“Twenty-five hundred francs!” cried Oscar, bringing his hands together violently; “well, my dear fellow, in that case, you have been robbed! yes, absolutely robbed! The three articles are worth about sixty francs; the stones are imitation, and the watch and chain are gilded copper.”
“Copper!” cried Chérubin; while Daréna muttered between his teeth:
“Ah! the villain! I almost suspected as much!”
“Why, it’s impossible! Monsieur Daréna’s man of business sold me all these things.”
“I promise you that I am sure of what I say.”
“Parbleu!” cried tall Mousseraud, in a sneering tone, “Oscar ought to know: his father was a watchmaker, and he was brought up in the shop.”
“How can this be?” said Chérubin, addressing Daréna. “You are well aware that it was Poterne who brought me all these things.”
Daréna broke a plate with his glass, crying:
“If it is true, Poterne is a miserable villain who has deceived me outrageously; but I will shatter him like this plate.”
Chérubin could not believe that they had told him the truth. They left the restaurant and entered the first jeweler’s shop they saw. The jeweler had no sooner examined the objects produced by the young man than he said in a most courteous, but slightly sarcastic tone: