"Why, when you sing, M. le Marquis, it is a sign you are happy, and then your voice sounds to me the most beautiful music in the world."
"In that case, Joseph, my old friend, prepare to open your long ears."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"You may enjoy every day the music which you call charming, and of which you seem so fond."
"What! You will be happy every day, M. le Marquis?" exclaimed Joseph, clasping his hands with extreme delight.
"Every day, my old Joseph, happy every day. Yes, no more sorrow,—no more sadness. I can tell you, the only and discreet confidant of my troubles, that I am at the height of happiness. My wife is an angel of goodness, and has asked my forgiveness for her past estrangement, attributing it (can you imagine?) to jealousy."
"To jealousy?"
"Yes, absurd suspicions, excited by anonymous letters."
"How shameful!"
"You understand? Women have so much self-love,—a little more and we should have been separated; but, fortunately, last evening she explained all frankly to me, and I disabused her mind. To tell you her extreme delight would be impossible, for she loves me,—oh, yes, she loves me! The coldness she evinced towards me lay as cruelly on herself as on me, and now, at length, our distressing separation has ended. Only conceive my delight!"