“Most astonishing! And his hair, is it green also?”
“Chestnut brown, almost hazel.”
“Pray be more exact; is it hazel or not?”
“You need not laugh at me—his whole appearance is striking, his figure singular, but full of character, full of expression, and as handsome as singular.”
“What enthusiasm! It seemed to me, so far as I noticed, that he was inclined to stoop, and that his head was very badly poised.”
“What do you say?” cried Mlle. Moiseney, greatly scandalized. “How came you to think his head badly poised?”
“There—there! Don’t let us quarrel about it; I am ready to retract. Good-night, mademoiselle. Apropos, did you know that M. Camille Langis had returned to Paris?”
“I did not know it, but I am not surprised. I had surmised it; in fact, I was quite sure that he would be back about this time, perfectly sure. And, of course, you think he has returned with the intention—”
“I think,” interrupted Antoinette, “that it costs me more to pain M. Langis than any other man in the world. I think, also, that he possesses most tiresome fidelity; it is always the way, one never loses one’s dog when one wants to lose him; and I think, moreover, that a woman makes a poor bargain when she marries a man for whom she feels friendship; for, if she gains a husband, she is very sure to lose a friend.”
“How true your words are!” exclaimed Mlle. Moiseney. “But you are always right. Has M. Langis forgotten that you thought him too young—only twenty-three?”