"But, Florestan, he is rich, and the girl I loved, or rather whom I still love in spite of myself, is terribly poor."
"The devil!"
"Besides, she has an invalid connection to take care of. This scoundrel's offers must have dazzled the poor child, or want may have induced her to listen to the voice of the tempter, as so many others do. What does the discovery of this wealth profit me now? I care nothing for it if I cannot share it with Mariette."
"Listen, Louis, I know you, and I feel confident that you must have placed your affections wisely."
"Yes; and for more than a year Mariette has given every proof of her faithful attachment to me, but yesterday, without the slightest warning, came a letter breaking our engagement."
"A good girl who has loved a man as poor as you were faithfully for a year would not have been so quickly won over by the promises of an old villain like Porquin. He lied to you; I haven't a doubt of it."
Then calling out at the top of his voice, to the great surprise of Louis, he exclaimed:
"Commandant de la Miraudière, come here a minute!"
"What are you going to do, Florestan?" asked Louis, as the usurer appeared in the doorway.
"Keep still and let me manage this affair," replied his friend. Then, turning to the usurer, he continued: