“How much do I have?”
“You have in your own right, as coming to you from your poor father and from your mother, twenty-five thousand francs a year, or a capital of about five hundred and fifty thousand francs.”
“And is that a good deal?”
“It is so much, that you are one of the richest heiresses of the district; but you have, besides, considerable expectations.”
Dionysia was so preoccupied, that she did not even protest. She went on asking,—
“What do they call here to be well off?”
“That depends, my child. If you will tell me”—
She interrupted him, putting down her foot impatiently, saying,—
“Nothing. Please answer me!”
“Well, in our little town, an income of eight hundred or a thousand francs makes anybody very well off.”