"Joined to your earnings! What do you mean to do?"
"Remain in your office, if I have not derogated in your estimation."
"What! Work, with an income of over a hundred thousand livres?"
"I cannot yet believe that this large fortune is mine, my dear friend; and even though my poor father's death may be established according to legal formalities, I shall always retain a hope that I may again see him."
"My poor Louis, your hope is an illusion."
"It is an illusion I shall retain as long as possible, monsieur; and while it lasts I shall never feel free to dispose of my father's money, save within the limits I have mentioned."
"No son could act with more perfect, and honorable reserve, my dear
Louis. But what will you do with the rest of the inheritance?"
"So long as there remains the slightest hope of finding my father among the living, you will remain the trustee of his possessions."
"I can only express my admiration for you, my dear Louis. You could not better honor the memory of your father than in acting thus. Everything shall be as you desire; I accept your trust, and will manage the estate as in the past; and I shall this very day make out the contract for the life pension you have mentioned."
"Speaking of that subject, my dear friend, I must enter into details that will seem trifling to you, but which, nevertheless, have their painful side."