sulted. In consequence of this incident, a duel is impending for Reutler:
Reutler knelt down before the bed. To-morrow the beautiful Princess of Byzance would awaken dishonored. At three o'clock in the afternoon she would get up, laughing still at the merriment of the evening; she would ring for her valet, she would take her bath, her douche, she would ask for piquant dishes—and not seeing anywhere her elder brother, she would strike her hand upon her brow in despair—remembering—and calling herself a coward!
The elder brother!—he so necessary as the unhappy witness of all Paul-Eric's follies, the sad-hearted spectator, participant, in all those caprices!—Reutler hoped indeed that the Princess would not see him coming back again … Reutler had regulated everything as to the function before him, the new task that was now ahead. No, he must not come back, he must not live any longer—that would be too much for him!
Paul-Eric murmured an indistinct word—"Reutler"—very softly. Out of his sleep, the sleep of a spoiled child who still is amused at some excellent farce, the boy was calling Reutler, to show him Madame de Croissac, there in the box at the theatre, in all her rumpled disorder. It all seemed simply fun to Paul-Eric; he wanted to laugh at it with his friend—with Reutler, his only real friend … Reutler buried his face in his shaking hands.
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