This young man, of respectable exterior and decently dressed, who acts as if he wished to hide, because he is still sensitive to shame, comes hither to venture, at the game of chance, a sum which the banker by whom he is employed has intrusted to him to be taken to a notary. Luck betrays him, he has lost all! And yet he remains there; he cannot as yet credit his crime, his misfortune! What will he do upon leaving that vile den, where he has left honor behind? His family is poor, but honorable; he cannot make up his mind to bring dishonor upon it, to endure his father’s reproaches; despair takes possession of his soul, and he sees but one means to avoid the future which terrifies him. He goes forth, he walks hurriedly in the direction of the river, he arrives there, and puts an end to his existence by leaping into the waves! And a man who might have followed a happy and honorable career, a man who should have assured the happiness of his family, commits suicide at twenty years of age because he has been to the gambling house. Such pictures are only too true; we have examples of them every day; when will these abodes of crime cease to be tolerated? Edouard should have profited by the lessons which he had before his eyes; instead of that, he took his seat at the game of _biribi_; he still had ten sous in his pocket; and he hastened to risk them on the table where the last farthing is extorted from the poor wretches who resort to it. He had been at the table but a moment, seated among people who resembled beggars, when Dufresne appeared and motioned to him to follow him. “I have good news for you,” he said with a joyful air; “in the first place, your mother-in-law died last night of an attack of apoplexy.” “Is it possible?” “It was a young fellow employed here, who lives in her house, who just told me. Moreover, I have obtained the money on your notes, on condition that you give a mortgage on your house at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges.” “My house--but----” “Come, come; don’t raise objections! In any event, with what little money you get from your mother-in-law, you will be able to pay your notes and redeem your house. You see that everything is turning out for the best. Oh! if only I had thought of your country house before! But now you are in funds, that is the essential thing; all that you will need, to obtain what Madame Germeuil has left, is a power of attorney from your wife.” “How am I to get it? I shall never dare to tell her of her mother’s death; she will be desperate!” “Very well; I will undertake to do it. If you wish, I will go to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges in your place, and I will tell your wife the news with all possible precaution.” “You will do me a great favor. Tell her also that I have not forgotten her, that I expect to go to see her very soon.” “Yes, I know all that I must say to her; rely upon my zeal and my friendship.”