“I give my word I will!”
“And with what, pray?”
“With my salary.”
“You have a salary, then?”
Maxence blushed.
“I have what I earn at my employer’s.”
“What employer?”
“The architect in whose office M. Chapelain helped me to find a place.”
With a threatening gesture, M. Favoral interrupted him.
“Spare me your lies,” he uttered. “I am better posted than you suppose. I know, that, over a month ago, your employer, tired of your idleness, dismissed you in disgrace.”