"You are mistaken, my masters!" rejoined Léodgard, calm once more. "There is neither quarrel nor falling-out between us; I was talking with the chevalier, and I may have become a little heated and have raised my voice. But we have no inclination to fight, for we have no reason to cease to be friends."
"Oh! that's a pity!" muttered Monclair, walking away. "It would have amused me to see them cross swords."
"He did not choose to tell us the truth," said Montrevert, leading his friends away. "But we are not his dupes. He probably has got wind of Jarnonville's visits to his wife, and he was saying two words to him on the subject."
"In that case, they will fight at the first opportunity."
"That is inevitable!"
"Ah! here is Flavia!"
"And pretty Nadina! Come with us for a stroll, enchantresses!"
The two courtesans to whom these words were addressed turned back toward the salons, saying:
"No, indeed, we will not walk in the gardens with you, seigneurs; you have too pronounced a penchant for the dark paths."
"Besides, I want to dance!" said little Nadina, who was rather stout for her short stature, but who carried her premature embonpoint with such graceful abandon and such a saucy expression that the men felt drawn toward the Little Ball, a sobriquet which her female friends had given her.