“I will say I will wait.”
“Not at all. You must almost force your way in, and you will find the Viscountess talking to the Marquis de Croisenois. You know him, I suppose?”
“By sight—nothing more.”
“That is sufficient. Take no notice of him; but at once present your bill, and violently insist upon immediate payment.”
“What can you be thinking of? She will have me kicked out of doors.”
“Quite likely; but you must threaten to take the bill to her husband. She will command you to leave the house, but you will sit down doggedly and declare that you will not move until you get the money.”
“But that is most unbusinesslike behavior.”
“I quite agree with you; but the Marquis de Croisenois will interfere; he will throw a pocketbook in your face, exclaiming, ‘There is your money, you impudent scoundrel!’”
“Then I am to slink away?”
“Yes, but before doing so, you will give a receipt in this form—‘Received from the Marquis de Croisenois, the sum of so many francs, in settlement of the account of the Viscountess Bois Arden.’”