"I must tell you the news and congratulate you.

My brother seems unable to come to the point; he revolves around his announcement like the priest around the altar.

You are accepted as a candidate for the hand of our sister." "Valentin, be a little proper!" murmured the marquis, with a look of the most delicate irritation contracting the bridge of his high nose.
"There has been a family council," the young man continued; "my mother and Urbain have put their heads together, and even my testimony has not been altogether excluded.

My mother and the marquis sat at a table covered with green cloth; my sister-in-law and I were on a bench against the wall.

It was like a committee at the Corps Legislatif.