belonged to that sex without which man would be the most miserable animal
on earth.

Delighted with the graceful creature, I told her that I had been happy
enough to feel interested in her even before I had seen her, and that now
that I had the pleasure of seeing her, I could but renew with greater
zeal all my efforts to serve her.

She answered me with the grace and the animation which are the exclusive
privilege of her native country, and retorted my argument in the most
witty manner; I was already under the charm. My request was granted; I
went out to order breakfast, and to give them an opportunity of making
themselves comfortable in bed, for they were determined not to get up
until the door of their room was closed again.

The waiter came, and I went in with him. I found my lovely Frenchwoman
wearing a blue frock-coat, with her hair badly arranged like a man's, but
very charming even in that strange costume. I longed to see her up. She
ate her breakfast without once interrupting the officer speaking to me,
but to whom I was not listening, or listening with very little attention,
for I was in a sort of ecstatic trance.

Immediately after breakfast, I called on the general, and related the
affair to him, enlarging upon it in such a manner as to pique his martial
pride. I told him that, unless he settled the matter himself, the
Hungarian captain was determined to send an express to the cardinal
immediately. But my eloquence was unnecessary, for the general liked to
see priests attend to the business of Heaven, but he could not bear them
to meddle in temporal affairs.