"Oh! but one must be an habitue of the Bouffes to do that sort of thing!--A cigarette, Lepinette."

"Here is one, monsieur."

"How many do you smoke a day, Edward?"

"I don't know; I never counted them."

"I'll bet that it's two dozen!"

"I'll bet it's three!"

"Pardieu! all you have to do is to ask my valet; he can give you more accurate information than anyone else on that subject."

"Lepinette, how many cigarettes does your master smoke in a day--about?"

Lepinette reflected a moment, then replied:

"I have sometimes given monsieur le vicomte as many as sixty, messieurs; but it's never less than forty."

"Ha! ha! ha! that is magnificent! sixty cigarettes a day! You deserve a prize, Edward. We'll order a wreath of cigarettes for you!"

"Well, messieurs, what would you have? a man must do something; and when one has no other amus.e.m.e.nt----"

"Oh! viscount, you can't make us believe that you haven't some beauty to whom you are devoted."

"No, Florville, at this moment I love n.o.body. I am so utterly blase on the subject of love! It is all over; my heart has lost the power of taking fire; the incendiary glances of my fair friends leave it as cold as ice. And then, when one knows women, one knows how much reliance may be placed on their oaths."

"Oh! there are exceptions," said Duma.r.s.ey. "I remember, Edward, when you had a pretty young girl for a mistress--I think you had abducted her, found her at a linen draper's. She came from Lorraine. She was almost a peasant, and you sophisticated her."

"Oh! yes, I remember! You mean Suzanne, don't you?"

"Suzanne, yes, that was what you called her. She seemed to be very fond of you."

"In other words, she loved me too much; it got to be insufferable. She was far too sentimental."

"What did you do with the girl?"

"What did I do with her? Faith, nothing! What do you expect a man to do with a girl of that sort, when she has once been his mistress, and he has had enough of her? I don't see that there's anything for him to do with her."

"Then you don't know what became of her?"

"No, indeed; and I should be very sorry to know. I had enough trouble to rid myself of the little one's importunities.--Give me a cigarette, Lepinette."

And the viscount, with a testy exclamation, threw on the floor the cigarette he had in his mouth, which he had smoked only a few seconds.

Since the mention of the young woman named Suzanne, his brow had clouded, and his face had a.s.sumed an ill-humored expression. But young Lamberlong brought back a smile to his lips by exclaiming:

"Oh! mon Dieu! I have entirely forgotten what they give at the Bouffes to-morrow. Can you tell me, messieurs?"

"Oh! give us a moment's peace with your Bouffes, Lamberlong!--Can you understand, messieurs, how a man can attend every blessed performance at the Italiens, when he doesn't know a word of that language?"

"Who told you that I don't know a word of Italian? It's false; I understand it quite well."

"You understand it, but you don't comprehend it."[H]

"You say you understand it; very well! answer this: _Pone nos recede_."

The young man with red hair scratched his head, looked at the ceiling, and muttered:

"I never heard those words at the Bouffes."

Thereupon the dandy laughed heartily, and Florville exclaimed:

"Didn't you know that Duma.r.s.ey was talking Latin to you?"

"Latin! How do you suppose I could understand him, then? What do I know about Latin--a dead language! They don't sing in Latin at the Bouffes."

"Monsieur le vicomte's horse is saddled," said a little groom, putting his nose in at the door.

"All right!--Let us go, messieurs.--By the way, Lepinette, have you filled my pockets with cigarettes?"

"Yes, monsieur, I have put some everywhere, even in your fob."

"That's right.--To horse, messieurs!"

XX

THE THIRD PETTICOAT

Two days after this riding party, Edward de Sommerston was in his smoking room, stretched out on a divan, smoking and intensely bored, as usual, and watching the puffs of smoke ascend and float about the room until they formed a fog so dense that one could hardly see from one side to the other. Suddenly the door was softly opened; Lepinette appeared, and, trying to distinguish his master through the clouds that filled the room, said in an undertone:

"Is monsieur le vicomte asleep?"

"What! No, I'm not asleep! I wish I were, but smoking never puts me to sleep! What do you want of me?"

"I came to tell monsieur that I have just made a find."

"A find! Have you found a treasure? So much the better for you; keep it!"

"Oh! monsieur, it isn't a treasure in money; it's something of another sort, which will be much more to monsieur's taste."

The viscount half rose, saying:

"What in the deuce is it?"

"It's a woman, monsieur; or rather, an enchanting girl!"