“You never heard him spoken of by your family—by your mother?”
“Never.”
“Can you remember the year and the month when you first became connected with Mademoiselle Esther?”
“Towards the end of 1823, at a small theatre on the Boulevard.”
“At first she was an expense to you?”
“Yes, monsieur.”
“Lately, in the hope of marrying Mademoiselle de Grandlieu, you purchased the ruins of the Chateau de Rubempre, you added land to the value of a million francs, and you told the family of Grandlieu that your sister and your brother-in-law had just come into a considerable fortune, and that their liberality had supplied you with the money.—Did you tell the Grandlieus this, monsieur?”
“Yes, monsieur.”
“You do not know the reason why the marriage was broken off?”
“Not in the least, monsieur.”