In the salon they found the chevalier entertaining Madame de Rémur with an anecdote which was the occasion of much laughter on her part.
The poet was reciting some of his own verses to the countess, while the philosopher was asleep in an arm-chair.
"The crowd have torn down the Bastille," cried de Lacheville, speaking in a thick voice, "and they are now coming down this street, seeking whom they can devour."
The ladies cried out in terror.
"Marquis, you have interrupted one of my best stories," said the chevalier petulantly.
"But, chevalier, the mob have taken the Bastille."
"Couldn't you have allowed them two minutes more to complete their work? However, what you say is very interesting, though it does not surprise me. I have been expecting it."
"You forget that the chevalier is gifted with second sight," said the count, with a slight sneer.
"I have been expecting it for some time," continued the chevalier, "though what they wanted to take it for, I cannot imagine. If they should attack the Hôtel de Ville or the Louvre, or march against Versailles, I could understand it."
Madame de Rémur and the philosopher, who had awakened from his nap, had approached to hear the news; and the Marquis de Lacheville repeated it to them as if he had been an eye-witness of the whole affair.