"You do not ask me where I am taking you," she said (see page [123])
I had not thought of claiming this, as I had not found it mentioned in the leases drawn up by my able predecessor, which had been my models. For the moment I drew no conclusions from his silence on this point, but when I handed over the windfall to Mme. Laroque her surprise astonished me.
"And what is this?" she said.
I explained the nature of the payment, and had to repeat my explanation.
"And is it a usual custom?" she continued.
"Yes, madame, whenever a lease is renewed."
"But, to my knowledge, there have been ten leases renewed in the last thirty years.... How is it we never heard of such a custom?"
"I cannot say, madame."
Mme. Laroque fell into an abyss of reflections, in which, perhaps, she encountered the venerable shade of le père Hivart. At length she slightly shrugged her shoulders, looked at me, then at the gold, then again at me, and seemed to hesitate. At last, leaning back in her chair, sighing deeply, and speaking with a simplicity which I greatly appreciated, she said: