Well, that young girl is my soul, the neighbor's park is your genius.

Is it not all very natural?
Was there ever a neighbor that did not complain that unknown feet broke down his trellises?
I leave it to my poet to answer.
But does the lofty reasoner after the fashion of Moliere want still better reasons?
Well, here they are.

My dear Geronte, marriages are usually made in defiance of common-sense.

Parents make inquiries about a young man.

If the Leander--who is supplied by some friend, or caught in a ball-room--is not a thief, and has no visible rent in his reputation, if he has the necessary fortune, if he comes from a college or a law-school and so fulfils the popular ideas of education, and if he wears his clothes with a gentlemanly air, he is allowed to meet the young lady, whose mother has ordered her to guard her tongue, to let no sign of her heart or soul appear on her face, which must wear the smile of a danseuse finishing a pirouette.