"That man has handled millions," said Norbert, "and I can't conceive why he should come here to swallow my father's epigrams which are frequently atrocious. 'How many times have you betrayed your friends, my dear Descoulis?' he shouted at him one day from one end of the table to the other." "But is it true that he has played the traitor?" asked mademoiselle de la Mole. "Who has not played the traitor?" "Why!" said the comte de Caylus to Norbert, "do you have that celebrated Liberal, M. Sainclair, in your house. What the devil's he come here for? I must go up to him and speak to him and make him speak. He is said to be so clever." "But how will your mother receive him?" said M. de Croisenois. "He has such extravagant, generous and independent ideas." "Look," said mademoiselle de la Mole, "look at the independent man who bows down to the ground to M. Descoulis while he grabs hold of his hand. I almost thought he was going to put it to his lips." "Descoulis must stand better with the powers that be than we thought," answered M. de Croisenois. "Sainclair comes here in order to get into the academy," said Norbert. "See how he bows to the baron L----, Croisenois." "It would be less base to kneel down," replied M. de Luz. "My dear Sorel," said Norbert, "you are extremely smart, but you come from the mountains. Mind you never bow like that great poet is doing, even to God the Father." "Ah there's a really witty man, M. the Baron Bâton," said mademoiselle de la Mole, imitating a little the voice of the flunkey who had just announced him. "I think that even your servants make fun of him. What a name Baron Bâton," said M. de Caylus. "What's in a name?" he said to us the other day, went on Matilde. "Imagine the Duke de Bouillon announced for the first time. So far as I am concerned the public only need to get used to me." "Julien left the vicinity of the sofa." Still insufficiently appreciative of the charming subtleties of a delicate raillery to laugh at a joke, he considered that a jest ought to have some logical foundation. He saw nothing in these young peoples' conversation except a vein of universal scandal-mongering and was shocked by it. His provincial or English prudery went so far as to detect envy in it, though in this he was certainly mistaken. "Count Norbert," he said to himself, "who has had to make three drafts for a twenty-line letter to his colonel would be only too glad to have written once in his whole life one page as good as M. Sainclair." Julien approached successively the several groups and attracted no attention by reason of his lack of importance. He followed the Baron Bâton from a distance and tried to hear him. This witty man appeared nervous and Julien did not see him recover his equanimity before he had hit upon three or four stinging phrases. Julien thought that this kind of wit had great need of space.