The old waiter replied, smiling so as to show the whole of his three remaining teeth:
“It’s no larger than yours.”
“Oho! a party of two, is it?”
“Yes, madame.”
“A man and a woman?”
“Yes, madame.”
“They seem to be even more romantic than we are; they have forgotten about dinner.”
“Oh! the dinner’s all ordered, it’s coming up directly. I know their ways; they’re regulars.”
And the waiter left the room, closing at the same moment his mouth and the door, the latter of which he had been holding ajar.
“You are very inquisitive,” said Auguste, “to want to know how many people there are opposite. What difference does it make to us what others say and do?”