Poiret. “What was it?”
Colleville. “That of being a statesman instead of a subordinate official.”
Phellion [standing before Bixiou]. “Monsieur! why did you, who understand Monsieur Rabourdin so well, why did you make that inf—that odi—that hideous caricature?”
Bixiou. “Do you forget our bet? don’t you know I was backing the devil’s game, and that your bureau owes me a dinner at the Rocher de Cancale?”
Poiret [much put-out]. “Then it is a settled thing that I am to leave this government office without ever understanding a sentence, or a single word uttered by Monsieur Bixiou.”
Bixiou. “It is your own fault; ask these gentlemen. Gentlemen, have you understood the meaning of my observations? and were those observations just, and brilliant?”
All. “Alas, yes!”
Minard. “And the proof is that I shall send in my resignation. I shall plunge into industrial avocations.”
Bixiou. “What! have you managed to invent a mechanical corset, or a baby’s bottle, or a fire engine, or chimneys that consume no fuel, or ovens which cook cutlets with three sheets of paper?”
Minard [departing.] “Adieu, I shall keep my secret.”