Heh, while I feel like my French has been holding up rather well in this journey considering that I haven't had any formal instruction since high school, I must say that high school French did nooooot inform me about the second meaning of "baiser," lol. (I only knew the "kiss" meaning, so I am indebted to you for the second meaning :P I may have to go reread some things now...)

Regardless of whether a sexual relationship between Emilie and Maupertuis was truth (I suppose it seems more likely than not, honestly), I find it totally hilarious that Fritz is gossiping about it. I especially get a kick out of the "only by mathematicians and poets," hee!