ay or
another."

She said: "Here are two girls who will have from twenty to thirty
millions apiece. Without reckoning that Susan is pretty."

He said nothing. His own idea, coming from another's mouth, irritated
him. She had not yet seen the picture of "Jesus Walking on the Water,"
and he proposed to take her to it. They amused themselves by talking
scandal of the people they recognized, and making fun of those they did
not. Saint-Potin passed by, bearing on the lapel of his coat a number of

decorations, which greatly amused them. An ex-ambassador following him
showed far fewer.

Du Roy remarked: "What a mixed salad of society."

Boisrenard, who shook hands with him, had also adorned his buttonhole
with the green and yellow ribbon worn on the day of the duel. The
Viscountess de Percemur, fat and bedecked, was chatting with a duke in
the little Louis XVI boudoir.

George whispered: "An amorous _tete-a-tete_."

But on passing through the greenhouse, he noticed his wife seated beside
Laroche-Mathieu, both almost hidden behind a clump of plants. They
seemed to be asserting: "We have appointed a meeting here, a meeting in
public. For we do not care a rap what people think."

Madame de Marelle agreed that the Jesus of Karl Marcowitch was
astounding, and they retraced their steps. They had lost her husband.
George inquired: "And Laurine, is she still angry with me?"

"Yes, still so as much as ever. She refuses to see you, and walks away
when you are spoken of."

He did not reply. The sudden enmity of this little girl vexed and
oppressed him. Susan seized on them as they passed through a doorway,
exclaiming: "Ah! here you are. Well, Pretty-boy, you must remain alone.
I am going to take away Clotilde to show her my room."

The two moved rapidly away, gliding through the throng with that
undulating snake-like motion women know how to adopt in a crowd. Almost
immediately a voice murmured: "George."

It was Madame Walter, who went on in a low tone: "Oh! how ferociously
cruel you are. How you do make me suffer without reason. I told Susan to
get your companion away in order to be able to say a word to you.
Listen, I must speak to you this evening, I must, or you don't know what
I will do. Go into the conservatory. You will find a door on the left
leading into the garden. Follow the path in front of it. At the end of
it you will find an arbor. Wait for me there in ten minutes' time. If
you won't, I declare to you that