"Since I have had the pleasure of dancing with you, madame, there would be nothing surprising in that."
"Oh! monsieur, you are very gallant, I see; but allow me to remark that your preoccupation has no sort of connection with me!"
"Do you think so, madame?"
"What do you suppose just came into my head?"
"I can"t imagine; but if you would deign to tell me----"
"You will think me very childish.--Ha! ha! ha!"
"Well, madame?"
"Well, monsieur, I imagined that you had forgotten your handkerchief!"
I could not help laughing with her. Oho! so I had the aspect of a person who had forgotten his handkerchief. In truth, a man who is without that useful article is apt to have an anxious, unhappy look; yes, my partner had thought of something perfectly consistent with the contortions I must have been guilty of while she was talking to me. But, to prove to her that she was mistaken, I drew my handkerchief and blew my nose, although I had no desire to do so.
My partner made a charming little grimace, and said:
"I trust, monsieur, that you will not bear me a grudge for that jest?"
"Far from it, madame; indeed, it proves to me that you are a skilful reader of countenances."
"Ah! monsieur, that is very unkind of you!"
"No, madame, for you guessed that I was much preoccupied, and you were not mistaken; but the cause is much more serious than you supposed."
"Really? And will you tell me what it is?--that is to say, if I am not impertinent to ask you."
"Oh! I should be very glad to confide it to you; but I dare not."
"Why not, pray?"
"Because I am afraid that you would blame me; and I should be so sorry to incur your displeasure."
"Make haste; the quadrille is almost over!"
"It is--it isn"t an easy thing to tell.--Do you waltz, madame?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"May I have the first waltz?"
"I am engaged."
"Oh! what luck! If you knew, madame, what a position I am in!"
"Would you have told me your secret while we were waltzing?"
"Certainly."
"You will think that women are very inquisitive, but I accept. I was engaged by a young man whom I don"t know; I"ll tell him that I made a mistake and that he may have another one."
"Ah! you are extremely kind, madame!"
The quadrille came to an end, and I escorted my partner to the bench from which I had taken her. The thing for me to do now was to show a bold front in the midst of that a.s.semblage. In vain did I look about in all directions, I did not see a familiar face. The company appeared to be quite select. It was not one of those wedding parties where the guests shriek and make a great noise in order to persuade themselves that they are merry; the men strolled quietly through the rooms, or chatted with the ladies, without any of the shouts of laughter and violent gesticulations which sometimes give to a large party the appearance of a tempestuous sea. The deuce! I found that my presence had been remarked. I met the eye of a stout young man, who had already pa.s.sed me twice and scrutinized me closely. I felt ill at ease; the self-a.s.surance born of the hearty dinner and the wine I had drunk had already abandoned me; my conversation with my partner, having aroused a most ardent desire to form a more intimate acquaintance with that lady, had instantly dissipated the exhilaration that had led me to commit that signal folly. I was beginning to reflect now, and it must have given me an extremely foolish aspect.--Suddenly I saw that a gentleman had stopped beside me and had taken his snuffbox from his pocket. He had one of those faces which resemble the turkey rather than the eagle; a face which might perhaps have been venerable, but for an enormous nose which covered a great part of it. If I could enter into conversation with him, it seemed to me that I should cut a less awkward figure.
X
A PINCH OF SNUFF.--A FAMILY TABLEAU
I stepped toward him, and, although I never take snuff, I put out my hand in the direction of his snuffbox, saying:
"With your permission?"
The gentleman was just closing the box, but he hastened to reopen it, and said to me with an expression to which he tried to impart much significance:
"Just try that, and tell me what you think of it."
I saw that he attached great importance to the quality of his snuff.
Indeed, when one has a nose of such dimensions, it is natural enough to give much thought to the question of snuff. I took an enormous pinch, and resigned myself to the necessity of inhaling it with all my force.
The snuff caught in my nose and throat and eyes all at once. I choked and sneezed, but I tried to dissemble my inexperience and to appear well pleased.
My friend shook his head knowingly, as he asked:
"Well! what do you think of it?"
"Excellent! delicious! I have never taken any so good."
"Parbleu! I believe you. Do you recognize it?"
"No, frankly, I do not. But, perhaps, by trying to--wait a moment."
I did what I could to prolong the conversation, for I was determined not to part with my interlocutor until the orchestra played the first measure of the waltz. Unluckily, I was not well posted on the subject of snuff.
"It"s of no use for you to think," continued the man with the snuffbox.
"It"s a mixture that I make myself. There"s _robillard_ in it, and Belgian, and caporal."
"Ah! I thought there was some caporal. I recognized that."
"There"s very little of it. When I have mixed them in just the right proportions, I add two or three drops, no more, of _eau de melisse_."
"Ah! that"s what it is; I said to myself: "It seems to me that I recognize that taste.""