Nothing in the world would have prevented his drinking it to the last drop, if a knock at the street-door had not stopped it just opposite his heart.
The minute which followed appeared to him interminable.

Never in his travels had he encountered such a long minute.

But at length Clementine appeared, preceded by the worthy Mlle.

Virginie Sambucco, her aunt; and the mandarins who smiled on the etagere heard the sound of three kisses.

Wherefore three?
The superficial reader, who pretends to foresee things before they are written, has already found a very probable explanation.