"Nor I," cried La Thomassinière; "I could never forgive anyone for not succeeding in business. I will say more--I won't receive such a man in my house. The minute your credit begins to sink, why, good-evening; you'd better stay at home! That's all I know! For we must have honesty first of all, as monsieur le marquis observed; and with rich people a man is never in any danger." Dalville smiled at the warmth with which the two worthies emphasized their love of honesty, and after a moment he rejoined: "Do you know how much of my money Destival has taken away with him?" "No," said La Thomassinière; "is it possible that he cheated you too? I thought that you were too shrewd to allow yourself to be taken in, Monsieur Dalville!" "Oh! in money matters, monsieur, the shrewdest are likely to be the stupidest. A man doesn't need intelligence to grow rich; that's a truth of which the world presents us with proofs every day." "Monsieur Dalville is forever joking," Athalie said, laughingly; while La Thomassinière said to the marquis in an undertone: "This young man knows nothing whatever about business. I feel sorry for him." "How much did the scoundrel rob you of?" queried the marquis. "Two hundred and fifty thousand francs." "The deuce!" cried La Thomassinière; "but that's quite a sum of money! Two hundred and fifty thousand francs! You must have stout loins to stand such a loss!" "Oh well! I stand it as best I can. This is the time to be philosophical." "I understand; that means that you are still very rich." "Not at all; on the contrary, I have nothing left. Destival has carried off my capital, and in a few months I shall have to turn my attention to earning my living." Monsieur de la Thomassinière's face grew long and the marquis's anxious. Athalie alone seemed to take any interest in Auguste's situation. "What!" she exclaimed; "do you really mean, Monsieur Dalville, that that wretched man has ruined you?" "Yes, madame, the fact is only too certain." "And you take it as calmly as this?" "If I should rage and tear my hair, that would not give me back my money." "Philosophy is a fine thing, that is sure," said the marquis. "It helps us to take things as they come, it makes us superior to adversity, and--But it occurs to me that I am invited out to dinner, to eat a truffled turkey. I promised to be on hand at the overture, and a man of honor has only his word. Au revoir, my dear friends." The marquis rose and was about to leave the room, when Dalville ran after him and stopped him. "I beg your pardon, my dear Monsieur de Cligneval," he said under his breath, "but you probably have forgotten a little debt of a hundred louis. If I venture to remind you of it, you will understand that just at this time I am in need of whatever I possess." "My dear friend, what do you say? Pardieu! it had slipped my mind entirely." "You were to repay it that same week, and as it was two months ago, I thought you had forgotten that trifle."