Then, placing his hand on the academician’s shoulder:
“My dear Monsieur Mérimée, I am supposed to rule the fate of France, of Europe, and of the world. And I cannot get a nomination for a substitut of the sixth class, at a salary of two thousand four hundred francs.”
XV
Having finished his reading, M. Bergeret folded up his manuscript and put it in his pocket. M. Mazure, M. Paillot, and M. de Terremondre nodded three times in silence.
Then the last-named placed a hand on Bergeret’s shoulder:
“What you have just read to us, my dear sir,” said he, “is truly …”
At this moment Léon flung himself into the shop and exclaimed with a mixture of excitement and importance:
“Madame Houssieu has just been found strangled in her bed.”