“This moment?”
“In half an hour.”
True enough, everything stood ready-packed—trunks, portmanteaux, and all. Coffee had long been served.
“ Eh bien, tu verras Paris. Dis donc, qu’est-ce que c’est qu’un ‘ utchitel ’? Tu étais bien bête quand tu étais ‘ utchitel .’ Where are my stockings? Please help me to dress.”
And she lifted up a really ravishing foot—small, swarthy, and not misshapen like the majority of feet which look dainty only in bottines. I laughed, and started to draw on to the foot a silk stocking, while Mlle. Blanche sat on the edge of the bed and chattered.
“ Eh bien, que feras-tu si je te prends avec moi? First of all I must have fifty thousand francs, and you shall give them to me at Frankfurt. Then we will go on to Paris, where we will live together, et je te ferai voir des étoiles en plein jour . Yes, you shall see such women as your eyes have never lit upon.”
“Stop a moment. If I were to give you those fifty thousand francs, what should I have left for myself?”
“Another hundred thousand francs, please to remember. Besides, I could live with you in your rooms for a month, or even for two; or even for longer. But it would not take us more than two months to get through fifty thousand francs; for, look you, je suis bonne enfante, et tu verras des étoiles , you may be sure.”
“What? You mean to say that we should spend the whole in two months?”
“Certainly. Does that surprise you very much? Ah, vil esclave ! Why, one month of that life would be better than all your previous existence. One