VAL. And to come and assure you, without any deceit, that I am wholly at
your service.

SGAN. I believe it.

VAL. I have the advantage of being one of your neighbours, for which I
thank my lucky fate.

SGAN. That is all right.

VAL. But, sir. do you know the news going the round at Court, and
thought to be reliable?

SGAN. What does it matter to me?

VAL. True; but we may sometimes be anxious to hear it? Shall you go and
see the magnificent preparations for the birth of our Dauphin, sir?

[Footnote: The Dauphin, the son of Louis XIV. was born at Fontainebleau,
on the 1st of November, 1661; _The School for Husbands_ was first
acted on the 24th of June of the same year; hence Molière ventures to
prophesy about the Dauphin's birth.]

SGAN. If I feel inclined.

VAL. Confess that Paris affords us a hundred delightful pleasures which
are not to be found elsewhere. The provinces are a desert in comparison.
How do you pass your time?

SGAN. On my own business.