"Be good enough then to remind me where it was."
"It was near here—at the Château d'Eau flower market; you were bargaining for a bouquet, as was an exceedingly ugly little fellow—a friend of yours, I think—and you did not make up your mind; whereupon I arrived and put an end to your hesitation by buying the bouquet;—do you remember now?"
"Yes, monsieur, I remember very well."
And Jéricourt pressed his lips together again and scowled, because that reminder recalled no agreeable memories.
"Then there was a gamin who threw the ugly little fellow down, and as he fell he tore his trousers."
"Where?" queried Mademoiselle Zizi.
"Only on the knees."
"Bah! that isn't amusing enough!"
"There was also a young flower girl—a very pretty girl, on my word!"
"I know her," said Saint-Arthur; "she supplies me; it's Violette."