"I played the spy on Monsieur Dauberny; he took a fiacre, and I followed him in a cabriolet. I supposed that he would go to visit some lorette, or perhaps some grisette. I was surprised when I found that his cab turned into Faubourg du Temple, passed the barrier, and stopped at La Courtille, in front of one of the most famous restaurants there. So Monsieur Dauberny frequented La Courtille. But why did he go there? Was it simply from curiosity? from a liking for those popular scenes, with which the court used to divert itself, so they say, at the Grand-Salon on Rue Coquenard? It was necessary to follow Monsieur Dauberny in order to obtain fuller information. I confess that I hesitated a moment. I felt a sort of thrill of terror when I found myself in the midst of a throng so entirely unfamiliar to me, hearing a medley of shouts, oaths, howling, singing, and laughter all about me. But, as you know, I am not fond of retreating. I entered a wine shop which seemed very popular, and followed the crowd past a succession of long counters, looking about for my husband.
"Everybody seemed to be going up a broad staircase, and I did as the others did. Luckily, my costume, being very simple, did not attract attention. Still, several men in blouses had glanced at me as they passed, saying to one another:
"'Who in the devil's this fellow?'
"'I should think he was some English lord's valet.'
"'How sheepish he looks in his coat! One would say he didn't dare to stoop. My eye! see the gloves! There's style for you! gloves! He looks as if he'd been to a wedding.'
"All this was not calculated to put me at my ease. I hastened to take off my gloves, and stuffed them in my pocket; then I cocked my hat over one ear, to give myself a swaggering air, and went up to the first floor.
"I found myself in an enormous room, where there was an orchestra. The centre of the room was reserved for dancing and was surrounded by a railing. But outside the railing were tables, without cloths, with wooden benches beside them. There were men and women eating and drinking at almost all the tables. All those people did not hesitate to talk in loud voices, laugh and sing, or blackguard one another. They kept shouting to the waiters, who had much ado to fill the orders of the customers; and when to that uproar were added the music of the orchestra, in which wind instruments and the bass drum predominated, and the clatter of the dancers, who were not shod in pumps, the result was a bacchanalian tumult quite capable of deafening and stupefying a person, especially one who heard it for the first time.
"The heat was suffocating; the room was filled with a heavy vapor produced by the smoking dishes, the wine spilt on the table, the dust raised by the dancers, and the perspiration, which seemed to be the normal condition of the company. There was a sort of mist before my eyes; they smarted painfully, and I felt that I staggered like an intoxicated person. I leaned against a table. A waiter passed me, carrying glasses of eau-de-vie to several women; I asked him for one of them and swallowed it at a draught, amid the applause of the women who sat about the table.
"'He's doing well, that boy is!' said one of them; 'with his little touch-me-not air, he tosses down his dram like a regular fireman! I give him my esteem!—I say, little one, I engage you for the waltz.'
"I thanked them, saying that I did not waltz, and walked quickly away from the table, for they seemed altogether too kindly disposed toward me. At last, I discovered my husband in the midst of the crowd around the tables. He had just taken his seat at one, at which two women in fichus were already seated dressed like fishwomen in their everyday clothes.