"I propose to destroy the two papers I have in my pocket; your receipt, which I have taken back from Madame d'Estrelle, and her promise never to see Julien again, which I have not yet delivered to you. You entrusted both of them to me, telling me to exchange your reciprocal pledges. I place you on your original footing by destroying them both. We must start afresh, and as I know your intentions and hers, I tell you now that Madame d'Estrelle will accept nothing from you, and that you can take possession of everything that belongs to her. Thus far she has followed my advice blindly; I have changed my views, and, as I have no desire to see her die, I advise her to retract her consent to everything."
"Why, you're a miserable knave!" said Monsieur Antoine, stopping short in the middle of the street and shouting at the top of his voice. "I don't know what keeps me from breaking my cane over your shoulders!"
"Knave indeed! when I give you back all your money and recover nothing for my client but the right to live in poverty! Nonsense! Just sue her and have the case aired in court, if you want to cover yourself with ridicule and shame!"
"But Julien! Julien, whom I have made rich, you scoundrel! This is what I foresaw! You have cheated me——
"Not at all, uncle! Julien has been seriously ill of late, he is still, and his mother said to me: 'Do whatever you choose. Let us return everything to Monsieur Antoine, and let Julie be restored to us!' So there you are, uncle. You don't lose an obolus, you recover principal and interest, and you leave us at liberty to live as we please, with no risk of losing our liberty by reason of any stipulation imposed by law or by private agreement."
"Why, you miserable villain, how you recant! I took you for a sensible man, you agreed with me entirely, you disapproved of their marriage, you worked with me to provide for their happiness——"
"True, until the day when I saw that happiness was taking them straight to the tomb."
"They are mad!"
"Yes, uncle, they are mad; love is a form of madness; but when it is incurable we must yield to it, and I yield."
"Very good!" retorted Monsieur Antoine, flattening his hat over his eyes with a vicious blow. "Go and tell that lady to get out of her house, that is to say my house, instantly. I will go to Sèvres and pack off the others. If the whole lot of them are not on the street in two hours, I'll send bailiffs, police agents—I'll set the houses on fire, I'll——"