第57章

Attwoo’clockshehurriedtoLeon，andknockedatthedoor。Nooneanswered。Atlengthheappeared。

“Whatbringsyouhere？“

“DoIdisturbyou？“

“No；but——“Andheadmittedthathislandlorddidn’tlikehishaving“women“there。

“Imustspeaktoyou，“shewenton。

Thenhetookdownthekey，butshestoppedhim。

“No，no!Downthere，inourhome!“

AndtheywenttotheirroomattheHoteldeBoulogne。

Onarrivingshedrankoffalargeglassofwater。Shewasverypale。Shesaidtohim——

“Leon，youwilldomeaservice？“

And，shakinghimbybothhandsthatshegraspedtightly，sheadded“Listen，Iwanteightthousandfrancs。“

“Butyouaremad!“

“Notyet。“

Andthereupon，tellinghimthestoryofthedistraint，sheexplainedherdistresstohim；forCharlesknewnothingofit；

hermother-in-lawdetestedher；oldRouaultcoulddonothing；buthe，Leon，hewouldsetaboutfindingthisindispensablesum。

“HowonearthcanI？“

“Whatacowardyouare!“shecried。

Thenhesaidstupidly，“Youareexaggeratingthedifficulty。

Perhaps，withathousandcrownsorsothefellowcouldbestopped。“

Allthegreaterreasontotryanddosomething；itwasimpossiblethattheycouldnotfindthreethousandfrancs。Besides，Leon，couldbesecurityinsteadofher。

“Go，try，try!Iwillloveyouso!“

Hewentout，andcamebackattheendofanhour，saying，withsolemnface——

“Ihavebeentothreepeoplewithnosuccess。“

Thentheyremainedsittingfacetofaceatthetwochimneycorners，motionless，insilence。Emmashruggedhershouldersasshestampedherfeet。Heheardhermurmuring——

“IfIwereinyourplace_I_shouldsoongetsome。“

“Butwhere？“

“Atyouroffice。“Andshelookedathim。

Aninfernalboldnesslookedoutfromherburningeyes，andtheirlidsdrewclosetogetherwithalasciviousandencouraginglook，sothattheyoungmanfelthimselfgrowingweakbeneaththemutewillofthiswomanwhowasurginghimtoacrime。Thenhewasafraid，andtoavoidanyexplanationhesmotehisforehead，crying——

“Morelistocomebackto-night；hewillnotrefuseme，Ihope“

(thiswasoneofhisfriends，thesonofaveryrichmerchant)；

“andIwillbringityouto-morrow，“headded。

Emmadidnotseemtowelcomethishopewithallthejoyhehadexpected。Didshesuspectthelie？Hewenton，blushing——

“However，ifyoudon’tseemebythreeo’clockdonotwaitforme，mydarling。Imustbeoffnow；forgiveme!Goodbye!“

Hepressedherhand