Minoret, whose danger suggested to him an excuse which was almost admissible, wiped his forehead, wet with perspiration.
“You know the cause of my refusal,” said Ursula; “and I request you never to come here again. Though Monsieur de Portenduere has not told me his reason, I know that he feels such contempt for you, such dislike even, that I cannot receive you into my house. My happiness is my only fortune,—I do not blush to say so; I shall not risk it. Monsieur de Portenduere is only waiting for my majority to marry me.”
“Then the old saw that ‘Money does all’ is a lie,” said Minoret, looking at the justice of peace, whose observing eyes annoyed him so much.
He rose and left the house, but, once outside, he found the air as oppressive as in the little salon.
“There must be an end put to this,” he said to himself as he re-entered his own home.
When Ursula came down, bring her certificates and those of La Bougival, she found Monsieur Bongrand walking up and down the salon with great strides.
“Have you no idea what the conduct of that huge idiot means?” he said.
“None that I can tell,” she replied.
Bongrand looked at her with inquiring surprise.
“Then we have the same idea,” he said. “Here, keep the number of your certificates, in case I lose them; you should always take that precaution.”