Andre started.  He remembered the visit that Paul had made him, on the pretext of restoring the twenty francs he had borrowed, and at which he had boasted that he had an income of a thousand francs a month, and might make more, though he had not said how this was to be done.  “I think that Paul has forgotten me.  I saw him once at Van Klopen’s, and he never attempted to say a word to me.  He was certainly with that Mascarin at the time.”

Andre could only draw one conclusion from this, either that Paul was protected by the band of conspirators, or else that he formed one of it.  In that case he was useful to them; while Rose, who was in their way, was persecuted by them.  Andre’s mind came to this conclusion in an instant.  It seemed to him that if Catenac had been desirous of imprisoning Rose, it was because she was in the way, and her presence disturbed certain combinations.  Before, however, he could work out his line of deduction, Gaston’s shrill voice was heard upon the stairs, and in another moment he made his appearance.

“Place for the banquet,” said he; “make way for the lordly feast.”

Two waiters followed him, bearing a number of covered dishes on trays.  At another time Andre would have been very angry at this invasion, and at the prospect of a breakfast that would last two or three hours and utterly change everything; but now he was inclined to bless Gaston for his happy idea, and, with the assistance of Rose, he speedily cleared a large table for the reception of the viands.

Gaston did nothing, but talked continually.

“And now I must tell you the joke of the day.  Henri de Croisenois, one of my dearest friends, has absolutely launched a Company.”

Andre nearly let fall a bottle, which he was about to place upon the table.

“Who told you this?” asked he quickly.

“Who told me?  Why, a great big flaming poster.  Tafila Copper Mines; capital, four millions.  And my esteemed friend, Henri, has not a five-franc piece to keep the devil out of his pocket.”

The face of the young artist expressed such blank surprise that Gaston burst into a loud laugh.

“You look just as I did when I read it.  Henri de Croisenois, the chairman of a Company!  Why, if you had been elected Pope, I should not have been more surprised.  Tafila Copper Mines!  What a joke!  The shares are five hundred francs.”

The waiters had now retired, and Gaston urged his friends to take their places at the table, and all seemed merry as a marriage bell; but many a gay commencement has a stormy ending.

Gaston, whose shallow brain could not stand the copious draughts of wine with which he washed down his repast, began all at once to overwhelm Zora with bitter reproaches at her not being able to comprehend how a man like him, who was destined to play a serious part in society, could have been led away, as he had been, by a person like her.