"Is there any chance of catching the lost note, if we should take an express train?"
"You are pleased to jest, messieurs. None the less, it is true that a gentleman in the balcony at the Bouffes said to me not long ago: 'This is where you ought to be!'"
"In the balcony?"
"No; but at the Bouffes, with a salary of sixty thousand francs!"
"Had he heard your high C?"
"Yes; just as I left school."
"It can't be denied that there are some very fortunate mortals. There was a man who had heard Lamberlong's high C! And we poor devils might pay fabulous prices, yes, hire the whole auditorium of the Bouffes, and not hear it! It's heartrending!"
The red-haired young man rose impatiently, and began to inspect the pictures that adorned the salon.
"What do you hear that's new, messieurs?" said Edward, tying his cravat.
"Oh! nothing piquant or interesting. There's been a great scarcity lately of scandalous intrigues in which we know the leading parties."