“Then you accept my offer?”
“Oh, no! I never borrow money when I am not certain of being able to return it. That is a principle from which I shall never depart.”
“But when you have plays accepted, which are going to be produced——”
“A play is never a certainty; it is a cast of the dice. I thank you a thousand times; but I have something left with which to face the present. As for the future, we will hope, we will build castles in the air.”
“I am sorry that you refuse.”
“And I am very glad that you have made the offer, for you are the first one of my friends to suggest anything of that sort, and yet you have been my friend for only a few hours.”
“It is a fact that one often passes his life with people to whom he gives the name of friends, but who have none of the feelings of a friend.”
“Good-night, Monsieur Blémont. If you have time to come up for a moment to-morrow, we shall be glad to see you.”
“Yes, I will come to enquire for my neighbor. Good-night.”
Ernest went up to the fifth floor and I went into my room.