"On the contrary, I kept clear of all intrigues."
"You astound me! I mean to go to England for the express purpose of finding out how the English women make love."
"Be careful! they take it more seriously than our French women do."
"Meanwhile, my dear Adhémar, you see before you the happiest man in Paris. I have arrived, my dear fellow, in every sense of the word. I am chief of a bureau—the position which was the one object of my ambition; and in my family relations I have nothing left to desire. My wife used to be perfectly killing with her affection; she would have liked to be hanging on my arm all the time; I have cured her of that nonsense, and now she lets me go out without her whenever I choose; sometimes, indeed, she is the first to suggest it. There's a young man who comes to the house to play cards with her, and who takes her to the theatre and to drive. I had great difficulty in accustoming her to it; but now the thing goes all alone, and she leaves me as much liberty as I can possibly desire. Well, Adhémar, what do you say? haven't I steered my ship pretty well? Why don't you congratulate me?"
Adhémar, who had smiled in rather an equivocal way while the handsome blond boasted of his good fortune, made haste to reply:
"You have reached your goal, my dear Dubotté, and, as you are satisfied, there is nothing for me to do but congratulate you."
"Gad! I should be hard to suit if I wasn't satisfied. And you must be, too, my dear fellow, for your success is uninterrupted, and you earn a lot of money."
"Happiness doesn't always depend on money alone."
"What about the other two fellows? have you any news of them?"
"No; I have been away from Paris, you know."