"Do you mean to say he wanted—"
"I tell you I saw it with my own eyes."
"And she refused?"
"Because the Prussian was in the next room."
"It is incredible."
"As true as I stand here!"
The Count nearly choked; the manufacturer held both his sides.
"And you can understand that he does not quite see the joke of the thing this evening—oh, no—not at all!"
And they all three went off again, breathless, choking, sick with laughter.
After that they parted for the night. But Madame Loiseau remarked to her husband when they were alone that that little cat of a Carré-Lamadon had laughed on the wrong side of her mouth all the evening. "You know how it is with these women—they dote upon a uniform, and whether it is French or Prussian matters precious little to them. But, Lord—it seems to me a poor way of looking at things."