He exclaimed in a voice broken by convulsions of laughter.
"Oh! poor Souris! poor Souris! Ah! yes, he had that sort of head—oh, certainly he had!"
And Mme. Leuillet now twisted herself under the sheets, laughing till the tears almost came into her eyes.
And Leuillet repeated: "Come, confess it! confess it! Be candid. You must know that it cannot be unpleasant to me to hear such a thing."
Then she stammered, still choking with laughter.
"Yes, yes."
Her husband pressed her for an answer.
"Yes, what? Look here! tell me everything."
She was now laughing in a more subdued fashion, and, raising her mouth up to Leuillet's ear, which was held towards her in anticipation of some pleasant piece of confidence, she whispered—"Yes, I did deceive him!"
He felt a cold shiver down his back, and utterly dumbfounded, he gasped.