dans le tête-à-téte avec, ' when alone with

10. sourdine. A sourdine, 'mute,' is a small pièce of wood put acioss the strings of a violin or other stringed instrument for the purpose of lesseuing the vibrations and so deadening the sound.

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13. qui... poules. This sentence is a parody of the fanious saying that punctuality is the courtesy of kings.