"The two ladies who were with me just now and whom I treated to candy at a hundred sous a stick."
"No, monsieur."
"But they were right here, by my side, only a moment ago. I don't understand it at all!"
A crowd of young men and dominos rushed up to the buffet, pushing Chamoureau aside and shouting:
"Come, off you go, Spaniard! You've had enough to drink; make room for others!"
"I beg your pardon, messieurs, I am looking for a lady."
"Go to the deuce! You won't find your lady! Ohé! what a phiz! Ah! now he's losing his boots! Look out, or you'll lose your nose next! Ha! ha! what a ridiculous figure! Oh! that nose!"
At a masked ball, as soon as a few people begin to jeer at a person in disguise, the crowd collects and swells the chorus; and as the widower was a decidedly laughable figure in his ornate costume, and with his false nose and moustaches, bursts of laughter arose on all sides as he passed, and he was followed by people who shouted in his ears:
"Oh! that nose! Look at that Spaniard's nose!"
"That man has been deceived by women."