"But what do you think of M. de Morville, madame? Are we not right to shew our disgust at the sheepish admiration which makes an idol of such a nullity?" "Assuredly, sir," said Paula, "it is quite right not to take men as always deserving of reputation because they are in repute." "And never was repute less merited. I am not alone in my opinion, I assure you. There are many persons who think as I do; and what most prejudices me against M. de Morville is, that he assumes perfection in every thing. To hear him one would believe that he rides, handles his weapons, and shoots better than any man living." "Is M. de Morville a great shot?" inquired Arnold. "He at least pretends to be so, as well as every thing else; but I am sure that he would be found wanting in that as in every thing else, and he shoots because it is fashionable and not because he cares for it." "He is wrong," said Arnold, "for shooting is one of the most exciting amusements I know of." "Are you a sportsman, sir?" inquired De Brévannes. "We have such excellent sporting in Germany that it is impossible not to have a taste for it. There is one class of sport, too, of which I am passionately fond, and which, perhaps, is not much known in France." "What sport is that, sir? I can inform you, for I have liked, and still like, sporting excessively." "Wild-fowl shooting. We have in Germany such splendid flights of aquatic birds." "You like wild-fowl shooting!" exclaimed De Brévannes, after a moment's reflection, as if a sudden light broke in upon his thoughts. "To madness, sir! Have you much of this sport in France?" "Yes we have; and I may add, that I have some of the best in the country at my house in Lorraine." "Yes," interposed Bertha, _naïvely_, "and it was only this morning that M. de Brévannes's steward wrote him word that there was at this time an extraordinary flight of----I forget the name of these birds," she added, with a smile. "_Halbrans_--wild ducks, which come and settle on our lakes in clouds. And really, sir," continued De Brévannes, "if I was not afraid of passing for a downright boor, a man who has no idea of ceremony----" The prince looked at M. de Brévannes with surprise. "Really, sir," said he, "I do not understand you." "Well, then, _ma foi_, away with scruple--frankness amongst sportsmen above every thing. The flight of wild fowl is splendid this year, and it always lasts a week or ten days. I have four hundred acres of lakes--my house is well arranged for the winter--will you then allow me to invite you to come and have a little shooting? In six-and-thirty hours we shall reach the place; and if, by an unhoped-for chance, Madame de Hansfeld had no aversion for the country for some few days in the winter season, Madame de Brévannes would endeavour to make the house as pleasant as possible to her. You see, sir, when I do a bold thing I do not do it by halves."