“If only she were a widow!” said Remonencq when she was gone. “She would just suit me; she will have plenty of money now—”
“Especially if she puts her money into the Orleans Railway; she will double her capital in two years’ time. I have put all my poor little savings into it,” added the Jew, “for my daughter’s portion.—Come, let us take a turn on the boulevard until this lawyer arrives.”
“Cibot is very bad as it is,” continued Remonencq; “if it should please God to take him to Himself, I should have a famous wife to keep a shop; I could set up on a large scale—”
“Good-day, M. Fraisier,” La Cibot began in an ingratiating tone as she entered her legal adviser’s office. “Why, what is this that your porter has been telling me? are you going to move?”
“Yes, my dear Mme. Cibot. I am taking the first floor above Dr. Poulain, and trying to borrow two or three thousand francs so as to furnish the place properly; it is very nice, upon my word, the landlord has just papered and painted it. I am acting, as I told you, in President de Marville’s interests and yours.... I am not a solicitor now; I mean to have my name entered on the roll of barristers, and I must be well lodged. A barrister in Paris cannot have his name on the rolls unless he has decent furniture and books and the like. I am a doctor of law, I have kept my terms, and have powerful interest already.... Well, how are we getting on?”
“Perhaps you would accept my savings,” said La Cibot. “I have put them in a savings bank. I have not much, only three thousand francs, the fruits of twenty-five years of stinting and scraping. You might give me a bill of exchange, as Remonencq says; for I am ignorant myself, I only know what they tell me.”
“No. It is against the rules of the guild for a barrister (avocat) to put his name to a bill. I will give you a receipt, bearing interest at five per cent per annum, on the understanding that if I make an income of twelve hundred francs for you out of old Pons’ estate you will cancel it.”
La Cibot, caught in the trap, uttered not a word.
“Silence gives consent,” Fraisier continued. “Let me have it to-morrow morning.”
“Oh! I am quite willing to pay fees in advance,” said La Cibot; “it is one way of making sure of my money.”