"Really, marquis, I scarcely know whether I am awake or dreaming. You, whom I have hitherto regarded as a bitter enemy—"
"Only a 'Woman's Hatred,' you know—or, if you like it better, the 'Hatred of a Political Friend.'"
"It seems inconceivable."
"So even as I ruined your absurd plans for securing a peerage at the same time that I prevented you from marrying your ward to an unprincipled scoundrel, I now propose to make you a deputy, and at the same time secure your consent to her marriage with a worthy young man who loves her, and whom she loves in return."
On hearing this announcement, M. de la Rochaiguë moved uneasily in his chair, cast a suspicious look at the marquis, and answered, coldly:
"I have been your dupe, I see, M. le marquis; I fell into the trap like a fool."
"What trap, my dear baron?"
"Your pretended anger at the course my political aspirations had taken, your flattery, your proposal to make me a deputy in your stead, all conceal an ulterior motive. Fortunately, I divine it—I unmask it—I unveil it."
"You are sure to become Minister of Foreign Affairs, baron, if you manifest like perspicuity in political matters."
"A truce to pleasantries, monsieur."