"Death hath rigors unexampled; Vainly pray we to her; The cruel creature stuffs her ears And lets us shout at will. The poor man in his thatch-roofed cottage Is subject to her laws; The guard who stands at the Louvre gates Protects not kings from her." I cannot say how the champagne led me to this quotation; however, I am sure that you will not take it ill of me; these lines are never misplaced, and I would like, indeed, to have been the author of them. We had become virtuous then, in action at all events. I looked at my watch; almost eight o'clock! The deuce! and my rendezvous. The champagne had not entirely deprived me of memory, but I confess that Agathe was responsible for the loss of a large part of my zeal. Raymond must have been on the watch at the Café Turc for a long while; as for Gerville, we had seen him leave the house more than an hour before; so that there was nothing to detain us. My companion donned her bonnet and shawl and tried to assume a demure and modest air, which she was unable to master, even by lowering her eyes. I did what I could to maintain a grave demeanor and a steady gait; that infernal champagne always did go to my head! However, we could safely show ourselves on the boulevard; we were only a little giddy. We left the Méridien, where Raymond had paid for everything. The hostess and waitresses saluted us with smiling faces. "Is there anything amusing in our looks?" I asked Agathe. "No; but do you suppose that those people don't divine that we've been making a fool of Raymond? Perhaps they think he's my husband." "Oh! that would be rather too much!" "Bah! such things have been seen." "Here we are at the Café Turc; shall we go in?" "What for?" "To relieve Raymond, who's doing sentry duty there." "Let him stay there; I've no desire to be bored any more with his love; I have had enough of it. Everything has turned out as I wanted; but as such adventures never happen twice, I assure you that he will never inveigle me into a private dining room again." "Poor Raymond! This _partie fine_ will have been very profitable to him, won't it? But here's the Château d'Eau; someone is waiting for me here, and I must leave you." "What! already?" "Our play is ended, my dear girl; we can be of no further assistance to each other; let us not postpone our separation until ennui succeeds pleasure, and the fumes of the champagne have entirely vanished; we shall retain a pleasant memory of this meeting, at all events." "Adieu, then, my dear Eugène! may we enjoy ourselves as much when we next meet!" Agathe went her way, and I started to make the circuit of the Château d'Eau. XVI THE ROSE WITHOUT THORNS