"What else can there be, pray?" demanded M. de la Rochaiguë, uneasily, evidently fearing a fresh imbroglio.
"This test had a twofold object. M. Olivier's extreme sensitiveness in pecuniary matters is so well known to his friends that we feared when he discovered that the young girl whom he thought so poor was really Mlle. de Beaumesnil, he, being only a young lieutenant without either rank or fortune, would absolutely refuse to marry the richest heiress in France, though he had loved her and asked her to be his wife, when he believed her absolutely penniless."
"Such scruples on his part would not surprise me in the least," said the baron. "The fellow is so proud, the slightest hint that he might be considered a fortune-hunter would infuriate him. And now I think of it, the obstacle you fear still exists."
"No, my dear baron."
"But why not?"
"Why, can't you see?" exclaimed Ernestine, joyously. "M. Olivier has positively refused to marry Mlle. de Beaumesnil, the rich heiress, has he not?"
"Unquestionably," said the baron; "still, I don't understand—"
"But when M. Olivier discovers who I really am, how can he feel any fear of being accused of mercenary motives in marrying me, when he had positively refused to accept the proffered hand of the richest heiress in France?"
"Or, in other words, an income of over three million francs," exclaimed the baron, interrupting his ward. "That is true. The idea is an excellent one. I congratulate you upon it, M. le marquis, and I say, with you, that even if M. Olivier were a thousand times more proud and sensitive, he could not hold out against this argument, viz.: 'You positively refused to accept the three million francs when they were offered you, so your motives are necessarily above suspicion.'"
"And it is impossible for M. Olivier to feel any scruples under these circumstances, do you not think so, monsieur?"