Page:René Le Coeur Le bar aux femmes nues, 1925.djvu/6

 — You know," Marie-Louise said to Loulou, "little Julien writes to Odette Rénier. She doesn't reply. She receives love letters every day.

— Me too," said Loulou. "Men ask me to meet them after the show.

— But the young clerk was telling Odette Rénier that he adored her, that he would adore her forever. And he sent her flowers.

— Well, nobody sends me flowers, they just ask me to spend an hour at the hotel with them.

— Anyway, he tries every possible way to have Odette. In the end, he proposes five thousand francs! Five thousand francs for a night of love.

— Your clerk was rich.

— Just wait and see! Listen!

And Yvette declared simply.

— Nobody would offer me five thousand bucks.

— You're so dumb!

Yvette replied. I had to intervene to restore peace and find out the end of the story. Here it is, at least as Marie-Louise tells it. Perhaps it's an apocryphal story.

Odette Rénier accepted the five thousand francs. She invited the young clerk to her place. He had dinner there, and he stayed the night.

He was very nice, this little Julien, very tender, very in love, with a somewhat melancholic air. Probably because this beautiful night was meant to remain unique for him.

The next morning, he wanted to take a bath. He went to the bathroom. His clothes were still on a chair. He had thrown them there haphazardly the night before. The wallet, deflated, was lying on the floor. The five bills were on the mantelpiece.

Odette Rénier picked up the wallet, from which a letter with the address of the young clerk's parents was sticking out, with the inscription: "To be delivered after my death."

Suddenly, the beautiful Odette sensed some drama and opened the envelope, which was not sealed. The young clerk explained that he had stolen five thousand francs from his boss.