“How?”
He drew his chair nearer to my desk, and I leaned forward, with my elbows on the table, the finger-tips of one hand in contact with those of the other.
“Let us begin by reviewing the situation, shall we, Monsieur?” I began.
“If you wish,” he said curtly.
“You are a gentleman of refined, not to say luxurious tastes, who finds himself absolutely without means to gratify them. Is that so?”
He nodded.
“You have a wife and a father-in-law who, whilst lavishing costly treasures upon you, leave you in a humiliating dependence on them for actual money.”
Again he nodded approvingly.
“Human nature,” I continued with gentle indulgence, “being what it is, you pine after what you do not possess—namely, money. Houses, equipages, servants, even good food and wine, are nothing to you beside that earnest desire for money that you can call your own, and which, if only you had it, you could spend at your pleasure.”
“To the point, man, to the point!” he broke in impatiently.