“Ah! I have no luck in this place.”
“Go, quickly, and change your clothes.”
Chamoureau went up to his room. He was obliged to make an entire change. However, as he had but one black coat and his wife had told him to dress in black, he had no choice but to put that one on again; but he wiped it so carefully and rubbed it with so many towels, that it was soon in condition to be worn, and indeed was as glossy and shining as a new one.
Chamoureau entered the calèche, but, although he was well cleansed, madame required him to sit opposite her, not by her side. She found that he retained from his bath an odor of goldfish which made her sick.
They drove first to Madame Droguet’s; she was at the head of the list which Thélénie consulted.
When the calèche stopped at Madame Droguet’s door, it caused a general turmoil in the house. Everybody ran upstairs or downstairs, crying:
“A carriage for us!”
“The new owners of Goldfish Villa!”
“Monsieur and Madame de Belleville coming here!”
“Joséphine, my cap with bunches of jasmine.”