cingen, and perhaps
may succeed in releasing your father's pension, pledged to him,
without its costing you or our office a sou. The peer has not killed
the banker in Nucingen; he is insatiable; he wants some concession.--I
know not what----"

So on his return to the Rue Plumet, Victorin could carry out his plan
of lodging his mother and sister under his roof.

The young lawyer, already famous, had, for his sole fortune, one of
the handsomest houses in Paris, purchased in 1834 in preparation for
his marriage, situated on the boulevard between the Rue de la Paix and
the Rue Louis-le-Grand. A speculator had built two houses between the
boulevard and the street; and between these, with the gardens and
courtyards to the front and back, there remained still standing a
splendid wing, the remains of the magnificent mansion of the
Verneuils. The younger Hulot had purchased this fine property, on the
strength of Mademoiselle Crevel's marriage-portion, for one million
francs, when it was put up to auction, paying five hundred thousand
down. He lived on the ground floor, expecting to pay the remainder out
of letting the rest; but though it is safe to speculate in
house-property in Paris, such investments are capricious or hang fire,
depending on unforeseen circumstances.

As the Parisian lounger may have observed, the boulevard between the
Rue de la Paix and the Rue Louis-le-Grand prospered but slowly; it
took so long to furbish and beautify itself, that trade did not set up
its display there till 1840--the gold of the money-changers, the
fairy-work of fashion, and the luxurious splendor of shop-fronts.

In spite of two hundred thousand francs given by Crevel to his
daughter at the time when his vanity was flattered by this marriage,
before the Baron had robbed him of Josepha; in spite of the two
hundred thousand francs paid off by Victorin in the course of seven
years, the property was still burdened with a debt of five hundred
thousand francs, in consequence of Victorin's devotion to his father.
Happily, a rise in rents and the advantages of the situation had at
this time improved the value of the houses. The speculation was
justifying itself after eight years' patience, during which the lawyer
had strained every nerve to pay the interest and some trifling amounts
of the capital borrowed.

The tradespeople were ready to offer good rents for the shops, on
condition of being granted leases for eighteen years. The dwelling
a