I
recognized the face. The old boy will have brought her out."
Vandeuvres was not listening; he was impatient and longed to get rid of
her. But Fauchery having remarked at parting that if she had not seen
the bookmakers she had seen nothing, the count was obliged to take her
to them in spite of his obvious repugnance. And she was perfectly happy
at once; that truly was a curious sight, she said!
Amid lawns bordered by young horse-chestnut trees there was a round open
enclosure, where, forming a vast circle under the shadow of the tender
green leaves, a dense line of bookmakers was waiting for betting men,
as though they had been hucksters at a fair. In order to overtop and
command the surrounding crowd they had taken up positions on wooden
benches, and they were advertising their prices on the trees beside
them. They had an ever-vigilant glance, and they booked wagers in answer
to a single sign, a mere wink, so rapidly that certain curious onlookers
watched them openmouthed, without being able to understand it all.
Confusion reigned; prices were shouted, and any unexpected change in a
quotation was received with something like tumult. Occasionally scouts
entered the place at a run and redoubled the uproar as they stopped at
the entrance to the rotunda and, at the tops of their voices, announced
departures and arrivals.
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