[135] NE VOILÀ-T-IL PAS! An exclamation of surprise. It might here be translated, 'Just listen to that.' It is more correctly expressed by ne voilà pas, the barbarism resulting from the consideration of voilà as a verb and the introduction of the euphonic t and the il of impersonal verbs (Littré, "voilà," 10°),
[136] MA MIE. A curious example of deformation. Originally feminine nouns beginning with a vowel took the feminine ma before them, the vowel of ma being elided. Thus, m'amie; but later the word was modified to its present form.
[137] QU'ON NE LES APPELLE. Que in the sense of sans que requires the negative particle ne. It is less frequently used to-day than in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Sans qu'on les appelle might replace this expression.
[138] PUISQUE LE DIABLE LE VEUT. An uncomplimentary variant of the proverb. "Ce que femme veut, Dieu le veut."
[139] JE VOUS TROUVE ADMIRABLE, 'I think it is very surprising on your part.'
[140] GÂTÉ L'ESPRIT SUR SON COMPTE, 'Prejudiced you against him.'
[141] ON N'EN A QUE FAIRE, 'We have no need of them.'
[142] EN QUOI DONC. The en here must refer to comme elle tourne les choses, in Silvia's last remark.
[143] TOUJOURS, 'Still.'
[144] ME NOIRCIR L'IMAGINATION, 'Soil my thoughts.' Marivaux has very consistently preserved the character of the high-born lady that Silvia is, in the remarks he puts into her mouth. It is impossible for her to forget her real rank, or to forget her usual way of considering menials as of an inferior race.