The omnibus started, and they soon arrived at Passy; thereupon Cherami had no choice but to offer Madame Capucine his arm to her aunt's abode. The little boys went before them, jumping and frolicking. At Passy they were in no danger from wagons, and Master Narcisse had seized Cherami's switch, with which he belabored all the stone posts and benches; a proceeding which was far from amusing to the owner of the stick, who expected from moment to moment to see it in the same state as Monsieur Courbichon's cane.
"That little fellow promises well!" he exclaimed.
"Isn't he full of ideas?"
"I am convinced that he will end by breaking my switch. But how does it happen that you didn't bring your maid Adelaide?"
"Oh! don't talk to me about that girl, I beg!"
"What! can it be that the faithful Adelaide stole from you?"
"No, it wasn't her honesty that gave out; it was something else. Ah! who would ever have thought, who would ever have believed—— An ugly, thin, shapeless creature. Oh! men have very beastly tastes sometimes!"
"The deuce! do you mean to say that Capucine——"
"What! oh! no, indeed, monsieur; it wasn't my husband! Ah!"
And Madame Capucine looked up at the sky with an expression which seemed to say: