she took anybody she could get in Rouen, down to
the very cab drivers. Oh, yes, I know it positively from the coachman of
the Prefecture, who bought his wine at our shop. And now, when it lies
with her to get us out of this scrape, she pretends to be
particular--the brazen hussy! For my part, I consider the officer has
behaved very well! He has probably not had a chance for some time, and
there were three here whom, no doubt, he would have preferred; but
no--he is content to take the one who is public property. He respects
married women. Remember, he is master here. He had only to say 'I will,'
and he could have taken us by force with his soldiers!"

A little shudder ran through the other two women. Pretty little Madame
Carre-Lamadon's eyes shone and she turned rather pale as though she
already felt herself forcibly seized by the officer.

The men, who had been arguing the matter in a corner, now joined them.
Loiseau, foaming with rage, was for delivering up "the hussy" bound hand
and foot to the enemy. But the Count, coming of three generations of
ambassadors, and gifted with the physique of the diplomatist, was on the
side of skill as opposed to brute force.

"She must be persuaded," he said. Whereupon they conspired.

The women drew up closer together, voices were lowered, and the
discussion became general, each one offering his or her advice. Nothing
was said to shock the proprieties. The ladies, in particular, were most
expert in felicitous turns of phrase, charming subtleties of speech for
expressing the most ticklish things. A foreigner would have understood
nothing, the language was so carefully veiled. But as the slight coating
of modesty with which every woman of the world is enveloped is hardly
more than skin deep, they expanded under the influence of this equivocal
adventure, enjoying themselves wildly at bottom, thoroughly in their
element, dabbling in sensuality with the gusto of an epicurean cook
preparing a toothsome delicacy for somebody else.

The story finally appeared to them so funny that they quite recovered
their spirits. The Count indulged in some rather risky pleasantries, but
so well put that they raised a responsive smile; Loiseau, in his turn,
rapped out some decidedly strong jokes which nobody took in bad part,
and the brutal proposition expressed by his wife swayed all their minds:
"As that is her trade, why refuse one man more than another?" Little
Madame Carre-Lamadon seemed even to