“Hum! I don’t think it! If you knew how his friend Monfréville gave it to you!”
“Ta! ta! mere empty words! nonsense! I am above all that!”
The two worthies were walking on when Poterne, spying Louise standing a few steps from the hôtel de Grandvilain, upon which her eyes seemed to be fixed, put his hand on Daréna’s arm, saying:
“Bigre! what a pretty girl! What in the devil is she doing there, in rapt contemplation, before the door of Chérubin’s house? Do you know, Poterne, that girl is perfectly bewitching! The more one looks at her, the more charms one discovers.”
“Yes, and it’s not Parisian style; however, she’s something more than a peasant. She has a bundle under her arm—do you suppose she has just arrived from the provinces?”
“She is still staring at the house. I certainly must find out what she is doing here.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet, but I am a Frenchman, and a lady’s man before everything; and I am bound to aid and protect the fair sex. Forward, and you will see. Walk beside me, idiot!”
Daréna and Poterne crossed the street and walked toward Louise; when they were near her, Daréna stopped and said in a loud tone: