Then came the Abbe Gama, who congratulated me on being seated between two pretty girls.  I made him take my place, and he began to entertain them as if to the manner born; and though the girls were laughing at him, he was not in the least disconcerted.  He thought he was amusing them, and on watching his expression I saw that his self-esteem prevented him seeing that he was making a fool of himself; but I did not guess that I might make the same mistake at his age.

Wretched is the old man who will not recognize his old age; wretched unless he learn that the sex whom he seduced so often when he was young will despise him now if he still attempts to gain their favour.

My fair Therese, with her husband and my son, was the last to arrive.  I kissed Therese and then my son, and sat down between them, whispering to Therese that such a dear mysterious trinity must not be parted; at which Therese smiled sweetly.  The abbe sat down between Redegonde and the Corticelli, and amused us all the time by his agreeable conversation.

I laughed internally when I observed how respectfully my new footman changed his sister’s plate, who appeared vain of honours to which her brother could lay no claim.  She was not kind; she whispered to me, so that he could not hear,—­

“He is a good fellow, but unfortunately he is rather stupid.”

I had put in my pocket a superb gold snuff-box, richly enamelled and adorned with a perfect likeness of myself.  I had had it made at Paris, with the intention of giving it to Madame d’Urfe, and I had not done so because the painter had made me too young.  I had filled it with some excellent Havana snuff which M. de Chavigny had given me, and of which Therese was very fond; I was waiting for her to ask me for a pinch before I drew it out of my pocket.

The Abbe Gama, who had some exceedingly good snuff in an Origonela box, sent a pinch to Therese, and she sent him her snuff in a tortoise-shell box encrusted with gold in arabesques—­an exquisite piece of workmanship.  Gama criticised Therese’s snuff, while I said that I found it delicious but that I thought I had some better myself.  I took out my snuff-box, and opening it offered her a pinch.  She did not notice the portrait, but she agreed that my snuff was vastly superior to hers.

“Well, would you like to make an exchange?” said I.  “Certainly, give me some paper.”

“That is not requisite; we will exchange the snuff and the snuff-boxes.”

So saying, I put Therese’s box in my pocket and gave her mine shut.  When she saw the portrait, she gave a cry which puzzled everybody, and her first motion was to kiss the portrait.

“Look,” said she to Cesarino, “here is your portrait.”

Cesarino looked at it in astonishment, and the box passed from hand to hand.  Everybody said that it was my portrait, taken ten years ago, and that it might pass for a likeness of Cesarino.  Therese got quite excited, and swearing that she would never let the box out of her hands again, she went up to her son and kissed him several times.  While this was going on I watched the Abbe Gama, and I could see that he was making internal comments of his own on this affecting scene.