"Is that all?"
"No. They add, that you have contracted enormous debts, which you will never succeed in paying."
"Good again!"
"You understand that these calumnies produce a very bad effect."
"Naturally."
"I have therefore come to you, my dear count. I am not rich, unfortunately; still, I have at my disposal some 20,000 piastres. I am a shareholder in the company, and it is therefore my duty to come to its assistance; so I frankly offer you the money, which may be of some slight service to you."
The count cordially pressed his guest's hand.
"Thanks!" he said to him, with suppressed emotion, touched by the delicacy of this noble and generous procedure.
"Yes," the consul continued, ransacking his pockets, and producing a bundle of notes; "we must silence these scoundrels. Here is the amount."
And he offered the notes to the count, who declined them with a gentle smile.