“Did you know that I was here?” I asked in utter amazement.
“Oh, yes, I received word just as you left Paris. Have you played your part well? Did not the husband think your visit ridiculous? Was he put out? When are you going to take leave? You had better go, I have made every provision for you. I have brought you a good carriage. It is at your service. This is the way I requite you, my dear friend. You may rely on me in the future, for a man is grateful for such services as yours.”
These last words gave me the key to the whole mystery, and I saw how I stood.
“But why should you have come so soon?” I asked him; “it would have been more prudent to have waited a few days.”
“I foresaw that; and it is only chance that has brought me here. I am supposed to be on my way back from a neighboring country house. But has not Madame de T——- taken you into her secret? I am surprised at her want of confidence, after all you have done for us.”
“My dear friend,” I replied, “she doubtless had her reasons. Perhaps I did not play my part very well.”
“Has everything been very pleasant? Tell me the particulars; come, tell me.”
“Now wait a moment. I did not know that this was to be a comedy; and although Madame de T——- gave me a part in the play—”
“It wasn’t a very nice one.”
“Do not worry yourself; there are no bad parts for good actors.”