ge, but
a hundred francs to collectors. These had formerly belonged to old
Monsieur de la Bertelliere. Item, three gold _quadruples_, Spanish, of
Philip V., struck in 1729, given to her one by one by Madame Gentillet,
who never failed to say, using the same words, when she made the gift,
"This dear little canary, this little yellow-boy, is worth ninety-eight
francs! Keep it, my pretty one, it will be the flower of your treasure."
Item (that which her father valued most of all, the gold of these coins
being twenty-three carats and a fraction), a hundred Dutch ducats,
made in the year 1756, and worth thirteen francs apiece. Item, a great
curiosity, a species of medal precious to the soul of misers,--three
rupees with the sign of the Scales, and five rupees with the sign of the
Virgin, all in pure gold of twenty-four carats; the magnificent money
of the Great Mogul, each of which was worth by mere weight thirty-seven
francs, forty centimes, but at least fifty francs to those connoisseurs
who love to handle gold. Item, the napoleon of forty francs received
the day before, which she had forgotten to put away in the velvet purse.
This treasure was all in virgin coins, true works of art, which Grandet
from time to time inquired after and asked to see, pointing out to his
daughter their intrinsic merits,--such as the beauty of the milled edge,
the clearness of the flat surface, the richness of the lettering, whose
angles were not yet rubbed off.

Eugenie gave no thought to these rarities, nor to her father's mania for
them, nor to the danger she incurred in depriving herself of a treasure
so dear to him; no, she thought only of her cousin, and soon made out,
after a few mistakes of calculation, that she possessed about five
thousand eight hundred francs in actual value, which might be sold for
their additional value to collectors for nearly six thousand. She looked
at her wealth and clapped her hands like a happy child forced to
spend its overflowing joy in artless movements of the body. Father and
daughter had each counted up their fortune this night,--he, to sell his
gold; Eugenie to fling hers into the ocean of affection. She put the
pieces back into the old purse, took it in her hand, and ran upstairs
without hesitation. The secret misery of her cousin made her forget the
hour and conventional propriety; she was strong in her conscience, in
her devotion, in her happiness.

As she stood upon the threshold of the door, holdi