The fair beggars talked of returning me the alms I had given them, but I replied in such a way that they said no more about it.
“I am taken for you, sir,” said the marquis, “and it may cause some annoyance to our fair friends here.”
“I have foreseen that,” I replied, “and I shall unmask before the end of the ball. This will falsify all suppositions, and nobody will succeed in identifying you.”
“Our pockets are full of sweetmeats,” said Mdlle. Q——. “Everybody wanted to fill our plates.”
“Yes,” said the cousin, “everybody admired us; the ladies came down from their boxes to have a closer view of us, and everyone said that no richer disguise could be imagined.”
“You have enjoyed yourselves, then?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“And I too. I feel quite boastful at having invented a costume which has drawn all eyes upon you, and yet has concealed your identity.”
“You have made us all happy,” said the lieutenant’s little mistress. “I never thought I should have such a pleasant evening.”
“Finis coronat opus,” I replied, “and I hope the end will be even better than the beginning.”