“Indeed it is!”
“Charming women with silk dresses ... on the balconies all day.”
“No; not all day.”
“And with cigarettes in their mouths, eh?”
“No.”
“Ah! Don’t Spanish women smoke?”
“Much less than French women.”
“French women do not smoke, sir,” said the woman somewhat indignantly.
“Oh! I’ve seen them in Paris!” exclaimed Quentin. “But you won’t see any of them smoking in Cordova. You French people don’t know us. You believe that all we Spaniards are toreadors, but it is not so.”
“Ah! No, no! Pardon me!” replied the Frenchman, “we are very well acquainted with Spain. There are two Spains: one, which is that of the South, is Théophile Gautier’s; the other, which is that of Hernani, is Victor Hugo’s. But perhaps you don’t know that Hernani is a Spanish city?”