"Sapristi! Rosette, are we going to begin that again?"
"Do you hear him, madame? He refuses to kiss me, the villain!"
"Mademoiselle," I said, in a serious tone, "I am sorry to be obliged to inform you that there are occasions when such liberties are permissible, and others when we must abstain from them; you should understand that."
Rosette pushed her chair away from the table, muttering:
"It wasn't worth while to bring me with you, just to say such things as that to me."
With that, she put her hand over her eyes and began to weep. The devil! That was the climax! I was in torment.
Frédérique tried to console Rosette, and said to me:
"Come, come, monsieur, don't make mademoiselle unhappy; she is right; you choose a very inopportune time to lecture her. Kiss her at once, and make peace with her."
I obeyed; whereupon Balloquet exclaimed:
"Mon Dieu! I would not wait to be asked twice, if someone would allow me to kiss her."