"Ah! you love them now; you love all the world to-day, it seems."
"No, I do not love them; but, as just now they keep themselves close and quiet, and do not do me the least harm, I do not fear them, and I cling to all old and well-known faces. All these Guises, with their fierce looks and great swords, have never done me any harm, after all, and they resemble—shall I tell you what?"
"Do, Henri; I know how clever you are at comparisons."
"They resemble those perch that they let loose in the ponds to chase the great fish and prevent them growing too fat; but suppose that the great fish are not afraid?"
"Well!"
"Then the teeth of the perch are not strong enough to get through their scales."
"Oh! Henri! my friend, how clever you are!"
"While your Béarnais—"
"Well, have you a comparison for him also?"
"While your Béarnais, who mews like a cat, bites like a tiger."