"So much the better! The people are at last waking up since the Teste-Cubières case."[D]
"For my part, that case caused me some pain," said Dussardier, "because it imputed dishonour to an old soldier!"
"Do you know," Sénécal went on, "what they have discovered at the Duchesse de Praslin's house——?"
But here the door was sent flying open with a kick. Hussonnet entered.
"Hail, messeigneurs," said he, as he seated himself on the bed.
No allusion was made to his article, which he was sorry, however, for having written, as the Maréchale had sharply reprimanded him on account of it.
He had just seen at the Théâtre de Dumas the Chevalier de Maison-Rouge, and declared that it seemed to him a stupid play.
Such a criticism surprised the democrats, as this drama, by its tendency, or rather by its scenery, flattered their passions. They protested. Sénécal, in order to bring this discussion to a close, asked whether the play served the cause of Democracy.
"Yes, perhaps; but it is written in a style——"
"Well, then, 'tis a good play. What is style? 'Tis the idea!"