"But," said M. Duval with some embarrassment, "the least I can do is to
give you in return the price which you paid for it."
"Allow me to offer it to you. The price of a single volume in a sale of
that kind is a mere nothing, and I do not remember how much I gave for
it."
"You gave one hundred francs."
"True," I said, embarrassed in my turn, "how do you know?"
"It is quite simple. I hoped to reach Paris in time for the sale, and I
only managed to get here this morning. I was absolutely resolved to have
something which had belonged to her, and I hastened to the auctioneer
and asked him to allow me to see the list of the things sold and of
the buyers' names. I saw that this volume had been bought by you, and
I decided to ask you to give it up to me, though the price you had
set upon it made me fear that you might yourself have some souvenir in
connection with the possession of the book."
As he spoke, it was evident that he was afraid I had known Marguerite as
he had known her. I hastened to reassure him.
"I knew Mlle. Gautier only by sight," I said; "her death made on me the
impression that the death of a pretty woman must always make on a young
man who had liked seeing her. I wished to buy something at her sale, and
I bid higher and higher for this book out of mere obstinacy and to annoy
some one else, who was equally keen to obtain it, and who seemed to defy
me to the contest. I repeat, then, that the book is yours, and once more
I beg you to accept it; do not treat me as if I were an auctioneer,
and let it be the pledge between us of a longer and more intimate
acquaintance."
"Good," said Armand, holding out his hand and pressing mine; "I accept,
and I shall be grateful to you all my life."
I was very anxious to question Armand on the subject of Marguerite, for
the inscription in the book, the young man's hurried journey, his desire
to possess the volume, piqued my curiosity; but I feared if I questioned
my visitor that I might seem to have refused his money only in order to
have the right to pry into his affairs.
It was as if he guessed my desire, for he said to me: "Have you read the volume?"