"No," he replied, "our nose is as well made as our foot and our waist;but we may, perhaps, have a slight touch of hysteria.""Oh! very good," said la Peyrade; "and as from hysteria to insanity there is but a step--""Well, yes," interrupted Cerizet, hastily, "sorrows have affected our brain slightly; but the doctors are unanimous in their diagnosis; they all say that after the birth of the first child not a trace will remain of this little trouble.""I am willing to admit that doctors are infallible," replied la Peyrade; "but, in spite of your discouragement, you must allow me, my friend, to persist in my suit to Mademoiselle Colleville. Perhaps it is ridiculous to confess it, but the truth is I am gradually falling in love with that little girl. It isn't that her beauty is resplendent, or that the glitter of her 'dot' has dazzled me, but Ifind in that child a great fund of sound sense joined to simplicity;and, what to mind is of greater consequence, her sincere and solid piety attracts me; I think a husband ought to be very happy with her.""Yes," said Cerizet, who, having been on the stage, may very well have known his Moliere, "this marriage will crown your wishes with all good; it will be filled with sweetness and with pleasures."The allusion to Tartuffe was keenly felt by la Peyrade, who took it up and said, hotly:--"The contact with innocence will disinfect me of the vile atmosphere in which I have lived too long.""And you will pay your notes of hand," added Cerizet, "which I advise you to do with the least possible delay; for Dutocq here was saying to me just now that he would like to see the color of your money.""I? not at all," interposed Dutocq. "I think, on the contrary, that our friend has a right to the delay.""Well," said la Peyrade, "I agree with Cerizet. I hold that the less a debt is due, and therefore the more insecure and open to contention it is, the sooner one ought to free one's self by paying it.""But, my dear la Peyrade," said Dutocq, "why take this bitter tone?"Pulling from his pocket a portfolio, la Peyrade said:--"Have you those notes with you, Dutocq?"
"Faith! no, my dear fellow," replied Dutocq, "I don't carry them about with me; besides, they are in Cerizet's hands.""Well," said the barrister, rising, "whenever you come to my house I'll pay you on the nail, as Cerizet can tell you.""What! are you going to leave us without your coffee?" said Cerizet, amazed to the last degree.
"Yes; I have an arbitration case at eight o'clock. Besides, we have said all we had to say. You haven't your lease, but you've got your twenty five thousand francs in full, and those of Dutocq are ready for him whenever he chooses to come to my office. I see nothing now to prevent me from going where my private business calls me, and Itherefore very cordially bid you good-bye."
"Ah ca! Dutocq," cried Cerizet, as la Peyrade disappeared, "this means a rupture.""Prepared with the utmost care," added Dutocq. "Did you notice the air with which he pulled out that pocket-book?""But where the devil," said the usurer, "could he have got the money?""Probably," replied Dutocq, sarcastically, "where he got that with which he paid you in full for those notes you sold at a sacrifice.""My dear Dutocq," said Cerizet, "I'll explain to you the circumstances under which that insolent fellow freed himself, and you'll see if he didn't rob me of fifteen thousand francs.""Possibly, but you, my worthy clerk, were trying to get ten thousand away from me.""No, no; I was positively ordered to buy up your claim; and you ought to remember that my offer had risen to twenty thousand when Theodose came in.""Well," said Dutocq, "when we leave here we'll go to your house, where you will give me those notes; for, you'll understand that to-morrow morning, at the earliest decent hour, I shall go to la Peyrade's office; I don't mean to let his paying humor cool.""And right you are; for I can tell you now that before long there'll be a fine upset in his life.""Then the thing is really serious--this tale of a crazy woman you want him to marry? I must say that in his place, with these money-matters evidently on the rise, I should have backed out of your proposals just as he did. Ninas and Ophelias are all very well on the stage, but in a home--""In a home, when they bring a 'dot,' we can be their guardian,"replied Cerizet, sententiously. "In point of fact, we get a fortune and not a wife.""Well," said Dutocq, "that's one way to look at it.""If you are willing," said Cerizet, "let us go and take our coffee somewhere else. This dinner has turned out so foolishly that I want to get out of this room, where there's no air." He rang for the waiter.
"Garcon!" he said, "the bill."
"Monsieur, it is paid."
"Paid! by whom?"
"By the gentleman who just went out."
"But this is outrageous," cried Cerizet. "I ordered the dinner, and you allow some one else to pay for it!""It wasn't I, monsieur," said the waiter; "the gentleman went and paid the 'dame du comptoir'; she must have thought it was arranged between you. Besides, it is not so uncommon for gentlemen to have friendly disputes about paying.""That's enough," said Cerizet, dismissing the waiter.
"Won't these gentlemen take their coffee?--it is paid for," said the man before he left the room.
"A good reason for not taking it," replied Cerizet, angrily. "It is really inconceivable that in a house of this kind such an egregious blunder should be committed. What do you think of such insolence?" he added, when the waiter had left the room.
"Bah!" exclaimed Dutocq, taking his hat, "it is a schoolboy proceeding; he wanted to show he had money; it is easy to see he never had any before.""No, no! that's not it," said Cerizet; "he meant to mark the rupture.