human
Has anything gone wrong with you this morning?
gpt
With me, my dear? Why, no! nothing, I assure you.
human
You seem preoccupied, however; is nothing troubling you?
gpt
What do you suppose can be troubling me?
human
Nothing, I trust! But I ask you the question.
gpt
My dear, so long as you love me, nothing will ever trouble me.
human
So much the better; in that case, nothing ever will. I was thinking that, as we are not always together--that is to say, in my absence you might have had visitors.
gpt
You are mistaken, my dear; for me, you are never absent; you are constantly in my thoughts.
human
This is very strange!
gpt
What is, my dear?
human
It smells of tobacco smoke here.
gpt
Do you think so? I don't smell anything.
human
Oh! that's because you don't choose to. It smells of tobacco, and of poor tobacco, too! I should think that someone had been smoking a pipe here.
gpt
It may have been the water carrier who brought the smell here.
human
The water carrier? I didn't suppose that he came into your bedroom, and your kitchen is some distance away. That was not a happy reply.
gpt
Mon Dieu! my dear, what do you mean by that? Not a happy reply! Do you mean to say that you attach any importance to such a trifle?
human
A trifle! You know, madame, the proverb says that there's no smoke without some fire; and, in like manner, there's no smell of tobacco smoke without a smoker. I came too early to-day, probably!
gpt
What do you mean by that, monsieur?
human
I mean--it's easy enough to understand! You have had some visitor who was smoking. The devil! a man must be on very familiar terms with a lady to smoke in her bedroom! Who has been here to see you so early?
gpt
What a lot of questions about a smell that may have come from the neighbor's!
human
Oh, no! you have no neighbor on this side.
gpt
So this is your confidence in me, Adhémar?--'I shall never be jealous,' you said.
human
Women are the most astonishing creatures! When you ask them a question, they answer with another, which is a very clever way of not answering at all. Will you tell me who has been here this morning, who has had the presumption to smoke a pipe in your apartment, or, at all events, to poison the air with the smell of a pipe?
gpt
No one, monsieur.
human
Very well, madame; I came too early to-day; that will teach me a lesson for another time.
gpt
She has certainly had a visitor who smoked, said Adhémar to himself, as he went away,
human
I will never go to her house again!