Bordenave was loudly recommending the thick soup when a shout arose,
followed by protests and indignant exclamations. The door had just
opened, and three late arrivals, a woman and two men, had just come in.
Oh dear, no! There was no space for them! Nana, however, without leaving
her chair, began screwing up her eyes in the effort to find out whether
she knew them. The woman was Louise Violaine, but she had never seen the
men before.
"This gentleman, my dear," said Vandeuvres, "is a friend of mine, a
naval officer, Monsieur de Foucarmont by name. I invited him."
Foucarmont bowed and seemed very much at ease, for he added:
"And I took leave to bring one of my friends with me."
"Oh, it's quite right, quite right!" said Nana. "Sit down, pray. Let's
see, you--Clarisse--push up a little. You're a good deal spread out down
there. That's it--where there's a will--"
They crowded more tightly than ever, and Foucarmont and Louise were
given a little stretch of table, but the friend had to sit at some
distance from his plate and ate his supper through dint of making a long
arm between his neighbors' shoulders. The waiters took away the soup
plates and circulated rissoles of young rabbit with truffles and
"niokys" and powdered cheese.
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