"Here it is," said Plumard, producing one of orange silk with fringe of the same color.
"Oh! how pretty it is, and how well they all go together!" said Passedix. "Now let us see the cloak."
Bahuchet smilingly presented the cloak, which was orange velvet, faced with lemon-colored silk.
"Admirable! magnificent!" cried Passedix. "Still, if the cloak had been of another color, to form a contrast with the rest——"
"Oh! monsieur le chevalier, it is much richer, much more stylish, like this. Look at our king, Louis XIII—does he wear several colors? is he not almost always dressed in black throughout: short-clothes, doublet, and cloak?"
"Sandioux! he is right! and I could not choose a nobler model!—Yes, all of one color—that is more harmonious, it is pleasanter to the eye. On my honor, I am enraptured with this costume! Let us drink, messieurs; I long to try it on."
"We shall have the honor to serve you as valets de chambre, monsieur le chevalier."
"You are too obliging! Drink, I say, young clerks!"
Passedix, who was as impatient as a child over the prospect of putting on a new garment, hastily finished his dinner, then proceeded to his toilet. With the assistance of the two clerks, he speedily donned short-clothes, doublet, girdle, and cloak. Then he strode about the room, looked at himself in the great mirror that adorned the mantelpiece, and seemed not to tire of viewing himself both before and behind.
"How do you find me?" he asked the young men; "tell me, without flattery."