Chapter IX: Act II: Scene 1

[Footnote 81: #maréchal des logis de dragons#, _sergeant of dragoons_.]

#Page 28.#

[Footnote 82: #préfet#, _prefect_, governor of a department, appointed by the central authority. There are now in France 87 departments, divided into 362 arrondissements and some 36,000 communes.]

[Footnote 83: #parfaite#, _very courteous_ or _kind_.]

[Footnote 84: #bien en cour#, _a favorite at court_.]

[Footnote 85: #fermes#, _homesteads_, tenantries.]

#Page 29.#

[Footnote 86: #demi-lieue#. As now used the _lieue_ is colloquially 4 kilometres, or 2-1/2 miles. The old _lieue_ was of 4,444 metres, or not quite 3 miles, and there is also a _lieue marine_ of 5,555 metres, or 3 nautical miles. Say: _hardly a mile and a half_.]

[Footnote 87: #Si#, _Of course_, or _Certainly_, here.]

#Page 30.#

[Footnote 88: #quel bonheur#, _how fortunate_, i.e., for me.]

#Page 31.#

[Footnote 89: #brigadier#, _sergeant_.--#exprès#, _messenger_.]

[Footnote 90: #tiens à#, _desire to_.]

#Page 32.#

[Footnote 91: #n'assistiez seulement pas#, _were not even present_.]

[Footnote 92: #duo#, _duet_. Italian.]

#Page 33.#

[Footnote 93: #brava#, _good_. Feminine of the Italian _bravo_. This grammatical accuracy shows good breeding.]

#Page 34.#

[Footnote 94: #cadette#, _younger_. Properly of sisters, but see dictionary.]

[Footnote 95: #original#, _curious, queer_, "peculiar." Distinguish from _originel_, "original."]

[Footnote 96: #cantabile# (sound the _e_-final), _piece of vocal music_. Italian.]

#Page 35.#

[Footnote 97: #incultes#, _uncultivated_ in musical matters.]

[Footnote 98: #gauche#, _embarrassed_, rather than "awkward."]

[Footnote 99: #tenait de#, _had a sort of_.]

#Page 36.#

[Footnote 100: #arbre fortuné#, i.e., the orange-tree.]

[Footnote 101: #ses yeux ... à lui#, _his eyes--you know whom I mean_.]

#Page 37.#

[Footnote 102: #effacées#, _drawn back_ and down so as to set off the corsage.]

[Footnote 103: #Que trop#, _Only too charming_.]

#Page 38.#

[Footnote 104: #dépare#. Note the play on #parer#, and compare the English saying: Beauty when unadorned is most adorned.]

[Footnote 105: #rester court#, _stop short_ from embarrassment.]

[Footnote 106: #J'y suis#, _I have it_, i.e., know what I will do.]

ACT II. SCENE 4.

#Page 39.#

[Footnote 107: #traversent#, _cross over_. A figure in the quadrille.]

ACT II. SCENE 6.

#Page 40.#

[Footnote 108: #à en être#, _have a part in it_.]

[Footnote 109: #Toujours du roman#, _You are always a little romantic_ in your ideas.]

#Page 41.#

[Footnote 110: #m'en défendre#, _help it_.]

[Footnote 111: #Qu' ... belle#, _How beautiful_. Though this use of _que_ is very common, it often puzzles beginners.]

[Footnote 112: #vienne la sentence#, _let the sentence come_. Optative.]

[Footnote 113: #madrigaux#, _pretty speeches_; properly "madrigals," or love-songs, in the artificial pastoral manner. Originally a form of musical composition.]

#Page 42.#

[Footnote 114: #désintéressement#, _unselfish devotion_. This speech is a good example of what the French call _blague_,--a sort of light-hearted mockery of moral ideals. See my note to "Le Gendre de monsieur Poirier," p. 5, note 7.]

#Page 43.#

[Footnote 115: #original#, _queer_, "a strange coincidence." Not "original" (_originel_), Cp. p. 34, note 2.]