Explore "Bel-Ami (a Ladies' Man)" by Guy de Maupassant on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
On reaching the office next day, Du Roy sought out Boisrenard.
"My dear fellow," said he, "I have a service to ask of you. It has been thought funny for some time past to call me Forestier. I begin to find it very stupid. Will you have the kindness to quietly let our friends know that I will smack the face of the first that starts the joke again? It will be for them to reflect whether it is worth risking a sword thrust for. I address myself to you because you are a calm-minded fellow, who can hinder matters from coming to painful extremities, and also because you were my second."