But Emile would have preferred discussion to this careless assent to everything he said, and he was afraid that his main attack had failed. "What can I invent to vex him and make him come out of his shell?" he said to himself. "There is no one of the famous sieges in history that can be compared to this." The coffee was served in a pretty Swiss chalet; the exactness of the copy and the scrupulous neatness aroused Emile's admiration for a moment; but the absence of human beings and domestic animals in that rustic retreat was so noticeable that it was impossible to maintain the illusion. And yet nothing was missing: the moss-covered hillside studded with firs, nor the thread of sparkling water falling into a stone basin at the door, and flowing from it with a gentle murmur; the chalet, constructed entirely of resinous wood with a pretty arrangement of balustrades and built against huge granite rocks, the pretty overhanging roof, the interior furnished in the German fashion, even to the service of blue earthenware--all new and clean and glistening and deserted--resembled a dainty Fribourg toy rather than a rustic dwelling. Even the stiff, lifeless figures of the old marquis and his old majordomo gave one the impression of painted wooden images, placed there to complete the resemblance. "You have been in Switzerland, I presume, monsieur le marquis," said Emile, "and this is a reminiscence of some favorite spot?" "I have traveled very little," Monsieur de Boisguilbault replied, "although I set out one day with the intention of making the tour of the world. Switzerland happened to be in my way; the country pleased me and I went no farther, saying to myself that I should probably find nothing better after taking a deal of trouble." "I see that you prefer this country to all others, and that you have come back here forever?" "Forever, most assuredly." "This is Switzerland in miniature, and if the imagination is less keenly aroused by grand spectacles, the fatigues and dangers of travel are much less great." "I had other reasons for settling down on my own estate." "Is it indiscreet to ask you what they are?" "Are you really curious to know, then?" said the marquis with an equivocal smile. "Curious! no; I am not curious in the impertinent and ridiculous meaning of the word; but to one of my age, one's own destiny and other people's is an enigma, and one always imagines that he may derive valuable information from the experience and wisdom of certain men." "Why do you say _certain men_? Am I not like the rest of the world?" "Oh! not at all, monsieur le marquis!" "You surprise me greatly," said Monsieur de Boisguilbault in exactly the same tone in which he had said, a few moments earlier: _I am entirely of your opinion_. And he added: "Won't you put some sugar in your coffee?"