"
"How so? Were you obliged to return home alone?"
"No. At the end of the play, towards midnight, he deigned to reappear.
We had arranged to go to the masked ball at the Opera and then to have
some supper. Ah, it was amusing! At the ball, he didn't dare to let down
his hood, or take off his mask. At supper, I had to treat him like a
perfect stranger, because some of his friends were present."
This, then, was the _alibi_ prepared in case of trouble. Juliette, had
she been less carried away by her own feelings, would have noticed old
Tabaret's emotion, and would certainly have held her tongue. He was
perfectly livid, and trembled like a leaf.
"Well," he said, making a great effort to utter the words, "the supper,
I suppose, was none the less gay for that."
"Gay!" echoed the young woman, shrugging her shoulders; "you do not seem
to know much of your friend. If you ever ask him to dinner, take good
care not to give him anything to drink. Wine makes him as merry as a
funeral procession. At the second bottle, he was more tipsy than a
cork; so much so, that he lost nearly everything he had with him: his
overcoat, purse, umbrella, cigar-case--"
Old Tabaret couldn't sit and listen any longer; he jumped to his feet
like a raving madman.
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