de Courville, said to him:

"You would really pity me, if you only knew how continually I am thinking
about your friend."

But the other, who had been rather vexed at the Baron's behavior in the
circumstances, told him exactly what he thought of him:

"By Jove, my good friend, when a man has any secrets in his existence,
like you have, he does not make advances to a woman, immediately, as you
did, for you must surely have foreseen the reason why you had to draw
back."

The Baron left off smoking in some confusion.

"Yes, and no; at any rate, I could not have believed what actually
happened."

Whereupon, Monsieur de Courville lost his patience, and replied:

"One ought to foresee everything."

But Monsieur de Coutelier replied in a low voice, in case anybody should
be listening: "I see that I have hurt your feelings, and will tell you
everything, so that you may forgive me. You know that for twenty years
I have lived only for sport; I care for nothing else, and think about
nothing else. Consequently, when I was on the point of undertaking
certain obligations with regard to this lady, I felt some scruples of
conscience. Since I have given up the habit of ... of love, there! I
have not known whether I was still capable of ... you know what I
mean ... Just think! It is exactly sixteen years since ... I for the last
time ... you understand what I mean. In this neighborhood, it is not easy
to ... you know. And then, I had other things to do. I prefer to use my
gun, and so before entering into an engagement before the Mayor[3] and
the Priest to ... well, I was frightened. I said to myself: 'Confound it;
suppose I missed fire!' An honorable man always keeps his engagements,
and in this case, I was undertaking sacred duties with regard to this
lady, and so, to feel sure, I made up my mind to go and spend a week in
Paris.

[Footnote 3: Civil marriage is obligatory in France, whether a religious
ceremony takes place or not.--TRANSLATOR.]

"At the end of that time, nothing, absolutely nothing occurred. I always
lost the game.... I waited for a fortnight, three weeks, continually
hoping. In the restaurants, I ate a number of highly seasoned dishes,
which upset my stomach, and ... and it was still the same thing ... or
rather, nothing. You will, therefore, understand, that, in such
circumstances, and having assured myself of the fact, the only thing
I could do was ... was ... to withdraw; and I did so."

Monsieur de Co