“A minister! Isn’t a minister anything more than that?”
“He is an old friend of ours. He now has three hundred thousand francs a year; he’s a peer of France; the king has made him a count; he married Nucingen’s daughter; and he is one of the two or three statesmen produced by the revolution of July. But his fame and his power bore him sometimes, and he comes down to laugh with us.”
“Ah ca! cousin; why didn’t you tell us you belonged to the Opposition?” asked Leon, seizing Gazonal by the arm. “How stupid of you! One deputy more or less to Right or Left and your bed is made.”
“We are all for the Others down my way.”
“Let ‘em go,” said Bixiou, with a facetious look; “they have Providence on their side, and Providence will bring them back without you and in spite of themselves. A manufacturer ought to be a fatalist.”
“What luck! There’s Maxime, with Canalis and Giraud,” said Leon.
“Come along, friend Gazonal, the promised actors are mustering on the stage,” said Bixiou.
And all three advanced to the above-named personages, who seemed to be sauntering along with nothing to do.
“Have they turned you out, or why are you idling about in this way?” said Bixiou to Giraud.
“No, while they are voting by secret ballot we have come out for a little air,” replied Giraud.