“And you wish me, dear, to save my kindness and my wickedness for a serious investment?” Therese made her drink some Tokay. Preceded by the sound of his powerful breathing, General Lariviere approached with heavy state and sat between the two women, looking stubborn and self-satisfied, laughing in every wrinkle of his face. “How is Monsieur Martin-Belleme? Always busy?” Therese thought he was at the Chamber, and even that he was making a speech there. Princess Seniavine, who was eating caviare sandwiches, asked Madame Martin why she had not gone to Madame Meillan’s the day before. They had played a comedy there. “A Scandinavian play? Was it a success?” “Yes--I don’t know. I was in the little green room, under the portrait of the Duc d’Orleans. Monsieur Le Menil came to me and did me one of those good turns that one never forgets. He saved me from Monsieur Garain.” The General, who knew the Annual Register, and stored away all useful information, pricked up his ears. “Garain,” he asked, “the minister who was in the Cabinet when the princes were exiled?” “Himself. I was excessively agreeable to him. He talked to me of the yearnings of his heart and he looked at me with alarming tenderness. And from time to time he gazed, with sighs, at the portrait of the Duc d’Orleans. I said to him: ‘Monsieur Garain, you are making a mistake. It is my sister-in-law who is an Orleanist. I am not.’ At this moment Monsieur Le Menil came to escort me to the buffet. He paid great compliments--to my horses! He said, also, there was nothing so beautiful as the forest in winter. He talked about wolves. That refreshed me.” The General, who did not like young men, said he had met Le Menil the day before in the forest, galloping, with vast space between himself and his saddle. He declared that old cavaliers alone retained the traditions of good horsemanship; that people in society now rode like jockeys. “It is the same with fencing,” he added. “Formerly--” Princess Seniavine interrupted him: “General, look and see how charming Madame Martin is. She is always charming, but at this moment she is prettier than ever. It is because she is bored. Nothing becomes her better than to be bored. Since we have been here, we have bored her terribly. Look at her: her forehead clouded, her glance vague, her mouth dolorous. Behold a victim!” She arose, kissed Therese tumultuously, and fled, leaving the General astonished. Madame Martin-Belleme prayed him not to listen to what the Princess had said. He collected himself and asked: “And how are your poets, Madame?” It was difficult for him to forgive Madame Martin her preference for people who lived by writing and were not of his circle. “Yes, your poets. What has become of that Monsieur Choulette, who visits you wrapped in a red muffler?”