"Darling..." "HONORE:" "My little bird..." " You promise?" "Yes, kitten." "I'll join you in half an hour..." "GASTON:" "How are you, Uncle?" "HONORE:" "I feel as young as the Eiffel Tower." "Sugar is health." "And I should know." "I make it." "Honoré, you ought to try..." "It looks very bad for a sugar king to refuse sugar. it's bad publicity." "But I'm diabetic." "Ssh!" "Don't advertise it." "What's wrong with a diabetic sugar refiner?" "You're never serious, Honoré." "I hope not..." "Look at Gaston, he looks so sad..." "Gaston!" "Huh?" "HONORE:" "You've lost another friend?" "No, I bought an automobile." "There's nothing like a carriage." "They talk of 40 miles an hour!" "A mother is crucified today!" "I went above my monthly budget." "Serves you right." "A budget at your age!" "What a queer person..." "Must be one of those "creatures?" "Anyway, she seems to know whom to concentrate on." "Soon, decent women won't be able to set foot in a public place!" "We'll have to undress them at home!" "With our eyes only, of course!" "You're an old playboy." "Nothing shocks you." "Yes, sermons shock me, especially after a good meal." "The old playboy salutes you." "Coming, Gaston?" "You may pay for my coffee." "Sugar will pay." "I dislike it, but it's my bread and butter." "Here, go soften the hearts of your listeners." "Especially the lady." "She's full of passion." "To be frank, your parents bore me." "Me too." "But I've known them longer than you, so they've been boring me longer." " Who is it?" "GASTON:" "La Belle Otéro." "What a low neckline!" "What shall we do, Uncle?" "Do whatever you please." "I have a date with a delightful girl." "How young you are!" "She is 19..." "As for you, you look old, burned out." "I'm bored." "What about Liane?" "I'm to meet her at 6 at the skating rink." "Meanwhile I feel like visiting Madame Alvarez." "Mamita!" "I really should go there too." "You two were once quite intimate." "So she says." "Frankly, I do not remember." "Hello, Mamita." "Gaston, what a pleasant surprise!" "Take your chair..." "What a wonderful suit." "You're really classy." "These little checks are quite chic." "You dress well." "Like Honoré, but more conservatively." "Won't you make some camomile tea for me?" "Of course, Gaston." "Isn't Gigi here?" "MAMITA:" "On Thursdays, she lunches at my sister Alicia's." "Is Alicia as youthful as ever?" "She doesn't change." "She's 67 and quite extraordinary." "In '59 she ran off with the Egyptian Khédive." "Then, she overwhelmed a rajah..." "A Spanish king, a few ministers..." "She was wonderful!" "Doesn't her influence on Gigi worry you?" "Certainly not." "She's the only one she is nice to." "She finds her too naive and so she supervises her education." "Last week, she taught her how to eat lobster." "What for?" "Alicia says it's extremely useful." "She says the three tests of a good upbringing are..." ""lobster, soft-boiled eggs and asparagus." "And that lack of elegance in eating has broken up many a household." "It happens..." "What is she going to teach her today?" "ALICIA:" "And what is this, Gigi?" "A pear-shaped diamond." "The yellow one is a topaz." "A topaz among my jewels?" "It's a jonquil gem, little fool, and you won't see many of them." "Oh, that's an emerald..." "How beautiful!" "Who gave it to you, aunt?" "A king." " A great king?" " No." "Great kings do not give large stones." "Why?" "Because they don't care to." "The same goes for little kings." "Then who gives beautiful stones?" "Who?" "The timid, the vain and the vulgar." "They think that giving an enormous stone is a proof of education." "Never wear second-class jewels." "Wait for first-class gems." " And if I don't get any?" " You will." "Let's repeat." "There's the white stone, the jonquil the ruby when you're sure it's genuine the emerald, if the color isn't too light." "And the blue-white stone." "I'll never remember all that." "You'll have to." "You have a nice jaw." "With such teeth, I'd have devoured Paris and the world." "Of course, I did devour quite a portion of it." "What's that near your nose?" "A pimple?" "A blackhead." "You've no business squeezing blackheads." "Don't eat cold cuts except boiled ham." "You don't use powder." "Grandma forbids it!" "I should hope so." "Pay attention to me." "You can please..." "Your nose is impossible, your mouth without style your cheekbones too big." "You can manage quite well with the rest." "With your teeth, your lashes unless you're a complete fool, of course." "As for your body, it's a good beginning..." "Oh, I must teach you how to select cigars." "But I don't smoke cigars!" "Everything I do has a reason." "When a girl knows a man's preferences, including his cigars when a man knows what a girl likes they're well-armed against each other." "And if they quarrel?" "Quarrel?" "My, you've a lot to learn!" "Be off, my child." "Next Thursday, we'll work some more." "I'm watching you." "Don't march out like a grenadier or drag your feet!" "SKATING RINK" "Gaston..." "You're alone?" "I come from your house." "I hope that's not why you look so sad." "Trouble?" "If I had been home, we'd have played cards and I'd have won." "You keep cheating." "Oh, I don't!" "You're just a bad player." "Don't be angry, my little one." "I'm not your little one." "Let's go in." "In there?" "I don't know how to skate." "I'll buy you a barbotage." "Trust me." "It's very good." "Come." "You were never here before?" "Grandma says going out keeps one from thinking of the serious of life." "A barbotage and my champagne." "Is he there?" "Of course." "You can't beat him for punctuality." "And for the rest?" "No comparison, you big fool." "Maybe I ought to deliver you to him." "We're not doing anything wrong." "Hold me tight." "So that's Liane d'Exelmans?" "What do you know of her?" "Suppose your Grandma heard you." "She can't hear me." "Don't tell her I was here." "On account of the solemnity of life!" "What's the solemnity of life?" "You know what that means." "No love stories allowed, they're depressing." "No powder allowed, bad for the complexion." "No corset allowed, bad for the waist." "No conversing with fathers who call for my classmates at school." "You won't tell her I was here, promise." "How do you like her?" " Who?" " Why, Madame d'Exelmans." "I must go." "I'll be in trouble with Grandma." "How do you like her?" "I think she's fat." "Thanks for the barbotage." "You dance divinely." "Sandomir leads like a young god." "Sandomir's my teacher." "I've made great progress." "Madame is so gifted!" "And so light!" "You're not going to make a career out of this?" "It's bad enough you exhibit yourself in the arms of that acrobat." "He's an instructor, and very handsome." "He accepts tips very handsomely." "Is this a scene?" "No, just a remark." "Suppose I remarked about you playing nursemaid to that child." "Child?" "What child?" "Oh..." "That was just Gigi." "You had a nice time at Aunt Alicia's'?" "Why, she gave me a lesson in jewellery." "She showed me a beautiful diamond." "A narcissus diamond." "No, a daffodil diamond!" "She still has her solitaire?" "Grandma, my classmate Lydia Poret has a solitaire, too." "A girl of 15 with a solitaire?" "Am I dreaming?" "Baron Ephraim gave it to her." "And she shows off in class." "Either I'm crazy or your friend's mother is insane." "But it isn't her fault if the baron gave it to her." "Come, I'll put curlers in your hair." "I don't blame the baron." "He knows what he's after." "Mrs. Poret ought to put the ring in the vault while waiting." "Waiting for what?" "Developments!" "Why not in her jewel box?" "Why in the vault?" "One never knows what will happen." "The baron might change his mind." "Unless they take the girl out of school, since the Baron has declared himself." "But suppose, Grandma, she'll get married?" "Get married?" "To whom?" "The baron!" "Poor Gigi..." "You must have fallen off another planet." "Some aspects of your education are excellent, others are discouraging." "Why, Grandma?" "It would take too long to explain." "Your feet!" "What's that?" "A corn?" "GIGI:" "I don't think so, Grandma." "I'll look at it tomorrow in full daylight." "I want perfect feet." "A corn is enough to offend a ma..." "A person of taste." "Who