"Write then, and I will dictate." And Monsieur Cardonnet dictated several letters overflowing with zeal and solicitude for the delinquent, and couched in terms of rare propriety and dignity. He went so far as to offer himself as security for Jean Jappeloup, in case--although he said it was impossible--that Monsieur de Boisguilbault, who had anticipated his own intentions, should recede from his undertaking. When these letters were signed and sealed, he bade Emile despatch them at once by a messenger, and added: "Now I have done as you wished; I have interrupted my business so that your protégé should not be subjected to the slightest delay. I return to my work. We shall dine in an hour, and then you must stay with your mother, whom you have neglected a little to-day. But to-night, when the men have stopped work, I trust that you will hold yourself at my disposal and that I may be able to talk with you on serious subjects." "I am at your service, father, this evening and my whole life, as you know very well," said Emile, embracing him. Monsieur Cardonnet congratulated himself for not yielding to an angry impulse; he had recovered all his influence over Emile. In the evening, when the factory was closed and the workmen dismissed, he betook himself to a part of his garden which the flood had failed to reach, and walked there a long while alone, reflecting as to what he should say to this child who was so hard to manage, not intending to summon him until he should feel that he was in perfect control of himself.