"Is it an offer?" Porchon inquired curtly.
"Yes." The stranger went out. After he had gone, Lucien heard Porchon
say to Vidal:
"We have three hundred copies on order now. We will keep him waiting
for his settlement, sell the _Leonides_ for five francs net, settlement
in six months, and----"
"And that will be fifteen hundred francs into our pockets," said
Vidal.
"Oh, I saw quite well that he was in a fix. He is giving Ducange four
thousand francs for two thousand copies."
Lucien cut Vidal short by appearing in the entrance of the den.
"I have the honor of wishing you a good day, gentlemen," he said,
addressing both partners. The booksellers nodded slightly.
"I have a French historical romance after the style of Scott. It is
called _The Archer of Charles IX._; I propose to offer it to you----"
Porchon glanced at Lucien with lustreless eyes, and laid his pen down
on the desk. Vidal stared rudely at the author.
"We are not publishing booksellers, sir; we are booksellers' agents,"
he said. "When we bring out a book ourselves, we only deal in
well-known names; and we only take serious literature besides--history
and epitomes."
"But my book is very serious. It is an attempt to set the struggle
between Catholics and Calvinists in its true light; the Catholics were
supporters of absolute monarchy, and the Protestants for a republic.
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