lay my
man out; nobody is a surer shot nor handles a rapier better than your
servant. And every one knows it. Then, have a friend--if you can find
one--and make over your property to him by a fictitious sale. You call
that a _fidei commissum_, don't you?' he asked, turning to me.

"The Count seemed to be entirely absorbed in his own thoughts.

"'You shall have your money to-morrow,' he said, 'have the diamonds in
readiness,' and he went.

"'There goes one who looks to me to be as stupid as an honest man,'
Gobseck said coolly when the Count had gone.

"'Say rather stupid as a man of passionate nature.'

"'The Count owes you your fee for drawing up the agreement!' Gobseck
called after me as I took my leave."

"One morning, a few days after the scene which initiated me into the
terrible depths beneath the surface of the life of a woman of fashion,
the Count came into my private office.

"'I have come to consult you on a matter of grave moment,' he said, 'and
I begin by telling you that I have perfect confidence in you, as I
hope to prove to you. Your behavior to Mme. de Grandlieu is above all
praise,' the Count went on. (You see, madame, that you have paid me a
thousand times over for a very simple matter.)

"I bowed respectfully, and replied that I had done nothing but the duty
of an honest man.

"'Well,' the Count went on, 'I have made a great many inquiries about
the singular personage to whom you owe your position. And from all that
I can learn, Gobseck is a philosopher of the Cynic school. What do you
think of his probity?'

"'M. le Comte,' said I, 'Gobseck is my benefactor--at fifteen per cent,'
I added, laughing. 'But his avarice does not authorize me to paint him
to the life for a stranger's benefit.'

"'Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I do
not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.'

"'Daddy Gobseck,' I began, 'is intimately convinced of the truth of the
principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money is a
commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to circumstances,
with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a high rate of
interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by anticipation. Apart
from the peculiar philosophical views of human nature and financial
principles, which enable him to behave like a usurer, I am fully
persuaded that, out of his business, he is the most loyal and upright
soul in Paris. There are two men