(LIONNETTE, _a cup in each hand, presents one to_ G.o.dLER, _the other to_ TReVELe.)
G.o.dLER (_touching_ LIONNETTE"s _hand with his lips_).
Dare I be so bold?
LIONNETTE.
If you wish it.
TReVELe.
And I?
LIONNETTE.
And you, too. Only, take the cups, or you will burn my hands with the tea.
G.o.dLER.
And you, Nourvady?
NOURVADY.
Thank you, I ask for nothing, not even a cup of tea.
(JOHN _chats with_ RICHARD _in a corner_.)
TReVELe.
And the Countess will be right never to give you anything. People who ask nothing are often those who wish too much. Under cover of forty millions....
NOURVADY.
My money has nothing to do with this.
TReVELe.
Certainly not; but all the same, when one has forty millions one finds a great many things easier than when one has, like me, only one. Ah, well, I must say, to the credit of Nourvady, it is in vain that he has two millions income at least--because he is a man who makes the best of his capital. He is, after all, the most sentimental of us three, and who takes love most seriously. He is a millionaire Anthony, and in our time it is remarkable.
G.o.dLER.
And useful.
(RICHARD _and_ JOHN, _who have chatted in a corner of the drawing-room, make their way to the terrace, where they chat in sight of the public_.)
NOURVADY.
I do not know why Trevele always a.s.sails me on the score of my fortune, of which I talk as little as possible. I am rich, but it is through no fault of mine. If that had depended on me alone, it certainly would never have happened. I am not clever enough to make forty millions.
Fortunately, I had a father who was very intelligent, and, at the same time, very honourable. This father had a large bank at Vienna, which was very prosperous. He died, leaving me forty millions. It was, therefore, necessary to resign myself to accept them.
LIONNETTE.
Easy resignation, I think, and that I should have had like you.
NOURVADY.
Ah! Madam, a fortune is a burden like anything else, at least for a man, for women have more grace and intelligence in spending money than we.
But with much simplicity, a few efforts of the intellect, a little ingenuity in the way of rendering services--there is sometimes a way to get out of the difficulty--for a man.
TReVELe.
And you get out of it remarkably well, my dear fellow! If we tease you about your millions, it is because it is the only subject we can joke you upon.
NOURVADY (_holding out his hand to him_).
Rest a.s.sured, my dear Trevele, that I am never offended at your jokes.
G.o.dLER (_to_ TReVELe).
It is very fortunate for you, for if Nourvady were at all susceptible you would have a nice time.
TReVELe.
Why?
G.o.dLER.
Because he kills a bird at every shot.
TReVELe.
But I am not a bird.
G.o.dLER.
And he hits the mark eleven times out of twelve, and barely escapes the twelfth.
NOURVADY.
Fortunately I have an easy temper, which I have acquired by self-control, for I was naturally violent and irritable.
G.o.dLER.
That poor Marnepont discovered something of that.
NOURVADY.
Don"t let us speak of that.