's ear, "he bores me; but there
is no one else for me in Arcis."

"You judge him rightly; but wait till your grandfather has given an
opinion," said Madame Beauvisage, kissing her daughter, whose reply
proved her good-sense, though it also revealed the breach made in her
innocence by the idea of marriage.

Severine was devoted to her father; she and her daughter allowed no one
but themselves to take charge of his linen; they knitted his socks for
him, and gave the most minute care to his comfort. Grevin knew that no
thought of self-interest had entered their affection; the million they
would probably inherit could not dry their tears at his death; old men
are very sensible to disinterested tenderness. Every morning before
going to see him, Madame Beauvisage and Cecile attended to his dinner
for the next day, sending him the best that the market afforded.

Madame Beauvisage had always desired that her father would present
her at the Chateau de Gondreville and connect her with the count's
daughters; but the wise old man explained, again and again, how
difficult it would be to have permanent relations with the Duchesse de
Carigliano, who lived in Paris and seldom came to Gondreville, or with
the brilliant Madame Keller, after doing a business in hosiery.

"Your life is lived," he said to his daughter; "find all your enjoyments
henceforth in Cecile, who will certainly be rich enough to give you an
existence as broad and high as you deserve. Choose a son-in-law with
ambition and means, and you can follow her to Paris and leave that
jackass Beauvisage behind you. If I live long enough to see Cecile's
husband I'll pilot you all on the sea of political interests, as I
once piloted others, and you will reach a position equal to that of the
Kellers."

These few words were said before the revolution of July, 1830. Grevin
desired to live that he might get under way the future grandeur of his
daughter, his grand-daughter, and his great-grandchildren. His ambition
extended to the third generation.

When he talked thus, the old man's idea was to marry Cecile to Charles
Keller; he was now grieving over that lost hope, uncertain where to look
in the future. Having no relations with Parisian society, and seeing in
the department of the Aube no other husband for Cecile than the youthful
Marquis de Cinq-Cygne, he was asking himself whether by the power of
gold he could surmount the animosities which the revolution of July had
roused