“You are going to give a party—to whom, pray? Can it be that you are reconciled with mamma?”
“Who is talking about your mother? She is a woman who insists upon meddling in affairs which she does not understand, and who, because her tastes lead her to live in a narrow circle, wishes also to prevent us from going out of it. You must agree that that is utterly absurd. However, when I have fifty thousand francs a year, I fancy that she will forgive me for not listening to her advice.”
“That will not be very soon, I take it!”
“Sooner than you think, madame, and I act accordingly.”
“And is that the reason that you are giving a party?”
“Exactly.”
“Whom do you expect to have?”
“Oh! never fear, we shall have lots of people. In the first place, we must, for it is the fashion now; if one is not crowded and pushed about in a salon, he does not think that he has enjoyed himself.”
“Oh! what nonsense, my dear! Who told you that?”
“It is not nonsense, madame. I go into society while you are taking care of your daughter.”