"Ah! pardieu, if your uncle has got to have a hand in it, I am very certain that I shall never get a place!"
"Never fear; I will attend to it myself, but there's no hurry. Are you in need of money? Tell me."
"Why, no, I am not in need of money. Do you suppose that I have already gone through the thousand francs you loaned me?"
"But that was more than two months ago, and----"
"True, and formerly I should have seen the last of it in a week; I should have made only seven mouthfuls of it. But to-day it's different! I told you that I had reformed. I have discovered, just at the beginning of Boulevard du Temple, a soup dealer who supplies dinners; and delicious dinners, too, on my word of honor! you don't have a great variety of dishes, to be sure; but everything is good. Excellent roast beef; you would fancy you were in London; and you can dine abundantly for eighteen sous. Eighteen sous! I used to give more than that to the waiter."
"My friend, you shouldn't go to extremes in anything; it seems to me that you are carrying your reformation too far."
"I am very well pleased; I believe that I shall end by living on my five hundred and fifty francs a year; when that time comes, I propose to parade the streets between two clarionets, to exhibit myself."
"After I am married, I will find you a suitable place."
"Make haste and marry, then, that I may have my cue. By the way, I venture to believe that it won't come off without notice to me? I don't ask to be invited to the wedding; that would be presumptuous; but I desire, at least, to salute the bridal couple when they leave the church."
"And I propose that you shall be of the wedding party. We shall not give a ball,--her widowhood is too recent,--but a handsome banquet, and I hope that, on that day, you will forget your reformation. But, adieu! I am late, she is expecting me. You will hear from me soon."
"A mighty good fellow!" said Cherami to himself, as Gustave hurried away; "he deserves to be happy! But will he be, with his Fanny? Hum! I'm none too sure of it. For my part, I should prefer the other; but as he's in love with this one--to be sure, she's a very pretty woman, but I, old fox that I am, I wouldn't trust her!--Sapristi! what do I see? My two little pearls, Laurette and Lucie, and I have money in my pocket! But, no; by Saint Anthony, I will not yield to the temptation! Let's be off before they see me."