n, "and yet there were times in your life when you
were starving!"

Laisangy was eating a bit of cheese. He stopped with his fork in the
air.

"We will not talk of that!" he replied.

"And why not? Everybody is not born with a million in his cradle. I,
too, have been near starvation!"

"Carmen!"

"It is true, but pray finish your breakfast. I want to talk to you."

If Goutran, assisted by some magician, had been able to see and hear
this interview, he would have been thunderstruck. What a tone! What an
expression! Not that she was less pretty, but there was a something in
her manner and appearance which would have offended his taste.

Laisangy finally stopped eating. Any other person would have been
crimson after such a meal, but he actually looked paler than ever.

Carmen rang the bell for coffee, and then they were again alone.

"My dear Carmen, I am ready to listen to you," said the banker. She had
lighted a cigarette, and was smoking, with her eyes fixed on him.

"You want money, I suppose?"

"No--I want information."

"Information!"

"Ah! that makes you uneasy, does it not? I am well aware that you are
not fond of questions."

Laisangy, who was drinking his third cup of coffee, shivered a little at
these words.

"I do not understand you," he said.

"You will, presently. But I never saw anybody with such an appetite.
When I was sixteen and could hardly get a crust of bread, I could not
eat like that."

"Why dwell on these memories, Carmen?"

"Because, if I remind you of what and who I am, I shall have a better
chance, perhaps, to learn who you are."

"Carmen! Carmen!" said the old man imploringly, and becoming even paler
than before.

"I tell you that I intend to know who you are. Now hold your tongue and
let me speak. I have had a weight on my heart for a long time, and now I
intend to make a clean breast of it."

No words can describe the terror on the face of the banker. He stammered
and choked.

"But, Carmen, we are so comfortable and happy. What do you want more?"

"I wish to have my curiosity satisfied," answered Carmen, coldly.
"Everything about you is a mystery and a fraud. In fact, you terrify
me!"

"But----"

"Yes--even your way of eating is not natural. There is something of the
wild beast about you, and I tell you I am afraid!"

"But this is childish. You have known me a long time."

"Yes. I am twenty-two now, and I was fifteen when you took me, while
Mamma Lousteau