She went out. All waited for her return before they sat down at
the table.

Each was sorry that he had not been called instead of that violent
and irascible girl, and prepared mentally the platitudes he would
utter in case he should be called in his turn.

But at the end of ten minutes, she came back, out of breath, red to
suffocation, exasperated. She was stammering:--"Oh! la Canaille!
la Canaille!"[*]

[*][Note from Brett: This translates, roughly, into "Oh! the rogue!
the rogue!"]

All rushed up to her to find out what had happened, but she did
not say anything, and as the Count was insisting, she replied with
a great deal of dignity:--"No, it does not concern you; I cannot
speak..."

Then they took their seats around a high soup tureen from which
issued a smell of cabbage. In spite of this untoward incident,
the supper was cheerful. The cider was good; the Loiseau couple
and the Sisters drank of it by economy. the others ordered wine.
Cornudet called for a bottle of beer. He had a peculiar way
of uncorking the bottle, making the beer foam, examining it as he
inclined his glass, which he then raised between the lamp and his
eyes in order to appreciate better its color. While drinking,
his long beard, that had kept the color of his favorite beverage,
seemed to shake with joy; his eyes squinted in his effort not to
lose sight of his glass, and he looked as if he were performing