"A non-commissioned officer of the Chasseurs."
"Oh! is he coming in here? Why don't they make soldiers go on foot?"
"In such a time as this it would be hard and fatiguing for them, mademoiselle."
"Is it not their trade? Such people are never fatigued. These public conveyances do give you such disagreeable neighbors! …. The derangement of your usual habits, to have nothing warm, pass the night without any sleep, be crowded, choked! …. I don't see why one of these gentlemen don't get up in the imperial."
"Notwithstanding the fog?"
"What does that signify, for men?"
"Mademoiselle would be less incommoded," added Darvon ironically. "She had better make the proposition herself to our companion."
"What! I speak to a soldier!" said Mademoiselle Athénaïs fiercely; "I prefer being incommoded, sir!"
"Well, here he is," said Jacques.