"What the devil's the matter with you this morning, that you seem so much more stupid than usual?"
"Why, it seems to me that I'm just the same as usual."
"Come, brush my hair, and be quick about it! It's late."
You must know that Monsieur Pomponne was an excellent hair dresser; that and his trustworthiness, you see, made him rather a notable personage. He had studied the trade of hair dressing for some time; he gave it up, so he told me, because, as he had a fine lot of hair, his head was constantly used for beginners to practice on, and that got to be rather tiresome.
"And the love affairs, Pomponne—how do they come on?"
My servant blushed; he was not an accomplished rake, you see.
"Oh, monsieur! I haven't any love affairs!"
"Ah! so you choose to play the close-mouthed lover with me?—What about the maid-servant of the old gentleman opposite? you haven't made love to her, you rascal, have you?"
"Oh, monsieur! I may have laughed a little with her; just in a joking way, that's all."
"We all know what it means to laugh with maid-servants."