“Will you swear to act according to it?”
“I swear it!”
“You will keep your oath?”
“I will.”
“Well, Mademoiselle, take them all.”
The divine danseuse raised her arms gracefully, threw back her queenly head, and her bosom of ivory palpitated with sudden gladness, like the throat of a bird that sings with very happiness.
“You are a rare fellow,” cried she; “after your death, your body should be embalmed, and your tomb be a ‘Mecca’ for all true gallants from thenceforth forever. But, dear doctor, remember that I am a woman. You do not know to what you expose yourself. Suppose I were to take you at your word?”
“I should say you were a woman of your word, and knew how to keep an oath.”
“No, no, dear doctor, no joking! you wish to try me!”
“Not in the least; I speak seriously. All these curiosities belong to me no longer—they are yours.”