could that be, Grandma?" "Enough!" "To bed!" "Grandma, I'd like to learn how to skate." "To skate?" "It's an expense..." "But perhaps it's a useful expense." "I'll speak to Alicia." "Very good..." "We'll continue later." "You still owe me 17 minutes!" "MAN:" "Please clear the rink for reserved Waltzes!" " So are you enjoying it?" " I don't know yet." "It was your idea and besides one must live with the times." "Sport has become popular." "Who are they?" "That's Polaire, the actress." "She's not the same kind as Liane who wiggles her..." "Well, never mind." "I wish I could spend a night in your arms." "I'd love to." "How can we manage it?" "I'll manage it." "We'll leave Saturday." "I know an inn at the Normandy shore." "What?" "So we can see it rain into the sea!" "We won't be watching the sea, silly." "In that case..." "But what will your sugar daddy say?" "I'll make up a story." "He's gullible." "Money is no mark of intelligence." "I didn't believe a word of her story." "Money doesn't make a man blind." "The Pinkerton man telephoned." "They're at an inn at Honfleur." "It's quite unpleasant." "Well, you have predecessors:" "Napoleon, Victor Hugo, Molière..." "Even I..." "When I was young, right, Emmanuel?" "Indeed, yes." "Monsieur can say that again." "About the other gentlemen, I wouldn't know." "You see?" "It's nothing exceptional." "What bothers me is that he's a skating teacher." "With me it was a Folies Bergères wrestler." "I remember very well." "He was a Turk." "Wrestling, skating..." "We lose to athletes!" "I should have preferred Tristan Bernard." "But it isn't up to us." "There was also that reporter in Mademoiselle lrma's days." "Monsieur had forgotten." "I'm sorry to have reminded Monsieur." "One can be a Don Juan to his own valet." "You think that makes me feel better." "HONORE:" "You have too much pride." "Monsieur was proud, too." "If I may, I'd like to tell what Monsieur did in a similar instance." "It might perhaps serve as an example." "Give Monsieur Gaston an idea." "Enjoyed your lunch, my love?" "Not bad for this neck of the woods." "Filet of sole Normand." "The cream was wonderful." "I shall always call this inn our nest." "What would you like to do now?" "Smoke my cigar." "Yes, but after?" "Well, we'll have a little siesta." "She never kissed me that way." "Not even for the pearls." "Those with money are looked upon as tradesmen." "At least tradesmen are paid." "But not from the heart." "Let's leave." "You're joking!" "Yes." "I wish I could joke." "I'm going upstairs." "That's fine." " Coming?" " I'll finish my cigar." "Hurry." "Who are those two bears'?" "Just tourists." "Come soon, darling." "Mr. Lachaille." "I'm honored." "Honor has nothing to do with you." "Get out of here!" "It's an unpleasant coincidence." "I don't understand..." "You understand all right." "I'm not hereto argue with you." "Our fathers wouldn't have given this matter any importance." "After all, ifs just a case of a woman on the make." "No, Uncle!" "No speeches." "For 10,000 francs you'll leave the skating rink for good." "No "buts." I'll take you to the station." "You're leaving!" "Without skates." "Here's the money." "The door!" "My foot!" "Madam, we have nothing to say to each other." "Appearances are against me." "Your appearance is fine." "Ohh." "I think I handled it right." "Emmanuel will be pleased." "What do you take me for?" "I'm not dead yet." "Of course I know all about it." "I know he's broken off with that "candelabra?" "It's the Memorin girl." "Even it it's a fake, Liane's suicide will have consequences." "We're well informed." "My sister and I are great friends of the Lachaille family." "How do you like that?" "She's telling me what happened." "She's boiling, the pest!" "She'd like to succeed Liane." "She thinks she has a chance." "Not enough class." "Sometimes they like to mingle with the rabble." "Gaston hasn't sunk down to music hall performers." "He's always stuck, as a man of his station would, to demi-mondaines." "What's funny?" "He must be bursting with pride." "It's the first time this has happened to him." "Let's see..." "Gentiane