"Here's the Belleville 'bus, Laurette, and they're making signs that there are seats for us."
"Oh! we must run, then. Bonjour! monsieur."
"What! you are going so soon! I thought—I hoped——"
The two girls were already in the omnibus, which soon disappeared. Cherami turned on his heel, muttering:
"They were shrewd to refuse my dinner. Peste! how should I have got out of it? I'm not sorry to have had a chat with the little dears—one's name is Laurette, and the other's Lucie, or Lucile; they may be desirable acquaintances, on occasion; if I ever want to buy feathers, for instance."
IX
ANOTHER WEDDING PARTY
A young man of some twenty-five years, fashionably dressed, but whose costume was in some disorder, suddenly appeared upon the scene. He was walking very fast, and did not stop until he reached the porte cochère of the Deffieux restaurant. There he halted, and gazed under the porte cochère with every indication of anxiety, not to say distress; then looked all about him and along the boulevard. From the pallor of his cheeks, the distortion of his features, the expression of his eyes, it was easy to see that he was suffering keenly, and that his distress was augmented by the expectation of some impending event. Cherami had no sooner espied the young man, than the latter ran to where he stood and said, in a trembling voice:
"Have you been here some time, monsieur?"
"Why, yes, monsieur; quite a long time."
"I beg your pardon, but in that case you can tell me—— Have you noticed a wedding party arrive at this restaurant?"