"Oh! my dear Lizida, I have many things to tell you. Yes, some young gentlemen brought me back in their carriage. They were very good-looking, those same young gentlemen, and dressed in the latest fashion. But if you knew whom I met at the party! I am still all of a quiver thinking of it!" "Some suitor, some lover of madame, who would have liked to abduct her by force, to carry her off into the country?" "Oh, no! you are nowhere near it!--At that party I met--my husband!" "Is it possible?" "Yes, Lizida, and you must understand how that upset me. Luckily it was in the woods; he was not very near me, but I recognized him instantly; he has hardly changed at all; it is surprising, but I really thought that he was better-looking than he used to be." "And of course he recognized madame too?" "Oh! instantly; I saw that by his expression." "He looked at madame with affection, I warrant?" "No, there was no affection in his eyes. He is such a proud man, so absurdly proud! Just imagine that everybody else had left, and we two were all alone in the woods." "Did madame try to have an interview with her husband?" "No, I did not want to. But I don't know what the matter was with me; my emotion took away all my strength, and I could not move; I was afraid." "What folly! and monsieur your husband took advantage of that moment to fall at your knees, to ask your pardon for his base conduct----" "Oh! yes, of course! He glanced at me askance; he was leaning against a tree, and I assure you that I didn't feel safe at all. Luckily the company, disturbed at my non-appearance in the salon, sent three or four young men to look for me; they found me in the woods, and I assure you that I was very glad to go back with them." "And after that--your husband?" "Oh! he didn't come into the salon, and I was delighted. I didn't see him again.--Well, Lizida, what do you say to all this?" "Faith, madame, I say that monsieur le comte certainly is not agreeable; when he found himself alone with a charming little woman like madame, after a long separation, then or never was the time to throw himself at her feet, to be reconciled, and to come together again!" "Yes, it is certain that many husbands would have done that." "And madame is so kind, I am sure that she would have forgiven him." "That is very possible; but, however, that didn't happen. All the same, I am delighted that that man saw me with the dress I wore yesterday; he could not have suspected that I am short of money." "Madame's costume was certainly magnificent." "Just look in my bureau, Lizida, in the top drawer, and see how much money I still have." Mademoiselle Lizida looked into the drawer and answered: "Madame, I find twenty francs." "What! only twenty francs! and you changed a note for five hundred only a few days ago! It isn't possible; you haven't looked thoroughly."