stole some of his papers and that foreigner insisted on his marrying her..." "Liane is his first suicide." "In a case like this, a man of such distinction must plan his moves with great care." "This is a world event." "I'm wondering who will take Liane's place." "That's Gigi!" "I asked her to pick me up here." "Gigi!" "I'm watching you." "Why didn't you tell me that Liane tried to commit suicide over Gaston?" "Because you shouldn't hear such stories." "How did you find out?" "That's all I hear in school." "Finished your homework?" "Homework bores me, Grandma." "Then help me with the string beans." "That must be Gaston." "Hello, Uncle!" "You look like an undertaker." "Is your grandmother in?" "Gold?" "The ring?" "Yes." "A man must be rich if he can buy gold rings for his cane." "Gaston!" "What a pleasant surprise." "Something smells good here!" "It's only cassoulet." "Gigi, I've brought you candy." "You spoil us, Gaston." "Gaston, you'll ruin your hands!" "The manicurist comes every day." "What a nuisance!" "Gilberte, behave." "And pull your dress down!" "Where are you going with such a gorgeous tie?" "I'm dining at Larue's with de Dion, Feydeau and Barthou." "What will you eat, Uncle?" "Filet of sole with mussels." "Saddle of lamb with truffles." "It won't beat Mamita's cassoulet." "Why, Gaston, if your heart desires..." "What about your friends in the apartment?" "My car's downstairs." "I'll leave the chauffeur with them." "Let me go, too." "I'll have a ride in your car." "I'll look so sophisticated..." "It will be lots of fun." "Tell my chauffeur to take this card to Lama's." "After dinner, we'll have a terrific card game." "And I'll beat you as usual." "That child goes too far!" "Leave her alone." "Poor Gaston." "You really seem to be suffering." "I'm not suffering." "I'm just having trouble." "If I'm not too inquisitive, just what did happen?" "About the same as the other times." "She waited for my birthday gift and then she ran off with her skating teacher." "I'd given her a strand of pearls." "What a strand!" "Thirty-seven pearls." "The center one was a big as my thumb!" "You do things handsomely." "If I were you, I'd vex her by finding some society woman." "Thanks for the remedy." "Yes, the cure can be worse than the illness." "It's like changing a one-eyed horse for a blind one." "I must give it thought." "All Paris is watching me." "Not only Paris." "The whole world!" "What a responsibility!" "I'll play for 20 pounds of sugar." "I'd rather play for candy." "It's the same, though sugar is healthier." "Because you sell it?" "You're hardly respectful." "Let her talk, Mamita." "Here I can breathe." "What do you want if I lose?" "Silk stockings?" "No, I don't like them, they're itchy." "I'd rather have a corset, Nile green with embroidered rococo rose gamers." "No, I prefer a music portfolio." "Gilberte, you're getting impudent." "You'll have your portfolio." "Beware if you cheat." "I never cheat." "It is you." "I have five cards!" "Too bad." "I have a card sharp's game!" "Play, you big spider!" "All right, you crew's nose." "I've won!" "Where did that fourth king come from?" "Your sleeve?" "I've never had so much fun in my life!" "Believe it or not, Mamita, this is my best friend!" "You're too kind, Gaston." "I've lost, as usual." "You didn't cheat too much." "I'll bring you something from Trouville." "Trouville on the sea?" "There's only one Trouville and it is on the sea." "Don't tease me." "I've never seen the sea." "Coco!" "I'm ready!" "Go into the water, beautiful child." "Will you come, too?" "Yes, if it isn't too cold." "Honoré!" "Well, this is a surprise!" "You, here?" "What a surprise!" "Remember our villa?" "No, I don't." "No, you made me too unhappy." "You ﬂake: me' miss." "Call me Mamita as everyone else does." "I feel chilled." "I'll get dressed." "Uncle, I'm so grateful." "Having fun?" "I'm happy!" "Like the ocean?" "I'll have to get used to it." "I thought there'd be more people." "Never at the end of a season." "You wouldn't take me here during the season." "Which one?" "She's only a child." "Don't you think she's too