Mercadet You must invest it well, for we shall have dire need of all that it is worth. I want you to assist me in sitting at the table which the Exchange always keeps spread, and we will gorge ourselves with the good things there offered us, for you must admit that while those who seek for millions have great difficulty in finding them, they are never found by those who do not seek.
De la Brive I think I can co-operate with you in this matter. You will return to me my forty-seven thousand francs—
Mercadet
Yes, sir.
De la Brive
I am not required to be anything but be—very clever?
Mercadet Nimble, but this nimbleness will be exercised, as the English say, on the right side of the law.
De la Brive
What is it you propose?
Mercadet (giving him a paper) Here are your written instructions. You are to represent something like an uncle from America—in fact, my partner, who has just come back from the West Indies.
De la Brive
I understand.
Mercadet Go to the Champs-Elysees, secure a post-chaise that has been much battered, have horses harnessed to it, and make your arrival here wrapped in a great pelisse, your head enveloped in a huge cap, while you shiver like a man who finds our summer icy cold. I will receive you; I will conduct you in; you will speak to my creditors; not one of them knows Godeau; you will make them give me more time.
De la Brive
How much time?