"How they love each other!" says Caroline to herself.
By dint of nervous headache, Caroline conceives an exceedingly ingenious plan: this plan consists in using the conjugal bliss of the opposite neighbors as a tonic to stimulate Adolphe. The idea is not without depravity, but then Caroline's intention sanctifies the means!
"Adolphe," she says, "we have a neighbor opposite, the loveliest woman, a brunette—"
"Oh, yes," returns Adolphe, "I know her. She is a friend of Madame de Fischtaminel's: Madame Foullepointe, the wife of a broker, a charming man and a good fellow, very fond of his wife: he's crazy about her. His office and rooms are here, in the court, while those on the street are madame's. I know of no happier household. Foullepointe talks about his happiness everywhere, even at the Exchange; he's really quite tiresome."
"Well, then, be good enough to present Monsieur and Madame Foullepointe to me. I should be delighted to learn how she manages to make her husband love her so much: have they been married long?"
"Five years, just like us."
"O Adolphe, dear, I am dying to know her: make us intimately acquainted. Am I as pretty as she?"
"Well, if I were to meet you at an opera ball, and if you weren't my wife, I declare, I shouldn't know which—"
"You are real sweet to-day. Don't forget to invite them to dinner
Saturday."
"I'll do it to-night. Foullepointe and I often meet on 'Change."