"I knew her husband," said the Colonel, "he often showed me her charming letters."
"Auguste," interrupted Hector Roquantin, "do introduce me to the Countess. They say you can do anything with her."
"When she returns to Paris at the end of autumn, . . . " murmured Saint-Clair, " I — I believe she does not entertain visitors in the country."
"Will you listen to me?" exclaimed Thémines.
Silence was restored. Saint-Clair fidgeted upon his chair like a prisoner before his judges.
"You did not know the Countess three years ago because you were then in Germany, Saint-Clair," went on Alphonse de Thémines, with aggravating coolness. "You can not form any idea, therefore, of her as she was then; lovely, with the freshness of a rose, and as light-hearted and gay as a butterfly. Perhaps you do not know that among all her many admirers Massigny was the one she honoured with her favours? The most stupid and ridiculous of men turned the head of the most fascinating amongst women. Do you suppose that a deformed person could have done as much? Nonsense; believe me, with a good figure and a first-rate tailor, only boldness in addition is needed."
