one of his nephews, a good-looking military man, who had escaped
from the disasters of Moscow, returned to his uncle's house, as much for
the sake of learning how far he had to fear his cousins, as heirs, as in
the hope of laying siege to his aunt. His black hair, his moustache,
the easy small-talk of the staff officer, a certain freedom which was
elegant as well as trifling, his bright eyes, contrasted favorably with
the faded graces of his uncle. I arrived at the precise moment when the
young countess was teaching her newly found relation to play backgammon.
The proverb says that "women never learn this game excepting from their
lovers, and vice versa." Now, during a certain game, M. de Noce had
surprised his wife and the viscount in the act of exchanging one of
those looks which are full of mingled innocence, fear, and desire. In
the evening he proposed to us a hunting-party, and we agreed. I never
saw him so gay and so eager as he appeared on the following morning, in
spite of the twinges of gout which heralded an approaching attack. The
devil himself could not have been better able to keep up a conversation
on trifling subjects than he was. He had formerly been a musketeer
in the Grays and had known Sophie Arnoud. This explains all. The
conversation after a time became so exceedingly free among us three,
that I hope God may forgive me for it!

"I would never have believed that my uncle was such a dashing blade?"
said the nephew.

We made a halt, and while we were sitting on the edge of a green forest
clearing, the count led us on to discourse about women just as Brantome
and Aloysia might have done.

"You fellows are very happy under the present government!--the women of
the time are well mannered" (in order to appreciate the exclamation of
the old gentleman, the reader should have heard the atrocious stories
which the captain had been relating). "And this," he went on, "is one of
the advantages resulting from the Revolution. The present system gives
very much more charm and mystery to passion. In former times women were
easy; ah! indeed, you would not believe what skill it required, what
daring, to wake up those worn-out hearts; we were always on the _qui
vive_. But yet in those days a man became celebrated for a broad joke,
well put, or for a lucky piece of insolence. That is what women love,
and it will always be the best method of succeeding with them!"

These last words were uttered in a tone of profound c