"He's old enough to do as he pleases. However, don't get excited; I'll see him. I'll go alone first, so as not to anger him, and, if he is willing to listen to me, I'll bring him back. But, meanwhile, we must live. How much money have you?"
"About thirty francs."
"That isn't much; but if we are economical, it will last us some time; we shall have to live very sparingly; but that will do us good. These big dinners overheat our blood; it's very unhealthy to eat five or six rich dishes and drink several kinds of wine every day."
"Still, monsieur le baron, I am inclined to think that we were both getting fat at Monsieur Chambertin's."
"True; but that would have turned out badly for us; simple fare will check this tendency to corpulence. The pleasures of Capua enervated the Carthaginians; and Monsieur Chambertin's table would probably have produced the same effect on us, and I should have been distressed. I really must resume my incognito."
"Ah! I agree with you this time, monsieur le baron; for if those Turks should find you——"
"That's the reason why I think it wouldn't be prudent to return to Grenoble, where I might be arrested—I should say, kidnapped by those cutthroats. Besides, having no money, we should be ill received by our host, who would claim, I dare swear, that his carriage is worth more than ours. We will avoid passing through the town, and with your thirty francs we will take lodgings in some little village."
"But when that's all gone, monsieur le baron?"
"Parbleu! then we'll see; there's no use of worrying beforehand. Frédéric can write to his father."
"I am afraid monsieur le comte will be angry——"