In exitu Israel

by S. Baring-Gould

'I did not see them.'

'Oh, my faith! I wish I had looked at them. I have no doubt there were amethyst earrings. I had a pair once,—they were made of glass, you know, but they looked real, if you kept your head constantly on the move, and were very vivacious, so that no one should examine them closely. And they were stolen. The thief believed them to be real. They were stolen from me at a ball, and how it was done I never could guess. I never for a moment felt a hand near my face, or I would have slapped, and scratched, and kicked. Mon Dieu! I would have bitten.'

'And I am positive you would have scolded.'

'Scolded! believe me! I would have stabbed the man through and through with my sharp words, till he was little better than veau piqué. I would have amputated his head with my tongue. You do not know what I would have done!'

'I can guess.'

'Never! You do not know what I am capable of when I am roused. To you I am an angel of peace, to those who rouse me——'

'A cat.'

'Fie! And I your wife. Well,' she seated herself on the edge of his chair, and began to caress him. 'What have you got to tell us more?'

'The story would have been told long ago, if you had not interrupted me. The Sieur Réveillon was amazingly glad to recover his box. I told him that he was indebted to you.'