I drew ten sous from my pocket and flung them on the table, and then, the lighter by fifty centimes, I rushed out of the café.
"You were with Lafarge?" said Adolphe.
"Yes.... What is wrong with him?"
"What do you mean by what is wrong with him?"
"He told me that M. de Jouy was an idiot, and Talma a Cassandra."
"Poor Lafarge!" said Adolphe; "perhaps he had not dined."
"Not dined! Is he reduced so low as that?"
"Pretty nearly."
"Ah!" I said, "that explains many things!... MM. de Jouy and Talma dine every day, and poor Lafarge cannot forgive them for it."
Alas! I have since seen critics, besides Lafarge, who could not forgive those who dined.