"It is in everything I do, Oberlé!"
"Do you think I am mistaken? My sister pleases you because she is pretty?"
"Yes."
"Intelligent?"
"Yes."
"But also because she is an Alsatian girl! Your pride has seen in her a victory to be gained. You are not ignorant of the fact that the women of Alsace are in the habit of refusing Germans. They are queens not easily accessible to your amorous ambitions, from the country girls, who at their gatherings refuse to dance with the emigrants, up to our sisters, who are not often seen in your drawing-rooms or on your arms. In the various regiments you will belong to you will boast that you have won Lucienne Oberlé. It will even be a good mark for you in high quarters? Will it not?"
"Perhaps," said Farnow with a sneer.
"Go on then, break, or finish breaking, three of us!"
They were getting more and more irritated, each trying to control himself.
The officer rose, threw away his cigar, and said haughtily: