"Oh, you look all right by gaslight now!" he assured her.
"I had a husband and child," she went on without heeding. "Now, I am alone—with nothing left!"
"And what about me, pray!" he protested with a laugh. "Don't I count for something?"
"Oh, shut up!" she snapped, pettishly. "I don't want to play the fool to-day!"
"So I see," retorted Laroque, with an ironical bow. "Madame has her nerves, has she?"
"To-day I'm sick of everything," she continued drearily. "Life disgusts me. I'd sell mine for a centime!"
"Oh, it's worth more than that! Now, buck up!" he cried, cheerfully. "I quite understand that you used to be a rich woman and now you are not, but everyone has his ups and downs. Look at me! I used to be a lawyer's clerk—old Perissard's clerk—and look at me now! Take the times as they come, old girl, and money when you can get your hands on it! That's my motto—money's the only thing that matters!"
She turned her head slowly toward him with a contemptuous look.
"Oh, I know you'd do anything for money!"
M. Laroque shrugged his shoulders.