"So much so," said D'Harmental, "that I am ready to send your conspiracy to the devil."
"Oh, chevalier, one must not throw the helve after the hatchet! What! send the conspiracy to the devil, when it is going on wheels! Nonsense; and what will the others say?"
"Oh, you are charming, you and your others. The others, my dear abbe, have society, balls, the opera, duels, mistresses, amusements in fact, and they are not shut up like me in a nasty garret."
"Yes; but the piano, the drawing?"
"Even with this, it is not amusing."
"Ah, it is not amusing when one sings or draws alone; but when one sings or draws in company, it begins to do better."
"And with whom, in the devil's name, should I sing or draw?"
"In the first place there are the Demoiselles Denis."
"Oh, yes, they sing beautifully and draw well, do they not?"
"Mon Dieu! I do not propose them to you as virtuosos and artists; they have not the talents of your neighbor. But, by-the-by, there is your neighbor."