A courtier is attached to the King; a soldier to the army; there is humiliation in neither of these.

But to a private gentleman, a man may be only attached as his secretary, his valet, or, possibly, as his bravo.

Therein lay the sting of her carefully chosen word.
"I am M.de Mancini's friend," I answered with simple dignity.
For all reply she raised her eyebrows in token of surprise; Canaples looked askance; I bit my lip, and an awkward silence followed, which, luckily, was quickly ended by the appearance of Andrea.
The ladies received him graciously, and a faint blush might, to searching eyes, have been perceived upon Genevieve's cheek.
There came a delicate exchange of compliments, after which we got to table, and for my part I did ample justice to the viands.
I sat beside Genevieve, and vis-a-vis with Andrea, who occupied the place of the honoured guest, at the host's right hand, with Yvonne beside him.

Me it concerned little where I sat, since the repast was all that I could look for; not so the others.

Andrea scowled at me because I was nearer to Genevieve than he, and Yvonne frowned at me for other reasons.