said the chevalier; "I am ennuied."

"Ah, indeed!"

"So much so," said D'Harmental, "that I am ready to send your conspiracy
to the devil."

"Oh, chevalier, one must not throw the helve after the hatchet! What!
send the conspiracy to the devil, when it is going on wheels! Nonsense;
and what will the others say?"

"Oh, you are charming, you and your others. The others, my dear abbe,
have society, balls, the opera, duels, mistresses, amusements in fact,
and they are not shut up like me in a nasty garret."

"Yes; but the piano, the drawing?"

"Even with this, it is not amusing."

"Ah, it is not amusing when one sings or draws alone; but when one sings
or draws in company, it begins to do better."

"And with whom, in the devil's name, should I sing or draw?"

"In the first place there are the Demoiselles Denis."

"Oh, yes, they sing beautifully and draw well, do they not?"

"Mon Dieu! I do not propose them to you as virtuosos and artists; they
have not the talents of your neighbor. But, by-the-by, there is your
neighbor."

"Well, my neighbor?"

"Why do you not sing with her, since she sings so well? That will amuse
you."

"Do I know her? Does she even open her window? Look, since yesterday
she has barricaded herself in her own room. Ah, yes, my neighbor is
amiable."

"Yes, they told me that she was charming."

"Besides, it seems to me, that both singing in our own rooms, we should
have a singular duet."

"Then go to her room."

"To her room! Have I been introduced to her? Do I know her?"

"Well, make a pretext."

"I have been searching for one since yesterday."

"And you have not found one, a man of imagination like you? My dear
pupil, I do not recognize you there."

"Listen, abbe! A truce to your pleasantries--I am not in the humor for
them to-day: every one has his stupid days."

"Well, on those days one addresses one's self to one's friends."

"To one's friends--and what for?"

"To find the pretext which one has sought for vainly one's self."

"Well, then, abbe, you are my friend; find the pretext; I wait for it."

"Nothing is easier."

"Really!"

"Do you want it?"

"Take care what you engage to do."

"I engage to open your neighbor's door to you."

"In a proper manner?"

"How! do I know any others?"

"Abbe, I will strangle you if your pretext is bad."

"But it is good."

"Then you are an adorable man."

"You remember what the Comte de Laval said about the descent which