nly a little more or a little less."

"What splendid disinterestedness!" thought Bertha; "what coolness,
what admirable contempt of money, what noble disdain of the petty
details which annoy common people! Was Sauvresy capable of all
this?"

She could not at least accuse him of avarice, since for her he was
as prodigal as a thief; he had never refused her anything; he
anticipated her most extravagant fancies. Still he had a strong
appetite for gain, and despite his large fortune, he retained the
hereditary respect for money. When he had business with one of his
farmers, he would rise very early, mount his horse, though it were
mid-winter, and go several leagues in the snow to get a hundred
crowns. He would have ruined himself for her if she had willed it,
this she was convinced of; but he would have ruined himself
economically, in an orderly way.

Sauvresy reflected.

"You are right," said he to Hector, "your creditors ought to know
your exact position. Who knows that they are not acting in concert?
Their simultaneous refusal to lend you a hundred thousand makes me
suspect it. I will go and see them."

"Clair & Co., from whom I received my first loans, ought to be the
best informed."

"Well, I will see Clair & Co. But look here, do you know what you
would do if you were reasonable?"

"What?"

"You would go to Paris with me, and both of us--"

Hector turned very pale, and his eyes shone.

"Never!" he interrupted, violently, "never!"

His "dear friends" still terrified him. What! Reappear on the
theatre of his glory, now that he was fallen, ruined, ridiculous by
his unsuccessful suicide? Sauvresy had held out his arms to him.
Sauvresy was a noble fellow, and loved Hector sufficiently not to
perceive the falseness of his position, and not to judge him a
coward because he shrank from suicide. But the others!--

"Don't talk to me about Paris," said he in a calmer tone. "I shall
never set my foot in it again."

"All right--so much the better; stay with us; I sha'n't complain of
it, nor my wife either. Some fine day we'll find you a pretty
heiress in the neighborhood. But," added Sauvresy, consulting his
watch, "I must go if I don't want to lose the train."

"I'll go to the station with you," said Tremorel.

This was not solely from a friendly impulse. He wanted to ask
Sauvresy to look after the articles left at the pawnbroker's in the
Rue de Condo, and to call on Jenny. Bertha, from her window,
followed