Emile promised to say nothing and followed his guide in the direction of Boisguilbault, absorbed by his thoughts, and thinking more of the fair Gilberte than of his companion and his mission. XI A GHOST However, as they approached the manor of Boisguilbault, Emile began to wonder what sort of man, whether of superior parts or simply eccentric, he was to deal with, and he was compelled to attend to the information which the carpenter, with his rustic good sense, tried to give him concerning that enigmatical personage. From all that Emile could gather from this somewhat contradictory information, strewn as it was with conjectures, he concluded that the Marquis de Boisguilbault was immensely rich, not at all avaricious, although far from extravagant; generous so far as his shyness and indifference permitted him to practise benevolence, that is to say assisting all the poor people who applied to him, but never taking the trouble to investigate their sufferings or their needs, and giving every one such a cold and depressing welcome, that only the most imperative necessity could induce any one to go near him. And yet he was not a hard and unfeeling man; he never refused to listen to a complaint or questioned the propriety of alms-giving. But he was so absent-minded and seemed so indifferent to everything, that one's heart contracted and congealed in his presence. He rarely scolded and never punished. Jappeloup was almost the only man he had ever treated harshly, and the way in which he had now made it up to him led the carpenter to think that if he had been less proud himself and had shown himself to the marquis sooner, the latter would not have remembered the whim that had led him to banish him.