Having heard that you and Monsieur le duc were rivals for Mademoiselle de La Bastie's hand, I have taken the liberty to warn you; of the two, wouldn't it be better that his lordship should gobble her?
As I came home I walked round the quays, and into that theatre-hall where the merchants meet; I slipped boldly in and out among them.

Seeing a well-dressed stranger, those worthy fellows began to talk to me of Havre, and I got them, little by little, to speak of Colonel Mignon.
What they said only confirms the stories the fishermen told me; and I feel that I should fail in my duty if I keep silence.

That is why I did not get home in time to dress monsieur this morning." "What am I to do ?" cried Canalis, who remembered his proposals to Modeste the night before, and did not see how he could get out of them.
"Monsieur knows my attachment to him," said Germain, perceiving that the poet was quite thrown off his balance; "he will not be surprised if I give him a word of advice.

There is that clerk; try to get the truth out of him.

Perhaps he'll unbutton after a bottle or two of champagne, or at any rate a third.