“They are pleasant, if they are short,” she answered.
“Like his own life,” said the doctor; “his abuse of pleasures will cut that short.”
“So much the better,” remarked Soudry, “my son will step into the property.”
“Did he bring you any news about Les Aigues?” asked the Abbe Taupin.
“Yes, my dear abbe,” said Madame Soudry. “Those people are the scourge of the neighborhood. I can’t comprehend how it is that Madame de Montcornet, who is certainly a well-bred woman, doesn’t understand their interests better.”
“And yet she has a model before her eyes,” said the abbe.
“Who is that?” asked Madame Soudry, smirking.
“The Soulanges.”
“Ah, yes!” replied the queen after a pause.
“Here I am!” cried Madame Vermut, coming into the room; “and without my re-active,—for Vermut is so inactive in all that concerns me that I can’t call him an active of any kind.”