He gave himself the pleasure of mystifying, for the space of two pages, the people who might wish to make a fool of him, and it was with a fresh pleasantry that he announced, towards the end of his reply, his decision to depart on the following morning.
Il se donna le plaisir de mystifier, pendant deux pages, les personnes qui voudraient se moquer de lui, et ce fut encore par une plaisanterie qu’il annonça, vers la fin de sa réponse, son départ décidé pour le lendemain matin.