human
I should indeed feel honored if monsieur would recall the circumstances of our acquaintance, she said, blandly;
gpt
Madame has explained the sweet hallucination, he said, hand on heart.
human
We have not met except in dreams. Ah! that we had been friends in those days of glory when I was the favorite of the Hungarian court, the Count of Calembours, owner of diamond mines! _Mon Dieu!_ my homage was worthy of its object then!
gpt
So monsieur was born in Hungary?
human
In Hungary, madame.
gpt
Have you seen the pretty river Theiss?
human
Hem! Yes, madame. I lived in Irzegedin.
gpt
Ah! --with a mocking smile--
human
Madame is right. Madame must have been there.
gpt
Oh, no, my dear chevalier, else I should have heard of Count Calembours, without doubt. And Chevalier de Calembours left his princely fortune behind when he came here to fight?
human
Madame is a good listener.
gpt
Brave chevalier! but you will return to your estates?
human
Without doubt, madame, when I am weary of glory.
gpt
Admirable man! cried madame, with a silvery laugh.
human
What an enviable lady your wife is.
gpt
Dear friend, I have no wife,
human
Is that credible? A young and handsome man without a wife? Oh, chevalier!
gpt
My wife, --with a frown--
human
Alas! how sad. You must have been adored by her,
gpt
Ah, _pauvrette_, yes. She wearied me with that grand passion of hers.
human
Wearied monsieur, did she? (with a threatening smile into his eyes).
gpt
Silly, clumsy wretch!
human
No, no, madame, laughed the chevalier;
gpt
And your indifference broke her heart--she died for love of you?
human
No, no, madame, laughed the chevalier again.
gpt
She consoled herself. She ran away with a cotton lord from Manchester, and I heard of her no more.
human
She was mad--she was a fool! cried madame, blandly mischievous.
gpt
She should have polished her dull luster, and recaptured the errant heart of her noble chevalier. I should have done so.
human
You, exquisite madame? sighed the chevalier, _con amore_.
gpt
Ah, but my wife was not clever like you, nor beautiful.
human
She was only affectionate?
gpt
Only affectionate,