young?" "Too young?" "You didn't come alone, either, did you?" "You haven't changed." "If I hadn't, we'd still be together." "Don't hold out on me." "Where's the lucky scoundrel?" "Coming out of the water with Gigi." "It certainly is a small world." "And I thought I'd be undisturbed." "Sorry." "I didn't mean you." "When are you leaving with your family?" "They're taking the 6:15 train." "I'm leaving tomorrow morning by car." "WOMAN:" "Coco!" "Aren't you coming in?" "Not anymore..." "I met someone." "An old family friend." "It gave me a chill." "One is old only once." "What?" "It's you?" "No, it isn't I." "It isn't I..." "It's my ghost!" "Did you think I could climb three flights of stairs!" "If at least you had a telephone..." "Why don't you?" "It's an expense." "It's hard enough to make ends meet." "The telephone is good only for businessmen and women who have something to hide." "If Gigi should make her debut in life, I'd get a telephone." "Unfortunately, we haven't reached that stage." "It appears you were at Trouville with the Lachaille boy!" "You know it already?" "Is that why you came?" "No, I'm here to prevent you from making a mistake." "My poor dear, don't you understand?" "To be quite open about it, I think I understood." "It was thinking..." "When did you think, as you say?" "At the beach." "It was high time." "What's all that cooing?" "Andrée is practicing." "Tell that sick nightingale to come in." "It would be better." "We have important things to discuss." "It would be too beautiful, Alicia." "It would be stupid to spoil it all by a lack of tact." "Fortunately, I am here." "WOMAN:" "Who-hoo!" "Who-hoo!" "ALICIA:" "Don't scrape the knife on the plate." "Now eat each half." "Never mind the bones." "Answer my questions while you chew, but don't talk with a full mouth." "I do it and you can, too." "How old are you?" "Fifteen and a half." "Aunt, did you read about Gaston leaving for Monte Carlo?" "It said, "This trip is veiled in a romantic mystery which we shall respect."" "I read it." "Does it interest you?" "I'm annoyed by it." "If Uncle finds another girlfriend, he won't come to the house for a while." "It would be a shame..." "Perhaps so." "Have another ortolan." "Have you any friends?" "No, Aunt." "I'm always alone." "I'm not to accept any invitations." "You'd be invited only by ordinary people of no use to you." "GIGI:" "Aren't we ordinary people?" "How are ordinary people inferior to us?" "They have weak heads and weaker bodies." "Moreover, they're married." "I don't think you understand." "I understand." "We do not get married." "You didn't get married." "Grandma didn't get married." "Mother wasn't married." "Come, marriage isn't forbidden to us." "Instead of marrying too soon, we sometimes marry at last." "If Gaston got married, he'd no longer be of interest." "Depends." "Now, if he were to marry his mistress..." "When Prince Sheniegin married Valentine it was clear the life she'd been leading him for 15 years was what he wanted." "Constant scenes, breaking china, public reconciliations." "She knew how to make him appreciate her." "It's all very complicated, my..." "I'll let you smoke a cigarette." "And don't spit the wisps of tobacco." "Now, let's have coffee." "And don't raise the coffee spout too quickly." "I'd rather have a wet saucer than have you go through the antics of a café waiter." "If I understand correctly, you're bored." "A little." "Very good." "Boredom helps one make decisions." "And we're about to make great decisions." "What sort of dress is that?" "It's one of Mother's that was made over." "I'll give you a note to the forelady at Bechoff-Davids." "An old friend who didn't make the grade." "Yes, there are going to be changes in your wardrobe." "Risk nothing and you gain nothing..." "GIGI:" "Grandma, couldn't you wave it a little on the side for a change?" "MAMITA:" "It's out of the question." "Little end-curls are daring enough for a girl like you." "I've told you that on a low seat you must keep your knees together and turn them to either side in order to not be indecent." "But, Grandma, I'm wearing panties and a petticoat." "Panties are one thing, decency another." "It depends on your position." "Yes, Aunt Alicia told me." "Oh, I don't need her to teach you the elements of propriety." "On that subject, I think I know more than she." "Why can't I wear my new dress?" "It's longer." "Then I won't have to worry about my "you know what."" "Silence!" "Have you no shame?" "I don't mind calling it by another name." "There is no other name." "That's Gaston's ring!" "Then he's back?" "Since yesterday." "Hurry, put on your new dress!" "Why, you're back!" "And I thought you were on the Riviera!" "Had a nice trip?" "Excellent." "The sea was blue, the palm trees green, the sun yellow..." "A picture postcard!" "It's a bore!" "One of your means can afford to be bored on the Riviera." "Gigi isn't here?" "She's coming." "I've brought her candy." "You spoil her." "Look, Uncle, five yards of material in my new Bechoff-David dress." "I look like a lady, don't I?" "You look like a circus monkey!" "I prefer your plaid dress." "That collar bothers you!" "It does not!" "It doesn't." "You look like a hen that's swallowed too much corn." "I've heard many things about you, Gaston but never thought that you were an authority on women's clothes." "She's crazy!" "Absolutely crazy!" "Gaston, please." "She must apologize, she must..." "Nice way to bring up a girl, Mamita." "Goodbye, miss." "My poor Gigi, what have you done now?" "Now he knows I'm not afraid to answer him." "You wretched child, when will you use your head?" "That man may be mortally offended." "Just when we're trying..." "Trying what, Grandma?" "Everything to show you to your best advantage." "To whom, Grandma?" "There's no point in bending backwards for an old friend like Uncle Gaston." "I forgot to leave the candy." "I brought it from Nice!" "Anyway, your new dress isn't bad at all." "I didn't get a good look at it." "The proof is I'm taking you to Versailles for lunch." "All right?" "Grandma, we've made up." "He's taking me out for lunch!" "You came back, Gaston?" "I hadn't exactly left." "I'm having lunch with Gaston in Versailles." "No, Gaston." "Gigi, go to your room." "I must talk to Mr. Lachaille." "Everything seems to have changed here, Mamita!" "If I were you, I wouldn't eat so much candy." "Bad for the stomach." "I sometimes wonder if you're not making a fool of me." "Gaston, you have my friendship and also my gratitude." "But don't forget that Gigi is my responsibility." "Our Gilberte isn't the type who is on her own." "She's sixteen." "For years now, you've given her candy, trinkets..." "And now you want to take her to Versailles for lunch." "If it were only up to me, I'd say, "Take her wherever you please I'd gladly entrust her to you, " with my eyes closed." "But there are others." "You're known everywhere." "When a girl goes out with you it means..." "All right, I understand." "You mean that Gigi would be compromised?" "A little girl, a green shoot, a child no one knows?" "Let's say that it would type her." "When you appear in public, your presence is noticed." "A young girl accompanied by you is no longer a young girl." "Our Gilberte mustn't be mistaken for what she is not." "You exaggerate, Mamita." "For you it wouldn't matter." "I couldn't bear to read such gossip in the paper." "All right, I won't argue the point." "Keep your girl!" "I wonder for whom you're keeping her." "For some underpaid clerk who will marry her and give her four kids in three years?" "I understand the role of a mother better." "I'll give Gigi to the man who says, "I'll take care of her and assure her a future."" "Shall I brew some camomile for you?" "No, thanks." "I'm late." "Should Gigi say goodbye to you?" "No, I'll see her some other time, though I'm quite busy these days." "MAMITA:" "You were eavesdropping?" "You must never eavesdrop." "That's how you hear things and misinterpret them." "Mr. Lachaille has left." "Peel the potatoes." "I'll cook them later." " I'm going to Aunt Alicia's." " Again!" "You're criticizing me!" "You'd better bathe your eyes with cold water." "And take off your new dress!" "Why did you mind my going out with