"He is quite right," returned Beauchamp, "for I criticise him without knowing what he does. Good-day, commander!"
"Ah! you know that already," said the private secretary, smiling and shaking hands with him.
"Of course!"
"And what do they say of it in the world?"
"In which world? We have so many worlds in the year of grace 1838."
"In the entire political world, of which you are one of the lions."
"They say that it is quite fair; and that you sow so much red, that you must reap a little blue."
"Come, come! that is not bad!" said Lucien. "Why do you not join our party, my dear Beauchamp? With your talents you would make your fortune in three or four years."
"I only await one thing before following your advice; that is, a minister who will hold office for six months. My dear Albert, one word, for I must get poor Lucien a respite. Do we breakfast or dine 1 I must go to the Chamber, for our life is not an idle one."
"You only breakfast. I await two persons, and the instant they arrive we shall set down to table."
