"So, my dear Celestin," the priest continued, "while envious and insolent aristocrats squander their wealth and their health in vile orgies and senseless dissipation, you, my dear child,--come from nobody knows where, aided and pushed forward by nobody knows whom,--will quietly make your way in the world, and soon every one will be petrified with amazement at your marvellous good fortune." "Ah, my dear abbe, you may rest assured that my gratitude--" But the abbe again interrupted him by saying, with a peculiar smile: "Do not persist in talking of your gratitude. No one has a chance to be ungrateful to us. We are not children; we take our precautions; besides, our best guarantee is the love and good-will of those who are indebted to us." And the abbe, again pinching the young man's ear in a paternal way, continued: "Now let me mention another no less important matter. You know the saying, 'He who hears only one bell hears but one note.' You may rest assured that Mlle. Helena will descant eloquently upon your many virtues to the little Beaumesnil. Your goodness, your piety, the angelic sweetness of your face, the dignified modesty of your demeanour, will be her constant theme. She will do everything she can to make the girl fall madly in love with you; but it would be an excellent thing if these praises were echoed by somebody else, and particularly if they were repeated by persons of such prominence that the words would exert a great influence upon the mind of the little Beaumesnil." "That would be a great help, I admit, my dear abbe." "Let us see, then, my dear Celestin. Among your fashionable friends is there no lady who could be entrusted with this delicate mission? How about Madame de Francville?" "She is too silly." "Madame de Bonrepos, then?" "She is too indiscreet and too garrulous." "Madame Lefebure?" "She is too much of a plebeian. There is but one lady upon whose friendship and discretion I can rely sufficiently to make such a request," continued Celestin, after quite a long pause. "That is Madame la Duchesse de Senneterre." "And you couldn't possibly do better, for the duchess has an immense amount of influence in society," said the abbe, thoughtfully. "I think, too, that you are not mistaken in your assertion, for I have heard her praise you very warmly on several occasions, and have even heard her express great regret that her son Gerald was not more like you." On hearing Gerald's name, M. de Macreuse's face darkened ominously, and it was in a tone of positive hatred that he exclaimed: "That man insulted me before everybody not very long ago. I will have my revenge, you may be sure of that." "My dear boy, did you never hear the Roman proverb, 'Vengeance should be eaten cold.' It is a true one. My advice to you is to remember--and wait. Haven't you a good deal of influence over his mother already?"