“He is doomed by his nature to die thus,” said she, as she threw the pill, which Romeo crushed between his teeth.
The dog made no sound, he rolled over, and was stark dead. It was all over while Esther spoke these words of epitaph.
“Good God!” shrieked Madame du Val-Noble.
“You have a cab waiting. Carry away the departed Romeo,” said Esther. “His death would make a commotion here. I have given him to you, and you have lost him—advertise for him. Make haste; you will have your fifty thousand francs this evening.”
She spoke so calmly, so entirely with the cold indifference of a courtesan, that Madame du Val-Noble exclaimed:
“You are the Queen of us all!”
“Come early, and look very well——”
At five o’clock Esther dressed herself as a bride. She put on her lace dress over white satin, she had a white sash, white satin shoes, and a scarf of English point lace over her beautiful shoulders. In her hair she placed white camellia flowers, the simple ornament of an innocent girl. On her bosom lay a pearl necklace worth thirty thousand francs, a gift from Nucingen.
Though she was dressed by six, she refused to see anybody, even the banker. Europe knew that Lucien was to be admitted to her room. Lucien came at about seven, and Europe managed to get him up to her mistress without anybody knowing of his arrival.
Lucien, as he looked at her, said to himself, “Why not go and live with her at Rubempre, far from the world, and never see Paris again? I have an earnest of five years of her life, and the dear creature is one of those who never belie themselves! Where can I find such another perfect masterpiece?”