I will die a
gentleman, if I have lived a fool.'
'I think that you will do the one as certainly as you have done
the other,' I retorted in my exasperation. And yet I admired
him.
'Oh, I am not quite a fool!' he cried, scowling at me. 'I have
used my eyes.'
'Then be good enough to favour me with your ears!' I answered
drily. 'For just a moment. And listen when I say that no such
bargain has ever crossed my mind. You were kind enough to think
well of me last night, M. de Cocheforet. Why should the mention
of Mademoiselle in a moment change your opinion? I wish simply
to speak to her. I have nothing to ask from her, nothing to
expect from her, either favour or anything else. What I say she
will doubtless tell you. CIEL man! what harm can I do to her,
in the road in your sight?'
He looked at me sullenly, his face still flushed, his eyes
suspicious.
'What do you want to say to her?' he asked jealously. He was
quite unlike himself. His airy nonchalance, his careless gaiety
were gone.
'You know what I do not want to say to her, M. de Cocheforet,' I
answered.
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