A delightful passage in 'A Place of Greater Safety'

Two minor characters are meeting a third for the first time: ⁠“Let’s hope we can do as well for you this time,” Pétion said, with gallantry. “And yet you are a Parisian, my friend Brissot tells me?” ⁠You’re overdoing the charm, Jérôme, his friend Brissot thought. ⁠“Yes, but my husband’s affairs have kept us so long in the provinces that I no longer lay claim to the title. I have so often wished to…