CHAPTERV
SHOWINGHOWNEARTHETARPEIANROCKISTOTHECAPITOL
OnleavingMadamedeGodollo，laPeyradefeltthenecessityofgatheringhimselftogether。Beneaththeconversationhehadjustmaintainedwiththisstrangewoman，whatcouldhesee，——atrap，orarichanddistinguishedmarriageofferedtohim。Undersuchadoubtasthis，topressCelesteforanimmediateanswerwasneitherclevernorprudent；itwassimplytobindhimself，andclosethedoortothechanges，stillveryill—defined，whichseemedofferedtohim。TheresultoftheconsultationwhichTheodoseheldwithhimselfashewalkedalongtheboulevardwasthatheought，forthemoment，tothinkonlyofgainingtime。Consequently，insteadofgoingtotheThuilliers’tolearnCeleste’sdecision，hewenthome，andwrotethefollowinglittlenotetoThuillier：——
MydearThuillier，——YouwillcertainlynotthinkitextraordinarythatIshouldnotpresentmyselfatyourhouseto—day，——partlybecauseIfearthesentencewhichwillbepronounceduponme，andpartlybecauseIdonotwishtoseemanimpatientandunmannerlycreditor。Afewdays，moreorless，willmatterlittleundersuchcircumstances，andyetMademoiselleCollevillemayfindthemdesirablefortheabsolutefreedomofherchoice。Ishall，therefore，notgotoseeyouuntilyouwriteforme。
Iamnowmorecalm，andIhaveaddedafewmorepagestoourmanuscript；itwilltakebutlittletimetohandinthewholetotheprinter。