"Oh! monsieur, I should consider that I insulted you if I explained my meaning any further!" retorted Georgette, satirically. "If you don't understand me, so much the worse for you!"
"Did you enjoy the play last night?" hastily inquired Monsieur de Mardeille, anxious to change the subject.
"Yes, monsieur, very much. I would go very often, if I had the means."
"But if someone takes you, it's the same thing, isn't it?"
"No, monsieur; it isn't the same thing to be able to give one's self pleasure when one chooses, as to take it only when it pleases others to offer it."
"At all events, my pretty neighbor, when it is your pleasure to go again, I shall be at your service and delighted to escort you."
"You are too kind, monsieur.—Did you notice that lady in pink who was in a box on the stage last night?"
"In a proscenium box, do you mean?"
"I don't know whether you call it a proscenium box, but the lady I mean had a sort of crown of flowers on her head—and she was very pretty, too."
"Oh! yes, I remember—a lovely blonde. That was Irma, one of the women most in vogue at this moment."