“Well, my dear,” said Adeline, after she had told him everything, “what do you think now of your sincere friend?”
“I think—I think that you make a crime of a trifle, and a matter of importance of something that amounts to nothing.”
“What! my dear——”
“Certainly; a declaration to a woman! mon Dieu! is that such a rare thing, for heaven’s sake, a thing for which it is necessary to make so much fuss? Every day pretty women receive declarations addressed to them in jest, to which they attach no more importance than they deserve. But you take fright at a word! a simple compliment seems to you an attempt at seduction! you shouldn’t take things so! But I know you: you don’t like—more than that, you detest Dufresne. For a long time you have been trying to ruin him in my estimation, and you seize this pretext for accomplishing your purpose; but I warn you, madame, that you will not succeed.”
“Is it possible, monsieur? do you accuse me, do you suspect me of being capable of deceiving you?”
“Or of being deceived? How do you know that Dufresne did not talk all that nonsense to you to make sport of you, and to be revenged for your hatred, which he perceives very plainly?”
“Was it for that purpose too that he tried to carry his audacity so far as to kiss me?”
“Kiss you! Well, I admit that he was wrong to kiss you against your will, and I shall scold him for it. But a kiss is not a thing which should irritate you to this point!”
“You do not intend then, monsieur, to cease to receive Monsieur Dufresne in your house?”
“Most assuredly, madame, I do not intend to make myself unhappy, to make myself ridiculous, and to cause people to point their fingers at me as a jealous husband, simply because somebody ventured to embrace you in jest! That would be utterly absurd! But calm yourself, I will forbid Dufresne to mention his passion to you again!”