Nancy blushed, and said: "I do not know until I have seen the bill."
The proprietress, who had heard the noise upstairs—for Aldo cried loud like a child—and was slightly anxious in regard to her money, said: "Has monsieur already had the viatique?" Nancy did not understand. "The viatique of the Casino. If monsieur has played and lost, the administration will give him something back. Let him go and ask for it. And," she added, glancing at the brooch at Nancy's neck, "if perhaps madame should wish to know it, the Mont de Piété is not far—just past the Crédit Lyonnais."
The bill was one hundred and twenty-three francs. Nancy told Aldo about the viatique, and he said, with a hang-dog air, he would go and ask for it.
"How much do you think it will be?" asked Nancy.
"I don't know," said Aldo, who felt that he must be glum.
"Two or three thousand francs?"
"I suppose so," said Aldo.
"You will accept nothing from that woman. You promise!"
"I promise," said Aldo, laying flabby fingers in her earnest, outstretched hand.
So he went, and when he was out of sight of the hotel he hurried.