"At twelve o'clock, exactly, I rang the bell, and she let me in herself. She had a lot of ribbons on her head.
"'We must make haste,' she said; 'as my servant might come in.'
"'I am quite willing to make haste,' I replied, 'but what am I to do?'
"But she only laughed, and replied: 'Don't you understand, you great knowing fellow?'
"I was no nearer her meaning, I give you my word of honor, Captain, but she came and sat down by me, and said:
"'If you mention this to anyone, I will have you put in prison, so swear that you will never open your lips about it.'
"I swore whatever she liked, though I did not at all understand what she meant, and my forehead was covered with perspiration, so I took my pocket-handkerchief out of my helmet, and she took it and wiped my brow with it; then she kissed me, and whispered: 'Then you will?' 'I will do anything you like, Madame,' I replied, 'as that is what I came for.'
"Then she made herself clearly understood by her actions, and when I saw what it was, I put my helmet onto a chair, and showed her that in the dragoons a man never retires, Captain.
"Not that I cared much about it, for she was certainly not in her prime, but it is no good being too particular in such a matter, as ten francs are scarce, and then I have relations whom I like to help, and I said to myself: 'There will be five francs for my father, out of that.'
"When I had done my allotted task, Captain, I got ready to go, though she wanted me to stop longer, but I said to her: