“Excuse me,” said Frederick, without noticing the allusion to his own circumstances, “but I am dining in the city. We must get you something to eat; order whatever you like. Take even my bed!”
This cordial reception dissipated Deslauriers’ bitterness.
“Your bed? But that might inconvenience you!”
“Oh, no! I have others!”
“Oh, all right!” returned the advocate, with a laugh. “Pray, where are you dining?”
“At Madame Dambreuse’s.”
“Can it be that you are—perhaps——?”
“You are too inquisitive,” said Frederick, with a smile, which confirmed this hypothesis.
Then, after a glance at the clock, he resumed his seat.
“That’s how it is! and we mustn’t despair, my ex-defender of the people!”
“Oh, pardon me; let others bother themselves about the people henceforth!”
The advocate detested the
