“I have indeed, madame,” replied her guest, squeezing the lemon-juice out over his sole.
“You must have eaten some strange things in your travels,” continued the lady.
“I rather think so,” replied Rouvière, with his mouth full of fish; “things you never heard of! Marianne, my good girl, I smell coffee roasting in your kitchen. Now, nearly every one, especially here in the provinces, roasts it too much—all the aroma is driven off; run quick, that’s a good lass, and tell the cook—Jeannette, isn’t it?—that the coffee must only be toasted—just scorched. Do you understand, eh?”
“Yes, yes, I understand well enough,” muttered Marianne as she went out; “that fellow seems to like nothing!”
“My dear lady,” went on Rouvière, turning to Mme. Dupuis, “the very accident I feared for your coffee has happened to your chicken—it is cooked too much, or rather it has been cooked too fast. It is a great pity, for it was an excellent fowl!”
“Oh! dear, oh! dear,” exclaimed Mme. Dupuis, who was beginning to feel a kind of despair thus far unknown to her. All her dinners hitherto had been subjects of compliment; this was quite a new experience. “Oh! dear, oh! dear, how many misfortunes at one time. Pray excuse me, M. Rouvière; you came so unexpectedly, you know. We had no time to do things well. But do, pray, stay a few days with us, and you shall see. I promise you that everything shall be better.”
“Impossible, madame,” replied the guest, as he accepted a fine snipe done to a turn; “you are very kind, but at nine o’clock this evening I must be on the road again. Yes, madame, you may well say that I have eaten strange things,” he continued, raising his voice. “I’ve eaten kouskoussou under the Arab’s tent; curry—that incendiary curry—on the shores of the Ganges; I’ve dined off the frightful tripang in Java; and in China on swallows’ nests stewed in castor-oil!”
“Good gracious!” ejaculated Mme. Dupuis.
“What a wonderful fellow!” exclaimed M. Dupuis enthusiastically.
M. Dupuis was unwontedly silent; he was evidently exceedingly annoyed, and it was pitiful to see the deprecating glances his little wife directed towards him from time to time. He, however, kept his eyes fixed steadily on his plate.