"Clair & Co., from whom I received my first loans, ought to be the best informed."
"Well, I will see Clair & Co. But look here, do you know what you would do if you were reasonable?"
"What?"
"You would go to Paris with me, and both of us—"
Hector turned very pale, and his eyes shone.
"Never!" he interrupted, violently, "never!"
His "dear friends" still terrified him. What! Reappear on the theatre of his glory, now that he was fallen, ruined, ridiculous by his unsuccessful suicide? Sauvresy had held out his arms to him. Sauvresy was a noble fellow, and loved Hector sufficiently not to perceive the falseness of his position, and not to judge him a coward because he shrank from suicide. But the others!—
"Don't talk to me about Paris," said he in a calmer tone. "I shall never set my foot in it again."
"All right—so much the better; stay with us; I sha'n't complain of it, nor my wife either. Some fine day we'll find you a pretty heiress in the neighborhood. But," added Sauvresy, consulting his watch, "I must go if I don't want to lose the train."
"I'll go to the station with you," said Tremorel.