Andrea Disguises Himself for Secret Travel
To avoid being recognized, Andrea conceives a plan to disguise himself. He tells his groom Pierre that he is about the same height and that Pierre had a new livery made just yesterday. He requests to borrow the livery until the following morning, claiming he has an assignation with a pretty little girl and wishes to remain incognito, possibly sleeping at an inn. Pierre obeys without question, and five minutes later Andrea slips out of the hotel completely transformed, takes a cabriolet, and orders the driver to take him to the Cheval Rouge inn at Picpus. The next morning he leaves the inn unobserved, walks down the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, follows the boulevard to Rue Ménilmontant, and stops at the third house on the left to inquire for “Monsieur Pailletin.”
Andrea Visits Caderousse’s Lodging
At Caderousse’s building, the porter is absent, so Andrea asks a fruiteress across the way for directions. She confirms that Pailletin is indeed a retired baker and directs him to the end of the yard, on the left, third floor. Andrea finds the hare’s-paw doorbell and pulls it with considerable ill-temper, prompting Caderousse to appear at the grating with a sardonic greeting: “Ah! you are punctual.” Andrea explodes into the room, throwing himself into a chair and cursing Caderousse and his punctuality, clearly wishing to hurl the furniture at his host’s head. Caderousse, unmoved, welcomes him with promises of a fine Provençal breakfast he has been preparing: dishes scented with fat, garlic, dried fish, musk, and cloves, along with sealed bottles of green and yellow wine, brandy, and fruit artfully arranged on an earthenware plate. He reminisces fondly about Andrea’s childhood appetite for his cooking while continuing to peel onions.
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