"Madame la comtesse, considering that your mind must have been disturbed when you asked for her hand, was afraid to be alone with you and put an end to the interview by a promise to reflect; but she had already reflected, and this is her decision. She regrets that she will be unable to come to your house to-morrow, and she informs you that from this moment she will no longer be at home." "She is going away! Where is she going?" "It is not for me to interpret, but for you to understand." "I understand! this is my formal dismissal, is it?" "Everything tends to make me think so." "And you are the person she employs to tell me so?" "No! I took it upon myself without asking her consent." "Why? I insist upon knowing!" "You do know, monsieur. Didn't you tell me that my mother's fortune and my own depended on Madame d'Estrelle's encouragement of your matrimonial plans? That is why I grasped so eagerly the excuse you gave me to go to her house, hoping that the extraordinary nature of your letter would induce her to receive me. That is something you did not anticipate." "Yes, I did, _mordieu!_" cried Monsieur Antoine; "I said to myself that that thing would happen if----" "If what, monsieur?" "If I had guessed right. I understand." "But I do not understand." "That makes no difference to me." "Excuse me, you want me to guess. You thought that I was foolish enough, impertinent enough, mad enough to aspire to that lady's favor?" "And now I am sure of it! You told her of your sentiments, and I see your air of triumph. At the same time you are rubbing your hands because you have shown me the door! You will go and tell your dear mother this, of course! You will say to her: 'The rich man gobbled the bait! He thought that by tossing us a crust of bread and taking a young wife, he would make sport of us and disinherit us! Well, he has succeeded simply in covering himself with shame. He will grow old alone, he will die unmarried, and we shall be rich in spite of him.'" "You are mistaken, monsieur," rejoined Julien with perfect self-possession. "I formed no such contemptible schemes, and I shall never do anything of the kind. You may marry to-morrow, if you choose, and whom you choose, and I shall be overjoyed, provided always that my mother's dignity and mine are not at stake in your undertaking. This is what I desired to say to Madame d'Estrelle, and what I say to you. And now I have only to remember that you are my uncle, and humbly to present you my respects." Julien was about to go away after bowing low to Monsieur Antoine. But he recalled him in an imperious tone. "What about my lily? Who will pay me for it?" "Put a price on it, monsieur." "Five hundred thousand francs." "Are you speaking seriously?" "Am I speaking seriously?" "I must believe you, knowing that you are incapable of deceiving a person who relies upon you." "Flattery! fawning!"