“No, my dear love, it relates to a matter in which you alone are interested. You gave me two commissions a few days ago: first, to find out whom a dog belonged to that had had the effrontery to bark at you. I have at last discovered his owner; that savage beast, which, by the way, is unlawfully at large, as he isn’t muzzled, belongs to a man who lives on an estate called the Tower, near Gournay. This man, who is looked upon as——”
“Enough, monsieur; you tell me nothing new; I know perfectly well who owns that dog.”
“Nevertheless, I propose to go and tell him he must muzzle his Newfoundland—they say it’s a Newfoundland—and to-morrow——”
“No, monsieur, it is quite unnecessary for you to take that step. I have already seen that gentleman, and he has apologized to me.”
“Oh! if he has apologized to you, that makes a difference.”
“What! my dear madame, have you seen the bear of the Tower?” Madame Droguet asked Thélénie.
“Yes, I met him and spoke to him.”
“It seems that the man is becoming less uncivilized; probably since he has been in love with that Dalmont woman.”
“What do you say?”
“I say that this Monsieur Paul passes every evening now with that creature; everybody knows it, it is getting to be a public scandal. Isn’t that so, Monsieur Luminot?”