[79] BIEN VENANTS, ‘Paid regularly.’  Marivaux, like the authors of the preceding century, considered bien venants as an adjective, and hence declinable:  but livre is feminine, and we should expect here the form bien venantes.  The Academy has declared the expression indeclinable.  Compare:  “Je le voyais avec vingt-huit mille livres de rente bien venantes” (Mme. de Sevigne, Dec. 28, 1689).

[80] APPAREMMENT.  See les Fausses Confidences, note 74.

[81] PARDI.  See le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard, note 15.

[82] VOUS N’AVEZ POINT DE GRE A ME SAVOIR.  A well-known idiom, better expressed to-day:  Vous n’avez point a me savoir gre.

[83] D’AVEC.  A shortened form for some such phrase as d’une conversation avec.  D’avec is generally to be translated ‘from,’ ‘in contradiction to.’

[84] A QUEL HOMME EN VEUT-IL?  ‘For what man is he looking?’ Compare le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard, note 68.

[85] A VOUS. Aupres de vous would be the modern expression.

[86] LE FAISANT SORTIR.  Note the peculiar use of le, which nowadays would be replaced by the noun to which it refers—­le garcon.

[87] DONT.  Better que.  See Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard, note 175.

[88] DESSUS.  For la-dessus.

[89] SANS DIFFICULTE.  See le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard, note 154.

[90] DE NE VOUS PAS AIMER. De ne pas vous aimer is the more natural order in modern French.

[91] IL N’A QUE FAIRE DE, ‘He has no need to.’  Compare le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard, note, 141.

[92] C’EST UN PORTRAIT DE FEMME. The construction of the sentence is peculiar and incomplete.  It requires the introduction, before c’est un portrait, of the words c’est que.  In modern French the awkwardness of this form would be obviated.  In the second clause que would have to be prefixed to c’est ici.

[93] QUAND. Puisque is also found in incomplete expressions of this kind.  The thought might be completed as follows:  Mais, quand (or puisque) je vous dis, etc., vous devriez me croire.

[94] ENTENDU, used here in the sense of compris.

[95] HUPPEES, ‘Fancy,’ ‘smartly dressed.’  It often means ‘smart.’  Compare; “Combien en as-tu vu, je dis des plus huppees.” (Racine, Les Plaideurs, J, 4); “Bien huppe qui pourra m’attraper sur ce point!” (Moliere, Ecole des femmes, 1, I).

[96] JE N’EN RABATS RIEN, ‘I retract nothing.’  That is to say, ’I insist that it is the Count.’

[97] PLAISANT, ‘Ridiculous.’

[98] COMME DE CELA.  With some gesture of contempt.  See le Legs, note 108.

[99] LUI.  For le.  The verb defier governs to-day the accusative and not the dative.

[100] QU’IL.  Later editions print qui, which is the correct form.  The thought may be expressed more simply by the phrase Je l’avais vu le contempler.