"It doesn't amuse me overmuch."
"My dear girl, I hoped, by inviting a friend or two to dinner, to brighten you up, to give you a little diversion; for you have looked as if you weren't feeling well for some time. Tell me, are you sick?"
"Why, no, dear father; I am not sick, I am not in pain. I assure you that I am in my ordinary condition."
"Good! so much the better! Still, it seems to me that you're a little changed."
"Oh! you know one has days—when the autumn comes.—And you didn't invite Fanny and her husband, while you were in the mood?"
"Yes, I did. I was going to their house when I met Auguste. But they can't come; they are going to a grand dinner. Nothing but festivities, gorgeous parties!"
"All the better! it amuses Fanny; she's so fond of all that sort of thing!"
"True, true! Fanny is leading the life she used to dream of; she ought to be happy. But it seems to me that her husband has been in rather a gloomy mood lately; he always has such a startled, preoccupied manner; and when you speak to him, he hardly listens to you."
"I think that you're mistaken, father; Fanny's husband isn't of an expansive nature; his manner is cold, a little haughty, perhaps."
"Yes, I know it; but he likes to cut a brilliant figure, to dazzle other people by his magnificence; and that sometimes carries a man too far."