“She did her little s--s--soubrette part very badly the l--l--last time, although she had only a few words to say: ‘M--m--madame, the company is below in the salon’; and she said: ‘Madame, the s--s--salon is below in the c--c--company!’” “That was because her tongue slipped! But it doesn’t make it any the less true that Mademoiselle Polymnie looks very well on the stage.” “Her nose is too big!” “Big noses do very well on the stage. Besides, I tell you again, daughter, that I desire to be polite to Monsieur Camuzard, and I know that it gives him great pleasure when his daughter acts.” And Monsieur Glumeau added, with a glance at his wife: “We must try to make Astianax act a lover’s part, and let Mademoiselle Polymnie be the sweetheart. You understand my ideas and my plans, don’t you, Lolotte?” “Yes, monsieur, they are not hard to understand. Mademoiselle Camuzard would be an excellent match, I know; but Astianax is still so young!” “I married very young myself, madame, and I have never repented it.” “Ah! that’s the nicest thing you have said to-day!” “It seems to me that I say nice things very often; but you don’t notice them because you are used to them.--This tea has done me good; I feel as light as a bird; I would like to dance a mazurka.--Speaking of dancing, Eolinde, have you practised on your piano the new quadrilles that I brought you?” “Oh! they are too hard.” “No, mademoiselle, it’s because you don’t choose to take the pains to study; and you are all the more wrong in that, because everybody plays the piano now; young men and young girls, everybody knows how to play for dancing; the young woman who did not know how to play a quadrille in company would be looked upon as a savage, as a Hottentot!” “I know very well that everybody pl--plays the piano now. The c--c--concierge’s daughter plays it; and the other day the l--l--locksmith who c--c--came to fix a lock which wouldn’t l--l--lock, said when he heard me pl--playing: ‘I play the piano myself Sundays, when I have time.’--Isn’t that so, mamma?” “It’s the truth; indeed I was tempted to say to the locksmith that he ought to put over his shop door: ‘Bells hung with piano accompaniment!’” “In fact, papa, the p--p--piano has become such a common inst--st--strument, that I would rather play something else.” “What, I should like to know?” “Why, the little flute, for example.” “You are mad, Eolinde; it would be very pretty to see a young lady playing on the flute! Wind instruments are exclusively for men.” “Why is that, papa?” “Why, because, as Apollo played the flute when he kept flocks, and as that god was the god of melody, the pipes and the flute--By the way, Lolotte, I hope you told Chambourdin to come; he’s a very pleasant fellow, a leader in all sorts of fun, always merry and a true sport. He will act, and I’ll wager that he’ll be most amusing!”