"Now it's all settled, I may as well take the rabbits away; that will relieve you just so much."
"Yes, yes, Père Ledrux, take the rabbits."
"As for the hens—why, you can see about them later."
"I have already said that we would keep the hens."
"I know; but if you should ever change your mind—however, it will be time enough then."
Honorine and Agathe took the train, the former still thinking of the savage aspect of the owner of the Tower; the other recalling with pleasure Ami's caresses.
XXI
AN ASSIGNATION IN A COUPÉ
After an absence of several days, Freluchon returned home one morning.
He came from Rouen alone, having left the young Pompadour there, making eyes at the jeune premier of the Grand Theatre; as Freluchon was beginning to weary of his conquest and was on the lookout for an opportunity to break with her, he did not fail to seize that one. After a tremendous outburst of jealousy, on leaving the theatre where the jeune premier had made a great hit in An Odd Bet, a vaudeville from the Variétés, Freluchon had abandoned his faithless fair and taken the train for Paris.
When he entered the courtyard of his house, he cried: