“Yes, it must be about that.”
“Faith,” said Destival, “if La Thomassinière weren’t going to bring his wife, we wouldn’t wait any longer, for it’s ridiculous to keep a whole large party waiting like this; but a pretty woman always has some additional touch to give her costume, and we must always forgive the Graces.—Domingo, see that the entrées are kept warm. Baptiste, have the chafing dishes red hot. Come, you knaves, move a little more quickly when I give an order!”
Domingo did not move any more quickly, because the doeskin breeches made it impossible. Baptiste, always in ill humor, pushed the negro roughly, muttering:
“Well, you darkie! A pretty sort of assistant to give me! He can’t do anything but break dishes and steal liquor! I wish he’d drink so much that he’d smash the whole crockery closet! That would teach ‘em to give a brand new red jacket to that miserable black fellow, when they’ve made me wear the same shabby coat for three years.”
The half hour struck and the guests’ faces lengthened. Auguste talked with one of his neighbors, who said:
“Don’t you think, monsieur, that it’s absurd that one or two people should keep a whole party waiting, and that decent people should be at the mercy of a fellow who doesn’t choose to be prompt? At my house, monsieur, we dine at a fixed hour; I never wait two minutes for the people I invite, and they are always prompt, I assure you, for they know we should dine without them.”
Auguste agreed that his neighbor was right. Madame Destival lost patience; monsieur kept running to the dining-room and back, crying:
“Everything will be cold! The little pâtés won’t be eatable! It’s exceedingly unpleasant!”
“Yes,” said the man with the spectacles, “warmed-over pastry is good for nothing, hum! hum! because it’s good only when it’s just out of the oven, hum!”
Monin seemed profoundly affected by what was said about the little pâtés, and the uneasy gentleman scratched his nose with a piteous expression. At last, about seven o’clock, there was a violent ring and Monsieur and Madame de la Thomassinière soon entered the salon.