"Forsooth!"--"How now! Come, let us make the distinction."--"Ha, ha,
ha!" And there is a burst of that hearty laughter which men affect to
assist digestion. The ice is broken, they draw closer to each other and
continue in low tones:

"She has a fine neck! for when she turned just now it looked as if it
had been sculptured."

"Her neck, her neck! but what of her hands, her arms and her shoulders!
Did you see her at Leon's ball a fortnight ago? A queen, my dear fellow,
a Roman empress. Neck, shoulders, arms--"

"And all the rest," hazards some one, looking down into his cup. All
laugh heartily, and the good De K. comes in with a box of cigars which
look exceptional.

"Here you are, my friends," he says, coughing slightly, "but let me
recommend you to smoke carefully."

I have often dined with my friend De K., and I have always, or almost
always, heard a conversation similar to the preceding. But I must avow
that the evening on which I heard the impertinent remark of this
gentleman I was particularly shocked; first, because De K. is my friend,
and in the second place because I can not endure people who speak of that
of which they know nothing. I make bold to say that I alone in Paris
understand this matter to the bottom. Yes, yes, I alone; and the reason
is not far to seek. Paul and his brother are in England; Ernest is a
consul in America; as for Leon, he is at Hycres in his little
subprefecture. You see, therefore, that in truth I am the only one in