"No, Monsieur Férulus, not at the moment."
"In that case, messieurs, I will bid you farewell; vale et me ama."
The scholar walked sadly away; the young men would have been glad to induce him to accept their purses, in order to keep from dying of starvation a man who sought only to exalt his fellowmen to immortality; but they did not know how to go about it, for fear of wounding his self-esteem. Meanwhile Férulus, as he moved slowly and regretfully away, dropped a volume from the bundle which he held, and kept on, without noticing the loss he had sustained. Alfred picked up the volume, concealed his purse underneath it, called to the scholar, who instantly stopped, and running after him, placed the book and the purse in his hand, saying:
"Monsieur Férulus, you dropped this book."
"Jehovah! it is Seneca’s treatise on Contempt of Wealth."
"Perhaps you might have missed it."
The ex-librarian instantly closed the hand into which the two articles had been slipped, smiled agreeably at Alfred, then hurried away as if he were afraid that he might wish to take back what he had just given him.
Alfred and Edouard returned to their apartments and remained there until the hour for breakfast. Then they went to the salon, where the family had assembled. Although he had passed the night with his wife, Robineau seemed no less timid than before with her; but Cornélie hardly took pains to reply to her husband; she scolded each servant in turn, and had already informed her husband that Jeannette, the groom and Monsieur Cunette would speedily follow Monsieur Férulus. Robineau had no time to approve his wife’s resolution, because, whenever he attempted to speak, his father-in-law cut him short by saying:
"Son-in-law, allow your wife to do as she pleases, and never thwart her, or by heaven! you will have to deal with me."
The young men informed the company that they were going to leave the château, and Eudoxie said in an undertone: