"Thank you, monsieur," I replied.
"Now, monsieur, the envelope?" he said.
I had never made envelopes, except for the rare petitions I had written for my mother, and once on my own account in General Foy's office, so I was still more ignorant about the making of envelopes than about the folding. I took a half-sheet of paper in my left hand, a pair of scissors in my right hand, and I began to cut the sheet.
M. le Chevalier de Broval uttered a mingled cry of surprise and terror.
"Oh! good Lord!" he said, "what are you going to do?"
"Why, M. le chevalier, I am going to make the envelope you asked me to make."
"With scissors?"
"Yes."
"First learn this, monsieur: paper should not be cut, it should be torn."