Gaston in my new dress?" "If you can't understand why, at least let sensible people guide you." "And wear my gloves to peel the potatoes!" "Grandma left the door open." "She would..." "And you're sneaking in." "You've lost weight." "Doesn't your celebrated cook feed you?" "Being thin makes your eyes look larger and your nose longer." "Go to your room." "Gigi." ""Go to your room." Suppose I spoke that way to you?" "All right, I'll go to my room." "And I'll stay in it until you leave!" "I shall insist that she apologize, Gaston." "Mamita, let us talk and let us not waste words." "Once more, he did say, "She'll be pampered as..."" "MAMITA:" ""--as no other woman has been."" "It's vague." "Just the way a man would talk." "I want preciseness." "He was precise." "He said he'd insure Gigi against all difficulties, even against himself that he was pretty much her godfather..." "Not bad, but vague." "Still vague." "He added, "I won't rush anything." "Above all, I am Gigi's great friend."" ""I'll give her plenty of time to get used to me..." He had tears in his eyes." "He also said, "She wouldn't be dealing with a savage." A real gentleman." "A gentleman who's rather vague." "You made it clear to her?" "Of course." "This isn't the time to treat her like a child." "Yes, I spoke of Gaston as a miracle, as a young god." "I should rather have pointed out the difficult part the game to be played, the victory to be won." "Do you think she's like you?" "You don't know her." "She's without malice." "Thanks." "I mean, she has no ambitions." "In fact, I was surprised by her attitude." "No tears of delight, no smile of joy..." "Just, "Ah!" And, "How nice of him."" "Finally, she made me an offer." "She wants to answer Mr. Lachaille herself and speak to him privately." "That'll be pretty." "That girl has no brain!" "She'll ask for the moon and he won't give it to her." "He is to come at 4?" "And he sent no flowers, no trinket?" "Nothing." "Do you think it's a bad sign?" "No, it's rather like him." "See that she is nicely dressed." "Does she look well?" "Not too well, poor little rabbit." "Poor little rabbit." "You'll whimper later." "So you wouldn't open the door for me?" "I didn't have time to dress up." "But you did!" "I'll put them in a vase." "Gigi, what's the matter?" "Say something." "You know why I'm here." "Is it "no" or is it "yes"?" "I don't want what you want." "You said..." "I know what I said." "Just tell me what you don't want." "And also what you want, it shall be yours." "Really?" "You told Grandma you want to assure my future." "A wonderful future." "It will be wonderful if I like it." "I keep hearing that I'm backward, but I'm not that dumb." "Assuring my future means that I'm to leave this house and go to live with you." "Please, Gigi." "Why should I be shy, Uncle?" "You weren't shy when you discussed it with Grandma." "And Grandma wasn't too embarrassed to discuss it with me." "She painted a wonderful picture but I know that every argument we have will be in the newspapers." "And when you leave me for good, as you left Gentiane de Cévennes..." "You know about that?" "Grandma and Aunt Alicia told me." "They said you were in the public eye." "I know Maryse Chuquet stole your letters that Countess Brievsky tried to shoot you because you wouldn't marry her." "It's all common knowledge." "There's no need to discuss all that, Gigi." "It's all over and done with." "It's all over until it starts again." "Aunt Alicia and Grandma are on your side." "But it concerns me." "And I say that I don't like it." "Perhaps you just dislike me." "It would be kinder if you said so at once." "No, Gaston, I don't dislike you." "I'm happy when I see you." "The proof is that I have a proposition, too." "Come here, as usual." "There's no harm since you're a friend of the family." "Bring me candy, caramels, champagne on my birthday..." "Sundays, we'd have a card game." "Wouldn't that be a nice, quiet life?" "A life without this business of going away with you and everybody knowing about it?" "A nice, quiet life, indeed." "You forgot one thing:" "that I'm in love with you." "You