Mercadet (looking him in the face)
You! (in a low voice to him) Listen to me:  you have hurried on my
destruction, but you have it in your power to help me to escape.

De la Brive
On what conditions?

Mercadet I will make you a good offer! (Aloud, as they start toward opposite doors) True, the idea is a bold one!  But to-morrow, the ’Change will recognize in me one of its master spirits.

Verdelin
What is he talking about?

Mercadet To-morrow, all my debts will be paid, and the house of Mercadet will be turning over millions!  I shall be acknowledged as the Napoleon of finance.

Verdelin
What a man he is!

Mercadet
And a Napoleon who meets no Waterloo!

Verdelin
But where are your troops?

Mercadet
My army is cash in hand!  What answer can be made to a business man who
says, “Take your money!” Come let us dine now.

Verdelin
Certainly.  I shall be delighted to dine with you.

Mercadet (while they all move towards the dining-room, aside) They are all glad of it!  To-morrow I will either command millions, or rest in the damp winding-sheet of the Seine!

Curtain to the Second Act.

ActIII

Scenefirst

(Another apartment in Mercadet’s house, well furnished.  At the back and in the centre is a mantel-piece, having instead of a mirror a clear plate of glass; side doors; a large table, surrounded by chairs, in the middle of the stage; sofa and armchairs.)

Justin, Therese and Virginie, then Mercadet.

(Justin enters first and beckons to Therese.  Virginie, carrying papers, sits insolently on the sofa.  Justin looks through the keyhole of the door on the left side and listens.)

Therese Is it possible that they could pretend to conceal from us the condition of their affairs?

Virginie Old Gruneau tells me that the master is soon to be arrested; I hope that what I have spent will be taken account of, for he owes me the money for these bills, besides my wages!

Therese Oh! set your mind at rest.  We are likely to lose everything, for the master is bankrupt.

Justin
I can’t hear anything.  They speak too low!  They don’t trust us.

Virginie
It is frightful!

Justin (with his ear to the half-open door)
Wait, I think I hear something.

(The door bursts open and Mercadet appears.)

Mercadet (to Justin)
Don’t let me disturb you.

Justin
Sir, I—­I—­was just putting—­

Mercadet Really! (To Virginie, who jumps up suddenly from the sofa) Keep your seat, Mlle. Virginie, and you, M. Justin, why didn’t you come in?  We were talking about my business.

Justin
You amuse me, sir.

Mercadet
I am heartily glad of it.

Justin
You take trouble easy, sir.