"You know very well why we must seem tolerant. We are hoping to secure Bertha's consent to marry the Marquis of Chateauvieux, then her brother Raoul will be able to wed Mademoiselle Chateauvieux, in turn. My nephew attaches extreme importance to these matrimonial projects--the old Duke of Chateauvieux, the Marquis's father, enjoys an immense influence with the King. Due to the inheritance left to her by the Viscountess of Morincourt, Mademoiselle Chateauvieux is one of the richest matches in France. Now, then, however considerable Raoul's property may be, he is prodigal and luxurious to a degree. The bailiffs of his domains of Auvergne, of Beauvoisis and of Brittany make his vassals _sweat_, as they humorously express it, all that it is humanly possible to sweat them of. Two hundred and fifty-three thousand livres, good year or bad--more than a third in excess of what the same estates yielded at the time of his father--and yet my nephew is often reduced to such straits that he must resort to the money-lenders. From all this it follows that, if the King, as the Duke of Chateauvieux has formally promised us, confers upon my nephew the embassy to Spain immediately after his marriage, nothing less than the inheritance of the Viscountess of Morincourt will be needed to enable the Count worthily to represent his royal master at the court of Madrid." "No doubt, there is nothing more desirable or more opportune than that marriage, my dear Marchioness. But, you know what is the express condition for its fulfilment. It is a condition that only raises fresh perplexities." "Yes, the Duke of Chateauvieux--a duke only by brevet, and, be it said among us, of poor material, considering his origin, seeing that his great-grandfather was only a domestic servant--the Duke of Chateauvieux, despite his influence with his Majesty, and his brevet title of duke, feels that he limps on the leg of birth. In order to dip his descendants in the antique luster of our house, he stipulates as an express condition of Raoul's marriage with Mademoiselle Chateauvieux, Bertha's consent to marry the Marquis. That, as you know, is the reason why Raoul and I, to put it plainly, are dependent upon my niece, and why we wink at her follies." "Well, Marchioness, do you know what, in my opinion, appears clear from all this?" "I listen, Abbot; open your mind to me!" "It will happen with the marriage of Bertha to the Marquis of Chateauvieux as happened with the contemplated mission to England." "How can you say that! My niece receives admirably the advances of the Marquis. She has given Monsieur Chateauvieux good cause to hope. She has said to him that she recognized the advantages of that double marriage, only she desired time to reflect more fully before deciding upon so important a step." "Oh! Marchioness, your niece is but doubling and twisting to the sole end of gaining time! She will not give her consent to the marriage."