“Admirable, my dear poet.”
“Yes,” said Gourville; “but there are some people who are anxious to have the steed who have not even money enough to pay for the bridle.”
“And Vanel would draw back from his offer if he were to be taken at his word,” continued the Abbe Fouquet.
“I do not believe it,” said La Fontaine.
“What do you know about it?”
“Why, you have not yet heard the denouement of my story.”
“If there is a denouement, why do you beat about the bush so much?”
“Semper ad eventum. Is that correct?” said Fouquet, with the air of a nobleman who condescends to barbarisms. To which the Latinists present answered with loud applause. [11]
“My denouement,” cried La Fontaine, “is that Vanel, that determined blackbird, knowing that I was coming to Saint-Mande, implored me to bring him with me, and, if possible, to present him to M. Fouquet.”
“So that—”