"Give it to me, all the same; we must be governed by circumstances. Come, gallows bird! I verily believe that you hesitate!"
Repressing a sigh, the valet handed his master an enormous gourd. Sénange swallowed a mouthful, then cried:
"Ah! I suspected as much; it is exquisite, delicious,—it is thirty years old, I will stake my head! The villain must have stolen it from my father's cellar.—Here, Léodgard, judge for yourself."
Léodgard took the gourd and drank slowly but at great length, so that the young men called out:
"Enough, count, enough!—He will drink it all! We too want a chance to judge of the liquor!"
At last Léodgard passed the gourd to his neighbor, who, after drinking, passed it to another. They did not cease to drink, until they had exhausted the contents of the gourd. Then they returned it to Bruno and made themselves comfortable on the grass, some half reclining, others at full length. Léodgard, who had maintained a sitting posture, with his head resting on his left hand, said to his companions:
"What do you wish me to tell you about, messieurs? an amourette among the common people? Mon Dieu! it is always the same story! They kept the girl closely confined, but not so closely that she did not see me pacing the street under her window."
"So long as parents leave windows in their houses," said Monclair, "they cannot answer for the innocence of their daughters!"
"There was a balcony on which she had placed a pot of flowers, which she used to come out to water."
"Messieurs, it is not without a motive that women display so much love for flowers; intrigues almost always begin with bouquets."