The gentleman laughed heartily.
"Ha! ha! ragots! not a very refined expression! My little Héloïse, your friend ought to give you lessons in refined speech, otherwise you might compromise her; and she didn't bring you here for that."
"I say! do you know me, too?"
"Bah! you little bungler! you give yourself away at once; really you are not shrewd enough to accompany Thélénie; but you are not pretty, that is why she gives you the preference!"
"I am not pretty! well, upon my word! this long yellow-face is very polite!"
"Ha! ha! ha! I see, mesdames, that you are really going to be angry; I will leave you."
"That will give us great pleasure."
"I forgive Héloïse her ill-humor; she simply obeys the orders that are given her. But I am very sorry that Madame de Sainte-Suzanne does not act differently. When one has been on very intimate terms with a person, and when one is aware that that person knows exactly what one's worth is, one should always be affable with that person; it is not clever to adopt a different course. Good-evening, mesdames. My dear Thélénie, if I see young Edmond, I shall not fail to tell him that you are looking for him, and to describe your costume, so that he may recognize you."
Thélénie turned suddenly, and seizing the gentleman's arm as he was about to leave the box, said to him, no longer seeking to disguise her voice:
"Oh! don't do that, Beauregard; I beg you not to do that; for I don't want Edmond to know that I am here."