e was--Amyntas."

"Ah!" said Madame, archly, "now for the portrait of Amyntas; you are
such an excellent painter, Monsieur de Saint-Aignan."

"Madame--"

"Oh! comte, do not, I entreat you, sacrifice poor Amyntas; I should
never forgive you."

"Madame, Amyntas is of too humble a position, particularly beside
Tyrcis, for his person to be honored by a parallel. There are certain
friends who resemble those followers of ancient times, who caused
themselves to be buried alive at their masters' feet. Amyntas's place,
too, is at the feet of Tyrcis; he cares for no other; and if, sometimes,
the illustrious hero--"

"Illustrious shepherd, you mean?" said Madame, pretending to correct M.
de Saint-Aignan.

"Your royal highness is right; I was mistaken," returned the courtier;
"if, I say, the shepherd Tyrcis deigns occasionally to call Amyntas his
friend, and to open his heart to him, it is an unparalleled favor, which
the latter regards as the most unbounded felicity."

"All that you say," interrupted Madame, "establishes the extreme
devotion of Amyntas to Tyrcis, but does not furnish us with the portrait
of Amyntas. Comte, do not flatter him, if you like; but describe him to
us. I will have Amyntas's portrait." Saint-Aignan obeyed, after having
bowed profoundly to his majesty's sister-in-law.

"Amyntas," he said, "is somewhat older than Tyrcis; he is not an
ill-favored shepherd; it is even said that the muses condescended to
smile upon him at his birth, even as Hebe smiled upon youth. He is not
ambitious of display, but he is ambitious of being loved; and he might
not, perhaps, he found unworthy of it, if he were only sufficiently
well-known."

This latter paragraph, strengthened by a killing glance, was directed
straight to Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente, who received them both
unmoved. But the modesty and tact of the allusion had produced a good
effect; Amyntas reaped the benefit of it in the applause bestowed upon
him: Tyrcis's head even gave the signal for it by a consenting bow, full
of good feeling.

"One evening," continued Saint-Aignan, "Tyrcis and Amyntas were walking
together in the forest, talking of their love disappointments. Do not
forget, ladies, that the story of the Dryad is now beginning, otherwise
it would be easy to tell you what Tyrcis and Amyntas, the two most
discreet shepherds of the whole earth, were talking about. They reached
the thickest part of the forest, for the purpose of being quite a