"What! my solicitor?"
"His clerk. I beg you, my dear aunt, let me question him; do not you take the trouble to speak, if it tires you; I will speak for you."
Madame de Ravenelle threw herself back in her reclining chair, and at the same instant Monsieur Bahuchet was ushered into the presence of the ladies.
XXIV
THE WHITE PLUME
At sight of that young man of four feet eight, with his enormous head, his huge mouth, his gaping nostrils, and, with all the rest, a self-assured and pretentious air which bordered closely upon impertinence, Valentine turned her head away in order not to laugh in his face.
Bahuchet took four steps into the salon, then made two very low reverences, one to Madame de Ravenelle, the other to her niece. As for Miretta, he simply bestowed a patronizing smile upon her, as if to say:
"I know you, my dear; I know that you are the lady's-maid."
"What do you want with me, monsieur?" inquired the old lady, without moving.
"Madame, I am sent hither by my employer, Maître Pierre-Guillaume Bourdinard, your solicitor before the courts, and am instructed to inform you, on the part of said Bourdinard, that Sieur Benoît-Gervais Cocatrix, your tenant and debtor, now occupying your property on Rue des Lions-Saint-Paul, has not yet paid his rent for the current term, or for previous terms since he has occupied the said property, albeit we have duly and frequently served upon him notices and citations on stamped paper, which citations, engrossed by your humble servant, Nicolas Bahuchet, should be paid for by the debtor, who, however——"
"Enough! enough!" said the old lady, motioning to the little clerk to hold his peace; "you drive me mad with your pettifogger's jargon. Come to the point, if you please; has my tenant paid his rent?"