CHAPTER XXIII
I Purchase a Handsome Carriage, and Proceed to Parma With
the Old Captain and the Young Frenchwoman—I Pay a Visit to
Javotte, and Present Her With a Beautiful Pair of Gold
Bracelets—My Perplexities Respecting My Lovely Travelling
Companion—A Monologue—Conversation with the Captain—Tete-
a-Tete with Henriette
The conversation was animated, and the young female officer was entertaining everybody, even Madame Querini, although she hardly took the trouble of concealing her spleen.
“It seems strange,” she remarked, “that you and the captain should live together without ever speaking to each other.”
“Why, madam? We understand one another perfectly, for speech is of very little consequence in the kind of business we do together.”
That answer, given with graceful liveliness, made everybody laugh, except Madame Querini-Juliette, who, foolishly assuming the air of a prude, thought that its meaning was too clearly expressed.
“I do not know any kind of business,” she said, “that can be transacted without the assistance of the voice or the pen.”
“Excuse me, madam, there are some: playing at cards, for instance, is a business of that sort.”
“Are you always playing?”