"Oh, business! You? How important you must feel, to be sure!"
"Do stay, Denoisel," said M. Mauperin. "My wife has a whole collection of stories for you like the one she has just told you."
"Oh yes, do, will you?" pleaded Renée. "We'll have such fun; you'll see. I won't touch the piano at all, and I won't put too much vinegar in the salad. We'll make puns on everything. Come now, Denoisel."
"I accept your invitation for next week."
"Horrid thing!" and Renée turned her back on him.
"And Dardouillet," said Denoisel; "isn't he coming this evening?"
"Oh, he'll come later on," said Mauperin. "By-the-bye, it's just possible he won't come, though. He's very busy—in the very thick of marking out his land. I fancy he's just busy transporting his mountain into his lake and his lake on to the top of his mountain."
"Well, but what about this evening?"
"Oh, this evening—no one knows," said Renée. "He's full of mysteries, M. Dardouillet. But how queer you look to-day, Denoisel!"
"I do?"