hat he made a mistake."

"I am delighted to hear it; where is he?"

"He has gone home, where you will find him; but don't say anything about
your spending the night here, or he will think it was spent with my
niece. I am very much obliged to you for what you have done, and I have
only to ask you to be discreet."

"You can count on me entirely, for I am grateful to you for having
forgiven my friend."

"Who would not do so? The dear young man is something more than mortal.
If you knew how he loved me! I am grateful to him, and I have taken him
to board for a year; he will be well lodged, well fed, and so on."

"What a delightful plan! You have arranged the terms, I suppose."

"All that will be settled in a friendly way, and we shall not need to
have recourse to arbitration. We shall set out to-day for Villette, where
I have a nice little house; for you know that it is necessary, at first,
to act in such a way as to give no opportunity to slanderers. My lover
will have all he wants, and whenever you, sir, honour us with your
presence you will find a pretty room and a good bed at your disposal. All
I am sorry for is that you will find it tedious; my poor niece is so
dull."

"Madam, your niece is delightful; she gave me yesterday evening an
excellent supper and kept me company till three o'clock this morning."

"Really? I can't make it out how she gave you anything, as there was
nothing in the house."

"At any rate, madam, she gave me an excellent supper, of which there are
no remains, and after keeping me company she went to bed, and I have had
a good night on this comfortable sofa."

"I am glad that you, like myself, were pleased with everything, but I did
not think my niece so clever."

"She is very clever, madam--in my eyes, at all events:"

"Oh, sir! you are a judge of wit, let us go and see her. She has locked
her door. Come open the door, why have you shut yourself up, you little
prude? what are you afraid of. My Casanova is incapable of hurting you."

The niece opened her door and apologized for the disorder of her dress,
but what costume could have suited her better? Her costume was dazzling."

"There she is," said the aunt, "and she is not so bad looking after all,
but it is a pity she is so stupid. You were very right to give this
gentleman a supper. I am much obliged to you for doing so. I have been
playing all night, and when one is playing one only thinks of the game. I
have determined on takin