ety like--like the
present; and that she hoped our friend Madame Marotte would in future be
less indiscriminate in the choice of her acquaintances.

MULLER (_with elaborate courtesy_):--We are all infinitely obliged to
Madame de Montparnasse for her opinion of us--(I speak for the society,
as leader of the circle)--and beg to assure her that we entirely
coincide in her views. It rests with Madame to carry on the game, and to
betray the confidence of Monsieur Dorinet.

MADAME DE MONTPARNASSE (_with obvious satisfaction_):--Monsieur Dorinet
told me that Rosalie Desjardin's legs were ill-made, and that she would
never make a dancer, though she practised from now till doomsday.

M. DORINET (_springing to his feet as if he had been shot_):--Heavens
and earth! Madame de Montparnasse, what have I done that you should so
pervert my words? Mam'selle Rosalie--_ma chere eleve_, believe me,
I never....

"Silence in the circle!" shouted Mueller again.

M. DORINET:--But, M'sieur, in simple self-defence....

MULLER:--Self-defence, Monsieur Dorinet, is contrary to the rules of the
game. Revenge only is permitted. Revenge yourself on Madame Desjardins,
whose secret it is your turn to tell.

M. DORINET:--Madame Desjardins drew my attention to the toilette of
Madame de Montparnasse. She said: "_Mon Dieu!_ Monsieur Dorinet, are you
not tired of seeing La Montparnasse in that everlasting old black gown?
My Rosalie says she is in mourning for her ugliness."

MADAME DESJARDINS (_laughing heartily_):--_Eh bien--oui!_ I don't deny
it; and Rosalie's _mot_ was not bad. And now, M'sieur the Englishman
(_turning to me_), it is your turn to be betrayed. Monsieur, whose name
I cannot pronounce, said to me:--"Madame, the French, _selon moi_, are
the best dressed and most _spirituel_ people of Europe. Their very
silence is witty; and if mankind were, by universal consent, to go
without clothes to-morrow, they would wear the primitive costume of Adam
and Eve more elegantly than the rest of the world, and still lead
the fashion,"

(_A murmur of approval on the part of the company, who take the
compliment entirely aux serieux_.)

MYSELF (_agreeably conscious of having achieved popularity_):--Our
hostess's deafness having unfortunately excluded her from this part of
the game, I was honored with the confidence of Mdlle. Honoria, who
informed me that she is to make her _debut_ before long at the Theatre
Francais, and hoped that I would take ticke