"Quite big enough; be kind enough to fasten it tight into my buttonhole."
"Gladly; there, now it is done, and I promise you that it won't come out.—That is very nice! you look as if you were my true knight now."
"And so I am, my child," replied Roncherolle, emphasizing his words, "and I hope to perform the duties of the post."
"Why, how solemnly you say that!"
"Au revoir, my dear neighbor, au revoir!"
The young flower girl looked after Roncherolle, overcome by an emotion which she could not understand, and still murmuring:
"How he said that! I will bet that he has some purpose in wearing that bouquet in his buttonhole."
Meanwhile, Roncherolle, who did not propose to keep the others waiting, soon arrived at Bonvalet's, where he found the young actress and Saint-Arthur. Mademoiselle Zizi expressed all the pleasure that she felt at renewing her acquaintance with the professor of champagne, and said to him, scrutinizing him from head to foot:
"Why, how fine we are! how coquettish we are! we walk almost without limping, and we have such a chicarde air!—you look after yourself, you do, whereas Alfred takes no care of himself at all."
"What's that? I take no care of myself?"