“No, my friend, not so much of variety as of forbidden fruit; and when I think that Gerville is at our right, Raymond at our left, and that I have succeeded in avoiding the necessity of eating in his company the dinner he ordered—ha! ha! ha!”
“Don’t laugh so loud!”
“Oh, yes! that will reassure him, don’t you see? he will think that Gerville’s in good humor.—Ha! ha! ha! it will bring back his appetite.”
Agathe was in the wildest spirits; she was compelled to hold her napkin over her mouth to stifle her outbursts of merriment; the pleasure of deceiving two men at once gave to her face an unfamiliar expression; she had never been so pretty in my eyes, I confess. She teased me, pinched me, caressed me, threw her arms about me. Ah! Mademoiselle Agathe, you were a perfidious creature, but most seductive! Moreover, for several days, I had been making love with my eyes alone, and I felt that it was incumbent on me to make our mystification of Raymond complete.—Ah! my poor neighbor! if you but knew what ardor Agathe showed in mystifying you!
But we heard someone coming upstairs; it was our waitress. That young woman had an abundance of tact and penetration; she turned the knob at least thrice before she opened our door. She brought the first course. I tasted the wine; it was Volnay, first quality. Gad! my neighbor was a connoisseur!
“Oh! you’ll have a fine dinner,” laughed the girl; “the gentleman didn’t forget anything: champagne, dessert, and the coup de milieu!”
“Aha! so we’re to have the coup de milieu!” said Agathe; “we musn’t forget that, my friend, do you hear?”
“Never fear.—By the way, my girl, did our neighbor question you?”
“Yes; I told him that madame was dining with two gentlemen; he seems a little easier in his mind.”
“That is good.”