"The devil!"
"Besides this, she is the only support of a crippled old woman. This man's offers dazzled the poor child; and like so many others, she succumbed through misery. What good is a fortune now, when my only desire was to share it with Mariette?"
"My dear Louis, I know you too well to believe you could have loved a woman unworthy of your affections."
"For a whole year Mariette gave me abundant proofs of a sincere affection; then yesterday, without warning, a letter came announcing the sudden rupture—"
"A woman who loved a poor man like you for a whole year, does not yield
to an old rascal like Porquin in one day. I tell you he lies!" And to
Louis' great astonishment, Saint-Herem called aloud, "Hi, there! de la
Miraudière!"
"Florestan! what are you doing?" remonstrated Louis, as the usurer appeared.
"Monsieur de La Miraudière," observed Saint-Herem, with his habitual supercilious air, "there seems to exist some slight confusion in your mind in regard to a respectable young girl, who, according to you, has been seduced by your wit, your personal charms and excellent manners, still more enchanced by that gold which you so honorably grasp. Now, my worthy commander, will you do me the pleasure to speak the truth? If not, I shall know how to deal with you."
"I deeply regret having jested on a subject which seems to annoy M. Richard," responded Porquin, deeming it better policy to sacrifice a fancy which stood little chance of being gratified, than to run the risk of losing so promising a client as Louis.
"You may perhaps be able to explain how the idea of this jest—which, by the way, I should call a base calumny—entered your head?" pursued Florestan.
"Nothing more simple, monsieur: I saw Mademoiselle Mariette Moreau in the workshop, and was struck with her beauty. I then procured her address, visited her home, where I found her godmother, and proposed—"