“If Dauriat declines to take the Marguerites this evening, we will attack him by pitching into Nathan.”
“But what will Nathan say?” cried Lucien.
His five colleagues burst out laughing.
“Oh! he will be delighted,” said Vernou. “You will see how we manage these things.”
“So he is one of us?” said one of the two journalists.
“Yes, yes, Frédéric; no tricks.—We are all working for you, Lucien, you see; you must stand by us when your turn comes. We are all friends of Nathan’s, and we are attacking him. Now, let us divide Alexander’s empire.—Frédéric, will you take the Français and the Odéon?”
“If these gentlemen are willing,” returned the person addressed as Frédéric. The others nodded assent, but Lucien saw a gleam of jealousy here and there.
“I am keeping the Opéra, the Italiens, and the Opéra-Comique,” put in Vernou.
“And how about me? Am I to have no theatres at all?” asked the second stranger.
“Oh well, Hector can let you have the Variétés, and Lucien can spare you the Porte Saint-Martin.—Let him have the Porte Saint-Martin, Lucien, he is wild about Fanny Beaupré; and you can take the Cirque-Olympique in exchange. I shall have Bobino and the Funambules and Madame Saqui. Now, what have we for to-morrow?”