“He has already been invited by my father. We shall try to persuade the great d’Aguesseau, 12 M. de Villefort, to come, but have not much hope of seeing him.”

“ ‘Never despair of anything,’ says the proverb.”

“Do you dance, count?”

“I dance?”

“Yes, you; it would not be astonishing.”

“That is very well before one is over forty. No, I do not dance, but I like to see others do so. Does Madame de Morcerf dance?”

“Never; you can talk to her, she so delights in your conversation.”

“Indeed?”