"No, madame; I have never seen him here."
"Are you sure that he wants to see me, not Monsieur Monléard?"
"It is certainly you, madame; and he says that it's on very important business."
"Is the man respectable? Does he look like a gentleman?"
"Why, yes, madame."
"Then show him into the salon; I will go down."
She hastily finished her toilet, saying to herself:
"Monsieur Vauflers has probably sent some friend of his to tell me what he has done on the Bourse. It's after four o'clock; yes, it must be that."
Cherami, being ushered into the salon, scrutinized the furniture, muttering:
"It's not bad, it's very chic! I used to have such quarters myself. It's more comfortable than the Widow Louchard's lodgings. But one has his ups and downs all the same, even in such surroundings."