"Oh! I am indignant beyond words! I am furious!" said Albert, as he entered the cab. "The deuce you are! I don't understand at all. Are you furious because you aren't wounded?" "Bah! I am not talking about the duel! It's that woman I am thinking of! that woman who has mocked at me and my love! who hoped, perhaps, that I would be killed!" "Oho! so it was on a woman's account that you fought. They have the very devil in them, these women, to insist upon it that we should all fight for them!" "I am going to her now, to confound her.--Whip up your horse, driver; you may drop me at Rue Neuve-Vivienne.--Do you, Tobie, go at once and find that messenger, and get my letter. You will understand that it must not be delivered to my father, for it would cause him unnecessary anxiety." Tobie made no reply. He recalled what he had told Paul to do, and wondered what the result would be. "Oh! these women! these women!" cried Albert; "I am utterly unable to understand this one. What coquetry! what perfidy!" "It's Madame Baldimer, isn't it?" "Yes; it is she! Oh! I will tell the whole world of her shameful conduct! Our homage is not enough for her; she must have our blood!" "Thanks! she shan't have mine; I wouldn't prick myself with a pin for her. But, by the way--what about our duel--concerning Madame Plays?" "Tell her that you killed me." "Killed you!" "You can safely say that, as I am going to leave Paris for several months. I want to divert my thoughts; above all things, I want to forget that woman who has made a plaything of my affection. I shall start this very evening." "All right; it's agreed that I have killed you, that you are dead. She will find out later that it isn't true; but what do I care? when she has once accorded me her favors, she can't take them back. Such things, when they're once given, aren't to be taken back. To be sure, although they give them away, they still have them; that is very agreeable for those who like to be generous." The cab had reached Rue Neuve-Vivienne. Albert alighted in front of Madame Baldimer's house, and said to Tobie: "Now, go at once and find the messenger, so that he won't carry the letter to my father." "Yes, yes! I will go. But I say, Albert, you promised to lend me--you know--the money to redeem my olive." "Oh, yes! Well, come to the house soon--this evening; I will give you the money." "I won't fail. By the way, you will gratify me by not telling the other fellows that----" Albert was not listening; he had hastened to the stairs, and he ran up without taking breath. When he reached Madame Baldimer's door, he rang. The maid opened the door. "Your mistress--where is she? I must speak with her instantly. I absolutely must!" The tone in which the young man spoke, his agitated manner, the pallor of his cheeks, alarmed the maid, who replied: "Madame is at home, monsieur, and I would certainly tell her that you are here, but--at this moment--I don't dare to go in--because----"