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"Yes defending oneself, of course, that is quite another thing; but wouldn't it be better to kill all these kings who do this for their pleasure?" Cornudet's eyes flashed. "Bravo, citizeness!" he cried. Monsieur Carré-Lamadon was lost in thought.
But the countess, turning toward Madame Carre-Lamadon, soon broke the painful silence: "I think you know Madame d'Etrelles?" "Yes; she is a friend of mine." "Such a charming woman!" "Delightful! Exceptionally talented, and an artist to the finger tips. She sings marvellously and draws to perfection."
The ladies could hardly contain their delight. The count and Monsieur Carre-Lamadon laughed till they cried. They could scarcely believe their ears. "What! you are sure? He wanted " "I tell you I saw it with my own eyes." "And she refused?" "Because the Prussian was in the next room!" "Surely you are mistaken?" "I swear I'm telling you the truth." The count was choking with laughter.
Little Madame Carré-Lamadon seemed even to think that in her place she would refuse this one less readily than another. They were long in preparing the blockade, as if against an invested fortress. Each one agreed upon the part they would play, the arguments they would bring forward, the maneuvers they would execute.
He had only to say: 'I wish it! and he might have taken us by force, with the help of his soldiers." The two other women shuddered; the eyes of pretty Madame Carre-Lamadon glistened, and she grew pale, as if the officer were indeed in the act of laying violent hands on her. The men, who had been discussing the subject among themselves, drew near.
Loiseau cracked a joke: "They are re-peopling the country." Mr. Carre-Lamadon, more serious, interjected: "They are repairing." But they could not find the driver. Finally they discovered him in the village Cafe, fraternizing and drinking with the orderly of the Prussian Officer. The Count interpolated: "Didn't you have orders to have the coach ready for eight o'clock?"
Loiseau in turn made some considerably broader jokes, but no one took offence; and the thought expressed with such brutal directness by his wife was uppermost in the minds of all: "Since it's the girl's trade, why should she refuse this man more than another?" Dainty Madame Carre-Lamadon seemed to think even that in Boule de Suif's place she would be less inclined to refuse him than another.
The conversation then turned upon him, his general appearance, his face. Madame Carré-Lamadon, who had known a great many officers and was competent to judge of them "en connoisseur," considered this one really not half bad she even regretted that he was not French, he would have made such a fascinating hussar, and would certainly have been much run after.
Monsieur Carré-Lamadon remarked that if as there was every reason to believe the French made an offensive counter-march by way of Dieppe, the collision could only take place at Totes. This reflection greatly alarmed the other two. "Why not escape on foot?" suggested Loiseau. The Count shrugged his shoulders. "How can you think of such a thing in this snow and with our wives?
They could not well eat the young woman's provisions and not speak to her, so they conversed stiffly at first, and then, seeing that she showed no signs of presuming, with less reserve. Mesdames de Breville and Carré-Lamadon, having a great deal of "savoir vivre," knew how to make themselves agreeable with tact and delicacy.
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