But once seated before a well-filled table, Hector could not
preserve his rigidity. He felt the joyous expansion of spirit
which follows assured safety after terrible peril. He was himself,
young again, once more strong. He told Sauvresy everything; his
vain boasting, his terror at the last moment, his agony at the
hotel, his fury, remorse, and anguish at the pawnbroker's.
"Ah!" said he. "You have saved me! You are my friend, my only
friend, my brother."
They talked for more than two hours.
"Come," said Sauvresy at last, "let us arrange our plans. You want
to disappear awhile; I see that. But to-night you must write four
lines to the papers. To-morrow I propose to take your affairs in
hand, that's a thing I know how to do. I don't know exactly how
you stand; but I will agree to save something from the wreck. We've
got money, you see; your creditors will be easy with us."
"But where shall I go?" asked Hector, whom the mere idea of
isolation terrified.
"What? You'll come home with me, parbleu, to Valfeuillu. Don't
you know that I am married? Ah, my friend, a happier man than I
does not exist! I've married--for love--the loveliest and best
of women.
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