Therefore don't talk to me any more; let me play my part well." After these words, spoken in a feverish tone, the three Bonapartists returned to the group of officers and mixed among them.

Max bowed first to Bridau, who returned his bow, and the two exchanged a frigid glance.
"Come, gentlemen, let us take our seats," said Potel.
"And drink to the health of the Little Corporal, who is now in the paradise of heroes," cried Renard.
The company poured into the long, low dining-hall of the restaurant Lacroix, the windows of which opened on the market-place.

Each guest took his seat at the table, where, in compliance with Philippe's request, the two adversaries were placed directly opposite to each other.

Some young men of the town, among them several Knights of Idleness, anxious to know what might happen at the banquet, were walking about the street and discussing the critical position into which Philippe had contrived to force Max.

They all deplored the crisis, though each considered the duel to be inevitable.
Everything went off well until the dessert, though the two antagonists displayed, in spite of the apparent joviality of the dinner, a certain vigilance that resembled disquietude.