No! This is only another way of refusing me! Can I believe it? Will
not you whom I have seen spend the same sum upon some such trifle as a
passing love affair--will you not apply the thousand crowns to the
performance of a good action?

Verdelin (laughing)
At the present time there are very few good actions, or transactions.

Mercadet
Ha! Ha! Ha! How witty! You are laughing, I see there is a reaction!

Verdelin
Ha! Ha! Ha! (He drops his hat.)

Mercadet (picking up the hat and dusting it with his sleeve)
Come now, old fellow. Haven't we seen life! We two began it together.
What a lot of things we have said and done! Don't you recollect the
good old time when we swore to be friends always through thick and
thin?

Verdelin
Indeed, I do. And don't you recollect our party at Rambouillet, where
I fought an officer of the Guard on your account?

Mercadet
I thought it was for the lovely Clarissa! Ah! But we were gay! We were
young! And to-day we have our daughters, daughters old enough to
marry! If Clarissa were alive now, she would blame your hesitation!

Verdelin