"Hold your tongue, Monclair! sleep off your wine, and allow the count to finish his story."
"Sleep off your eau-de-vie, you fellows!"
"I threw a billet-doux in at the window; she pretended to be angry at first; I did not appear again for four days, and on the fifth I found the little one on the balcony at midnight, peering into the darkness in quest of me!"
"Ah! that's the way! it is always like that!"
"The next day, with the aid of a silk ladder, I stood by my charmer's side!—You see, messieurs, that this affair was like every other; indeed, it was too easy—no jealous husband, no guardian keeping watch."
"Oh! that sort of thing is very insipid; when there's no danger, there's no pleasure."
"Oh! Sire de Beausseilly, what you say is altogether false; there is always pleasure in the conquest of a pretty girl! And it seems that this one is an angel of beauty.—Is that so, Léodgard?"
"Yes, she was very pretty."
"She was! Is she dead, pray?"
"No, but I have not seen her for several weeks; that is why I use the past tense."