It is no good at the end of two years to make love to a woman like me.

With us, it is at once, or never.

Come, gentlemen, supper!" And, slipping away from Gaston, Marguerite made him sit on her right at table, me on her left, then called to Nanine: "Before you sit down, tell them in the kitchen not to open to anybody if there is a ring." This order was given at one o'clock in the morning.
We laughed, drank, and ate freely at this supper.

In a short while mirth had reached its last limit, and the words that seem funny to a certain class of people, words that degrade the mouth that utters them, were heard from time to time, amidst the applause of Nanine, of Prudence, and of Marguerite.

Gaston was thoroughly amused; he was a very good sort of fellow, but somewhat spoiled by the habits of his youth.