"Let me see; there is Nicolas, he has his little mare, that’s lame. But never mind; she still has three legs that she works very handily."
"Go, fetch her for me! Here, take this money; but I beg you to make him hurry."
"So you really don’t want to see the cellars to-day?"
"No, no! for heaven’s sake, bring me a horse!"
The concierge hurried away, and Edouard paced the courtyard excitedly. He realized how difficult it would be for him to prevent Alfred from going to see Isaure without him; he had no right, no reason to be offended with him; and yet his heart sank and his brain was in a whirl at the thought that another than himself was with the pretty goatherd and that that other might be making love to her.
Cunette returned at last, with Nicolas’s mare, and Edouard jumped upon her back. As he was about to leave the château, Monsieur Férulus entered it, carrying under one arm a small bundle containing his effects, and under the other a score of volumes, tied together with a cord, with which he proposed to start the library of the château.
"In the saddle already, my dear confrère!" said Monsieur Férulus, stopping beside Edouard. "Oho! we are starting out very early in search of rhymes."
"‘Oh! you who, burning with an ardor danger-fraught,
Follow the thorny path of literature,
Go not—’"
"Stand aside, Monsieur Férulus, stand aside, I beg you! I am in a great hurry."
"I simply wanted to show you a very valuable book which I have under my arm. I found it among some old trash; it is a precious pearl for a scholar. But you must know it: Aurum ex stercore Ennii."