ber merchant, was made mayor under the consulate, became
Monsieur Grandet when the empire was established, and every year grew
wealthier and more miserly.

In 1817 M. Grandet was 68, his wife 47, and their only child, Eugenie,
was 21.

A careful, cunning, silent man was M. Grandet, who loved his gold and to
get the better in a bargain beyond all else. He cultivated 100 acres of
vineyard, had thirteen little farms, an old abbey, and 127 acres of
grazing land, and owned the house he lived in. The town estimated old
Grandet's income to be five or six million francs, but only two people
were in a position to guess with any chance of probability, and these
were M. Cruchot the notary, and M. des Grassins the banker, and they
disclosed no secrets.

Both M. Cruchot and M. des Grassins were men of considerable importance
in Saumur, and enjoyed the right of entry to M. Grandet's house--a
privilege extended to only a very few of their neighbours.

There was rivalry between these two families of the Cruchots and Des
Grassins, rivalry for the hand of Grandet's daughter, Eugenie. Cruchot's
nephew was a rising lawyer, already, at the age of thirty-three, a
president of the court of first instance, and Cruchot's brother was an
abbe of Tours. The hopes of the Cruchots were centred on the successful
marriage of the nephew (who called himself Cruchot de Bonfons, after an
estate he had bought) with Grandet's heiress.

Mme. des Grassins was equally hopeful and indefatigable on behalf of her
son Adolphe.

The whole town knew of the struggle between these two families, and
watched it with interest. Would Mlle. Grandet marry M. Adolphe des
Grassins or M. le President? There were others who declared the old
cooper was rich enough to marry his daughter to a peer in France.

With all his wealth and the fortune his wife brought him, M. Grandet
lived as meanly and cheaply as he could. His house was cold and dreary,
and his table was supplied with poultry, eggs, butter and corn by his
tenants. M. Grandet never paid visits or invited people to dinner.

One servant, Nanon, a big, strong woman of five feet eight inches, did
all the work of the house, the cooking and washing, the baking and
cleaning, and watched over her master's interests with an absolute
fidelity. The strength of Nanon appealed to M. Grandet when he was on
the lookout for a housekeeper before his marriage, and the girl, out of
work and wretched, had never lost her gratitude f