I would gladly have given him the blow that Madame Jérôme had given me! but I realized that I must restrain myself; so I thanked him, unlocked my door, and entered, pushing Nicette before me. I closed the door, paying no heed to Monsieur Raymond’s offer to light my candle for me.
But suddenly an idea came into my mind; I took a candle, opened my door again, and ran after Raymond, seizing him by his shirt just as he was entering a certain place. I put my finger to my lips, with a mysterious air.
“What’s the matter?” queried Raymond, extricating his shirt from my hand.
“Don’t mention the fact that you saw Agathe with me to-night.”
“A—Agathe! What do you say? Why, you are joking!”
“We have just come from a masquerade; she disguised herself for it, and——”
“Do you mean to say that there are masquerade balls in July?”
“There are if anyone chooses to give one; this was for somebody’s birthday.”
“But that girl——”
“She is well disguised, isn’t she? I’ll bet that you didn’t recognize her at the first glance. The costume—the rouge—they change one’s whole appearance.”