in point of fact it was open only to vineyards. He was appointed a
member of the administration of Saumur, and his pacific influence made
itself felt politically and commercially. Politically, he protected the
ci-devant nobles, and prevented, to the extent of his power, the sale of
the lands and property of the _emigres_; commercially, he furnished the
Republican armies with two or three thousand puncheons of white wine,
and took his pay in splendid fields belonging to a community of women
whose lands had been reserved for the last lot.

Under the Consulate Grandet became mayor, governed wisely, and harvested
still better pickings. Under the Empire he was called Monsieur Grandet.
Napoleon, however, did not like republicans, and superseded Monsieur
Grandet (who was supposed to have worn the Phrygian cap) by a man of his
own surroundings, a future baron of the Empire. Monsieur Grandet quitted
office without regret. He had constructed in the interests of the town
certain fine roads which led to his own property; his house and lands,
very advantageously assessed, paid moderate taxes; and since the
registration of his various estates, the vineyards, thanks to his
constant care, had become the "head of the country,"--a local term used
to denote those that produced the finest quality of wine. He might have
asked for the cross of the Legion of honor.

This event occurred in 1806. Monsieur Grandet was then fifty-seven years
of age, his wife thirty-six, and an only daughter, the fruit of their
legitimate love, was ten years old. Monsieur Grandet, whom Providence
no doubt desired to compensate for the loss of his municipal honors,
inherited three fortunes in the course of this year,--that of Madame
de la Gaudiniere, born de la Bertelliere, the mother of Madame Grandet;
that of old Monsieur de la Bertelliere, her grandfather; and, lastly,
that of Madame Gentillet, her grandmother on the mother's side: three
inheritances, whose amount was not known to any one. The avarice of the
deceased persons was so keen that for a long time they had hoarded their
money for the pleasure of secretly looking at it. Old Monsieur de la
Bertelliere called an investment an extravagance, and thought he got
better interest from the sight of his gold than from the profits of
usury. The inhabitants of Saumur consequently estimated his savings
according to "the revenues of the sun's wealth," as they said.

Monsieur Grandet thus obtained that modern title o