Of the prosperous Fortunat, so favorably
known round about the Place de la Bourse, naught remained save his
face and his hands. Another Fortunat had taken his place, more
than needy in aspect--wretched, famished, gaunt with hunger, ready
for any desperate deed. And, yet, he seemed at ease in this garb;
it yielded to his every movement, as if he had worn it for a long
time. The butterfly had become a chrysalis again. Chupin's
admiring smile must have repaid him for his trouble. Since the
young clerk evinced approval, M. Fortunat felt sure that
Vantrasson would take him for what he wished to appear--a poor
devil of an agent, who was acting on some other person's behalf.
"Let us start at once," said he.
But just as he was leaving the ante-room, he remembered an order
of great importance which he wished to give. He called Madame
Dodelin, and without paying the slightest heed to her astonishment
at seeing him thus attired: "If the Marquis de Valorsay comes, in
my absence," said he--" and he WILL come--ask him to wait for me.
I shall return before midnight. Don't take him into my office--he
can wait in the drawing-room."
This last order was certainly unnecessary, since M. Fortunat had
closed and double-locked his office door and placed the key
carefully in his own pocket. But perhaps he had forgotten this
circumstance. There were now no traces of his recent anger and
disappointment. He was in excellent humor; and you might have
supposed that he was starting on an enterprise from which he
expected to derive both pleasure and profit.
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