day, and I should not be astonished if one fine morning the Grand
Inquisitor was to have the king shaved, and to take his place.




CHAPTER XXIII

I Purchase a Handsome Carriage, and Proceed to Parma With the Old Captain
and the Young Frenchwoman--I Pay a Visit to Javotte, and Present Her With
a Beautiful Pair of Gold Bracelets--My Perplexities Respecting My Lovely
Travelling Companion--A Monologue--Conversation with the
Captain--Tete-a-Tete with Henriette

The conversation was animated, and the young female officer was
entertaining everybody, even Madame Querini, although she hardly took the
trouble of concealing her spleen.

"It seems strange," she remarked, "that you and the captain should live
together without ever speaking to each other."

"Why, madam? We understand one another perfectly, for speech is of very
little consequence in the kind of business we do together."

That answer, given with graceful liveliness, made everybody laugh, except
Madame Querini-Juliette, who, foolishly assuming the air of a prude,
thought that its meaning was too clearly expressed.

"I do not know any kind of business," she said, "that can be transacted
without the assistance of the voice or the pen."