"Two millions! Do they belong to you?"
"They belong to me."
"And you are not satisfied! You wish to acquire more!"
"Oh! it is a question of health to me. If I stopped work I should soon die; and I wish to live—life is good!"
There was a moment's silence, and Vauquelas looked tenderly at his treasure.
"Moreover, as I have told you, we shall not only make money, but perform a most commendable action," he remarked after a little. "We will purchase some of those fine houses on the Faubourg Saint-Germain, which have been confiscated by the government in their masters' absence. We will take good care of them. In some hands, they would soon fall to ruin; but in ours they will increase in value, and when their former owners return, they will find their homes in the same condition as when they left them. They will buy them from us, and they will be ever grateful to us. Come, my boy, make up your mind. Will you become my partner in this enterprise?"
"I accept your offer," replied Coursegol. He saw his fortune assured in a few years, and Dolores forever out of the reach of want.
"Do you know how to write?" Vauquelas inquired.
"Not very well."