"How lucky! I have never met the princess, and they say she's such a splendid woman," said Madame Girard.
"Ma foi! I am as pleased as you are," said M. de Brévannes, "to see at last this mysterious beauty. The other day, at the Opera-ball, they were talking of nothing else but this princess, and the strange conduct of her invisible husband."
"At least he will not be invisible this evening," said M. Girard.
"What do you mean?" inquired his wife.
"Why, simply, my dearest love, that the servant asked if he could not have an arm-chair for his eminence, who is, they say, terribly out of health, and comes out to-night for the first time after a very tedious illness."
"What an idea to come to a theatre!" said Madame Girard.
"An invalid's whim, doubtless," replied Brévannes.
"The box-keeper replied to the servant that he must ask the controller," replied M. Girard; "whereupon the man went downstairs, and I came as quickly as I could, to tell you, my dear love, my little budget of news."
"Well, it is fortunate," said De Brévannes; "we shall now see this singular, strange, and fantastic couple."
"Who is this princess, then, Charles?" asked Bertha of De Brévannes.