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And Jory had been trying to get into the good graces of Irma Becot again, ever since she had secured that little house in the Rue de Moscou! Christine knew those two; two jades who well went together, weren't they? But the most cunning of the whole lot was Fagerolles, to whom he, Claude, would tell a few plain truths and no mistake, when he met him.
On entering the second gallery they gave a glance round the walls, but the picture they sought was not there. In lieu thereof they perceived Irma Becot on the arm of Gagniere, both of them pressed against a hand-rail, he busy examining a small canvas, while she, delighted at being hustled about, raised her pink little mug and laughed at the crowd.
Don't imagine that I have been here for the last hour merely waiting for you. The others laughed; and lowering his voice he told them about the girl, who was named Irma Becot.
Sandoz, who had lent an ear to the conversation, greatly interested by this fine business, called out as soon as Jory and Claude became silent: 'Let's be off, eh? My legs are getting numbed. But at that moment Irma Becot appeared, and stopped in front of the buffet.
Sandoz declared that her name of Becot was very well suited for a novel; Claude asked whether she would consent to pose for a sketch; while Mahoudeau already pictured her as a Paris gamin, a statuette that would be sure to sell. She soon went off, however, and behind the gentleman's back she wafted kisses to the whole party, a shower of kisses which quite upset the impressionable Jory.
It was about five o'clock, and he was crossing the Rue Royale like one walking in his sleep, at the risk of being run over, his clothes in rags and mud-bespattered up to his neck, when a brougham suddenly drew up. 'Claude, eh? Claude! is that how you pass your friends? It was Irma Becot who spoke, Irma in a charming grey silk dress, covered with Chantilly lace.
He felt more uncomfortable still when he saw Jory, who gallantly ushered in Irma Becot, whose acquaintance he had made through Fagerolles, and who was flinging her youth about the Paris studios. 'She insisted upon seeing your studio, so I brought her, explained the journalist. The girl, however, without waiting, was already walking about and making remarks, with perfect freedom of manner.
They had gone back to look at the 'Vintaging Girl, when Jory noticed that Gagniere no longer had Irma Becot on his arm. Gagniere was stupefied; where the deuce could he have lost her?
Have I any debts, I who have always starved? answered Mahoudeau in a roughly arrogant tone. 'Ought a fellow to build himself a palace and spend money on creatures like that Irma Becot, who's ruining Fagerolles? At this Jory grew angry, while the others jested, and Irma's name went flying over the table.
Swayed by hereditary meanness, he already invested money every month in petty speculations, which were only known to himself, for never had his vices cost him less than nowadays. As he and Claude reached the Rue de Moscou, he told the painter that it was there that Irma Becot now lived.
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