"Yes, yes; let's attack it and water it!--Take some nougat, Putiphar." "You tempt me. I would make a fool of myself for this alicante!" "What has your Sicilian come to Paris for?" "In the first place, to see this wonderful city, which everybody aspires to know, and which no one ever wants to leave when he has once tasted its joys. Secondly, the devil of a fellow has a curious whimsey in his head: he wants to marry." "You call that a whimsey, monsieur? why, it's a most prevalent idea." "Look here, you'd better not talk against marriage before Putiphar, Dodichet; she'll never forgive you." "Oh! I'll forgive monsieur for anything--he treats the ladies so handsomely; but I would like to convert him." "Mon Dieu! madame, although I am not thinking of marriage for myself, I assure you that I have no wish to disgust others with it; and the proof is that I'm looking for a wife for my rich Sicilian." "A wife? You're looking for a wife for him, monsieur? Oh! in that case--I beg your pardon, a sip of alicante, if you please--I may have what you want." "Faith! madame, if you can find me somebody suited to my friend, you would give me great pleasure; for I haven't much time to give to it. I have more orders for sugar than I can handle; I am obliged to neglect my business, and I don't like it." "I must ask you one important question first of all, monsieur: is your count rich?" "I think I have already told you that he doesn't know the amount of his fortune." "Then I suppose he wants his wife to be rich, too?" "Not at all; he cares nothing at all for money; he has enough for two." "Really! he won't ask for any dowry?" "A dowry! why, if the woman's father should be so ill-advised as to mention such a thing, he would be quite capable of knocking him down! He would consider it an insult." "Phew! what a noble-minded man!--A little more alicante, please." "And some chartreuse?" "In a minute, Monsieur Godichet." "Dodichet." "That don't make any difference. For heaven's sake, what does your count want in his wife?" "This: in the first place, he wants her to be young." "That goes without saying." "Good figure, pretty----" "Those are mere trifles." "And--she must be really unmarried; do you understand?" "Perfectly. I have what he wants, monsieur; I have it, and everybody can't say as much!" "Are you sure? will you guarantee it?" "Yes, monsieur; as I'm an honest woman!--A young lady, brought up in the best way by strict parents, who never goes out alone----" "This seems to me to fit the case to perfection.--By the way, there's one other condition: my Sicilian is particular that she shall be a Parisian; he insists on that; he thinks that no women but the Parisians can wear hoopskirts gracefully." "My young lady is a Parisian, monsieur; born, I believe, on Rue du Pont-aux-Choux, the very centre of Paris." "The centre of the Marais, you mean, Putiphar." "That's all the same."