“This is very strange!” she said; “I am terribly dizzy; I do not feel at all well. Receive this woman, monsieur, and send her away. Come with me, Héloïse. Pray don’t be alarmed, my friends, it will not be anything serious.”
And Thélénie took her friend’s arm and left the tent with a rapidity most surprising in a person who feels indisposed.
But the guests did not notice this circumstance; they were awaiting with interest the nurse and the little boy, who soon presented themselves, the former with repeated curtsies, the latter staring at the whole company with an impertinent expression.
“That little fellow has very fine eyes!” said Freluchon; “they are almost as large as Madame de Belleville’s. Don’t you think so, Baron von Schtapelmerg?”
The baron, who was beginning to be a little tipsy, replied:
“My sister has the finest eyes in Paris!”
“Your sister! who’s your sister?”
Croque saw that he had made a false step.
“Yes, I’ve got a sister,” he rejoined, “who has a pair of eyes like portes cochères.”
And he poured out a glass of water and swallowed it at a draught, muttering: