Notwithstanding their joy at the Marquis's triumph, they were greatly astonished by this strange coincidence of opinion; so they were eager for an explanation.
"How the devil did you ever come to vote for the Marquis?" impetuously cried the baron, addressing Flachsinfingen and Sphex.
"I was going to ask you the same question," replied Sphex. "How is it that you decided to give him your vote? And you, too, Flachsinfingen?"
"Oh, with me it is very different," said the baron. "Between ourselves we can speak frankly. You must admit that one founds his preferences on similarity of pursuits; is it not so? Well, it is because my dogs and those of the Marquis hunt together, as the saying is, that I have given my vote to him. In a word, he is a man whose character, manners, and habits please me. I promised him my vote, feeling that his cause was hopeless, knowing well that both of you would be hostile to him. I am delighted that he has gained it; but, may the devil strangle me if I can understand how and why you voted for him!"
"The character and the habits of the Marquis please you?" cried Sphex and Flachsinfingen, with one voice, both astounded.
"Certainly, never a bolder hunter has sounded his trumpet in our forests . . . never a gayer companion, never a freer drinker has emptied his tankard supernaculum, as the French say!"
The two councillors laughed in the baron's face.
"A bold hunter! . . . A blower of trumpets, he! a poor young Latinist! a poor scholar!" said Sphex, giving way to his hilarity, and shrugging his shoulders with pity.
"A hard drinker! . . . a gay companion! . . . this ingenuous youth who quotes the Bible so apropos! this timid lad who cannot look at my wife without blushing up to his ears!" cried Flachsinfingen, with a laugh not less sardonic.
"The . . . the Marquis! a scholar and a Latinist! . . . The Marquis quoting the Bible and blushing before a woman!" repeated the baron, laughing immoderately. "Ha, ha! my friends, you are fools, or rather you see everything through your own glasses."