never told me." "I'm telling you now." "Well, that's different." "But then you're awful!" "You love me and yet you want to make me unhappy?" "You love me but you're not bothered by our eventual separation quarrels, a Sandomir, a revolver or poison?" "I'll never speak to you again!" "MAMITA:" "Gaston, what's wrong with her?" "She doesn't want to." "She doesn't want to?" "Now, Gigi, you're impossible!" "I told you!" "Gaston, I swear I told hen..." "You told her too much." "I've had enough of this!" "So she refuses?" "That's right." "What did she say?" "Just that she doesn't want to." "But when she refused, how did that little bug talk to him?" "No, Alicia." "Gigi may be a little backward for her age but a girl who has captivated Mr. Lachaille isn't a little bug." "All right, what did you say to that princess?" "I reasoned with her." "I spoke of the family..." "No time for reasoning." "You didn't mention love, travel, moonlight, Italy?" "You didn't tell her about the phosphorescent sea about love in a garden of gardenias?" "No, Alicia, because I didn't know about it." "The furthest I've been is Trouville and Monte Carlo." "Couldn't you invent?" "No, Alicia." "That's the last time I'll undertake the education of a" "Are you all right'?" "Not too well." "I just came to ask Grandma for some pills." "One doesn't need pills when she has a lover." "And what a lover, Gigi." "I know everything, Gigi!" "I even know you're being naughty to him." "You're trying out your young claws." "Very good, Gigi." "Of course." "But you mustn't keep that game up too long." "Because if you send Gaston to the devil, he might go there and stay." "It's not a game, Aunt." "I don't want to." "Then you don't love him?" "Yes, I'm fond of him." "As I said, you don't love him." "Mind you, I see no harm in that." "It leaves your spirit free." "If you'd been mad about him, I'd have worried." "He's a nice specimen." "And he's nicely built." "A great passion." "To leave together to travel around the world to forget everything with the man who loves you to listen to the song of love beneath an eternal spring..." "Doesn't that stir your heart?" "When the eternal spring is over Mr. Lachaille will start afresh with someone new and then I..." "All I can do then is look for another gentleman." "I won't do it." "I'm not the fickle type." "Grandma, may I have a pill?" "I feel chilled." "You deserve nothing better than a dress shop." "You'll marry an errand boy!" "If you wish, Aunt." "Right now, I'd like to lie down." "You're not feeling well?" "No, Grandma, I'm just sad." "No one is going to torment you." "If you don't want '10..." "No use crying over spilt milk!" "You won't be able to say that you didn't get competent advice." "I know, Grandma, but I'm sad anyway." "Why?" "That must be he!" "I don't want to see him!" "I just came to get my straw hat." "What a reception." "You could say "hello" to me." "You didn't come for your straw hat." "You don't need it." "You came to hurt me again!" "Oooh!" "That's more than I can stand!" "Here's a man who is good-hearted enough..." "I've been thinking." "Thinking a lot, Uncle." "I swear, Gigi darling!" "Don't swear." "I think I'd rather be happy with you than without you." "Hello, Gaston." "Don't interfere!" "She's almost as pretty as I was at her age." "But Gigi is innocent!" "And stop sniveling!" "This is a great event." "A revolution!" "My dear Gigi, I'm so happy!" "GIGI:" "It's a strange custom to write on mirrors." "GASTON:" "They're memories." "Like lovers who carve their names on trees, Uncle." "Well, here's your name!" "No, you must be mistaken." "Look." "Gaston, next to Liane?" "Why are there slip-covers on the furniture?" "I don't know." "Drink your coffee." "Yes, Uncle." "And don't call me Uncle." "I found this in my pocket." "A solitaire!" "Now I can write my name, too!" "Right next to yours." "It will be cute." "Gilberte, I forbid you." "Come..." "You're taking me to your house?" "They didn't hit it off too well." "I don't want to go home!" "Don't you want me anymore?" "Please, no scandal!" "Mamita, I ask your consent grant me the hand of Gigi?"