"I am whatever anyone wants me to be! Oh! we have great sport at these little supper parties! we laugh like lunatics! The food is delicious and the wines exquisite! no constraint, no ceremony; we joke and sing and drink; and the jests, the puns, the remarks with a double meaning, the spicy anecdotes, the smutty couplets! There's a rolling fire of them; everybody talks at once, and nobody hears what the others say; it's delicious!" "You make me regret that I am not one of you." "Would you like to be, my dear fellow? Parbleu! if you would, I will venture to introduce you." "Really! could you do it?" "I can do anything I choose! you know very well that everything succeeds that I undertake." "I had forgotten that. But this Monsieur de Grandmaison doesn't know me." "What difference does that make? I know you, and that's enough! Introduced by Raymond, you will be welcome." "Do you think that I might venture?" "Why, of course! So long as a man is hilarious and tells amusing stories, he's sure of being well received at Grandmaison's; that's why he's so fond of me." "Oh! if it's only a matter of providing amusement, I promise you some for this evening." "You're our man; it's agreed, then. Meet me at the Café Anglais at ten o'clock; that's the hour of meeting." "I will be there, I give you my word." "But if you will accept my advice, you'll take a little orange-flower water to calm your nerves." "Never fear! I shan't have another attack." "Good-bye, then, until ten o'clock to-night!" Raymond left me, and I reflected long upon all that I had learned. The woman was Caroline; I could not doubt it; and yet a feeble ray of hope still gleamed in the depths of my heart. I determined to go to her, but to conceal my feelings, and to try, if possible, to read her heart, to detect her treachery in her eyes. But, above all, I would be sensible, philosophical, and try to penetrate myself with the truth of these two lines: "Let dandies rage, let fools cry lack-a-day; The wise man, cozened, silent goes away." XXII THE LITTLE SUPPER PARTY I arrived at her apartment. My appearance did not seem to embarrass her; she greeted me with a smile and spoke to me as usual. Could it be that I had suspected her wrongfully? But she did not observe my agitation! The secret excitement which I strove to conceal would not have escaped the eyes of love! They see everything, divine everything! And Caroline asked me no questions, although I was on fire and talked at random; although I was momentarily on the point of exploding and could hardly refrain from outward manifestations of the torments I was undergoing!--No, she did not love me. I told her that I intended to pass the day with her. I fancied that I could detect embarrassment in her glance; but she speedily recovered herself.