"I' faith! I don't know anything about him; he is a gentleman whom I met at the watering-places; he passed before us in the winter-garden at the embassy; I called him to play off this joke; he answered the second day after by giving me, very gallantly, a nice little thrust with his sword. But don't let us talk of this nonsense. I come to beg a cup of tea." Saying this, Lucenay threw himself at full length on the sofa; after which, introducing the end of his cane between the wall and the frame of a picture placed over his head, he commenced moving it backward and forward.
"I expected you, my dear Henry, and I have arranged a little surprise for you."
"Oh, what is it?" cried Lucenay, pushing the picture into a very ticklish position.
"You'll end by pulling that picture on your head."
"That's true, by Jove! you have the eye of an eagle. But your surprise, what is it?"
"I have sent for some friends to breakfast with us."
"Ah, good! marquis, bravo! bravissimo! archibravissimo!" screamed Lucenay, striking heavy blows on the sofa cushions. "And whom shall we have?"
"Saint Remy."
"No; he has been in the country for some days."
"What the devil can he manage to do in the country in winter! Are you sure he is not in Paris?"