"None of that, if you please!"
The old man looked strangely disturbed, and fearing that these words had been spoken in too audible a voice, he laid a warning finger on his lip.
They presently seated themselves at the table. The breakfast was served à la Russe—that is, with every thing on the table at once.
"You can leave us," said Carmen to her maid.
Laisangy ate heartily, but Carmen merely nibbled. The banker did not speak until he had eaten so much he could eat no more. He drank only water.
Carmen began to be impatient.
"It seems to me that I was never so hungry in my life before!" said Laisangy.
"Ah!" answered Carmen, "and yet there were times in your life when you were starving!"
Laisangy was eating a bit of cheese. He stopped with his fork in the air.
"We will not talk of that!" he replied.