Richard and Moncharmin; Poligny muttered a few words of excuse to the guests; and all four went into the managers' office.

I leave M.Moncharmin to complete the story.

In his Memoirs, he says: "Mm.

Debienne and Poligny seemed to grow more and more excited, and they appeared to have something very difficult to tell us.

First, they asked us if we knew the man, sitting at the end of the table, who had told them of the death of Joseph Buquet; and, when we answered in the negative, they looked still more concerned.