"Yes," replied Monsieur Chambertin; "we have not seen them yet, and one should be acquainted with his neighborhood. This Bayard must have had a very fine château, to judge by what is left of it; but he was a very good sort of man." "He was a chevalier, wasn't he, my dear?" said Madame Chambertin, in a mincing tone. "Yes, my love; a chevalier of the time of Louis XIV." At that, Monsieur Ménard coughed and glanced slyly at Dubourg. "I like to see antiquities," continued Chambertin, "ancient monuments; they're interesting when one has a certain amount of education. Is monsieur le baron here for the same purpose?" "Faith! we were in a decidedly bad humor when we met you," said Dubourg; "we walked here from Grenoble, as we were told that it was a short three leagues, and I didn't care to wear out my horses in this mountainous country; but I hoped to find some decent inn hereabout, where we could dine; or at least some means of getting to the nearest village; I offered some peasants as much as six gold pieces to obtain a horse for me, and not one of the knaves moved.--Isn't that so, Ménard?" "It is quite true, monsieur le baron, that we couldn't find anything at all." "Ah! my dear," whispered Madame Chambertin to her husband, "what a happy idea! what a chance!" "I will seize it!" he replied; and he planted himself in front of Dubourg, with his feet in the third position.--"Monsieur le baron, if I wasn't afraid of presuming too far, if you would deign to accept a plain country gentleman's dinner, Madame Chambertin and I would be overjoyed to have at our table a distinguished nobleman and a professor of literature. My cabriolet is waiting for us close by, with Lunel, my jockey; we shall be at Allevard in an hour, and my cabriolet will take monsieur le baron to Grenoble this evening." "Really, Monsieur de Chambertin, you are too kind," replied Dubourg, with a bow. "He called me _De_ Chambertin!" said the ex-tradesman to his wife. "I heard him." "Do you suppose he means to make me a knight?" "I believe he's quite capable of making you something." "I am almost tempted to accept your invitation," said Dubourg; "it will afford me the pleasure of becoming better acquainted with some most delightful people.--What do you say, my dear Ménard? Will it make Montreville anxious? Do you think that we might accept Monsieur de Chambertin's invitation to dinner?"