some one here, some
one of note, you would know how to do things properly?"

"I think so."

He remained silent for a moment, like a man who thinks before taking
an important decision, and then:

"I wish to invite a few persons to dinner," he said. She could
scarcely believe her ears. He had never received at his table any
one but a fellow-clerk at the factory, named Desclavettes, who had
just married the daughter of a dealer in bronzes, and succeeded to
his business.

"Is it possible?" exclaimed Mme. Favoral.

"So it is. The question is now, how much would a first-class dinner
cost, the best of every thing?"

"That depends upon the number of guests."

"Say three or four persons."

The poor woman set herself to figuring diligently for some time;
and then timidly, for the sum seemed formidable to her:

"I think," she began, "that with a hundred francs--"

Her husband commenced whistling.

"You'll need that for the wines alone;" he interrupted. "Do you
take me for a fool? But here, don't let us go into figures. Do as
your parents did when they did their best; and, if it's well, I
shall not complain of the expense. Take a good cook, hire a waiter
who understands his business well."

She was utterly confounded; and yet she was not at the end of her
surprises.

Soon M. Favoral declared that their table-ware was not suitable, and
that he must buy a new set. He discovered a hundred purchases to
be made, and swore that he would make them. He even hesitated a
moment about renewing the parlor furniture, although it was in
tolerably good condition still, and was a present from his
father-in-law.

And, having finished his inventory:

"And you," he asked his wife: "what dress will you wear?"

"I have my black silk dress--"

He stopped her.

"Which means that you have none at all," he said. "Very well. You
must go this very day and get yourself one,--a very handsome, a
magnificent one; and you'll send it to be made to a fashionable
dressmaker. And at the same time you had better get some little
suits for Maxence and Gilberte. Here are a thousand francs."

Completely bewildered:

"Who in the world are you going to invite, then?" she asked.

"The Baron and the Baroness de Thaller," he replied with an emphasis
full of conviction. "So try and distinguish yourself. Our fortune
is at stake."

That this dinner was a matter of considerable import, Mme. Favoral
could not doubt when she saw her hus