"Hasty! you are very generous, monsieur le marquis! It was much worse than that."

"In the first place, I don't know him well enough to----"

"And even if you did know him very well--whoever heard of lending money to a man who is ruined, and who has just told you so?--I know him better than you do, and I wouldn't lend him."

"In the second place, it's the very worst form to borrow money at a third person's house."

"It's shocking form!"

"As if he couldn't have come to my house like a man--or waited till another time! But no--he attacks me in your salon! I had to promise to make him a loan--otherwise he wouldn't have let me go."

"That is true, I noticed that; and yet you had told him that a truffled turkey was awaiting you, and it seems to me that such a consideration should have imposed silence on him."

"You must realize that if he sets about borrowing money in this way from everybody he meets at your house, you will be placed in a false position, and a great many of your acquaintances will be kept away from here; for I don't know of anything that people dread more in society than to be asked to lend money."

"Great heaven!" cried La Thoma.s.siniere, pacing the floor excitedly.

"Why, a man like that would be a veritable scourge, worse than the plague! I believe that I should prefer to see Madame Thomas appear!"

"I a.s.sure you, my friend, that that would do you less harm."

"Never fear, I will attend to his case. And I won't beat about the bush either. To-morrow my concierge will receive my orders: we shall never be at home to Monsieur Dalville. You hear--_never!_"

"Do just what you think best, my friend. I am very sorry for the young man, for I liked him much. Still, I felt bound to let you know."

"Oh! you have done me a very great service, monsieur le marquis! A service that I shall never forget as long as I live! Think of receiving under my roof a man who tries to borrow money from my friends! who might end by trying to borrow from me! Remember that he has only been ruined a few days, and if he is borrowing already, what will he do after a little while? Can anyone tell where it will stop?"

"I have warned you, I have done what honor demanded, and now I will go and say a word to the turkey I have mentioned. Adieu, my friend."

"I hope that you will dine with us to-morrow, monsieur le marquis. You will not meet Dalville in my house, I a.s.sure you."

"In that case, I will join you. You will understand that it is painful to close one's purse to misfortune; but with the best will in the world, one can give only what one has. Until to-morrow then, my dear La Thoma.s.siniere."

"Your very humble servant, monsieur le marquis."

When the marquis had gone, La Thoma.s.siniere considered whether he should return to the salon. He decided to join Dalville--indeed he considered it his duty to begin to treat him coolly, so that the young man would not be tempted to disregard the orders which he proposed to give to his concierge.

Dalville had remained with Athalie. That young lady, after compa.s.sionating the young man, and a.s.suring him that she was grieved by his misfortune, remembered that a new play was to be given at the Francais that evening, and she exclaimed:

"I must not fail to be there. Have you hired a box, Monsieur Auguste?"

"I no longer hire boxes, madame," was the reply; "I purchase my ticket modestly at the box-office. Sometimes I even stand in the line, and do not indulge myself with a seat in the resplendent orchestra."

"Stand in the line!" said Athalie; and her smile became less expansive.

"Oh! how shocking!"

A minute or two later the young coquette noticed that there were several spots of mud on Dalville's boots.

"How is this, monsieur? You, who are always so exquisitely shod--you must have been splashed to-day! I can hardly believe it is you."

"Still another result of my penury, madame. When I had a cabriolet, it was a simple matter for me always to have my boots spotlessly clean; but when one goes on foot, one must expect to be more open to criticism in one's dress."

"What! you no longer have a cabriolet?"

"No, madame, I have mustered it out of service, as well as my groom, and I have kept only my faithful Bertrand; for he is a friend rather than a servant, and one doesn't part with a friend just because one is unfortunate."

"What's that? why, what you say is very true," replied Athalie, going to a mirror to arrange her curls. "Bless my soul! how pale I am to-day! It frightens me! I am going to have one of my nervous attacks, I feel sure."

It was at that moment that Monsieur de la Thoma.s.siniere entered the salon, a.s.suming a more self-important air, a heavier tread than usual, and with a frown already prepared, lest his visitor should ask him for a loan.

"Who on earth was it who desired to see you, monsieur?" queried Athalie, still looking at herself in the mirror.

"A person who had some very important information to communicate, madame, and who preferred not to come in, knowing that I had company; indeed, it is a nuisance to have company all the time, and I propose to adopt the plan of not receiving visitors when I am at home."

"Parbleu! you can do better than that, Monsieur de la Thoma.s.siniere,"

said Auguste, laughingly. "You should imitate a lady of my acquaintance, who, when she had not put on her red paint and white paint and blue paint--in a word, when she had not finished beautifying herself--used to go to the door herself and say: 'I am not at home.'"

"Ha! ha! that is very good!" said Athalie; "but I feel rather uncomfortable, and I believe that I will go and lie down."

The pet.i.te-maitresse left the room with a slight nod to Auguste, while La Thoma.s.siniere continued to pace the floor, frowning ominously.

"Well, Monsieur de la Thoma.s.siniere, how's business?" said the young man, leaning back in his chair, while the parvenu seemed not to know what to do with himself.

"Business, monsieur? Oh! you mean speculation."

"Are you still making money fast?"

"Yes, monsieur; a man ought to make money, it's a duty, it's what we were made for."

"Parbleu! then you must teach me your secret, for I have never known how to do anything but spend it. But I must mend my ways; I must turn my attention to making my living, and for that purpose it seems to me that I cannot apply to a better man than you."

La Thoma.s.siniere, convinced that Auguste was leading up to a request for a loan, pretended that he had not heard, and said, with a glance at his wallet:

"I lack thirty thousand francs of the amount necessary to buy some notes that have just been offered me--a splendid chance. I know that I can obtain that amount easily enough, that I have only to open my mouth and mention my name; but it annoys me, because I can't endure to have recourse to anyone, even though it is only for an hour."

Auguste was diverted by this comedy, and said after a while:

"By the way, Monsieur de la Thoma.s.siniere, how is your good mother, the excellent Madame Thomas, whose unexpected arrival caused you so much pleasure the last time that I dined with you?"

The parvenu blushed, bit his lips and stammered:

"She's--she's very well, monsieur; that is to say, I presume she's very well; but since I returned from England--why,--why, of course I've had other things to think about. And--Great heaven! it just occurs to me--I've three letters to write to London--to n.o.blemen who are expecting to hear from me--thoughtless creature that I am! I cannot stay with you any longer, Monsieur Dalville; my business calls me away--and business before everything."

With that, La Thoma.s.siniere abruptly left the salon, without saluting Auguste, whom he left there alone.

"The stupid a.s.s!" said Dalville, as he took his hat; "does he suppose that I didn't notice the change in his manner as soon as he knew that I was a ruined man? And Athalie! I thought that she had more feeling! But what can one expect from a woman to whom dress and pleasure are everything? And such is this 'society,' where everyone seeks to shine, whose suffrage is eagerly sought, and in which we pa.s.s a great part of our lives! Are all these people worth the trouble of wasting a regret on them, I wonder?"

And Dalville left La Thoma.s.siniere's house, vowing that he would never go there again.