"Yes, indeed--about two months ago.--Give me some of that malaga, Sénange.--Well, messeigneurs, just see what changes may take place in two months! Do you remember poor Léodgard's destitute plight at that time?" "Pardieu! of course I remember it, as we played for his cloak, which I won from him!--But he has paid me more than its value since!" "Who would have told us then that a few weeks later this same Léodgard would give us delicious suppers, in a charming house built for a farmer-general; that he would display as much elegance and splendor as his predecessor!" "Mon Dieu! I see nothing so surprising in that! Fortune is capricious! She treated Léodgard harshly, and now he is her favorite. Instead of losing all the time at cards, he wins--that is the whole story!" "Not to-night, however, for the charming Herminie has just won a hundred rose crowns from him at lansquenet; she was sitting by me just now, counting them." "Give me some cyprus, my masters; it is my favorite wine, and this is simply perfect." "I' faith! if Léodgard is losing, he doesn't show it," said the fair Camilla, a young courtesan with almond-shaped eyes, who had returned to the banqueting room to take some sweetmeats from the table. "He is throwing his gold and silver about to-night with the indifference of a nabob. He is an accomplished cavalier now." "It must be that his father, the old marquis, has decided to make a sacrifice, to loosen his purse strings; for his winnings at the card table could not have changed Léodgard's position so quickly." "That is very probable; but when anyone questions him on the subject, that devil of a Léodgard loses his temper; he says that it is nobody's business." "He is not fond of talking about his affairs; generally speaking, he is not expansive." "Oh! we must not say that before the fair Camilla! Surely she knows the secrets of her most submissive adorer; a _cavalier servant_ has no secrets from the lady of his thoughts.--Is not that true, adorable Camilla?" "Mon Dieu! seigneurs, I am less inquisitive than you are! So long as Léodgard gives me everything that I want, what more would you have me ask him for?" "Well answered!--Ah! my bucks, that will teach you to question a woman!" "For my own part," said the Sire de Beausseilly, "there is something that surprises me more than the present magnificence of the Comte de Marvejols." "What is that?" asked Monclair, after tossing off another glass of Cyprus. "Well, messieurs, it is the strange expression that has characterized our host for some time past; the sad or gloomy look that is always in his eyes, even among us, in the midst of our merrymaking, and when he hears nothing but joyous words and songs all around him!" "Well, upon my word! that is delicious!--You are mad, Beausseilly!--He would like to make us believe now that Léodgard is sad when he gives us a fête! Why, he sang at the table only a moment ago!"