Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 3.djvu/184

162 162 THE ETRUSCAN VASE

" Ah! dreams? Do you believe in dreams? "

" What nonsense! "

" I believe in them. I am sure that you had a dream which foretold some tragic event."

" Good heavens! I never remember my dreams. Once I recollect . . . that I saw Massigny in my dream; so, you see, it was not very entertaining."

" Massigny! But I should have thought you would have been pleased at seeing him again! "

"Poor Massigny!"

" Why ' poor Massigny ' ? "

" Please tell me, Auguste, what is wrong with you to-night. Your smile is perfectly diabohc, and you seem to be making game of yourself."

"Ah! now you are treating me as badly as your old dowager friends treat me."

" Yes, Auguste, you wear the same expres- sion to-day that you put on before people whom you do not like."

" That is unpardonable in me. Come, give me your hand."

He kissed her hand with ironical gallantry, and they gazed at each other studiously for a minute. Saint-Clair was the first to drop his eyes.

" How difficult it is," he exclaimed, " to live