"Why, Monsieur Edmond's mistress; you know perfectly well, you told me it yourself at the ball. You are very absent-minded, aren't you, monsieur?"
"Absent-minded!—why, that is natural enough when you talk of any other person than yourself; for I think of you, of you alone."
Thélénie made an impatient gesture and moved to the extreme end of the couch. But Chamoureau interpreted that pantomime as a proof of intense agitation on the part of the lovely brunette, who evidently feared to yield too quickly to the man who attracted her. Thereupon, determined to take advantage of that agitation, our amorous swain threw himself at the lady's feet, crying:
"Ah! madame, I can no longer restrain——"
But a cracking sound infinitely more prolonged than the former one interrupted the declaration which the agent was on the point of making. This time there was no possible doubt as to the locality of the tear; his trousers had followed the example of his coat, and a cool breeze blowing upon a spot ordinarily covered informed him that there was danger in store.
Our widower was stricken with consternation. Thélénie roared with laughter as she looked at him on his knees; and he, fearing that the noise occasioned by the accident might be interpreted in a way even more humiliating to him than the reality, made haste to say:
"My trousers have split, madame, that's all."
"Mon Dieu! I had no doubt of that, monsieur."
"It's the first time I ever wore them; they have straps under the feet, and they're a little tight; that is why, when I stooped—you understand."
"Perfectly, monsieur; pray rise."