsieur Gustave! you don't know Fanny! The affair affected her very little, her happiness wasn't disturbed by it for a single minute. She goes to some festivity, amuses herself in some way, every day! Oh! she is happy." "So much the better! And her husband--he adores her still, I fancy?" "As to that, I can't answer. If they adore each other, it hardly appears on the surface!" "What! Fanny doesn't love her husband?" "I don't say that she doesn't love him! but my sister isn't capable of loving like us--like you, I mean. She has so much to take up her time in the way of gowns, head-dresses, new styles, and so forth! How do you suppose she can find time to love her husband?" "However, I am entirely innocent in this matter of the duel." "Oh! that is what I have always told father, who has only known it a few days, by the way. For, as you can imagine, they didn't publish it. Monsieur Monleard's injury was supposed to have been caused by a fall on the stairs." "But why doesn't your father want me to come here? It wasn't a crime to love his elder daughter and to aspire to her hand! It is true, I was very poor, then; to-day, I could offer her more; my uncle, who is very well satisfied with the way I attend to business now, said to me at breakfast this morning: 'From to-day, I give you an interest in my business, and I guarantee you not less than ten thousand francs a year, whether there are any profits or not.'" "Ah! that is very nice, Monsieur Gustave; I am very glad for you."