Dear me, we'll have a good laugh! Just leave the gentleman in the drawing room for a quarter of an hour, Francois; afterward bring him up to me." She did not sit down again but began pacing feverishly to and fro between the fireplace and a Venetian mirror hanging above an Italian chest.

And each time she reached the latter she glanced at the glass and tried the effect of a smile, while Georges sat nervously on a sofa, trembling at the thought of the coming scene.

As she walked up and down she kept jerking out such little phrases as: "It will calm the fellow down if he has to wait a quarter of an hour.
Besides, if he thinks he's calling on a tottie the drawing room will stun him! Yes, yes, have a good look at everything, my fine fellow! It isn't imitation, and it'll teach you to respect the lady who owns it.
Respect's what men need to feel! The quarter of an hour's gone by, eh?
No?
Only ten minutes?
Oh, we've got plenty of time." She did not stay where she was, however.

At the end of the quarter of an hour she sent Georges away after making him solemnly promise not to listen at the door, as such conduct would scarcely look proper in case the servants saw him.

As he went into her bedroom Zizi ventured in a choking sort of way to remark: "It's my brother, you know--" "Don't you fear," she said with much dignity; "if he's polite I'll be polite." Francois ushered in Philippe Hugon, who wore morning dress.