"No more suppositions, mon ami; you weary me."
"You're the cleverest woman in Paris," he said, with a glance of warm admiration, as he alighted and stood by my carriage.
"And you, for one who has left youth behind, are the most gallant man in France," I answered, with a glow of merriment, for I already counted my mission as accomplished.
"Left youth behind," he murmured, despondingly.
"You said so, mon ami."
"It was in an undiplomatic moment."
"Therefore true, and your tongue, at least, is still youthful. Au revoir, monsieur."
Thérèse created a sensation. There are women even among my chosen acquaintances who insist upon their maids being stiff, and, if possible, ugly. Perhaps they fear the comparison which I am too satisfied with myself to be concerned about, and on that night I was thankful that my choice had fallen upon a girl who could so admirably play the part I had selected for her, one whom I need not fear, by some vulgar gaucherie, would spoil my plans or endanger my success.
Thérèse created a sensation, and, as she entered, the audacity of her costume drew all eyes towards her.