“Silence,” said the Portuguese; “let us not waste words: you know my ideas beforehand very well; you are a man of talent, and may have guessed it, but I think ‘amour propre’ should never overcome self-interest.”
“I do not understand.”
“M. Beausire hoped to be the first to make this proposition.”
“What proposition?” cried the rest.
“Concerning the two million francs,” said Beausire.
“Two million francs!” cried they.
“First,” said the Portuguese, “you exaggerate; it is not as much as that.”
“We do not know what you are talking of,” said the banker.
“But are not the less all ears,” said another.
The Portuguese drank off a large glass of Orgeat, and then began: “The necklace is not worth more than 1,500,000 francs.”