"You will now take it into your own hands," said the abbé, "and have it properly appointed, suitable to your rank. So far as your securities go, it may be better to invest your capital differently. We shall see. How much does your yearly income from the Bondavara estate amount to?"
"About twenty thousand florins."
"How large is the estate?"
"From about nine to ten thousand acres."
"Then the return is far too small. The agent is to blame for this; this income would be too little to support the position you now intend to hold. Twenty thousand florins would not be nearly enough to keep up an establishment on a proper footing in Pesth."
The countess was surprised. She said, humbly, "I imagined it was a great deal of money."
"So it is for living in the country; but Pesth is as dear, if not dearer, than Paris. To keep a proper establishment going, and take the position of a leader of society, such as it is your ambition to be, you must at least command a yearly income of forty thousand florins."
"But I cannot do that. What shall I do?" Theudelinde said, in great distress.
The abbé's lips parted in a smile. "Oh, we will manage it for you! For the rest it will not be difficult. The rental of the estate must be overhauled; you must get a better agent, a more enterprising steward. I myself do not understand finance, but I have friends in the inner circle of the stock-exchange, and one or other of these will undertake to advise you as to your affairs when you are settled in Pesth. In any case, I am quite certain that your land is let too low, it should bring in double the interest you get from it. I know so much of political economy."
The countess was delighted at these words. What a friend to have! Her income to be doubled! Truly this abbé was sent to her from heaven.