“She is not alone, I see.”
“She is with her husband.”
“Her husband? Is it possible that she found one?”
“You forget that she is five or six times millionaire, and also the general rule that where it rains millions husbands sprout. Her name is now Madame Gaudessart, née Vautrin.”
“Is it the illustrious Gaudessart who is the husband of that horrible creature?”
“Legally so, I beg you to believe.”
“Speaking of the ‘Cousine Bette,’ can you tell me anything of Wencelas Steinbock and his wife?”
“They are perfectly happy. It is young Hulot who misbehaves; his wife is in that box over there, with the Steinbocks. Hulot has told them that he will join them later, and has probably stated that he had some urgent law business to attend to; but the truth is that he is behind the scenes at the opera. Hulot is not his father’s son for nothing.”
At this point M. de Rastignac smiled affectionately at a white-haired musician, who was tuning his violin.
“Is that the Cousin Pons?” I asked.