The sound of the rustling cards and of the clicking counters had ceased in the other rooms.
Everyone, men and women, had risen to their feet with a constrained expectant expression upon their faces.

And there in the doorway were the pale face and the green coat with the red cordon across the white waistcoat.
There was no saying how he might behave upon these occasions.
Sometimes he was capable of being the merriest and most talkative of the company, but this was rather in his consular than in his imperial days.
On the other hand he might be absolutely ferocious, with an insulting observation for everyone with whom he came in contact.

As a rule he was between these two extremes, silent, morose, ill at ease, shooting out curt little remarks which made everyone uncomfortable.

There was always a sigh of relief when he would pass from one room into the next.
On this occasion he seemed to have not wholly recovered from the storm of the afternoon, and he looked about him with a brooding eye and a lowering brow.

It chanced that I was not very far from the door, and that his glance fell upon me.
'Come here, Monsieur de Laval,' said he.