than they give; and one fine day one dies like a dog in a ditch,
after having ruined others and ruined one's self."

"Come, come, madame, be calm," said Nanine; "your nerves are a
bit upset to-night."

"This dress worries me," continued Marguerite, unhooking her
bodice; "give me a dressing-gown. Well, and Prudence?"

"She has not come yet, but I will send her to you, madame, the
moment she comes."

"There's one, now," Marguerite went on, as she took off her dress
and put on a white dressing-gown, "there's one who knows very
well how to find me when she is in want of me, and yet she can't
do me a service decently. She knows I am waiting for an answer.
She knows how anxious I am, and I am sure she is going about on
her own account, without giving a thought to me."

"Perhaps she had to wait."

"Let us have some punch."

"It will do you no good, madame," said Nanine.

"So much the better. Bring some fruit, too, and a pate or a wing
of chicken; something or other, at once. I am hungry."

Need I tell you the impression which this scene made upon me, or
can you not imagine it?